Township Board Minutes

MINUTES CASCADE CHARTER TOWNSHIP

REGULAR BOARD MEETING

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

7:00 P.M.

Article 1. Supervisor Julien called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Supervisor Julien, Clerk Goodyke, Treasurer Carpenter, Trustees Parrish, Currier, Koessel and Beahan.
Absent: None
Also Present: Manager Cravens, Deputy Clerk Biegalle, Planner Deem, Senior Appraiser McCarty and those listed on Supplement #1.

Article 2. Supervisor Julien led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Article 3. The Agenda was revised to include the following:
" Article 8. 033-2006 - Consider Approval of Resolution to Support Michigan's Quality Home Help Program.
The Agenda was approved as revised on a motion by Trustee Koessel and supported by Trustee Beahan. Motion carried unanimously.

Article 4. Approval of Consent Agenda
a. Approval of Township Board Minutes
1. Regular Meeting Minutes of 04/26/06.
b. Receive and File Various Meeting Minutes
1. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of 04/17/06.
c. Receive and File Various Reports
1. Kent County Sheriff Department East Precinct Quarterly Report - January 1 thru March 31.
2. Building Department Month End Report for April, 2006.
d. Receive and File Communications
1. Memo from Sandra Otey - re: Discharging of Firearms within the Township.
A motion was made by Trustee Parrish and supported by Clerk Goodyke to approve the consent agenda. Motion carried unanimously.

Article 5. Financial Actions
a. Consider Approval of Bills, Transfers and Payroll for April, 2006.
Motion to approve Bills, Transfers and Payroll for April, 2006 was made by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Clerk Goodyke. Motion carried unanimously.
b. Consider Approval of General/Special Funds Financial Reports for April, 2006.
Motion to approve the General/Special Funds Financial Reports for April, 2006 was made by Clerk Goodyke and supported by Trustee Parrish. Motion carried unanimously.
c. Consider Approval of Public Utilities Financial Reports for April, 2006.
Motion to approve the Public Utilities Financial Reports for April, 2006 was made by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Clerk Goodyke. Discussion followed. Motion carried unanimously.

Article 6. Public Actions
a. Public Hearing - Request for approval of IFT Exemption Certificate for new facility for Janesville-Sackner Group.
Motion by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Trustee Koessel to open the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.
Senior Appraiser McCarty reviewed the abatement for New Equipment to be located at 3232 Kraft Ave., Janesville-Sackner Group. The request is for equipment only and no building improvements are included in the request. Presently Janesville-Sackner has 85 employees at the Kraft Avenue facility and with this project 10 jobs will be created. Keith VanMilligan was present to answer any questions regarding the abatement and also gave some background on the company. Motion by Clerk Goodyke and supported by Treasurer Carpenter to close the public hearing. Motion carried unanimously.

Article 7. Public Comments (None)

Article 8. Unfinished Business
033-2006 Consider a Resolution Supporting Michigan's Quality Home Program.
Motion by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Trustee Koessel to remove from the table. Motion carried unanimously. Clerk Goodyke and Manager Cravens reviewed the Appropriation Bill with the Board. Discussion followed. Motion by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Trustee Koessel to approve the Resolution supporting Michigan's Quality Home Program. Motion carried unanimously with a roll call vote.

Article 9. New Business
037-2006 Consider Approval of IFT Exemption Certificate for new facility for Janesville-Sackner Group.
Motion was made by Trustee Koessel and supported by Trustee Beahan to approve the IFT Exemption Certificate for Janesville-Sackner Group. Motion carried unanimously with a roll call vote.

038-2006 Consider Approval of Type II Special Use Permit to allow a nursery for 9500 Cascade Road.
Planner Deem was present to review the Type II Special Use Permit to allow a nursery at 9500 Cascade Road. Planner Deem stated the building would be located more than 200 feet from the nearest property line, equipment and machinery will be sorted indoors and motor vehicles will be stored indoors when not in use for more than 2 weeks. It was also stated all stockpiled materials and nursery stock will be located more than 200 feet from any property line and in an area that minimizes visual impact. Motion by Trustee Koessel and supported by Treasurer Carpenter to approve the Type II Special Use Permit to allow a nursery for 9500 Cascade Rd. Motion carried unanimously.

039-2006 Consider Approval of Proposed Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance.
Planner Deem reviewed the proposed amendments to the Zoning Ordinance. Staff was recommending some semi-procedural amendments that would impact several different chapters of the Zoning Ordinance. The idea of this amendment would be to provide a "catch all" for uses not listed in each section, but are similar to something already listed. Motion by Trustee Koessel and supported by Clerk Goodyke to approve the proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance as recommended by staff. Discussion followed. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

040-2006 Consider Approval of Township Business Survey Document and its Distribution.
Manager Cravens submitted the draft of the new Township Business Survey Document. Manager Cravens stated that one of the Township Goals this year is to "Form a government/business task force to recruit industrial businesses to Cascade's industrial area." In order to accomplish the goal effectively it was thought that a survey to township businesses would be the best initial step in this process.
Trustee Koessel commented he felt the "cover letter" was too long, with too much stuff to read. He felt it should be brief and to the point. Supervisor Julien agreed, with a suggestion to take the "good stuff" and put it in an addendum. Discussion followed on the value of the survey. It was the consensus of the Board to go ahead with the survey but to focus on the Industrial District within Cascade Township.

041-2006 Discuss Progress on 2006 Township Board Goals.
Manager Cravens submitted a progress report to the Board regarding their 2006 goals. Discussion followed.

042-2006 Consider Purchase of Service Credit (MERS) for Steve Peterson.
Clerk Goodyke explained Steve Peterson was interested in buying additional years toward his retirement. The Resolution is required by MERS to be approved by the governing body. Motion by Trustee Koessel and supported by Clerk Goodyke to approve the Resolution for Steve Peterson to purchase Service Credits (MERS) subject to Steve paying for the additional years. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

Article 10. Manager's Comments
Township Manager Cravens submitted the following item for Manager's
Comments:
" Garlic Mustard Contest…proposes to take in bags of garlic mustard in exchange for $1 bag tag.

Article 11. Board Member Comments
Trustee Currier commented on the following:
" Had information regarding John Porter/Firefighter and the availability for health insurance through the Armed Forces been researched? Clerk Goodyke reviewed the information found.
Trustee Parrish commented on the following:
" Republican Women's Forum coming up.
" Report dead birds to Public Health Department.
Trustee Beahan commented on the following:
" Results of the School election.
Supervisor Julien commented on the following:
" Convened into Personnel Subcommittee to discuss an RFP for Wage/Salary Study & Staffing Level Study. (Trustees Currier, Parrish, and Koessel exited from the meeting) Discussion followed. It was the Committee's consensus to go out for bids on the RFP and review the information on whether or not it will be cost effective/wise.
" Asked Manager Cravens to look into what other municipalities were doing regarding their medical plans.

Article 12. Adjournment
Motion by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Clerk Goodyke to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously.

Meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Denise M. Biegalle
Deputy Clerk

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