Pittsfield Charter Twp, Michigan

APPROVED

Minutes of a Regular Meeting
Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees, August 13, 2002
E.A. Jackson Morris Hall, The Robert A. Lillie Service Center
6201 W. Michigan Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108

Members Present: Brostrom,Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.

Members Absent: None.

Others Present: Fadil Issa, Brad Strader, John Griffin, Sharon Abel, Zella Polliey, Don Marhofer, Judith Walter, Patrick Judd, Craig Harvey, Debra Talcott, Ann Harris, Mark Spencer, Brian Wenzel, Mark Pascoe, Ishwar Naik, Larry Osterling.

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1.0 Call Meeting to Order
Supervisor Walter called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m., a quorum was present.

2.0 Pledge of Allegiance led bySupervisor Walter.

3.0 Roll Call – all members present.

4.0 Open Meetings Act/Public Comment I

Supervisor Walter removed items 12.6 and 12.7 from the agenda and added item12.9. Item 12.4 was moved up in the agenda to follow approval of the minutes.

[This portion of the minutes is transcribed from the tape.]

John Griffin made the following statement:

“Good evening, members of the Board. My name is John Griffin. I am an attorney tonight representing S.R. Jacobson Development Corporation, who owns about 60 acres of property on Platt Road, and they are certainly interested in the Master Plan changes. I am here tonight only to express my client’s opposition to the Master Plan changes that recommend removal of the property from the sewer and water utility district, and also recommend development of the property at a residential one unit per acre density. Currently, as you know, the Master Plan, because the property has access to utilities, recommends medium density 2.5 acre development, and that is reasonable when there are utilities present. The change to rural residential is only reasonable, in my opinion, where there are no utilities present and you have to develop using septic systems and wells. The property does have direct access to utilities on Platt Road. The property was assessed for the installation which has been constructed. There is capacity for both water and sewer service for the 2.5 unit per acre development, as attested to by Atwell-Hicks engineering firm, which conducted a study for us, and I believe my associate Robert Jacobs provided to you a copy of the Atwell-Hicks letter along with his own letter. This issue was also raised by the Washtenaw County Planning Commission at its August 6^th meeting where it was concerned and its conditional approval in part was based upon the issue of removing these properties from the utility district, and, in fact, I think they set some six month period in order to try to have the Township meet their conditions to obtain full approval, which I understand isn’t required, but certainly that’s a duly designated body, and I think that the Township shouldn’t just ignore that body but at this point should not pass the resolution and should send the matter back to the Planning Commission for further consideration of that issue. Approval of these amendments will result in this property not being developed at this time; if there is a consideration for the fact that it is zoned Agricultural, that doesn’t have a lot of viability either, because this property’s not agriculturally or economically viable. I think we’ve submitted to you a report from Jim Mulvany, who’s an agricultural economist, he’s an expert in viability of agricultural lands, in fact, now he does work for the Department of Agriculture on PA116 agreements, where people want to take them out of those agreements. I don’t see in these changes any reasonable governmental interest that’s being advanced, because of the access to the utilities. The fact that you take something out of the district doesn’t change the fact those utilities exist. So my client lodges his objection, asks that you give serious consideration to it, and we also rely on the statements in Mr. Jacobs’ letters and the attachments. I thank you.”

John Griffin, representing SR Jacobson Corporation, expressed his client’s opposition to the Comprehensive Plan. He said that the changes recommend removal of his client’s property from the water and sewer utility district and recommend development of the property at a residential one unit per acre density as opposed to the current recommendation of medium density, 2.5 unit per acre, development. He said that Atwell-Hicks engineering firm had conducted a study and determined that the parcel in question has the capacity for both water and sewer service, and for the 2.5 unit per acre development. He said that this issue had been raised by the Washtenaw County Planning Commission at its August 6^th meeting and its conditional approval of the comprehensive plan was based upon the issue of removing these properties from the utility district. He urged the township, on his client’s behalf, not to ignore the County’s recommendations and to not pass the resolution to approve the Comprehensive Plan, but rather to return it to the Planning Commission for further consideration of these issues. He thanked the Board.

5.0 Public Hearings/Presentations

6.0 Approval of Minutes

6.1 Request to Approve the Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting held on July 23, 2002.

[This portion of the minutes is done in standard summary format]

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom to approve the minutes of the regular Board meeting held on July 23, 2002.

Trustee Brostrom corrected item 12.2 on page 5 to read: “accept the cleaning contract for the Administration Building”.

MOTION CARRIED.

7.0 Consent Agenda

8.0 Items from the Treasurer

9.0 Items from the Clerk

9.1 Request Approval for Payment of the Payables, check numbers 39499-39638, in the amount of $574, 137.19.

Motion by Trustee Brostrom, supported by Clerk Lirones, to approve payment of the payables, check numbers 39499 through 39638, in the amount of $574, 137.19.
ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

9.2 Request Approval for Payment of the Payables, check numbers 39640-39791, in the amount of $550,206.62.

Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Marine to approve payment of the payables, check numbers 39640 through 39791, in the amount of $550,206.62.

