May 9th 2024 Board meeting
Agenda - https://emmett.civicweb.net/Portal/MeetingInformation.aspx?Org=Cal&Id=216
Accessvision - https://www.accessvision.tv/telvue/873824
Public Comments -
[1:10] Heather Rocho -"...lo and behold I look at... 11.6, scene magazine discussion... I actually read Scene magazine, I actually enjoy Scene magazine. I was actually pleasantly surprised in issue 3?...4? There's an Emmett township update. I scanned thru here, I didn't see Bedford, I didn't see pathetic little Marshall Township. I saw Emmett Township. Kudos. I love it. Media! Media! Media! Oh in issue 4, there it is again. So, I was impressed. idk what the conversation is, I guess I've started it off early. I then of course read the shopper, not always in a timely fashion, but I scan thru the shopper and I see cleanup days June 1... Again Emmett Township. I didn't see Bedford... I didn't see anything but nonsense from the City of Battle Creek... I do have a concern. I love it, I want the information... the transparency. But then, I printed the agenda and I read "grand loop stakeholder" stakeholder implies we've got something to win or lose... This updates everyone... could we couple the stakeholder bymonthly meeting? We got Scene Magazine! We got Media, lets utilize it."
[4:40] Joe Harris - "...Here under the authority of the open meetings act, in case anybodys wondering..." asks questions about the battery plant being constructed and Emmett's involvement w that process. Heavy metals, toxic water, leaking out into the township, etc.
[6:50] Kristine O'Neal - "Scene magazine is really everywhere... it's really a great tool, there's a lot of, it really promotes our township quite a bit. If you look at Deb's article in there. I looked at the last 3 months, 3 articles... there's some road updates in there, how 40% of our roads were chipsealed which is going to extend the life of the roads. There's information on the water system, the grand loop, which is going to increase the capacity of water on Michigan. That will actually be very helpful for economic development included non-marijuana businesses. Budget meeting information... public safety continues to be a highlight... also mentions businesses by name coming to the area. I think it's a lot of useful information. I'm actually curious... I wonder how many of you sitting up there actually read the articles when they come out. It's good information. In addition to the article, we also get a business card sized ad, it doesn't cost us anything extra for that... If we just did the card, it would be $200. The card and the article are $200, so the article is kinda like a freebie w the card, that's the way I see it."
[8:55] Bishop Richard Bailey - "if you don't mind I'd like to use my 3 minutes to pray. Kind father in the name of Jesus we thank you for today, we thank you for all the provisions you've made for us this day. Father we pray we lift up all of our leaders that we have selected that represent us in this township. We pray Father that you would guide them. Pray heavenly Father that you would allow them to hear from you and do what is best for all of us. God we need you now more than we have ever needed you in this country's time. Please Father have mercy on Earth as we seek to do your will. In Christ Jesus name I pray, Amen.
[10:00] Approval of agenda - all yes
consent agenda - all yes
[11:00] check register - Juhnke has some questions, how expensive it is to dismiss an employee. Brown has questions about lawn care. All yes.
[13:50] Supervisor Report
Rod Auton, Calhoun County Senior Services Manager, here to introduce himself.
[17:00] Candidates for the August 6, 2024 election are now officially posted. I wish everyone the best luck.
We now have a new website! Check it out! We are now up to the current times, plus our old website platform was being discontinued. I want to thank my Deputy Jacob Schacht for heading this project up and getting all the quotes and information together. I would also like to thank Pam and Melissa for forming a committee with Jacob to make design decisions and work out all the kinks.
Along with a new website look, we are getting a new website URL that will also update our email addresses. We will now have @emmettchartertwp.gov replacing emmett.org. This contributes to giving the Township a more consistent government identity.
I continue to attend the meetings for the grand loop. Both are stakeholders meetings of which Emmett is a stakeholder. The first stakeholder meeting happens bi-weekly and this updates everyone involved on the process of the battery plant. This meeting discusses a variety of things from when the traffic lights activate or if any job fairs are being held and any other foreseeable issues that have or may arrive. The other stakeholders meeting is for the engineers and contractors. They update us on the project at hand with the grand loop. This meeting is held once a month.
