Board minutes
2006-07 Regular Board Minutes
Thursday July 13, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. the regular meeting of the Middlebury
Township board met at the Ovid Municipal Building at 114 East Front St. Ovid,
Michigan. The meeting was called to order by Supervisor Anthony Sinicropi with the
pledge to the flag. Prayer was given by Trustee Charles Simpson. Board members also
present were Clerk Audrey Sovis, Treasurer Carolyn Stevens, and Trustee Paul Dutton.
There were 7 visitors present including Sinicropi’s sister from New York State.
Scheduled Comments: Deputy Steve Loomis brought the Middlebury Township
911 statistics for the month of June. He reported that problem intersections within the
township are being patrolled in an effort to control traffic violations. Justin Horvath and
Lindsey Eister from the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership came and left
the 2005 annual report and the 2006 business plan. An overview was given on current
businesses that had come into Shiawassee or were looking at this area.
Public Comments: There were none.
General Business: A motion was made by Dutton, seconded by Simpson to
approve the agenda as presented; all ayes, no nays, carried. A motion was made by
Simpson, seconded by Dutton to approve the minutes of the June 8, 2006 regular board
meeting; all ayes, no nays, carried. A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as
presented was made by Sovis, seconded by Dutton; all ayes, no nays, carried. A motion
was made by Simpson, seconded by Dutton to approve the payment of the July bills in
the amount of $15,683.62 (ck #’s 1704-1718); motion was carried by signature vote. A
motion to approve the payment of the August bills as there will be no meeting in that
month, was made by Sovis, seconded by Stevens; all ayes, no nays, carried.
Communications: A motion was made by Stevens, seconded by Simpson to send
4 planning commission members to a Planning Conference August 29, 2006 in Clare, MI
at a cost of $35 per person; all ayes, no nays, carried. A motion was made by Sovis,
seconded by Sinicropi to send Rich Givens to a seminar on Funding Township Programs
and Services; all ayes, no nays, carried.
Unfinished Business: Sovis reported that she had called Attorney Mark Cooley
twice during the current week and left a message for him to call her back with the status
of the cemetery property deed. He did not return her call, she said. Sinicropi said he
would contact Cooley tomorrow, July 14.
A motion was made by Sinicropi, seconded by Dutton to purchase a posting board
for the hall and the cemetery at a cost not to exceed $700 total; roll call vote: Dutton aye,
Simpson aye, Stevens aye, Sovis aye, Sinicropi aye, no nays, carried. It was discussed
and agreed upon that the posting board at the cemetery needs to be mounted at the front
of the property and the posting board at the town hall should be mounted on the front of
the building.
Sinicropi reported that the former Metz property clean-up project is completed
and paid for; now the board must decide what to do with the lot. Because its location is
between a county drain and a state highway, its future function is quite limited, as it
cannot be built upon. Sinicropi will inquire about several possibilities and report at the
next meeting. Leighton Leighty entered at 7:55 p.m.
New Business: Resolution 2006-6 A motion was made by Simpson, seconded
by Dutton to approve the signing of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)
Resolution which states that the NIMS is established as the Township standard for
incident management; Roll call vote: Stevens aye, Sovis aye, Sinicropi aye, Simpson
aye, Dutton aye, carried.
Sinicropi stopped the meeting at 8:10 p.m. and the election commission meeting
was called to order by Sovis. A motion was made by Stevens and seconded by Sinicropi
to appoint the following people as election inspectors for the August 8, 2006 election:
Audrey Sovis (R) Chairman, Anthony Sovis (R) ½ day, Dennis Smalec (D), Marsha
Unterbrink (D), Lois Wadsworth (R), Eileen Wheeler (R) ½ day, all ayes, no nays,
carried. The meeting was closed at 8:13 p.m. and the regular meeting resumed.
A motion was made by Simpson, seconded by Stevens, to approve the appointed
election workers for the August 8, 2006 Primary Election; all ayes, no nays, carried.
County Commissioner James Capitan entered at 8:15 p.m.
A motion was made by Sovis, seconded by Sinicropi to designate that Metro Act
monies be spent on dust control of the roads in Middlebury Township; roll call vote:
Stevens aye, Sovis aye, Dutton aye, Simpson aye, Sinicropi aye, no nays, carried.
A motion was made by Sinicropi, seconded by Dutton to approve the payment of
a one year subscription for the Domain Name Service for the Township’s webpage; roll
call vote: Sovis aye, Sinicropi aye, Simpson aye, Dutton aye, Stevens aye, no nays,
carried.
A motion was made by Sinicropi, seconded by Stevens to pay for Leighton
Leighty to attend the MTA’s Summer Zoning series at a cost of $160; all ayes, no nays,
carried.
Resolution 2006-7: A motion was made by Sovis, seconded by Dutton to
approve the amendment of the Middlebury Cemetery Rules with the addition of Section
I, K; using numbers to describe grave locations within any given lot rather than directions
(north, south, east, west); roll call vote: Stevens aye, Sovis aye, Sinicropi aye, Simpson
aye, Dutton aye, no nays, carried.
Resolution 2006-8: A motion was made by Dutton, seconded by Stevens to
approve the amendment of the Middlebury Township Cemetery Rules with the addition
of Section II, 6; imposing a $50 service charge to exchange a vacant plot for another
vacant plot within the cemetery; roll call vote: Dutton aye, Simpson aye, Sinicropi aye,
Sovis aye, Stevens aye, no nays, carried.
Resolution 2006-9: A motion was made by Dutton and seconded by Sinicropi to
reimburse the clerk for work on recording the cemetery records into the computer
program at the rate of $9 an hour; roll call vote: Sinicropi aye, Simpson aye, Dutton aye,
Stevens aye, Sovis aye, no nays, carried.
Reports: Jim Capitan reported that the Rails to Trails Authority now has the
portion of money needed from Shiawassee County to work on the deed search along the
trail.
Discussion took place regarding the older Kubota mower used for cemetery
mowing. A motion was made by Sinicropi, seconded by Dutton that the clerk will write
up a request for bids along with the previous Metz property and publish it in the local
papers; all ayes, no nays, carried.
Dutton reported that the library’s summer reading program has 225 participants
who have agreed to read 18 books in 6 weeks. To date, 100 have completed the task.
At 9 p.m. a motion was made by Stevens, seconded by Sovis to adjourn; all ayes,
no nays, carried.
Audrey Sovis, Clerk