Supervisor Walter clarified that check number 39639 was a zero check, hence the skip in check numbers.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

9.3 Motion to Approve Annexation to the City of Ann Arbor, for property known as 2974 Shady Lane, Walden Woods Subdivision, Lot 8, Section 3, Pittsfield Charter Township.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to adopt resolution #02-27 to approve annexation to the City of Ann Arbor for property known as 2974 Shady Lane, Walden Woods Subdivision, Lot 8, Section 3, Pittsfield Charter Township. (See attachment #1)

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

9.4 Motion to Approve Resolution Authorizing the Promotion of Ms. Arianne Garza to the position of Department Assistant II in the Clerk’s Office, effective August 14, 2002 at an hourly wage of $11.48 per hr. as stipulated by the AFSCME Union contract.

Motion by Trustee Brostrom, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve the resolution authorizing the promotion of Ms. Arianne Garza to the position of Department Assistant II in the Clerk’s Office, effective August 14, 2002 at an hourly wage of $11.48 per hour as stipulated by the AFSCME Union contract.

WHEREAS, the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees would like to authorize the promotion of Ms. Arianne Garza from the position of Department Assistant I – Clerk’s Office to the position of Department Assistant II – Clerk’s Office.

AND, WHEREAS, Ms. Garza meets the qualifications set forth in the Department Assistant II job description and has successfully completed the pre-employment process,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees authorize the hiring of Ms. Arianne Garza, to serve in the position of Department Assistant II, effective Wednesday, August 14, 2002, at an hourly wage of $11.48 per hr. as stipulated by the AFSCME Union contract.

Trustee Marine asked what the probationary period was for new employees.

Supervisor Walter said that it was 6 months.

Trustee Marine said that he did not know of any place in which an employee could move up to a new position within the first year of employment. He said that he also did not know why some people got promoted and others did not, and was concerned about being asked to vote without any knowledge about what he was voting on and why the promotion was being given.

Clerk Lirones said that the previous Department Assistant II, Jessica Heilmann, had left to attend law school, and that had created an open position. She said that the Clerk’s Office would prefer to hire a new person in at the opening position, which Ms. Garza is currently filling, and that Ms. Garza had been performing in an exemplary manner in her current position. She added that the position had been posted internally and that there were no other applicants for the position. She concluded that it had been determined that it would be best to have Ms. Garza fill the position of Department Assistant II and post the position of Department Assistant I instead.

Trustee Conner said that at Ford Motor Company people also receive promotions after a short period of time and said that Ms. Garza seemed qualified for the position based on her education and training.

Trustee Brostrom said that he felt that this kind of decision was up to the full-time officials in their own departments and that as a Trustee he did not feel that he should be stepping into these kinds of decisions unless there was a problem.

Trustee Marine agreed that he had faith in the administration to promote people and said that what Clerk Lirones had said had been very helpful. He said he wished that sort of information had been provided before asking him to vote. He suggested that all of the necessary information to make informed decisions be in the Board packets.

Supervisor Walter said that in the past 21 months this Board has voted in favor of promotions of this sort without a request for further information. He asked to be contacted before the meeting if more information was desired.

Trustee Burhop said that she has found Ms. Garza to be uniformly informed, intelligent, and courteous, and said that she appreciated the quality of Ms. Garza’s attention to matters in which she had gone to her for help.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

10.0 Items from the Supervisor/Assessor

10.1 Motion for Approval of Clubview Road Reconstruction Project.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Burhop, for approval of the Clubview Road reconstruction project. (See attachment #2)
ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

Trustee Conner asked if the construction had started yet.

Treasurer Skrobola said no.

Trustee Marine asked if it would be completed before the bad weather set in.

Treasurer Skrobola said yes.

10.2 Motion to Approve Resolution Authorizing the Signing of a Service Agreement with KMC Telecom to provide Telephone Service through an ISDN PRI.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola , supported by Clerk Lirones, to approve the resolution authorizing the signing of a service agreement with KMC Telecom to provide Telephone Service through an ISDN PRI.

WHEREAS, the proposed new telephone systems of Pittsfield Charter Township to be deployed in the Administration Building, Parks & Recreation, and Utilities will require that there be an ISDN PRI connection for dial tone,

AND WHEREAS, previously contracted LDMI TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC. of Michigan can only provide the leased T-1 lines among the buildings, but not the PRI,

AND WHEREAS, under a three year term KMC Telecom can provide the ISDN PRI connection at a fixed monthly rate of $661.48 under a 3 year contract and would waive the installation fee of the PRI,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees authorizes the acceptance of the contract from KMC Telecom for telephone system connectivity.

Trustee Burhop commented that this type of purchase may be something that should be acquired through a centralized purchasing area because it is a large amount of money.

