Township Board Minutes

MINUTES OF THE CASCADE CHARTER TOWNSHIP
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
7:00 P.M.

Article 1. Supervisor Julien called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present: Supervisor Julien, Trustees Beahan, Koessel, Fox, Clerk Goodyke and Treasurer Carpenter.
Absent: Trustee Goldberg
Also Present: Manager Cousins, Deputy Clerk Biegalle, Fire Chief Sigg, Kent County Sheriff Officer Coil, Cadence Reporter Sheila McGrath and Grand Rapids Press Reporter Rick Wilson.

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

Article 3. Motion was made by Trustee Koessel and supported by Trustee Fox to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Article 4. Approval of Consent Agenda
a. Receive and File Various Meeting Minutes
1. Regular Board Meeting Minutes of 03/12/08.
2. Regular Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of 03/03/2008.
3. Kent County Road Commission Meeting Minutes of 02/12/08 and 2/26/08.
b. Receive and File Various Reports
1. Fire Department Report - re: February 2008 Month End Report
2. Fire Department Report - re: 2007 Annual Report
c. Receive and File Communications
1. Letter from Linda Ernst, Ph.D - re: Changing Our Legacy: Making the Earth's Health a Priority for Everyone.
2. Letter from ITC Holdings Corp. - re: Reliability of the Electric Transmission System
3. Letter from Kent County Farmland and Open Space Preservation - re: Annual Fundraiser and Auction.
4. Letter from Synagro Central, L.L.C. - re: Land Application of Waste Water Treated Biosolids for two parcels.
5. Letter from Comcast - re: Changes and Additions in the Channel Lineup.
d. Educational Requests
1. Mildred Pinder - BS&A Fund Accounting I and II - Bath, MI., May 13 & 14th , 2008.
Motion was made by Clerk Goodyke and supported by Trustee Koessel to approve the Consent Agenda. Motion carried.

Article 5. Financial Actions (None)

Article 6. Public Actions (None)

Article 7. Public Comments

Article 8. Unfinished Business (None)

Article 9. New Business
026-2008 Consider Approval of Proposed Buttrick Avenue Repairs.
Manager Cousins reviewed the request the Township had made to the Kent County Road Commission to design a repair along an area of Buttrick. The engineering work has been completed at an estimated cost of $200,000. The Township's share would be 55 percent or $110,000. The Road Commission has advised Mr. Cousins that the project could be done this summer if the Board authorizes the work.
Supervisor Julien stated that the Township has not done many road improvements at the specific request of a group of residents. It would be folly indeed to make these changes to Buttrick and have the residents come before the Board and say "nice try, but it didn't do it". Supervisor Julien felt that we should consult with the residents and explaining the changes to them. Discussion followed.
It was decided to contact the neighborhood associations and invite them to come to the next board meeting to discuss their concerns. Manager Cousins was asked to ask Wayne Harrall from the Kent County Road Commission to attend the next Board meeting also, to explain the proposed changes in the road.
Motion was made by Trustee Beahan and supported by Trustee Koessel to table item 026-2008. Motion carried.

027-2008 Consider Approval of Transfer of Liquor License for Applebee's of Michigan located at 4955 28th St.
Motion was made by Treasurer Carpenter and supported by Clerk Goodyke to approve the Transfer of Liquor License for Applebee's of Michigan located at 4955 28th St. Motion carried by roll call vote.

028-2008 Discussion of Parks Committee recommendations for Manus Property at 7982 30th St.
Supervisor prefaced conversation by cautioning the Board that they not talk about the financial aspects of this recommendation due to the fact that Michigan Open Meetings Act provides that we can go into closed session when we are talking about the purchase price of property, protecting the public interest by not tipping our hand as to how much we would be willing to pay for property. It is his suggestion that we confine the discussion to whether things such as whether this is desirable property for the public to own…how it might be used, why this property might be better for that use than other property within the township and other decisions.
Supervisor Julien posed the following question, "Why this property?" Manager Cousins explained that the Parks Committee met and felt that this would be a good location for a park. The Parks Committee felt there were a lot of potentials for the property and did fit in with the Recreation Plan for the Township and recommend that the Board consider pursuing acquisition. Discussion followed.
It was determined that this should be sent back to the Parks Committee with the instructions to look at the property behind the Fire Station and how it could be developed into a neighborhood park. Supervisor Julien also mentioned to Manager Cousins that we needed to work with the Road Commission and say that we are developing this plan and would like to work with them on requesting a three-way stop or a traffic signal at that intersection and see where it goes.

