Banks Township Special Board Meeting

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

1. The meeting was called to order at 6 P.M. by Supervisor Thomas Mann. Present were Supervisor Mann, Clerk Donna Heeres, Treasurer Katy Postmus, Trustee Tom Cooper and Trustee David Rasmussen. Also present: Hugh Campbell, Andy Veenstra, and Pat Machin. Supervisor Mann led the Pledge of Allegiance and gave the Invocation.
2. Public comment: None.
3. Township Hall Building Committee: Bids were received from two construction firms: Jordan Construction and CDS. The committee reviewed them and had difficulty with interpreting them. Patrick Machin, engineer who is helping with the project, is present to explain the bids to the Board before action to award the bids is taken. Patrick summarized the bids noting that the lift & its installation will be purchased directly by the Township. The Demo & Prep work of the shaft, foundation, electrical service to the lift will be done by the general contractor. He reviewed each line item with the Board and helped to develop a list of questions for each contractor about the individual bids. He reinforced the unknowns in the foundation may create more work & costs. He noted that the bids are extremely close in bottom line totals. Patrick will provide a couple of contacts for grant writers for this project. He suggested we check references for the contractors prior to awarding the bids to determine satisfaction level with previous work. Clerk will contact both firms with list of questions and when answers are received, will forward to the Board. Plan to review again at Board meeting on July 20.
4. Village Square Project: Hugh Campbell addressed the Board with progress on the project. A video is in development for the fund raising campaign. He asked for a township representative to participate.
5. Planning Commission & ZBA Appointments: Supervisor Mann appointed Don Miles to replace Jack Costolo who resigned. Term to expire July 1, 2017. Supervisor appointed Joni Wieland to replace Betsy Randall who resigned due to relocation. Term to expire July 1, 2016. Supervisor re-appointed Bill Austin to a three year term to expire July 1, 2018. MOTION Postmus, seconded by Rasmussen, to approve the appointments. MOTION CARRIED. Supervisor appointed Mike McDuffie, Dennis Penfold, Jack Danbert and Jeff Cook to the ZBA for one year terms. Also, the chairman of the PC will be a member of the ZBA. MOTION Heeres, seconded by Cooper, to approve the appointments. MOTION CARRIED.
6. Board of Review: July meeting is scheduled for July 21 at 7 PM.
7. Planning Consultant: Interviews were conducted with Jessica Spencer and Larry Sullivan for the position of Planning Consultant for Banks Township. Both were asked to provide a list of references and a fee schedule prior to our July 20 meeting.
8. Supervisor will coordinate a meeting with himself, a Consumers Energy representative, Atlas Electric representative, Trustee Rasmussen and Clerk Heeres to discuss the problems related to the installation of our upgraded electrical service at the Township Hall.
9. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Donna L. Heeres
Banks Township Clerk