Supervisor Walter said that this agreement will save the township a lot of money. He said that a contract with LDMI had previously been authorized but, at the last minute, the company was unable to fulfill their contract. He said that he believed that Information Systems Specialist Phil Pierson had done a good job in locating an alternative service.

Trustee Marine asked what ISDN PRI stood for.

Deputy Clerk Jan BenDor said that it was the infrastructure for the phones.

Supervisor Walter suggested that Trustee Marine call him in the morning or ask Mr. Pierson what the acronym stood for.

Trustee Marine requested that acronyms not be used on the resolutions.

Trustee Brostrom commented that he was glad that Phil had addressed the fact that there were other companies that could provide this service, should this company fail.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

11.0 Items from the Office of Public Safety

11.1 Receive Letter of Resignation from Paid Firefighter Nathan Darling, effective June 27, 2002.

Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to receive the letter of resignation from Paid Firefighter Nathan Darling, effective June 27, 2002.
MOTION CARRIED.

11.2 Receive letter of resignation from Paid Firefighter Joseph J. Dunny.

Motion by Trustee Brostrom, supported by Trustee Burhop, to receive the letter of resignation from Paid Firefighter Joseph J. Dunny.
MOTION CARRIED.

11.3 Motion to Approve Enrollment in classes: Police Management & Supervision and World Religions for Sergeant Brandon Williams, tuition cost: $1,350.00 with classes beginning September 21, 2002 and ending December21, 2002.

Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve enrollment in: Police Management & Supervision and World Religions classes for Sergeant Brandon Williams, tuition cost: $1,350.00 with classes beginning September 21, 2002 and ending December 21, 2002.
MOTION CARRIED.

11.4 Motion to Approve Tuition Reimbursement for Officer James Wickman in the amount of $645.00 (100%).

Trustee Marine exited the meeting.

Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve tuition reimbursement for Officer James Wickman in the amount of $645.00 (100%).
ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Marine.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

11.5 Motion to Approve Tuition Reimbursement for Dispatcher Wesley Fabian in the amount of $477.00 (100%), this amount does not include registration fees.

Motion by Trustee Brostrom, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve tuition reimbursement for Dispatcher Wesley Fabian in the amount of $477.00 (100%) (this amount does not include registration fees).
ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: Marine.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

11.6 Receive Police Department Call Activity Statistical Report for the month of July 2002.

Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Trustee Burhop, to receive the Police Department Call Activity Statistical Report for the month of July 2002.
MOTION CARRIED.

12.0 Items from the Office of Municipal Services/Planning and Zoning

12.1 Receive Building Department Permit Summary for the month of July 2002.

Trustee Marine returned to the meeting.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Burhop, to receive the Building Department permit summary report for the month of July 2002.
MOTION CARRIED.

12.2 Motion to Approve the Great Lakes Waste/B.F.I. Rubbish Report and Pay Bill in the amount of $49,132.38.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve the Great Lakes Waste/B.F.I. rubbish report and pay the bill in the amount of $49, 132.38.

Trustee Burhop said that all of the rubbish had not been picked up today.

Supervisor Walter said that a file had been started and that the township was keeping track of reported problems so that they could be corrected.
ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

12.3 Motion to Approve Resolution Authorizing Telemetering and Communications of the Pittsfield Township Pump Station Alarms.

Supervisor Walter said that maintenance of the pump stations has been taken over from the YCUA and that the township now needed to have its own alarm system in place.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve the resolution authorizing telemetering and communications of the Pittsfield Township pump station alarms.

WHEREAS, the YCUA (Ypsilanti Community Utilities Authority) has discontinued the Maintenance of the township sewer pumping stations, and

WHEREAS, the township must purchase hardware to transfer the responsibility of the YCUA to the Pittsfield Township Utilities Department, and

WHEREAS, following research by consultant Ayres, Lewis, Norris, and May, INC. into the purchase of a Telemetering and Communications System, we have found a fair and reasonably priced option,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the township Utilities Department be authorized to purchase option No. 3 as outlined in the attached report from consultant Ayres, Lewis, Norris, and May Inc. and, being a Wireless Real Time Alarming System provided by Omni-Site, Net Remote Equipment Monitoring Network for a price not to exceed $16,000.00 including installation.

Trustee Marine said that this is a newer technology. He wanted to know how much was known about it, if the references had been checked, and if there were alternatives.

Ishwar Naik, of Ayres, Lewis, Norris, and May Inc., said that the “newness” of the technology was the use of it rather than the technology itself. He described the various alternatives that had been outlined in the Board packet.

Trustee Marine asked about potential problems and asked why some users who were using this as a backup were not using it as a primary system.

Mr. Naik said that in those situations the users already had another system in place. He added that the only potential problem that he has seen is a time delay.

Trustee Marine asked if a storm could affect the signaling of the technology.

