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PARK TOWNSHIP
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
JUNE,
2003
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here to go back to the Archive page or meeting Schedules.
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The
regular meeting of the Park Township Board held on May 8, 2003, at 6
p.m. was called to order by Supervisor Stuart Visser.
Present
were Supervisor Stuart Visser, Clerk Howard VanRaalte, Treasurer Jan
Steggerda, Trustees Ed Marsilje, Gene Koopman, Amanda Price and Paul
VanDyke, and Attorney Dan Martin.
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The minutes of May 8, 2003 board meeting
were approved
as printed. |
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The Treasurer's Report was given as
follows:
Beginning Balance,
$2,708,763
Receipts,
$262,806
Disbursement,
$146,801
Ending Balance, $2,824,776
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The Fire
Department report indicated 18 calls were made in the month of May with
$2,300 in property damage.
Fire Chief Ken Fought reported all equipment is in good working order. |
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The Zoning
Administrator's Report indicated building permits were issued for 10 single-family homes in
May and a total of $3,901,000.
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Koopman reported that 3 Liquor Inspection reports had been turned in from
May. All establishments were in compliance and good condition. |
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PUBLIC COMMENT
Brenda
Seymour, 1254 Post Avenue, asked for posts in gateway to fairgrounds be
removed so strollers can go through.
She realizes the post were originally installed to keep motorbikes
off the fairgrounds, but noted they enter off of Ottawa Beach Road.
VanDyke
stated the post should remain for reasons of liability.
Earl
Welling reported the Fair Board did not recommend taking out the posts.
Price
questioned why keep the post if motorbikes can get in other ways.
This is a neighborhood park and the residents should be able to
enter easily.
Visser
stated removal of the posts would not be an easy job.
They were installed with concrete.
He suggested unlocking another gate located a few yards east of the
one in question.
The
Board agreed to leave the other gate open on a trial basis.
Kris
Visscher, 656 Harrington Avenue, approached the Board regarding the noise
problem at the Maatman Center. The
Saturday night parties seem to be the biggest problem.
Renters play the music too loud, are very noisy outside the
building, stay past allowed time, drive too fast on Harrington Avenue, and
have been seen with alcohol.
Visser
explained the rules in the rental agreement to the Board. He noted renters are supposed to be out of the building by
11:00 p.m. Loud music and
alcohol are prohibited. Park
Township is entitled to the security deposit of $150 when the agreement is
not followed.
Visser
stated the Public Safety Committee would take this problem into
consideration, and come back to the Board with recommendations.
He suggested: limit the time to 10:00 p.m., increase the security
deposit, and more law enforcement.
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LIBRARY:
A) REPORT, B) APPOINTMENT
Visser
introduced Barbara Osborn who represents the Herrick District Library.
Barbara
Osborn stated she has resided in Park Township most of her life, and that
the residents should be proud of the library.
She introduced Tom Genson.
Tom
Genson noted the Herrick District Library Board has approved the first
step in their strategic plan for the future of the north branch library.
He anticipates an expansion of the existing building.
Genson also stated the staff prides themselves as the library that
will go “the extra mile”. They
will circulate over a million volumes this year.
He thanked Park Township for its support.
Visser
explained Park Township is now eligible for a second representative on the
Library Board. He recommended
Dennis Grylicki for the appointment.
Dennis
Grylicki gave a brief background explaining his work experiences.
MOTION
MADE, MOTION SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by Koopman and
supported by Steggerda to appoint Dennis Grylicki to a 4 year term on the
Herrick District Library Board.
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AQUATIC CENTER APPOINTMENT
Visser recommended Warren
Drooger for reappointment on the Community Pool Board.
MOTION
MADE, MOTION SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by VanRaalte and
supported by Price to reappoint Warren Drooger to a 4 year term on the
Community Pool Board.
Marsilje
suggested for the board to consider having term limitations. |
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PLANNING COMMISSION ANNUAL
REPORT
Visser explained the
Planning Commission’s annual report is on the agenda to show record of
receipt from the Board.
Marsilje questioned if
this is a state law requirement.
Martin replied the
Planning Commission established this annual report. It is to inform the Board of the past year’s activities. |
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HAZMAT PROPOSAL Visser
explained Chief Fought and he went to a meeting at the Filmore County
Complex and was shown a proposal to form a hazardous waste technical team
countywide. This proposal is
not on the agenda for official approval because there may be some minor
changes. One question to be
considered yet is how this is going to be funded.
He also noted it would require 100% participation by the local
governments.
Fire
Chief Ken Fought stated even though we are a small community we already
would have been able to use this technical team.
