CALHOUN COUNTY
Supervisor Rapp called the Eckford Township Board to order at 8:00 p.m.
Others in attendance were W. Cornell, W. Thomas, K. Hinkley, T. Baylis, A & L. Blight, R. Buskirk, D. Masternak, John LaPietra, Kevin Henning. ABSENT: NONE
Supervisor Rapp led the group in the pledge and T. Baylis gave the invocation.
A motion was made to accept the minutes of the July 21, 2008 regular Monthly by W. Thomas and supported by W. Cornell. CARRIED
T. Baylis, Treasurer gave the financial statement with:
RECEIPTS for July of $ 2400.22
DISBURSEMENTS of $ 13166.98
BILLS TO PAY $ 10564.02
T. Baylis stated that we needed to take $500.00 from the Capital Account to the Miscellaneous Account because the State deposited tax money in our General Fund Account instead of the Tax Account.
W. Thomas made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report
and pay all the bills. W. Cornell
seconded the motion.
CARRIED
K. Hinkley made a motion to take $500 from the Capital Account to the Miscellaneous Account to cover the tax money deposited in the General Account. W. Thomas supported the motion. CARRIED
Given by W. Thomas, there are 3 new MFR people on the Fire Dept., Powers, Wilson and Burke. The United Way has given them a grant of $2000 for fire protection. At the meeting the Chief K. Swope proposed to buy a new or used suburban type vehicle to use for medical runs. There were 2 runs in Eckford last month. CORRECTION: W. Cornell asked if it’s a rust out before a wear out reason for buying the smaller used vehicle? W. Thomas stated that insurance and gas are just a few reasons.
Given by W. Thomas, the audit has been completed and everything was good except one thing. They need to change the policy for the way the director’s pay is done. The director is in charge of turning in all the work times and his own which is not a good thing. So they need to have someone else do his so there is a checks and balances procedure.
Given by R. Buskirk, there have been 2 permits for this month.
C. Cook – pole barn
W. Monk – deck roof
W. Cornell, D. Masternak and R. Buskirk attended the MTA Zoning Enforcement Seminar on 8-12-08. They all enjoy the conference and learned new things. After talking to the MTA attorney at the conference R. Buskirk will send a copy of the proposed zoning ordinance complaint procedure to Atty. Moore for his approval.
PLANNING COMMISSION
Given by W. Cornell, the Blight Ordinance is making good progress. The main issues on how much junk with the different zoning categories.
LIBRARY REPORT
Given by K. Hinkley for L. Dunn, the Library finished a successful Summer Reading Program. Last year 236 adults signed up for the program and 101 completed the requirements. This year 357 (a 51% jump) registered and 154 finished the program – more than 50% additional people reading or listening to the required 10 books. The youth numbers are not in yet. During June and July, many new items were ordered in the forms of books/reference materials and DVD’s.
CITIZENS
COMMENTS
Kevin Henning from the Calhoun County Road Commission, unfortunately funding hasn’t changed in many years from the gas tax. The CCRC receives a portion of the .19 cents per gallon of gas purchased. Funding is down 20% this year alone. He has sent his supervisors to training to learn how to better improve the quality of our roads. We get the same amount of funding as our neighboring counties and they are doing a better job. We need to figure out what that is and change our strategy. He is trying to move forward and create a new plan for our counties roads. Sealcoating should be a preservation for our roads not a fix. The asphalt patching just done on F. Drive S. cost $40,000. He is talking to she Sheriff about a Weighmaster position to help with over-weighted trucks traveling on our township roads. This would bring in revenue for the county and help our roads. The CCRC will be using a salt/sand mix again this year to help save money. T. Baylis asked about cutting trees. K. Henning stated that they aren’t doing much cutting because of the cost but they are willing to help residents if they choose to cut them themselves. B. Rapp asked about the roads Mr. Randolph said he would fix this year, K. Henning stated that he would see if there was a resolution to do this. That is the only way he can help us with those roads.
John La Peitra candidate for County Clerk from the Green Party shared his political experience and what he would do as clerk. He is willing to in whatever capacity he is need.
Art Blight shared that there were 4 runs in Eckford last month for the Marengo Twp. Fire Dept.
COMMUNICATIONS
A list of communications were distributed and attached to the monthly minutes.
OLD BUSINESS
R. Buskirk will be getting Attorney Moore’s opinion on the Zon. Ord. Complaint Procedure.
K. Hinkley asked if any other board members wanted to attend the MTA Fall Dist. meeting so that she could get them faxed in for the earlybird deadline. No one else decided to attend.
NEW BUSINESS
Dawn Masternak has been appointed by B. Rapp to the Planning Commission to fill R. Buskirk’s position. W. Thomas made a motion to accept the appointment of Dawn Masternak to the Eckford Township Planning Commission. W. Cornell seconded the motion. CARRIED
B. Rapp presented R. Buskirk with a Certificate of Appreciation for the years that she has spent on the Planning Commission. Thank you, Rae.
August 5, 2008 Primary turnout was a 29% turnout with 279 registered voters coming out to vote out of 945 registered voters in Eckford Township. We did better than the State’s average of 20%.
T. Baylis presented the board with a proposal to add a page to our website for her taxes. This would cost a one-time fee of $109 to get the page set up. There would be a link to BSA for anyone to get on and look up their tax information.
W. Thomas made a motion to pay the $109 to get a tax page setup on the website and to have those who access the information pay for the costs to view the tax information. W. Cornell seconded the motion. CARRIED
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made to adjourn by W. Thomas at 9:25 p.m.
and seconded by K. Hinkley.
CARRIED
Respectfully submitted by,
Kimberly Hinkley
Eckford Township Clerk