Mr. Naik said that was possible if the cellular towers were non-functional. He said that this company has licensed itself with three different carriers.

Trustee Conner asked if there was a backup for power loss.

Mr. Naik said that there was a battery system for power loss, and that there will be an alarm to signal a loss of power.

Trustee Burhop asked where the monitor will be.

Supervisor Walter said at the Utilities Building.

Trustee Marine asked who would monitor it.

Supervisor Walter said that if the alarm should go off, whichever Field Technician is on duty would respond.

Mr. Naik said that the operator can get information wherever they are from a computer and will know what the problem is before they get out there.

Supervisor Walter said that he thought that it was a good system.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

12.4 Motion to Approve Resolution Approving the Comprehensive Plan for Pittsfield Charter Township August 13, 2002.

[This portion of the minutes is transcribed from the tape.]

Supervisor Walter said, “At this point, then, we’ll take up item 12.4, which I see a number of people in the audience are here for. This is a motion, or actually a resolution, approving the Comprehensive Plan for Pittsfield Charter Township. I would entertain that motion for the resolution, and then we have our planning consultant here as well as our Senior Planner, and consultant from Pollack Design. Yes, Marilyn?”

Trustee Burhop said, “I would like to make a motion to postpone action on this, because I read this over again today and I found so many errors in this that I do not think we should approve this today until we get another chance to look this over. I mean, I personally have given these changes, and these are not my style, because I got so sick and tired of seeing ‘however’ and ‘therefore’ that I thought, ‘Oh, who cares,’ but these are other, these are substantive errors in this, words misspelled, complete incongruity of use of commas and dashes, and I’m very disappointed in that, and I have a list of them and I know there’s an objection to giving this list, and going through this page by page, but I could not vote for this as it stands right now, it’s filled with errors. I think it was sloppily done, and if there was supposed to be something that was a master type of proofreading at the end, a quality control, well, if somebody did that, you’d better ask for your money back because there is no quality control in this document at all.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, is there support?”

Trustee Marine said, “I’ll support that motion.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, any discussion of the motion? This is a motion to postpone, which is debatable.”

Trustee Brostrom said, “I have a question on this.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Yes, Ken?”

Trustee Brostrom said, “Because I agree with Marilyn that I’m finding a lot of, well, there’s a history here of us submitting numerous editorial, and these are essentially editorial, changes and discovering, at least until recently, they have been ignored. And my question is really this, whether if we were to pass this tonight, and I do know we need it in place as quickly as possible, whether large numbers of editorial changes, essentially editorial not substantive I think in terms of basic principles, could still be introduced.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Yes, Tina?”

Clerk Lirones said, “My understanding is that grammatical changes can be made at any time, provided they…”

Trustee Burhop said, “Listen, I have heard that so many times, I have submitted it, it’s been sent to you, to your company, and they have not been incorporated. It’s what Ken says, you know, nothing, we do it, and I’m not a paid proofreader. That’s not my job to proofread, it’s yours, and if somebody doesn’t know how to use a comma and a semi-colon, etcetera, etcetera, then I cannot vote for this as it stands right now.”

Brad Strader, Township Planning Consultant from Langworthy Strader LeBlanc, said, “If I could just plead in our defense, since I was the quality assurances reviewer on it, we received many conflicting comments from both Planning Commission and Board members that do reflect a style. So, we went back to the style guide that we have accepted in the firm to determine, ‘comma before and or not,’ and in the book that we’ve adopted it’s a ‘comma before and’ even though many people that reviewed it crossed it out; in other cases you added it. Some of you, I mean, you have an inconsistent, some of it is a style, and some of you, we’ve received a lot of separate mark-ups from people that had conflicting direction, not only grammar but also content. And it had been our request to get one marked-up copy that combined all comments, worked out all the conflicts, and I think it was probably unfair to expect Mark to be able to do that, because there were conflicting comments. So we tried to digest all the various comments we received from, I think, 11 different reviewers, and picked sort of the majority and stick with a certain style, and even, I won’t name names, but even certain people that reviewed various versions gave conflicting direction from one draft version to the other draft. We certainly can get one copy that’s agreed upon by the Township Board that shows grammar changes, and if there’s a preference that you have, I think you could adopt the plan and you have my commitment that we will make those changes within a week. If they are content changes, beyond just grammar, it would have to go back to the Planning Commission.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Yes, Tina?”

Clerk Lirones said, “I just want to add, and I don’t know if I made this clear, that we can adopt it and still make grammar changes. I understand that your concern is that the grammar changes that have been submitted have not been adopted…”

Trustee Burhop said, “It’s not just grammar…”

Clerk Lirones said, “If I could just finish, I’m sorry, I’ll be really brief, just that, I just want to make it clear that it could be adopted and we can make grammar changes at any time, that has nothing to do with the adoption before us tonight.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, Marilyn?”

