APPROVED
Minutes of a Regular Meeting
Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees, July 8, 2003
E.A. Jackson Morris Hall, The Robert A. Lillie Service Center
6201 W. Michigan Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108
___________________________________________________________________________________
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 were present, except for Trustee Marine.
4.0 Open Meetings Act/Public Comment I
5.0 Public Hearings/Presentations
6.0 Approval of Minutes
6.1 Request to Approve Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held on June 24, 2003.
Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Clerk Lirones, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on June 24, 2003, as corrected.
Trustee Burhop suggested changing the word “signing” on page 6, 3rd line from the bottom, and on p.7, 2nd line from the top, to “signage”. She added that on p.8 the “s” should be dropped from the word “resolutions”.
Clerk noted that it should actually read “resolutions were” instead of “was”.
Trustee Brostrom said that in the first paragraph on p.5, under item #11.6, a comma should be placed after the word “testing”. He said that on p.9 the word “available” was spelled wrong and that the word “Deputy” should not be capitalized. He asked if on p.12 Trustee Conner had actually said that the quality will not be good.
Clerk Lirones said that the statement had referred to a prior comment about commercial duplication and suggested replacing the words “this way” with “professionally”.
Trustee Burhop said that on p.10, first line under item 15.1, the word “appointment” should be changed to “appoint”.
MOTION CARRIED.
7.0 Consent Agenda
8.0 Items from the Treasurer
8.1 Resolution Requesting Approval of Robert J. Skrobola as Officer Delegate to MERS and Kristin E. Orlowski as Alternate Delegate to MERS for the Annual Meeting from October 1-2, 2003.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve the appointment of Robert J. Skrobola as Officer Delegate to MERS and Kristin E. Orlowski as Alternate Delegate to MERS for the Annual Meeting from October 1-2, 2003.
WHEREAS, the Municipal Employees Retirement System (MERS) will be holding their annual meeting from October 1-2, 2003, and
WHEREAS, in order to be the municipality’s delegate representative to the MERS annual meeting, the representative must be a member of MERS, and
WHEREAS, the Officer Delegate shall be an officer member who holds a department head position or above, exercises management responsibilities, and is directly responsible to the legislative and/or executive branch of local government,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that by official action of the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees, the Officer Delegate appointed to serve at the 2003 MERS annual meeting will be Robert J. Skrobola and the Alternate Delegate will be Kristin E. Orlowski.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
9.0 Items from the Clerk
9.1 Request Approval for Payment of the Payables, checks #42684-42824, in the amount of $376,362.27.
Motion by Trustee Brostrom, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve the payment of the payables, checks $42684-42824, in the amount of $376,362.27.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
9.2 Request to Approve Resolution #03-32 to Amend the 2003 General Fund Budget.
Motion by Trustee Burhop, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve Resolution #03-32 to amend the 2003 General Fund Budget. (See Attachment #1)
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
9.3 Request for Action: Resolution #03-33 to set Public Hearing Date of Tuesday, July 22, 2003, to Receive Comments re: the Establishment of a Street Lighting Special Assessment District for Rosewood Village Condominiums.
Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Treasurer Skrobola, to approve Resolution #03-33 to set the public hearing date of Tuesday, July 22, 2003, to receive comments re: the establishment of a Street Lighting Special Assessment District for Rosewood Village Condominiums. (See Attachment #2)
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
10.0 Items from the Supervisor/Assessor
10.1 Request the Board to Consider the Proposal and Approve the $825.00 Contribution for a Facilitator to Help the Urban Area Regional Planning & Cooperation, to be charged to account #100.957 – Legislative Board Membership Dues.
Supervisor Walter said that in the past few months there have been meetings with representatives from Washtenaw County, the City of Ann Arbor, the City of Ypsilanti, and the townships contiguous to the latter two, to discuss regional cooperation of planning in the urban area of the county. He said that a facilitator is desired to help the group focus its efforts. He added that most of the cost for the facilitator would be paid by the City of Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Treasurer Skrobola, to approve the $825.00 contribution for a facilitator to help the urban area regional planning & cooperation, to be charged to account #100.957 – Legislative Board Membership Dues.
Trustee Burhop agreed that this is a great idea and asked why a group out of Denver had been chosen for the job instead of a local group.
