Banks Township Board Meeting

Monday October 17, 2011

1. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 P.M. by Supervisor Thomas Mann. Present were Supervisor Mann, Clerk Donna Heeres, Treasurer Katy Postmus, Trustee Marvin Rubingh, Trustee Mark DeKorne. Also present: Andy Veenstra, Jerroll Drenth, Dan Bean, Aaron Nordman & Jim Malewitz of Performance Engineering, Kevin Makarewicz of C2AE, Dan Ulrich of Northwest Design Group.

2. Supervisor Mann led the Pledge of Allegiance and Trustee DeKorne opened the meeting with prayer.

3. The minutes of the September Regular Meeting were presented. MOTION Rubingh, DeKorne, CARRIED to approve the minutes as presented, amending a couple of typo errors.

4. The treasurer’s report of incomes and balances was given. General Fund Balance: $68,163.75 with $300,000 due from the Fire Fund; Fire Fund Balance: $24,049.85; Roads Fund Balance: $35,339.80; Liquor Fund Balance: $1,604.52; Grand Total: $129,157.92. Treasurer Postmus reported that she is able to accept credit card payments online now for property taxes.

5. Public Comment: Sheriff Dan Bean presented his monthly report of department services for Banks Township. There was an increase of 16 calls over the same period in 2010. He reported that an officer had been injured in the line of duty and will be off work recovering for an unknown period of time. He reported there is an open position for a 911 officer. He reported that Milton Township Fire Chief Brian Howard died and his funeral service will be on Friday. Banks Township Board extends sympathy to the Howard family and Milton Township on the loss of Brian.

6. Public Comment: Jerroll Drenth, Antrim County Commissioner representing District 1, addressed the Board on county commission activities. The 2012 budget has been adopted with some cuts in spending and use of some fund balance to balance it. The Grass River Building held its Grand Opening on October 15. The Meadowbrook Expansion is now back underway after several months’ delay. It is likely that the bids will have to be re-drawn due to the time lapse. The Antrim Creek Natural Area Committee met last week. Our appointee, Jacob Veenstra’s term will be up the end of this year. He asked that the Board make its appointment in November to allow the County Commission to ratify the appointment at its December meeting.

7. Park Bids: Kevin Makarewicz of C2AE Gaylord Office presented his firm’s proposal for improvements to the Banks Township Park on Lake Michigan. He outlined plans to assist with grant applications from the Mi NRTF and the Recreational Passport Grants. 2013 would be the earliest for start of construction if we wish to utilize grant funds. Aaron Nordman and Jim Malewitz of Performance Engineering addressed the Board with their proposal for the park improvements. Dan Ulrich of Northwest Design Group gave his firm’s proposal for the park improvements. Written proposal from Harry Wieringa of Fleis & Vandenbrink was distributed to the Board. MOTION Heeres, Mann, CARRIED to schedule a meeting for Monday, October 24 @ 7:30 PM to award the project work, allowing the Board to review the proposal in detail and to check references on each firm.

8. Fire Department: The second fire tanker truck has been advertised on Craig’s list with interest from one party but no offer to purchase. The Firemen’s annual dinner is scheduled for December 6. The roof project has not been started yet, first payment to the contractor is in the bills for approval tonight, and the payment from the Insurance Company for the cost less $500 deductible has been received.

9. Zoning Administrator: Andy Veenstra reported one permit was issued for a garage. He plans to attend the Watershed Council meeting on November 9 @ Hayo-wenta-ha. The new pad installed @ the American Tower site has a 150KW generator.

10. Recreation Committee Survey: Treasurer Postmus reported on the Rec Committee meeting and the survey the Committee is planning to upload to Survey Monkey. A notice will be placed in the newspaper and on the tax bills informing the public of the availability of this survey. Paper copies will be available from the Township Office. MOTION Postmus, DeKorne, CARRIED to approve this survey and modes of notification.