029-2008 Consider Setting a Public Hearing regarding the Proposed Right-of-Way Ordinance.
Manager Cousins stated the Planning Commission has reviewed the Ordinance. The proposed ordinance mirrors the Metro Act Ordinance that we have in place and would be used for any entity coming in with video for the Township that is not already licensed or permitted under the Metro Act, it is very similar to the Metro Act in that regard. So the next step in the process is to set a public hearing. Public Hearing was set for April 23, 2008.

030-2008 Discussion Regarding the Treasurer's Position.
Supervisor Julien reported on a meeting held of the Personnel Committee regarding the proposed changes to the Treasurer's position. The Committee was proposing using the same model that was approved for the Clerk's Department, where we would go to a part-time Township Treasurer and make sure we had a strong and experienced capable Deputy Treasurer and staff. This is the recommendation of the Personnel Committee to the full Board. Discussion followed. Motion was made by Trustee Koessel and supported by Clerk Goodyke to take the Treasurer's position from the current full time position to part time, starting with the 2009 election year and also establish a salary of $10,000. Discussion followed. Trustee Koessel amended his motion and supported by Clerk Goodyke to include the concurrence of the current Treasurer accepting the $10,000 salary for a period of at least one pay period in order to establish that salary for the interim Treasurer. Treasurer Carpenter stated that she could not make that decision without looking at her "numbers", (i.e. checking with MERS). Supervisor Julien stated that he understood completely, and recommended that the motion be approved with the stipulation that the details are worked out with Treasurer Carpenter. Motion carried.

Article 10. Manager's Comments
Manager Cousins offered the following comments:
" Library has an opportunity for applying for a Grant that would pay one-third of the cost (approx. $2,100) to rework the northeast corner of the Library. The Grant from KDL would be one-third ($700), the Friends of the Library said that they would put up a third ($700) and then the Library is asking the Township to put up the other $700. Motion was made by Trustee Koessel and supported by Clerk Goodyke to approve the expenditure of $700 for the Library. Motion carried.
" We have hired a full time Building and Grounds maintenance worker, John Makuch will start next Monday. Also in the process of filling the four summer help positions that would start May 1st or soon thereafter.
" Sat down after the Board approved the cleaning contracts to make sure that we had everything squared away…decided that we could clean the Township Office twice a week instead of three times a week. We are saving about $200-300/month by doing this.
" Janet Sanders has received her Level II State Assessors Board Certification.
" Pre-construction for Thornapple River Drive next Tuesday.

Article 11. Board Member Comments
Trustee Beahan offered the following comments:
" The Master Plan committees have been meeting, had one last night on the Village Area and it was well received. The week before was the Open Space and there were 28 people in attendance.
Trustee Koessel offered the following comments:
" The Personnel Committee has some applicants for the interim Treasurer's position and will be getting together soon to make that happen and address the other issues that were talked about tonight
Treasurer Carpenter offered the following comments:
" We are all settled with the County Treasurer's Office for the 2007 Tax Roll and we just submitted all our striking information to the committee for striking the delinquent personal property for 2002 in Circuit Court.
Trustee Fox offered the following comments:
" Quick comment to our representative on the Planning Commission…actually sat in on the first half hour of the meeting next door (i.e. Burton St. Project) and would like the Planning Commission to consider the impact that the one hundred homes being proposed would have on the school population.

Article 12. Adjournment
Motion was made by Trustee Fox and supported by Trustee Beahan to adjourn.
Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Denise M. Biegalle
Deputy Clerk

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