Supervisor Walter said that this group had recently done a visioning session for the Washtenaw Land Trust, and it was felt that they were familiar with the issues here. He said that everyone in the planning group was comfortable with this selection.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
10.2 Resolution of Appreciation for the Volunteers who Assisted with the Pittsfield Charter Township Environment Day 2003.
Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve a resolution of appreciation for the volunteers who assisted with the Pittsfield Charter Township Environment Day 2003.
WHEREAS, Pittsfield Charter Township Environment Day was held on June 28, 2003, and
WHEREAS, the public turnout for this event was several times as large as previous Environment Days with no break in the stream of vehicles arriving and being processed, and
WHEREAS, the volunteers handled this high volume of traffic with great dedication, skill, and public spirit,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees expresses heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dean Beresford, Jennifer Black, Marilyn Burhop, Patrick Daniels, Jennifer Franklin, Arianne Garza, Beth Hand, Michael Hand, Christine Lapinski, Derek Lapinski, Christina Lirones, Christopher Maciolek, Kristin Orlowski, Verna Phillips-Lowe, Jeff Poissant, Tate Tatro, James Walter, Judith Walter, Darrell Winslow, Laurie Winslow, Connie Zatsick, and Anita Zot for their outstanding work on Environment Day 2003, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Clerk and Supervisor be directed to send a Certificate of Appreciation, a volunteer pin, and a certified copy of this resolution to each Environment Day 2003 volunteer.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
Supervisor Walter said that the Environment Day volunteers this year had gone far beyond the call of duty, and that some had even remained as late as 5:00, picking up computers and loading things.
Clerk Lirones added that 497 cars had come through in 5 hours, as opposed to only about 60 last year. She said that it had been a big day for rubbish clean-up, due to the postcard that had been sent out to residents. She said that it was great to know that all of the rubbish would not be ending up on the sides of rural roads.
Trustee Burhop guessed that there had been more than 497 cars, and that she knew of at least one car that had made 3 trips. She said that it had been exceptionally well-organized.
Supervisor Walter said that people showed up after the 2:30 cut-off time who had not been counted.
Clerk Lirones said that there had been a phenomenal amount of refrigerators, tires, and freezers dropped off. She said that she thought this had been a great event.
11.0 Items from the Office of Public Safety
11.1 Request Approval to Enroll in Survey of U.S. Government (50%) for Fire Lieutenant Gleason, at Schoolcraft College for a cost of $127.50, with class starting July 1, 2003 and ending August 19, 2003.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Treasurer Skrobola, to approve enrollment in Survey of U.S. Government (50%) for Fire Lieutenant Gleason, at Schoolcraft College, for a cost of $127.50, with class starting July 1, 2003 and ending August 19, 2003.
MOTION CARRIED.
12.0 Items from the Office of Municipal Services/Planning and Zoning
12.1 Request to Approve Resolution Authorizing the Hire of Mr. Jeff Keown to the Temporary Position of Utilities Field Technician II, at a Starting Hourly Wage of $11.65 per hr. as stipulated by the AFSCME Union Contract.
Motion by Treasurer Skrobola, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve a resolution authorizing the hire of Mr. Jeff Keown to the temporary position of Utilities Field Technician II, at a starting hourly wage of $11.65 per hr., as stipulated by the AFSCME Union Contract.
Supervisor Walter asked if the temporary status is only until he meets the full qualifications for Field Technician II.
Kristin Orlowski, Human Resources Manager, said yes.
WHEREAS, the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees would like to authorize the assignment of Mr. Jeff Keown to the higher level bargaining unit position of Utilities Field Technician II, on a temporary basis, not to exceed thirty-one days per the AFSCME Union contract, and
WHEREAS, Mr. Keown meets the qualifications set forth in the Utilities Field Technician II job description and has successfully completed the pre-employment hiring process,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Pittsfield Charter Township Board of Trustees authorizes the hiring of Mr. Jeff Keown, to serve in the temporary position of Utilities Field Technician II, effective Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at a starting hourly wage of $11.65 per hr. as stipulated by the AFSCME Union contract.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
12.2 Motion to Receive Housing Inspection Report for the Month of June 2003.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Burhop, to receive the housing inspection report for the month of June 2003.
MOTION CARRIED.
