Middlebury Township PO Box 622, Ovid, Michigan 48866 Regular Meeting 7627 W. M-21, Ovid, MI Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at 7:00 pm REGULAR MEETING Call to Order: Supervisor Swan called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Board Members Present: Supervisor Jeffery Swan, Clerk Jamie Aldrich, Treasurer Jill Ruess, Trustee Greg Atwood absent and Trustee Gene Ruess Guests Present: Guests were present: 15 Scheduled Comments: Public Comments: Opened at 7:01 pm Closed at 7:21 pm John Gibson, spoke about the racetrack, wants to know who is in charge of enforcing the rules and ordnances. Can not sit on deck and have conversation with wife and hear her. Spoke about how they took down all the trees that acted as a sound barrier. The supervisor advised him to speak to the county as they are in charge of the ordnances. Also asked about blight. Corner of Fenner and Simpson has abandoned truck in yard, it has been there for several years. Supervisor Swan will call county and make a complaint. Chalker, asked about cracked foundation and is wanting a follow up call. Mr. Kline, spoke about 1164 S Warren Rd. Grass has not been cut. James and Ann Barclay. Said the county enforcement man is out sick and has been since April. He was impressed that the cemetery looks great! Gordon Taylor, has the same concerns about 1164 S Warren Rd. He said one of the owners has passed away. The family is trying to get it taken care of. Bob Dennison, spoke about blight on M-21, across from Burton Corners. They are out at all hours of the night making noise and burning. Wants to know what can be done to take care of this. Officer Burns spoke about the county doing DUI traffic stops throughout the county. If anyone would like extra patrol he left cards for them to call. Motion to Approve Agenda: J. Swan made motion to add cemetery tree to agenda and meeting minutes from July regular meeting and July and August special meetings. J. Ruess made a motion to approve agenda as amended. J. Aldrich seconded the motion. Voice Vote: Ayes: All Nays None Carried Motion to Approve Minutes: J. Ruess made a motion to approve July meeting minutes with amendment of removing G. Ruess as he was absent. J. Aldrich seconded the motion. Voice Vote: Ayes: All Nays None Carried J. Ruess made a motion to approve July special meeting minutes. G. Ruess seconded the motion. Voice Vote: Ayes: All Nays None Carried J. Ruess made a motion to approve August 13th special meeting minutes. J. Aldrich seconded the motion. Voice Vote: Ayes: All Nays: None Carried Motion to approve Bills J. Ruess made a motion to approve bills from General Funds in the amount of $17,395.87 with checks #6202-6225 EFTs for $108.92 and Road Checks $47,437.05 ck 1085, 1087, 1088. For a total of $64,941.84 J. Swan seconded the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes: J. Ruess, J. Swan, G. Ruess, J. Aldrich Absent: G. Atwood Communications: MTA- No Meeting. Library- Library meeting was 8/21/24. They had 199 in attendance for the summer reading program. The board approved bills, as well as the L-4029 (tax rate request) keeping the same .75 millage. We approved a new printer for the library as the old printer is over 10 years old and no longer serviceable or cost efficient. They are having an adult painting class in September and encourage people to sign up. J. Aldrich made motion to make A. Wheeler library board rep. J. Ruess second the motion. Voice vote: Ayes-all Nayes-none, motion passed OMESA- Not much going on. Working on social media policy’s. Clerk- Election update. Assessor- Prepared L-4029 got board signatures. No other business. Treasurer- Went over CD interest, asked supervisor to add Treasurer’s cell to website. Also added it to township greeting. Switched LCSA to electronic deposit. Wants copy of SOM deposit to put with her paperwork. Took seminar with BSA on bank reconciliation and GL’ program, found it useful. Business: 1.) Greg Atwood's Resignation and on two ballots - Mike to discuss legal issues. Discuss and/or appoint a new trustee. Jamie- Update on letter from County Clerk. J. Swan made motion to accept G. Atwood’s resignation. G. Ruess second the motion. Voice Vote: Ayes: All Nays: None Carried Much discussion surrounded if the resignation was effective immediately or if a motion was needed to accept it. It was determined that the board functioned under the MCL code and understood that it was not effective until accepted by the board. The board also was functioning under the understanding that Greg was an active board member until now when the resignation was accepted by motion. Ron Powell, wants to see how politics work from the ground floor, wants to give back to the community. His intention is to stick around and learn as much as he can. He would jump through the hoops and look to be a write in. John Gibson, has interest and would like to research the responsibility. Table appointment of new trustee until October meeting. 