Middlebury Township PO Box 622, Ovid, Michigan 48866 Election Committee Meeting / Regular Board Meeting Middlebury Township Hall 7627 W M21, Ovid Michigan Wednesday, June 13th, 2017 at 7:00 pm Call to Order: Clerk Brown called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Election Committee Members Present: Supervisor Michael Herendeen, Clerk Rose Brown, Treasurer Stevens Guests: Eight guests were present. Among the guests were Trustee Semans, Trustee Kiger, Arlene Pesik, Carl Chalker, Karl Heckman, Mike Bruff (Commissioner), and Diane & Mike Dowler. Public Comments: None Business: 1.) Approval of the August Election Inspectors: Clerk Brown presented the election committee with a listing of the Election Inspectors for approval. Supervisor Herendeen made a motion to approve all seven Election Inspectors (Susan Tomasek-Swan, Colleen Ruess, Victoria Swan, Shawn Dilts, Emily Dilts, Connie Hettinger, and Rose Brown). Treasurer Stevens seconded the motion. Yes: All Nay: None Carried Final Comments: None Motion to adjourn the meeting: Adjourned at 7:02 pm Clerk Brown made the motion to adjourn the meeting 7:02 pm. Without objection the clerk adjourned the meeting. Regular Board Meeting Call to Order: Supervisor Herendeen called the meeting to order at 7:02 pm with pledge allegiance and prayer by Richard Semans. Board Members Present: Supervisor Michael Herendeen, Clerk Rose Brown, Treasurer Stevens, Trustee Gary Kiger and Trustee Richard Semans Guests Present: Six guests were present. Among the guests were Arlene Pesik, Carl Chalker, Karl Heckman, Mike Bruff (Commissioner), and Diane & Mike Dowler. Scheduled Comments: a. Mike Bruff (Commissioner) – Wind turbines was the biggest topic at his meeting, the new ordinance proposal passed the second stage 7 to 0. Final meeting will be held Thursday to vote to adopt the new version of the wind turbines ordinance proposal that states 450 ft. There were 3 companies at first and now there is only 1 company but their focus of interest is in New Haven. If the board adopts the new ordinances at 450 ft the company basically said they would go away as well. Treasurer Stevens brought up the wire transfer of $52K that was put in the paper. Supervisor Herendeen and Mike Bruff stated that she thought she was communicating with Chairman Bartz in the transaction. She was tricked. They also stated that there are checks and balances in place and that this was a mistake and she has resigned and that they are looking into this and that it is not going away and investigations are underway. Public Comments: None Comments: Opened at 7:20 pm Closed at 7:20 pm Motion to Approve Agenda: Treasurer Stevens made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Trustee Semans seconded the motion. Yes: All Nay: None Carried Motion to Approve Minutes: Trustee Semans made a motion to approve the minutes from May 9th 2018 regular meeting as presented. Treasurer Stevens seconded the motion. Aye: all Nay: None Carried Motion to Pay Bills: Treasurer Stevens made a motion to approve the bills from May 10th – June 13th totaling $8,753.64 with check # 4843-4858 and 3 EFT. Clerk Brown seconded the motion. Aye: all Nay: none Carried Communications: Park and Recreations: Trustee Kiger reported that further education is needed. OMESA: Supervisor Herendeen stated that the footings for the new hall are in place and that in the next couple of months we will be seeing a nice hall to fit all our equipment. Library: No updates at this time. MTA Meeting: No meetings until September Assessor: Diane updated the board that all the data was submitted to state equalization. She also shared that there is a big proposal for assessor reform at both the House and Senate level. The proposal states that anyone that is not at level 3 or higher, or who is elected official can not be appointed as a an assessor. They want the county assessors to be at level 4. Diane is currently at level 3 so she is okay to serve as a township assessor. The proposal wants all assessors to be full time and available at the hall 8 hours a day. Middlebury Township is very small it would not be realistic to have Diane here all day long. It also states that they want to create a district, change BOR and much more. Business: 1.) Kennel Ordinance – A letter was sent to the board regarding the kennel ordinance in our county. Unfortunately we did not have a copy of the letter to present at the meeting. Treasurer Stevens ask Supervisor Herendeen to check into this at work. It relates to a member of the township that currently has an animal rescue center located on her property with a barn and a big fenced in area for the animals awaiting adoptions. 2.) Audit for F65 due September 30th – Clerk Brown made a motion to approve SK&T Audit firm who prepared the F65 prior year to prepare the F65 this year for the township. Treasurer Stevens seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Yeah: Kiger, Semans, Stevens, Brown, Herendeen Nay: None Carried 3.) Property & Liability Insurance Renewal – The board reviewed the documentation that Clerk Brown presented and they approved to have Clerk Brown make the necessary changes, sign the document, and submit the forms to process the renewal. Burnham & Flower will then send us a quote on the proposed changes to the insurance policy for the board to review and approve at a later date. 4.) MTA Listing of Board Members – The board reviewed and no changes needed to be made. Clerk Brown will submit documents for MTA to update their system. 5.) Building Maintenance – Clerk Brown stated that the front door looks like an animal was trying to get it. The sexton asked if we wanted to replace the door or just paint it. The board agreed to have the sexton paint the door due to the fact down the road we will be putting in a new facility. 6.) New Ballot Box – Clerk Brown expressed the deputy and her concerns regarding one our ballot boxes that were approved by the canvassers just recently. Supervisor Herendeen stated that he is fine with us purchasing a new ballot box to replace the old one. Final Comments: Opened at 7:55 pm Closed at 8:07 pm Trustee Semans updated the board on the property exchange negotiations. He stated that the two Johnson brothers just wanted to exchange square footage with the township they were not interested in selling the township any land. Trustee Semans showed his proposed idea and picture to the board of which was 408 ft back from the road and 424 ft wide making it 3.79 acres. The driveway would be off from Austin Road instead of M-21 like it is currently. Supervisor Herendeen made a motion to allow Trustee Semans to continue the negotiations with the owners to exchange land proposed by Trustee Semans and have arrangement made with surveyors and get the deeds drawn up. Clerk Brown seconded the motion. Trustee Semans also mentioned his interest in attending the upcoming workshop thru MTA covering a wide variety of township topics one of interest was the cemetery session. The session will talk about the trends in cemetery management, what green burial and should your township offer it, and cemetery ordinances. The workshop will be help in Frankenmuth on June 26th from 10 am to 3 pm. Supervisor Herendeen made a motion to approve Trustee Semans and Deputy Clerk Tomasek-Swan to attend the upcoming workshop if they would like. Treasurer Stevens seconded the motion. Motion to adjourn the meeting: Adjourned at 8:07 pm Supervisor Herendeen made the motion to adjourn the meeting 8:07 pm. Without objection the supervisor adjourned the meeting. X Rose Brown Clerk Middlebury Township