Trustee Burhop said, “Yes, I don’t feel confident that these changes would be made and, therefore, since they don’t even have Jeffrey’s name properly on that, and I gave them the name, to begin with, and this is ridiculous, I mean all these things, words misspelled still? And talking about style, it’s one style in paragraph two and three and then it changes on paragraph four and five, and so there’s no consistency.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Yes, Greg?”

Trustee Conner said, “Yes, if these changes are substantive, in terms of, I mean even grammar can sometimes change the meaning …”

Trustee Burhop said, “That’s right.”

Trustee Conner said, “… of something, perhaps this might be the subject of a fairly brief work session by the Board…”

Trustee Burhop said, “That’s OK with me.”

Trustee Conner said, “…that could address these issues and concerns that have been submitted back to the Planning Commission or submit it back to the Board for a vote at that time.”

Trustee Burhop said, “Well, at that time I would appreciate…”

Supervisor Walter said, “I’m sorry, we are supposed to operate through the Chairman and be recognized, people, this is not a conversation, because Jeff was signaling, yes, Jeff.”

Trustee Marine said, “Yes, Marilyn, thank you very much for realizing my name wasn’t there, I figured I’d been recalled. But, aside from that, few people would have missed my name, so thank you. I’d like to say that I agree with what Greg just said, that changes that might be made, grammatical changes, what have you, might be substantive, and aside from that, I think a workshop, I think the workshop we held, the joint Planning Commission/Board meeting workshop was very, very helpful and informative. I’ve read this also, and I have changes that might be actually substantive, of, I hope I’m saying that word correctly.”

Mr. Strader said, “Does everybody have a copy of the Comprehensive Plan that says ‘Adoption Draft’ on it?”

Trustee Marine said, “Yes, my name is on that one.”

Trustee Burhop said, “There’s no initial, Jeffrey.”

Trustee Marine said, “Oh, well, that’s OK. I didn’t, but thank you for recognizing that, but again, that’s not, to me that’s neither here nor there to a great extent. I think that the workshop that we held was very useful and, unfortunately, I feel that a lot of the changes, the things that I would like to discuss, or at least find out reasons why they are in this, things that I really had trouble understanding, could be worked out and hashed out at another work session, and maybe I wouldn’t have those changes if I really understood them. And, I think we’re being asked to review and accept or decline a document that we’ve had really one real honest to goodness chance to have real live debate and discussion over, and aside from sending in comments here or there I don’t think that’s really necessarily appropriate, and I would also very much support a chance to have a discussion, a real live, a formal discussion over this document.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, let me try to understand here, what I’m hearing is we would, you’re moving to postpone this with the idea that we would have a work session in which we could give then the consultant clear, I mean obviously, it’s been a problem with having a number of different sources and sometimes conflicting sources of corrections. So, in other words, we would expect to try to get consensus on the various changes, and, what I’m trying to get my handle on here is, if we do that we couldn’t, I don’t think, have a workshop on Monday and then expect to have the cleaned up copy by Tuesday. Typically, our work sessions are the day before a Board meeting, so it would seem to me we’d have to probably have, say, next Monday or something in work session.”

Trustee Brostrom said, “I think, could I just make one comment?”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, Ken, and then Greg.”

Trustee Brostrom said, “Because, as far as I was concerned, this was rarely a question of style, originally, I’ve been a professional editor for 25 years, and in academic, and I was following academic style first, but I adapted what I did to what I was finding in the text. My problem was, I was running into just so many sentences in certain sections that it was almost impossible to figure out what they meant. And so my efforts were simply to try to recast, restructure sentences so that I at least thought, ‘this is what I think it means.’ I may have been wrong, so this takes me back to what Greg and Jeff have been saying, indeed, some of those changes, the changes I was suggesting might indeed have created some problems in terms of the principles involved and substantive changes. And that’s why I think that I would like to have, I’m just finishing my summer classes, I’d like to have a shot at this thing one more time, read all the way through it, in the next week and have the work session.”

[Mr. Strader made a comment from the audience which was unintelligible on the tape.]

Trustee Brostrom said, “I ran out of time.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, actually probably Tuesday the 20^th I think I have a problem on the 19^th…”

Trustee Marine said, “I won’t be able to make Tuesday.”

Clerk Lirones said “Jeff won’t be able to make it.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Jeff won’t? Oh OK, well…”

Trustee Marine said, “Monday I could make it.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Monday, OK. I’ll see about my schedule. We’ll plan a work session then. Everybody bring in their comments, their misspelled words, their commas, whatever, and we’ll try to work out to stay…”

Trustee Burhop said, “So what’s the date?”

Supervisor Walter said, “The 19^th, 7:30, here. OK, I would entertain an amendment to the motion to postpone this to the 27^th and that we have a workshop on the 20^th, no, the 19^th. I’m sorry, workshop on the 19^th.”

Trustee Conner said, “So moved.”

Trustee Marine said, “I support that.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, so the motion before us now has been amended to include a workshop on the 19^th to wordsmith this thing. Any other dis… woops, yes, Mark?”