11. Music Festival: Treasurer Postmus reported complaints of excessive noise from a music festival held recently south of Atwood. The music was continuous over 3 days, including overnight. Also, there were fireworks that were shot off late one night. The Sheriff Department was contacted and asked the festival operators to turn down the music overnight. This did little to quiet the event. The complainants asked what regulation could be done to avoid this in the future. After discussion, the Board asked the Clerk to draft a letter to the festival organizers addressing the concerns and ask for voluntary compliance to avoid this situation in the future.

12. Planning Commission: Trustee Rubingh reported on the recent Planning Commission activities. Public input on the proposed RV amendments was heard from 4 property owners.

13. Township Hall: Discussion on a 5 year plan for improvements to the Township Hall was tabled due to time constraints. Clerk reported no input from the janitor yet on job duties. Development of a list of duties was begun and will be prepared for the Board’s review. Clerk will place an ad in the Antrim Review for a Township Hall Superintendent with ServSafe Certification preferred. Routine cleaning and light maintenance will be expected in addition to security detail and coordination of hall rentals.

14. Village of Ellsworth/Banks Township Recreation Program: Statistics provided by Village President Hugh Campbell were distributed and reviewed. MOTION Mann, Postmus, CARRIED to approve this payment to the Village and release the check prepared in September.

15. ACNA Appointment: Supervisor Mann appointed Jacob Veenstra to the ACNA commission for a three year term commencing January 1, 2012, contingent upon his willingness to continue to serve. MOTION Heeres, Rubingh, CARRIED to approve this appointment.

16. Snowplowing Bids: Bids were received from Matt Heeres Excavating and Drogt & Sons Excavating. Township Hall: Heeres: $30, Drogt: $18; Ellsworth Fire Hall: Heeres: $30, Drogt: $18; Atwood Fire Hall: Heeres: $30, Drogt: $24; Cemetery Vault Building: Heeres: $25, Drogt: $20. MOTION Rubingh, DeKorne, CARRIED to award the snowplowing at all four locations to Drogt & Sons Excavating.

17. Phragmites: Clerk reported the treatment has been completed. The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has awarded a $4000 grant to the four Antrim County townships that treated phragmites this year. Payment of $1000 has been made directly to the provider on our behalf. Our cost ended up at $1925. The new guidelines for proper disposal of Invasive Species were received from Heidi Shaffer @ the Antrim Conservation District. These guidelines have been posted on the website.

18. Snowmobile Trail permission: The Jordan Valley Trails Council has again requested permission to be granted an easement and right-of-way over and across lands owned by Banks Township. (North of the Ellsworth Fire Hall). This easement is granted for the sole and specific purpose of affording access to the general public for a snowmobile trail only. It is part of a trail system sanctioned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and sponsored by the Michigan Snowmobile Association. MOTION Mann, Heeres, CARRIED to grant this easement for two seasons and the permit shall remain in effect until March 31, 2013.

19. Info Items: A recycling event will take place on Saturday October 22 from 9 to 1 PM @ the Antrim County Building in Bellaire. The State Tax Commission has approved an Air Pollution Control Exemption for William Austin.

20. Lakeshore Drive: Supervisor Mann reported on a meeting he attended in Norwood Township related to the designation of a Natural Beauty Road for Lakeshore Drive. The Charlevoix County Road Commission has denied the application for this designation and the Norwood Township citizens held a public hearing to gain support. This designation might allow the road to be paved less than the current standard of 22 feet. Norwood Township Supervisor Frank Hamilton shared a legal opinion provided by Bryan Graham supporting the belief that paving can take place after NBR designation. The Township Board agreed to table the forwarding of the petition of its Lakeshore Drive citizens requesting NBR designation.

21. Banks Township Historical Society Building: Supervisor Mann reported that the BTHS has asked to be allowed to remove the four basement windows that are rotted and leaking badly and replace them with concrete blocks at BTHS expense. He gave them permission to do this project.

22. Next meeting will be held Monday, October 24 @ 7:30 PM. (Special meeting) Next regular meeting will be held Monday, November 21 @ 7:30 PM.

23. Bills represented by the attached list were presented for approval for payment. MOTION Mann, Rubingh, CARRIED to approve the bills as presented.

24. The meeting was adjourned at 10:47 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna L. Heeres

Banks Township Clerk