1. The meeting was called to order at
2. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of
Allegiance. Trustee Rubingh
offered prayer.
3. The minutes of the July Regular
Board meeting were reviewed. MOTION Rubingh, DeKorne, CARRIED to
approve the minutes as amended (3 typos).
4. The treasurer’s report of
incomes and balances was given. General
Fund Balance: $234,580.51 with $120,000.00 due from the Fire Fund; Fire Fund:
$116,118.71; Liquor Fund: $1,192.63; Road Fund: $31,579.83; Grand Total: $383,541.68. Summer Tax Collection is in progress. Approximately 25% of the taxes have been
collected, a total of $237,206.80.
5. Public Comment: Tom Cooper addressed
the Board with his proposal to reconfigure the plat of
6. Public Comment: Lee Wolgast addressed the Board with a comment on the July
minutes’ entry related to discussion on repeal of the zoning
ordinance. He voiced his concern over
any consideration of repealing the ordinance.
He recognized the ongoing need for amendments but stated he sees the
ordinance as fair, well written and easy to understand. Trustee Rubingh
commented that zoning is one area of contention in the township and he feels
the Board should look at possible repeal to remove that source of
contention. Supervisor Mann reported
that he has spoken with Central Lake Township Supervisor Stan Bean and
discussed the pros & cons and the history of zoning in
7. Assessor Amy Jenema
addressed the Board and explained the laws and regulations that she must abide
by when assessing property. She
explained the effects of foreclosures on properties and that the foreclosure
sale does not set a fair market price due to common problems such as damage
done by the former owners. She attempts
to have uniformity of assessments within neighborhoods. She uses a cost approach to establish values
in the seven neighborhoods within the Township.
The economic condition factors are applied to sales within the
neighborhoods to establish assessments within that neighborhood only. Foreclosure sales
may be used if they are representative of sales for the township… i.e. a
high percentage of sales are foreclosure sales.
remedy the damage and make the dwelling livable
again are added to the sale price of the house to establish the value. Foreclosure does not uncap the assessment
until sold by the lending agency.
8.
Fire Department Report: Chief Groenink is on
vacation. He sent a written report that
Cody Randall has completed EMT training and is a new EMT with the Dept. He will be attending
9.
Planning Commission: Trustee Rubingh reported the Public Hearing for the proposed
language amendments to the zoning ordinance has been scheduled for October
instead of September due to possible attendance issues. September meeting will be a work
meeting. The existing zoning districts
are being evaluated and an overlay map has been created with existing uses over
the existing zoning districts. Owners of
multiple, contiguous, non-conforming parcels will be contacted and informed of
the limits of the non-conformity and the advantages of combining the parcels.
10.
11.
Township Hall: Upstairs wood floor: Bids were received from H&W
Cleaning Services and Walter Russell for light sanding and re-coating of the
floors. H&W’s
proposal was for $2800 and included 2 coats of product. Walter Russell’s proposal was for $3250
and included 3 coats of commercial product.
MOTION Mann, Postmus, CARRIED to award the bid to Walter Russell. John Hastings agreed to contact him and
schedule the work around the rental reservations.
12. Township Hall: Dumpster Contract:
Clerk reported a new contract has been offered by Waste Management for $39 per
month for every other week collection.
This is down from $84 that was offered earlier this year. MOTION Mann, Heeres, CARRIED to approve the
contract for 3 years.
13. Announcements & Information: One
of the air conditioning units for the upstairs had a malfunction last weekend
and required a service call and replacement of an electrical switch that
controls a fan motor in the unit. The AC
installer replaced it at no cost. The
electrician was needed to aide in diagnosing the problem and we may be billed
for his service call. Tim Maylone was onsite last week to upgrade our internet
wireless connection. He also installed
the public access Hot Spot. The public
may access the internet via our hotspot for up to 15 minutes every three days
without a charge. Additional time may be
purchased. MTA County Chapter meeting is
scheduled for
14. Recreation Program with
15.
Correspondence:
16. Clean Up Day: Learned that North
Country Sanitation has been sold to American Waste. Postmus agreed to contact American Waste and
other area haulers to arrange for a hauler for Clean Up
Day in mid-May 2008.
17.
Libraries: Supervisor Mann reported a letter of explanation was received
from Valerie Meyersen of Charlevoix Public Library.
18.
Office Desks: Clerk reports two used desks are available. The Fire Dept does not need either. Clerk will contact the Historical Society,
the Good Sam,
19: Attorney Contact Policy: Discussed
need for such a policy. Need to check
for sample policy with MTA.
20.
New business in Atwood: Treasurer Postmus shared information about
21. Bills represented by the attached
list were presented for approval for payment.
MOTION Mann, DeKorne, CARRIED to approve the
bills as presented.
22.
The meeting was adjourned at
Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Heeres