Visser
stated the first year’s cost is estimated at $4,119.
This does not include salaries.
Price
questioned the reason of the 100% participation requirement.
Martin
replied that it was a goal set up by one of the county commissioners
Chief
Fought stated this project has been in the works for the past 13 years.
It will give us the coverage that we never had before, if such an
incident arises.
Koopman
noted the nearest response for assistance would come from Kent or Muskegan
County. It is very much
needed in Ottawa County. He
also suggested having a Mutual Aide Agreement written in the proposal.
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ELECTRONIC
TRANSACTION AUTHORIZATION
Steggerda explained that
this is a new law that came into effect December 2002.
Currently, water bills can be paid through our Automatic Bill
Payment Plan. Our clerk does
state and federal taxes by A.C.H. Adopting
a policy would make these transactions legal.
MOTION
MADE, MOTION SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by Marsilje and
supported by VanDyke to adopt an electronic transaction policy. |
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CONTRACT AWARD: RANSOM
STREET BIKE PATH
Visser stated over
$300,000 was originally estimated for this project. The recent estimate for the Ransom Street bike path is
$277,000. Our engineer
suggested bidding the whole project, to complete the bike path. $235,734
was the lowest bid by Curt DeJonge Excavating.
MOTION
MADE, MOTION SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by Marsilje and
supported by Koopman to award the Ransom Street bike path contract to Curt
DeJonge Excavating in the amount of $235,734.
Steggerda
stated this is one of the most highly requested paths from residents.
Price
questioned the time line when this should be completed.
Visser
replied completion is 90 days from the time the contract is issued. |
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HEALTH
INSURANCE GROUP WIDE CHANGE
Visser
stated if we kept our same coverage, our health insurance costs would
increase by 22.71%. At a time
when our revenues are decreasing, this is not affordable.
After meetings with our insurance representative, we have found a
way to cut the increase down to 2.15%.
The changes are: a.)
increase the deductible from $100 per person, $200 per family to
$250/$500, b.) Require a
$15.00 co pay for office visits, and c.) change the prescription co pay
from $3.00 to $10.00 for generic and $20.00 for brand names. MOTION
MADE, MOTION SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by Marsilje and
supported by VanRaalte to make a group wide change in the Park Township
Office’s Blue Cross health insurance policy. Price
questioned if this was discussed with the staff. Visser
replied yes, we had met with the staff to discuss and explain these
changes. |
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CLERK
RESPONSIBILITIES / SALARY RESOLUTION
Visser stated the Clerk
position is currently full-time. At
Howard VanRaalte’s request, we are proposing to reduce his time to 25%
(10 hours/week) and reduce his salary to 25%. Deputy Clerk Ellen VanRaalte would work the remaining 75% of
the time (30 hours/week) and receive the other 75% of the Clerk’s
salary.
Martin
stated there is a provision in the state law that indicates in order to
reduce an elected township official’s salary his duties must also be
reduced.
MOTION
MADE, MOTION SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by Marsilje and
supported by Steggerda to adopt the Clerk Responsibility / Salary
Resolution.
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COMMITTEE REPORTS Price
stated on behalf of the Recreation Committee, the Winstrom Park baseball
diamonds would take highest priority.
They are in the process of getting bids for the projects needing to
be done, and will be on the agenda for the July board meeting. |
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PAYMENT OF BILLS
MOTION MADE, MOTION
SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A
motion was made by Steggerda and supported by VanDyke to approve the check
register for May and the bills to be paid for June. |
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ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM
AUDIENCE & BOARD
No audience comments.
Marsilje
reported a proposal for funding the M.A.C.C. projects was submitted last
month. They have lost all of
their funding that they relied upon for the last two to three years. Historically, funding has been $55,000 contributed from
various political entities, and our fair share was about $8,000.
The budget as being proposed is raising this to $300,000 with our
share going to $39,000. Marsilje asked the Board for guidance.
Visser
suggested inviting a representative from the M.A.C.C. to come and explain
the need for the project, what is absolutely necessary, and what could be
delayed.
The
Board agreed. There are
questions and concerns that need to be discussed.
Marsilje will ask a M.A.C.C. representative to inform the Board.
Koopman
stated his desire to eliminate most of the paperwork that is sent out to
the board members prior to the monthly meetings.
He would like us to consider sending information via e-mail. |
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ADJOURN
MOTION MADE, MOTION
SUPPORTED, MOTION CARRIED: A motion was made by VanRaalte and supported by
Koopman to adjourn. |
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Julie Northrup, Recording
Secretary, 6/19/03 |
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