2.) Driveway update. On 8/13/24 we held a special meeting to discuss a land purchase from Crowe to secure driveway for hall and avoid auction. We entered a verbal contract with Crowe that we would exchange 66 feet of East side of Middlebury Township for the depth of the existing property line for 66 feet to the West of the property line. Middlebury Township had hired Spicer Group to perform the land survey. Middlebury Township would pay for the survey, the land splits and the filing of all documents. On 8/23/24 Crowe sold said property to Rex Wheeler. We will owe Spicer Group for their work as they were in the process of surveying and preparing all documents. Jill spoke about Spicer holding off on the bill until another decision is made. Jeff Swan has spoke to Rex Wheeler about other possibilities, like buying this property and switching out for other property at the corner of M-21 and Austin Rd. 3.) Supervisor Swans concerns regarding the Clerks incompetence. Jamie wanted to bring up the text that she is incompetent, wants true concerns brought to her. She is looking for better communication. Jeff, apologized for text. 4.) Meetings in August. Clerk requests that we have scheduled meetings in August going forward. We have had two years in a row that we have had to call a special meetings. Add to old business for next meeting. Election supply order. Please see attached proposal. J. Ruess made the motion to approve supply order for election source up to $750.00. G. Ruess second the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes: J. Ruess, J. Swan, G. Ruess, J. Aldrich Absent: G. Atwood 5.) Security. Please be mindful of secured doors, cabinets etc. 6.) Lawn ordinance- Return Mail G. Ruess made the motion to have the lawn mowed by Zacharda. J. Ruess second the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes: J. Ruess, J. Swan, G. Ruess Naes: J. Aldrich Absent: G. Atwood 7.) Noise ordinance- Mr. Gibson Spoke in public comment above. 8.) Meeting pay for the office manager. J. Ruess made the motion to approve the office manager to be paid for attending board meetings at current meeting pay rate. Effective 9/10/2024 J. Aldrich second the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes: J. Ruess, J. Swan, G. Ruess, J. Aldrich Absent: G. Atwood 10. Cemetery plot refund and form, and Cemetery SOP. J. Swan wants to have Jodi put together SOP for the cemetery. She will bring it to the next meeting. 11. Meeting public comment. Limit to 3 min. Tabled until this becomes an issue. Supervisor can control this in each meeting. 12. Audit Update. Waiting to hear back from them. 13. Tax Bank Reconciliation. Update that it is not balanced, our auditing firm is not able to help us. 14. Zacharda Farms Bill. Bill was paid as vendor. Going forward we will be pre approving before. 15. Road Commission Bills- Pay when we get them they don’t have to be approved the same way as other bills. 16. Cemetery Materials- We need 10 yards of screened topsoil and 10 yards of crushed concrete. Jodi will handle getting this delivered. J. Swan made motion to get 10 yards of screened topsoil and 10 yards of crushed concrete delivered at the best price up to $3,000.00. J. Aldrich second the motion. Roll Call Vote: Ayes: J. Ruess, J. Swan, G. Ruess, J. Aldrich Absent/Resigned: G. Atwood 17. Cemetery tree that needs to be cut. Mr. Chalker said that the roots from the tree have cracked the foundation of his headstone. Matt suggested that the tree be cut down and he will replace the foundation. Jodi will follow up with Matt to see if there is a price to do this and follow up with MR. Chalker. Old Business: 1.) BS&A Cloud- Jeff will bring quote to next meeting. 2.) Township Website- Jeff said the sandbox is there, made some updates and will hopefully go live in the next week or two. When website is done we will have office manager update the website. - Final Comments: Opened at 9:12 pm Closed at 9:19 pm Bob Dennison asked if we are making any extra money off the racetrack. Continued discussion on noise. Motion to adjourn the meeting: Adjourned at 9:19 pm . Next meeting October 8th, 2024 at 7:00pm X Angela Wheeler Deputy Clerk