Sheridan Township Board of Trustees Meeting
August 18, 2020
7:00 pm
I. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Richard Porter at 7:00 pm.
Pledge: The pledge was led by Richard Porter
Present: Roll call: Randy Fisher, Scott Frederick, Shanna Pollman, Stephanie Craig, and Richard Porter.
Absent: None
Audience:
II. Approval of Agenda: A motion was made by Shanna Pollman, 2nd by Scott Frederick to accept the agenda as written. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed.
III. Approval of previous Township Board Minutes: A motion was made by Randy Fisher, 2nd by Shanna Pollman to accept the minutes. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed
IV. Payment of Bills: A motion was made by Scott Frederick, 2nd by Randy Fisher to pay the bills. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed
V. Treasurers Report: A motion was made by Scott Frederick 2nd by Shanna Pollman to accept the report as presented. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed.
VI. Correspondence:
1. Calhoun County Treasurer: 2 properties that we get right of first refusal. We did not act on these properties.
2. Fire station addition. Prices have gone up so this is on hold for now.
3. Off road vehicle track has been corresponding trying to move forward.
VII. Committee Reports
1. Planning Commission/Roads – Scott Frederick. Nothing on the roads. Plannin commission meeting last week. Greek Orthodox church in Albion is trying to purchase the Knights of Columbus. They are trying to get a conditional use permit. Richard added that they did do the chip and seal on C drive. The culvert on H drive was also done today; 28 mile has not been completed yet.
2. Fire – Chief Lance Lohrke. See the attached report for the calls for July. Training for July was First ten minutes, scene set up. Talked to the City Chief about why we are running so many calls for the City, and what they are going to do about it.
VIII. Public Comment: Gary Tompkins. County buildings are now open. Some are by appointment only. Communicated information on the 911 surcharge for the November ballot. Spoke about the turnout for the August election and the increase in voter turnout. Both the Senior and the Parks millage passed. Sheridan Township will get approximately $5000 per year for 5 years for parks. 28 Mile Rd culvert grave has eroded. Gary has spoken with them to make sure that they keep up on the gravel in that spot until it is paved. Discussed his newsletter. Richard asked about the projected income from the 911 surcharge. Over 3 million dollars is the expected revenue.
IX. Unfinished Business: None
X. New Business
1. Discuss opening up hall and office hours. August 24th. Until September 3rd we plan to remain as we are. Scott has heard no complaints. The drop box has been a big help. August 24th Shanna and Richard will both be on vacation. No one will be there that can take taxes. We are thinking of closing that day. A motion was made by Scott Frederick 2nd by Randy Fisher to close on August 24th Notice will be posted on the door on Thursday.
2. Discuss raising application fee’s for Conditional Use, amend zoning ordinance and conditional use permits. Richard has discussed with Dan Sloan and felt that we are low on our fees. Scott wonders if we are losing money on those. Discussion followed on how the fees work, and how the monies from those fees are allocated. Scott wants to know if we can find out what is included in the base price of the fees. Megan says some townships have a base fee for a special meeting. Site plan review is done in house for residential, and there is a different fee for commercial. We can do more research. Megan can find information and examples from other communities that we can look at. Table this until we get more information. A motion as made by Randy Fisher 2nd by Scott Frederick to table this until we get more information and ideas.
3. Table: Public hearing to establish an Industrial Development District for River Forks Solar, LLC. Planning commission meeting is scheduled and property owners have been notified. They would like us to have the application for them after that meeting. Randy provided information for us to read. Could the lawyers go through the document to simplify it for us. The big question is about the taxes. They are offering us $150 thousand per year. We want to make sure that this does not negatively affect the Fire Department. Richard is told that the people contacted rarely show up to the meeting. They will be in a hurry to get this done as it needs to be done before October 31 if they want the exemption for 2021.
4. Discuss Hazard Pay for Election Inspectors. Stephanie explained the proposed election inspector hazard pay. Discussion followed about where the money would come from. A motion was made by Randy Fisher 2nd Scott Frederick by to approve the hazard pay for the August election as outlined by the clerk. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed
5. Discuss raising Fire Department bill fee to $20.00. Since we raised the firefighters pay in April, we should have raised this fee as well. It is currently $15. This fee was calculated when we were paying our firefighters less than we currently are. This would go into affect September 1st. A motion was made by Randy Fisher 2nd by Shanna Pollman to raise the Fire Department bill fee to $20. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed.
6. Discuss adopting new Conditional Use Permit Application. Randy caught an error on page 2 section 5. A motion was made by Randy to accept the new Conditional Use permit with the proposed corrections. 2ny by scott. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed.
XII. Adjourn: A motion was made to adjourn by Scott Frederick 2nd by Richard Porter at 8:16. Roll call vote; all in favor. The motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Stephanie Craig, Secretary
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