12.3 Request Approval of the Great Lakes Waste/B.F.I. Rubbish Report and to Pay the Bill in the amount of $49,744.50.
Motion by Trustee Burhop, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to approve the Great Lakes Waste/B.F.I. Rubbish Report and to pay the bill in the amount of $49,744.50.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
12.4 Request Approval of a Proposed Emergency Ordinance #257 Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control, to Replace Ordinance #70 and #256 Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Burhop, to approve proposed Emergency Ordinance #257 Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control, to replace Ordinance #70 and #256 Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control.
Mark Spencer, Senior Planner, said that he was requesting that this ordinance be passed as an emergency ordinance because of some confusion that had arisen with the State over the previous one. He said that the emergency ordinance could be passed with only one reading, as opposed to two, enabled by Act 359 of 1947, the Charter Township Act. He said that this had been reviewed by the township attorney who had added some language to make this ordinance acceptable as an emergency ordinance. He added that it will also be replacing ordinances #70 and #256, and will put the township in good standing with the review by MDEQ.
Supervisor Walter asked if the old ordinance was not enforceable.
Mr. Spencer said that was correct. He added that the township could still fall back on Ordinance #70, but that #256 had been a much better ordinance. He said that a final version of the soil erosion ordinance was still in the works.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
12.5 Motion to Receive Building Department Monthly Permit List.
Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to receive the Building Department monthly permit list.
MOTION CARRIED.
12.6 Motion to Receive Letter of Resignation from Kristine Goddard.
Motion by Trustee Burhop, supported by Trustee Brostrom, to receive the letter of resignation from Kristine Goddard.
MOTION CARRIED.
12.7 Request to Approve Resolution Authorizing Municipal Services Department Re-Organization.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Treasurer Skrobola, to approve a resolution authorizing the Municipal Services Department re-organization. (See Attachment #3)
Trustee Brostrom said that under the “NOW THEREFORE” part of the resolution, #3, “software system” should be pluralized.
Supervisor Walter said that the utilities billing and customer service coordinator was the only new position. He said that there had been some problems with YCUA on sewer billings, and that there is a need for someone dedicated to working with Utilities who will be up to date on the software and will implement the reporting systems. He said that at this point the Municipal Services Department Coordinator, Shirley Rickerman, has her time divided among the Building, Utilities, and Planning departments.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
12.8 Resolution to Approve SP 00-03 Hickory Pointe Subdivision Phase 4, Final Plat.
Motion by Clerk Lirones, supported by Treasurer Skrobola, to adopt the resolution of approval for SP 00-03 Hickory Point Subdivision Phase 4, Final Plat. (See Attachment #4)
Mark Spencer, Senior Planner, went over his report and said that everything is in order for final approval at this time. He said that the developer has entered into a Development Agreement with the township and has posted a $50,000 bond for completion and contingency expenses in relation to the improvements.
Trustee Conner asked if the question about the name of one of the parks had been resolved.
Mr. Spencer said that had been cleared up with the township engineer, who had been mistaken on the name sequence.
Clerk Lirones asked if it would be better to change the resolution title to read “…to grant conditional approval”, to match the final phrase.
Mr. Spencer said that the word “conditional” did not belong in the final phrase, and should be deleted. He said the title was correct.
Clerk Lirones asked if the word “we” should be removed from the “WHEREAS” statement.
Mr. Spencer said that “we” refers to the Board of Trustees or the Municipal Services Department.
Supervisor Walter said that since this subdivision had been approved, the possibility has arisen for another subdivision at the Hickory Woods golf course. He asked if there would be outlots available in the event that a public park is placed on part of the land.
Mr. Spencer said that there is an outlot for a road connection, but that it is not in this phase.
Supervisor Walter said that he wanted to ensure easy access to any public park that may be placed there.