[There was a comment from the audience which was unintelligible on the tape.]

Supervisor Walter said, “I think it will have to be discussed, if they are substantive changes. If they are editorial changes, but if there’s some substance, if something’s simply a clarification of what a sentence says, that’s one thing, but if it has a different meaning then we’d have to send it back to Planning, obviously. OK? All right, yes Greg, did you have something to add?”

Trustee Conner said, “I’d like to suggest that Mark or Planning could be also involved in this review?”

Supervisor Walter said, “Yes, they could advise us whether we’re substantive or not, I would… yes?”

Clerk Lirones said, “I would only say that Planning already has adopted this document, I think we were satisfied with it, so I don’t, we, do, should we have a joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the Board? I think the Planning Commission felt that it was fine, but I don’t know if things are going to be changed, if…”

Trustee Burhop said, “Yes, Planning Commission OK’d it, didn’t they?”

Clerk Lirones said, “Oh yes, we were fine with it.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Yes. I think at this point, it’s just a work session of the Board.”

Clerk Lirones said, “OK.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK? Any further discussion?”

Trustee Marine said, “I would just say, maybe, I bet they will be informed, the Planning Commissioners, and if they’d like to stop in, and obviously we don’t stop public commentary, so they should all be knowing, be welcome.”

Supervisor Walter said, “Oh yes, they’re always welcome, everybody’s welcome.”

Trustee Marine said, “As we, they are.”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK. All in favor of postponing with the idea of having, then, calling a work session next Monday, say ‘Aye’.”

[All members said “Aye.”]

Supervisor Walter said “Opposed?”

Supervisor Walter said, “OK, motion carries. Thank you, and thank you all.”

MOTION CARRIED, AS AMENDED.

Motion by Trustee Burhop, supported by Trustee Marine, to postpone approval of the resolution approving the Comprehensive Plan for Pittsfield Charter Township on August 13, 2002.

Trustee Burhop said that she would not be able to vote for this document due to the number of grammatical errors.

Trustee Brostrom said that numerous editorial changes had been submitted in the past and had been ignored. He asked if a large number of editorial changes could be introduced after the resolution was passed.

Clerk Lirones said that grammatical changes could be made at any time.

Trustee Burhop said that she had heard that said before but that it never ends up happening.

Brad Strader, Township Consultant from LSL Planning, said that many conflicting comments had been received from both the Planning Commission and the Board of Trustees, and said that if the Board could produce one copy that contained all of the agreed upon changes, those changes could be made in a week.

Trustee Burhop said that she did not feel confident that the changes would be made, and that Trustee Marine’s name had not even been put in properly. She said that the errors were not limited to grammar but also included misspellings and inconsistencies in style.

Trustee Conner suggested a brief work session by the Board to work out these changes.

Trustee Marine thanked Trustee Burhop for noticing the error with his name and agreed with Trustee Conner, saying that the previous joint Planning Commission/Board of Trustees meeting had been very helpful. He added that the Board was being asked to review and accept or deny a document for which they had only one chance for discussion and debate.

Supervisor Walter clarified that the motion to postpone was for the idea that a work session would be held in order to get a consensus on the changes. He suggested holding the work session on Monday, August 19^th in order to have a clean copy available for the next Board meeting.

Trustee Brostrom said that there were many instances within the document where it simply was not clear what was trying to be said, and that he would appreciate another chance to read over the draft.

Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Marine, to amend the motion to postpone to include a work session to be held on August 19^th.

Supervisor Walter clarified that any changes in meaning would have to be sent to the Planning Commission.

Trustee Conner suggested that Mark Spencer, Senior Planner for Pittsfield Township, or the Planning Commission, also be involved.

Clerk Lirones said that the Planning Commission had already adopted this document, and asked if a joint meeting was necessary.

Supervisor Walter said that this would be a work session solely for the Board of Trustees.

Trustee Marine said that Planning Commission members would be informed of the changes and welcomed them to attend.

12.5 Motion to Permit Letitia Byrd to defer paying Utility Capital Improvement and Line Extension Fees.

[This portion of the minutes is done in standard summary format.]

Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Clerk Lirones, to permit Letitia Byrd to defer paying Utility Capital Improvement and Line Extension fees.

Trustee Marine asked if this would cause any precedent problems for the township.

Mark Spencer, Senior Planner, said that this would not set a precedent because Ms. Byrd is in the process of rezoning the property, and a land division application is ready as soon as the rezoning goes through. He said that she has two homes on one parcel and only wants to hook up one, thus she only wants to pay fees for the one home. He said that if she decides later that she wants to hook up the other home she will have to pay the full fees.

Trustee Brostrom asked what the amount of the total fees was.

Mr. Spencer said that several thousand dollars would be deferred. He added that this was requested before the whole process was finished was because the pump had failed and she is currently without water.

