August 20, 2007
The Eckford Township board was called to order at 8:01 p.m. by Supervisor B.
Rapp. Others in attendance were T. Baylis, K. Hinkley, W. Thomas, D.
Malloch, R. Buskirk and Commissioner J. Bolger.
The Pledge was led by Supervisor Rapp and the invocation was given by T. Baylis.
A motion was made to accept the minutes of the July 16, 2007 meeting by W.
Thomas. The motion was seconded by T. Baylis. CARRIED
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The financial statement was given by Treasurer T. Baylis.
INCOME
$ 1928.34
MONTHLY
DISBURSEMENTS $34756.75
BILLS TO PAY
$ 6866.60
A motion was made to accept the Treasurer’s report and to pay all the bills by
W. Thomas. The motion was seconded by K. Hinkley. CARRIED
HOMER FIRE BOARD REPORT
Given by W. Thomas, they are still working on the new by-laws. They are
looking into why their audit costs are so high. They have asked for a
breakdown of the charges that they share with the Village of Homer but so far
they have not given the Fire Dept. what they have asked for.
MARSHALL FIRE FIGHTERS AMBULANCE
Given by W. Thomas, there will be no new ambulance this year unless a major
breakdown occurs. Wayne asked Teresa to fill in for him for the August
meeting. T. Baylis asked him if the MFFA will levy another ½ Mil---yes.
ZONING ADMINSTRATOR
Given by D. Malloch, there were two (2) permits issued this month.
M. Cole--barn
K.
Lawrence--barn
PLANNING COMMISSION
Given by R. Buskirk, the PC is still reviewing the proposed Cemetery Ordinance.
They made a lot of head-way at the last meeting. Rae Etta will be
submitting a proposed Blight Ordinance once the Cemetery Ordinance is complete.
LIBRARY REPORT
NONE
CITIZENS COMMENTS
Calhoun County Commissioner Jase Bolger shared that on Sept. 6 the Commissioners
will meet to vote to see if there will be a changed on the CC Road Commission
Board from 3 members to 5. Mr. Bolger is opposed to this because of the
cost to the County. B. Rapp asked if they all shared a certain amount.
Mr. Bolger replied that they do not. The argument to go to 5 members is so
that 2 members can get together and discuss issues without violating the Open
Meetings Act. Mr. Bolger stated that they can get together now they just
need to post it. B. Rapp asked why there is the question of adding
the other two members. Mr. Bolger replied, because the law has changed to
allow them to go to 5 members. K. Hinkley stated that she did not want
money to come out of the road budget for more members but she did feel that
going to 5 would give more representation to the people of the county and also
give more diversity on the board.
Mr. Bolger also wanted to let us know that at the end of 2007 the 911
legislation expires that the County collects from land lines to help operate the
911 system. Senate Bill 410 and 411 are up for discussion and vote this
September. The Bill must be passed by Sept. 17, 2007 to be able to get the
legislation in before the end of the year. There will be a special meeting
Sept. 13, 2007 and the County Building at 7 p.m. if this doesn’t look like it is
going to pass. If anyone is going to come to this meeting please call Mr.
Bolger before you come at 269-781-2701 to make sure the meeting is still being
held.
The last thing Mr. Bolger wanted to share was that he is against the proposed
closing of our County Health Office here in Marshall. He proposes that
maybe they could move it to the County building in Marshall to help save cost.
He believes it should stay in the County Seat so it is centrally located for the
whole county.
OLD BUSINESS
Wilder Creek—everything is done and ready to sign. We are waiting for the
Club to let the lawyer know what stipulations the Club might have. We are
still hoping to sign around Labor Day.
Propane Companies—W. Thomas did call several companies. Nottawa Gas Co.
was the cheapest. We can lock in rates now and then when we are ready to
switch over all we have to do is call them. Wayne will bring the quotes
next month.
Todd Bishop still has not turned in the checks and permits he has been asked
for. Todd has now asked for the phone numbers of the people/contractors so
he can see if they have paid him or not. Todd has asked K. Hinkley to
email them. K. Hinkley will get what information she can find and email
them to Todd. B. Rapp will call Ken Waito to see if he is a plumbing
inspector of if he knows of someone.
NEW BUSINESS
Resolution 2007-5 Dobbins rental house, this Resolution was read by B.
Rapp and a role call vote was taken. T. Baylis made a motion to approve
Resolution 2007-5 the gift of the James and Sandi Dobbins rental house in
exchange for a tax credit and K. Hinkley seconded the motion.
W. Thomas---Yes
T. Baylis---Yes
K. Hinkley---Yes
B. Rapp---Yes
W. Cornell---absent
Conditional Use Permit for J. & S. Kiessling: it was discussed to approve
the Cond. Use Permit with the same stipulations that the Planning Commission
approved. Plus the Eckford Township Board would like to add the
stipulation that if things are followed as the Conditional Use Permits states
that the Eckford Township Board has the right to revoke the Conditional Use
Permit immediately. The Eckford Township Board decided to table the
discussion until next month and put everything in the form of a Resolution.
ADJOURNMENT
T. Baylis made a motion to adjourn at 8:53 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Kimberly Hinkley
Eckford Township Clerk