Mr. Spencer said that has been considered for the future.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
13.0 Items from the Parks & Recreation Department
14.0 Unfinished Business
15.0 New Business
15.1 Request to Adopt Resolution #03-34, 2003-2004, Work Plan for the Middle Huron Initiative (the final year of the cooperative agreement to reduce phosphorous pollution) and Allocate $1,000.00 for Services Performed by the Huron River Watershed Council, through May 2004.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Treasurer Skrobola, to adopt Resolution #03-34, 2003-2004, Work Plan for the Middle Huron Initiative (the final year of the cooperative agreement to reduce phosphorous pollution) and allocate $1,000.00 for services performed by the Huron River Watershed Council, through May 2004. (See Attachment #5)
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
15.2 Request to Adopt Resolution #03-35, Opposition to House Bills 4820-4828, the “Election Consolidation” Legislation.
Motion by Trustee Brostrom, supported by Trustee Burhop, to adopt Resolution #03-35, Opposition to House Bills 4820-4828, the “Election Consolidation” Legislation.
Supervisor Walter said this proposal had seemed to gain a life of its own. He pointed out some of the worst features of this proposed legislation, including the requirement that voters go to their regular precincts to vote in school elections instead of the usual consolidated school precincts. This would mean staffing and equipping multiple precincts, which would increase costs to schools. He said that he did not believe that anyone was quarrelling with the idea of having four set dates for elections, but that there are quite a few other things wrong with the bills.
Clerk Lirones agreed that the four set dates were never a problem, but rather that the township Clerk is now expected to run the school elections, and that voters would now have to change where they vote for school elections. She said the voters were accustomed to their current voting locations and did not seem to have difficulty finding them. She said she had spoken to some school officials who are opposed to this package as well. She said that this is being promoted as making it easier to vote, less expensive, and simpler for the voter; but in fact it does exactly the opposite. She said editorials were being written supporting this legislation, because everyone likes the idea of making it simpler and easier to vote and increasing voter turnout. She said our township Board supports these goals as well, but this is simply not the way to achieve them. She said that instead the township is recommending that people write to their legislators and strongly support no-reason absentee voting, so voters don’t have to make up an excuse to get an absentee ballot, which would increase voter turnout. She also recommended shortening the time between the last day to register to vote and the election, which is currently 30 days, which disenfranchises many voters in highly mobile communities. She said that all of the goals that supporters have listed regarding the proposed legislation are good, but the actual bills are awful, and disastrous in many ways. She said that this was not just a lot of work for her office, but a financial hit for the township as well, and if schools were obligated to reimburse the township, a cost increase for them as well.
Supervisor Walter said that school districts have very irregular boundaries, and trying to reconcile precincts with school boundaries will be very costly. He said that the current school election system has the voting locations consolidated into a very small amount of precincts. He said that Clerk Lirones and he had taken this to the County MTA meeting, and nobody had supported it there either; yet, the oddly enough the sponsor of this is a former township Clerk, and it is supported by the county Clerk. He said that when a problem is articulated to be solved and a solution is articulated, there should be some sort of connection between the two. He said sometimes the word “reform” can blind people to the problems that could be created.
Clerk Lirones said that this could jeopardize the integrity of Michigan Elections, which are currently very good, and the idea that no one would ever have to change their polling location is ludicrous, since they can change anyway. She said voters did need to look at their voter identification cards to find out where they vote.
Supervisor Walter said that he agreed with having set dates for the school elections, and that voter turnout needed to be addressed, but that it is not clear that this bill will really address that the topic of voter turnout.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
15.3 Request to Respond to the Washtenaw County Conservation District’s Appeal for $500.00 to serve as match for their Michigan Department of Agriculture Department of Forestry and Wildlife Assistance Program Grant.
Motion by Trustee Conner, supported by Trustee Burhop, to respond to the Washtenaw County Conservation District’s Appeal for $500.00 to serve as a match for their Michigan Department of Agriculture Department of Forestry and Wildlife Assistance Program Grant.
|
ROLL CALL VOTE: |
|
|
AYES: |
Brostrom, Burhop, Conner, Lirones, Skrobola, Walter. |
|
NAYS: |
None. |
|
ABSENT: |
Marine. |
|
ABSTAIN: |
None. |
|
MOTION CARRIED. |
|
16.0 Public Comment II-none.
17.0 Adjournment by Supervisor Walter at 8:15 p.m.
_____________________________
Arianne Garza, Department Assistant
Recording Clerk
Pittsfield Charter Township
_________________________
Christina L. Lirones, ClerkPittsfield Charter Township
_____________________________
James R. Walter, Supervisor
Pittsfield Charter Township
MINUTES APPROVED AT THE PITTSFIELD CHARTER TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING HELD JULY 22, 2003.