Trustee Brostrom said that he had heard a figure of $17,000 dollars.

Mr. Spencer said that may be the total cost based on her frontage for the whole project, and this would temporarily reduce that by 30% to 40%.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

12.6 Motion to Approve First Reading Revisions to the Township Utility Ordinance #170.

Removed from the agenda.

12.7 Motion to Approve Request to enter into Department Agreement with Pittsfield Development Group, LLC for Wellesley Gardens CSPA 98-37.

Removed from the agenda.

12.8 Motion to Approve Request to enter into Development Agreement with Rock Construction/Rosewood Associates for Rosewood CSPA 98-47

Mr. Spencer said that these items are designed to protect the township and clarify the responsibilities of both parties. He said that these guidelines need to be in place in order to ensure quality development, guarantees of completion, commitments from the developers to pay the appropriate fees, and other things like insurance and a schedule. He said that he was hoping to use this as a model for all future condominium developments, but that this particular agreement has been fine-tuned specifically for Rosewood Village Condominiums.

Clerk Lirones asked if the request to enter into the development agreement should be approved, or if there was a possibility that there may be some minor changes.

Mr. Spencer said there will be some minor changes and suggested that the motion could be modified to authorize the Township Supervisor to sign a development agreement on behalf of the Township Board.

Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to authorize the Supervisor to sign the Pittsfield Charter Township Condominium Development Agreement with Rock Construction/Rosewood Associates for CSPA 98-47, Draft 8/13/02.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

12.9 Memorandum of Understanding between Pittsfield Charter Township and Rock Construction Company Inc., Hickory Point Associates LLC., and Rosewood Village Associates LLC..

Mr. Spencer said that these memorandums of understanding are produced to clarify what services the township will provide. He said that currently Rock Construction Inc., Hickory Point Associates LLC., and Rosewood Village Associates LLC. owe the township approximately $23,000 in fees. He said that after review of the files, they are willing to pay $16,000 at this time and have the township write the rest of it off as an uncollectible receivable with the condition that they will not sue the township over the inspection fees, or litigate the township over the site plan review items that are in process on Rosewood. He added that the trade-off would be that the township would expedite the process for the Rosewood development.

Supervisor Walter added that one of the problems that this administration had inherited was past due USW fees from subdivisions that had not been paid. He said that the difficulty on many of them was that trying to collect was costing more than the amount collected. He said that, in this case, there is a developer who is anxious to get moving and rather than disputing the issue, a reasonable agreement has been made to get them to pay the majority of what they owe.

Mr. Spencer said that the Township has benefited in the past by writing off receivables that were determined to be uncollectible.

Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to authorize the Township Supervisor to sign the memorandum of understanding with Rock Construction Company Inc., Hickory Point Associates LLC., and Rosewood Village Associates LLC. (See attachment #3)

Trustee Marine asked if this was part of the class action suit against the Township.

Mr. Spencer clarified that that was a different matter.

Supervisor Walter said that this developer had successfully sued for the return of some escrows that had been paid under protest. He said that this was a more inexpensive route than settling the matter in a courtroom.

Trustee Marine asked what the total amount owed was.

Mr. Spencer said $23,217.02 as of June 18^th. He said that Hickory Pointe 3 will still have outstanding inspection fees that will be paid in due time.

Trustee Conner asked how many other developments these companies were working on in the Township.

Mr. Spencer said that only Hickory Pointe and Rosewood Village were currently being worked on.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Marine, Skrobola, Walter.
NAYS: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION CARRIED.

13.0 Items from the Parks & Recreation Department

14.0 Unfinished Business

15.0 New Business

15.1 Proposal from Trustee Marine for Flyer.

Motion by Trustee Marine, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve the resolution for the township to retain the services of Graphic Designer Mary Marine of 5532 Hearthstone Court, located in Pittsfield Township, to design a flier to state the intent of the Pittsfield Board of Trustees to discourage outdoor water use during non-restricted daytime hours by township residents. (See attachment #4)

Trustee Marine said that two meetings ago it had been agreed by the Board of Trustees that the safety issues would be separated from the conservation issues regarding the water ban. In doing so, he said that the Board had decided that an educational flyer would be produced to let the general public know that while watering between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. was legal, it was not encouraged by the Board. He said that up to this point no flyer had been produced and so he had taken charge of the project. He said that it should be done professionally for use this summer as well as in the future.

Clerk Lirones pointed out that the resolution was to hire Mary Marine to design a flyer at a cost of $240. She agreed that the Township could benefit from an educational flyer but said that it was not necessary to hire someone to do it when the township has every capability to produce the flyer internally. She said that the information had been included in the Community Bulletin which will be mailed to every household in the township, and that the issues that the Board had raised had been addressed.

Trustee Conner said that a flyer was available from the Huron River Watershed Council on water conservation which offered many valuable tips. He said that he did not know that any additional information was needed beyond these two items, this flyer and the information in the Community Bulletin.