In April, I attended a county wide supervisors meeting with the county road department to discuss the plans they have for roads this summer. We will be chip sealing the Shadowood subdivision this summer. Chip seal is the top maintenance procedure when it comes to extending the life of a road. We are proposing later in the agenda to chip seal some other roads and do some crack filling in preparation for chip seal next summer.
I held testing for four officers that submitted a letter of interest in being a Sergeant. They will all be moving on to the oral board or interview process in the near future.
If you remember, I chair the Firekeepers Local Revenue Sharing Board committee this year. At our last meeting, we voted on applications for Tier II funding for the 2023 calendar year actual specific costs. Our Township was approved for $47,853.63 in addition to the final payment for the fire apparatus agreement in the amount of $47,749.98.
As some may have noticed, our front door hasn't been right since the truck drove into the building. We were holding off until the building remodel was decided. Since that was voted down, I have moved forward with collecting quotes to replace the entrance door. I am currently waiting on two more quotes.
I have met with an economic development specialist a couple of times and included the planning administrator in one of them. We learned about ways we can help current businesses expand their operations and also ways to help new businesses and housing come into our Township. I am always open to exploring ideas to help our Township continue to grow.
[22:10] Clerk's Report
The May 7th Special Election has been completed! I will have up to date numbers on voter turnout at the Board Meeting Thursday night!
As we wrap-up this election we are already planning for August! Ballot proofing will begin soon.
Attached to this report you will find a complete list of candidates that will appear on the August 6 ballot.
Flags were ordered this last week for Veterans and will be placed before Memorial weekend to honor all of those who have served our Country in all three Cemeteries.
Our department is also gearing up in preparation for the Audit this next month.
-Agendas & Minutes can be found on iCompass, /Portal/
Candidate Listing for August Primary
[25:15] Treasurer's Report
I sent out delinquent personal property notices the week of April
22nd and we have already received $2,493.49 back from those. I will be
sending out special assessment notices out next week as well. I was
referred to Michigan Class about investing from another treasurer, so I
met with Jeff Anderson back on April 17th. That is still a work in
progress and I will provide more information at the board meeting in
June.
[28:10] Public safety report
In the last 30 days there have been 837calls for service.
698 Law Enforcement
139 Fire & EMS calls.
Traffic Crashes: 57 Alarms: 24 Domestics: 22 Shoplifting: 34
Medical Emergencies: 56 Structure Fire: 5 Vehicle Fires: 0
April did see a slight uptick in call volume. As per usual, this is to be expected. With
warmer weather starting citizen activity and interaction will increase. We again had a
decrease in overtime hours to 192 for the month of April. One of our officers was
released to return to work, which helped greatly. We did receive an update on another
officer. That officer was given physical therapy, and the anticipation is that he will be
released to return to work upon the completion of that therapy. As per standard, we do
attempt to cover Monday-Friday day shift vacancies with Lt. Geigle or I to try and help
mitigate the overtime. PSO Brown is anticipated to graduate from the police academy
on May 28 th and will then be assigned for field training. Field training is another 16-18
weeks. PSO Williams is nearing the end of his second phase of field training and
should complete the process soon. I have spoken with Supervisor Belles, and we will
be looking at the public safety budget to see if additional personnel can be supported
with our current budget. I have been advised that the grant allowing departments to
send people to the police academy will likely end the next academy cycle. If we want to
take advantage of that program, we need to be prepared to place someone in the
academy by August.
Currently, two officers are now attending the fire academy.
We are continuing to focus on shoring up our command staff with a sergeant’s
process. The written examination has been administered and the scores have been
recorded. The second part of the process will be oral boards. I am in the process of
trying to coordinate schedules with the panelists but anticipate having this portion of the
process completed within the next couple of weeks.
Lt. Geigle is putting a proposal together for a new Rescue 7 truck to submit to
Supervisor Belles, then she will disperse to the board. Lt. Geigle has also been
working with Supervisor Belles on getting us pre-approved, so we are ready when units
become available. The challenge has been to be ready when they become available so
being pre-approved will help us be first in line to purchase. Look for this in the future.
The patrol cars recently purchased are in the process of getting the internal
equipment installed and should be deployed within the next week or so.
PSO Hickman begins K-9 training on May 6 th. This will be a four-week training block.
We are excited to have the new K-9 addition and I am happy to have a long-standing
issue resolved.
As always, thank you to the board and our community for all of the support!!
Respectfully submitted,
Lt. Brady Keys
M&M Auto Sales, Inc.
All yes
[40:20] 11.2 Road treatment agreements for chip seal and some crack fill and approve budget amendment
The Calhoun County Road Department only approved the Shadowood Subdivision chipseal work for the 2024 construction season. We looked at other options for the season and targeted collections of single/isolated streets. The budget amount for this season's work just reflected the normal amount saved per year but needs to actually reflect the 2024 expenditures and intended use of fund balance to fund this work. This budget amendment will correct that.
[43:10] 11.3 First Read of Ordinance No. # of 2024 Firing Range Ordinance (all yes)
Ord 2024-# Firing Range Ordinance
[45:40] 11.4 First Read of Ordinance No. # of 2024 Indoor Recreation Ordinance (all yes)
Ord 2024-# Indoor Recreation Ordinance
[47:00] 11.5 Consider Master Plan Revision Consultant Proposals
Proposals from Beckett & Raeder and McKenna.
BRI - Emmett Township Master Plan
Master Plan SCORE SHEET Consensus
All yes, voted for BRI
[50:00] 11.6 Scene magazine discussion - Clerk Myers said Trustee Brown and Mead had originally wanted to discuss this, but Brown has nothing to say about it. Juhnke originally had questions, but after seeing the evidence that it is beneficial has changed his mind and wants to keep it.
[51:40] 11.7 Consider increasing 457 employer match from 2% to 4%
All yes
[55:00] 11.8 Appoint Andy Millen, Jeremy Culver, Kelley Zaleski, and Ester Leonard to Parks Committee
They have been the parks committee helping advise on how to spend the park millage, but they were not officially appointed. We would like to make them official and begin laying out ideas for improvements to the River Rd parcel.
All yes
[56:55] 11.9 Accept appeal for FOIA
All yes
[59:35] Public Comment
Teresa Myers - thanks Tracy Myers for purcahsing, doing lines in parking lot
[1:00:00] Brandy Kerry - wanted to introduce myself, running for Clerk
[1:00:30] Debra Steward - running for Clerk position. Been a resident for 20yrs, doing it now bc I'm retired.
[1:00:50] Tonya Wilkey - running for Trustee, resident for 8 years. Registered nurse working for the Battle Creek VA, been in nursing for 10+ years. Held some leadership positions, just a mom trying to raise happy kids.
[1:01:45] Heather Rocho - Defines integrity, says she's against the megasite.
[1:04:00] Joe Harris - discusses the Freedom of Information Act.
[1:07:00] Toni Gore - running for Treasurer
[1:07:20] John Harris - What are they doing about all the trees they're taking down?
[1:08:00] Denise Brodock - running for Trustee, been here for 55 years. Wants to support the ppl of this township.
[1:08:40] Georgina Morris - New gas station, my concern is traffic
[1:09:20} Steve Zaborski - Regarding 11.7 that's 100% increase that you approved tonight.
[1:10:00] Kathy Jahr - welcomes Ryan, concern about the speed on 10mi road
[1:14:00] Tracy Myers - announces she's running for supervisor position.
Jim Juhnke - licensed Michigan Attorney, wants to know what's the delay w the settlement w Mr Bye. running again for trustee.
[1:16:25] Ryan Leonard - agree w traffic concerns, perhaps lowering the speed limit.
Tyler Sobeski - running again for Treasurer, thanks everybody for coming out.
[1:18:20] Stephen Titus - Glad to see the participation, will be running again for trustee.
Deb Belles - really appreciated the prayer before the meeting. Thanks everybody for coming and introducing themselves, I'm also running again.
Comments
Post a Comment