Trustee Marine said that it was originally stated that an educational flyer would be produced with the implication that it would be passed out along with the watering ban regulations. He said that there had been a compromise to pass an ordinance, and that what is in the Community Bulletin does not fulfill what he believed to be the intent of the Board’s decision at that moment. In regards to the person that he had suggested to hire, he said that he had put together three quotes and the Township was free to hire anyone they’d like.

Supervisor Walter said that he had listened to the tape recording of the meeting and that at no time was there a Board consensus to produce a flyer. He said that if the Board felt that a flyer was necessary then he would be more than willing to put something together himself if someone else could provide the text. He said that he could not see spending the public’s money to do something that for the past 21 months he had been doing for free.

Trustee Marine said that he had also listened to the tape and that a decision to produce a flyer had very clearly been made. He said that Clerk Lirones had made a motion and, not for because there was lack of support, she had later withdrawn the motion during the discussion.

Supervisor Walter said that there had been no support.

Trustee Marine said that the motion never came to a vote and that after it had been withdrawn Clerk Lirones had suggested a flyer and Trustee Burhop had agreed that it was a good idea. He said that this had suggested to him that this was a decision that the Board had made. He said that compromise had been made in order to get his vote in order to help to pass the resolution on the watering ban. He said that it was fine if the Board chooses not to follow through with this, but that originally a decision had been made in good faith to produce a flyer.

Clerk Lirones said that she disagreed with Trustee Marine’s analysis. She said that she had made a motion on which there was lengthy discussion in which no support was offered. She said that she did not want to debate the issue because it was simply a fact.

Trustee Marine said that he would have been happy to have supported that issue but had been unable to do so because discussion had begun immediately, which could clearly be heard on the tape.

Trustee Brostrom commented that the actual distribution of the proposed flyer would cost much more than the design of the flyer. He said that the implications of that go far beyond the $240 fee, which is something that he will be unable to support.

Trustee Burhop said that she agreed that the flyer was a good idea and said that she had been under the impression that one would be produced as well. She agreed with Trustee Brostrom that distribution costs would be heavy, but said that what was enclosed in the community circular would not be adequate. She said she would like to see something separate produced.

Trustee Conner said that the information located within the watershed flyer is a good start to what Supervisor Walter could do, and suggested using the township web site for distribution purposes.

Trustee Brostrom suggested adding information regarding the status of the aquifer within the township which was a long-range concern.

Supervisor Walter said that the point was well taken, but that unfortunately the only ban that could be enacted is on the public watering system. He said that with continued development, the aquifer may be a public concern if the wells start failing.

Trustee Burhop said that if an educational campaign could be started now to have people preserve water instead of just using it properly, it would be a benefit those people on well and septic and will lower water bills for others.

ROLL CALL VOTE:
AYES: Marine.
NAYS: Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTAIN: None.
MOTION FAILED.

15.2 Motion to Approve Personal Appearance Policy and Business Attire Policy.

Supervisor Walter said that this will amend the employee handbook and that modesty and businesslike character are the two main concerns.

Trustee Burhop said that it would be better to postpone this motion because it is too stringent. She said that it may exacerbate feelings among employees and needs to be toned down.

Motion by Trustee Burhop, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to postpone the motion to approve the Personal Appearance Policy and Business Attire Policy.

Trustee Conner asked whether this had been reviewed by the bargaining unit.

Supervisor Walter said that it had.

MOTION CARRIED.

16.0 Public Comment II

Ann Harris, of 2397 E. Textile Rd., said that she was concerned about the Board wanting to scrimp on costs for the water use issues. She said that the residents look to the Township Board to provide leadership on important issues and that this resembled an off-handed effort that was not sending the message that she believed the Board wanted to send. She said that this is a very serious issue and urged the Board that if they felt the same way, to take it seriously and have their concerns represented so that the public can recognize their concern. She said that she would appreciate having a professional brochure in the hands of everyone in the community.

Mark Spencer confirmed that a workshop had been scheduled for next Monday to go over the Comprehensive Plan. He asked what input the Board wanted from the staff in the meantime, and added that an electronic copy could be provided to them via CD. He asked that the format of the meeting be considered beforehand and emphasized that the most important part of the plan is that the policies are laid out clearly.

Trustee Burhop said that, aside from the atrocious grammar and punctuation, in some of the sentences the meaning was not very clear at all.

Mr. Spencer said that if there are specific sentences, it would be helpful for staff to have a list of just those sentences so that they could be reworded ahead of time.

17.0 Adjournment by Supervisor Walter at 9: 15p.m.

______________________________
Arianne Garza, Department Assistant
Recording Clerk
Pittsfield Charter Township

_____________________________
Christina L. Lirones, Clerk
Pittsfield Charter Township

_____________________________
James R. Walter, Supervisor
Pittsfield Charter Township

MINUTES APPROVED AT THE PITTSFIELD CHARTER TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2002.