Sheridan Township Board of Trustees Meeting
June 16th, 2020
7:00 pm
I. Call to Order: Richard Porter called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
Pledge: The pledge was led by Gary Tompkins
Present: Roll call: Scott Frederick, Shanna Pollman, Stephanie Craig, and Richard Porter.
Absent: Randy Fisher - Excused
Audience: Lance Lohrke, Doug Pollman, The Hammond Family, Linda DeBrule, Harold Badger, Gary Tompkins
II. Approval of Agenda: A motion was made to approve the agenda as presented by Scott Frederick, 2nd by Shanna Pollman. All in favor. The motion passed.
III. Approval of previous Township Board Minutes: A motion was made by Shanna Pollman to approve the March 17th meeting minutes 2nd by Scott Frederick. All in favor, the motion passed. A motion was made by Shanna Pollman to approve the May 4th meeting minutes 2nd by Scott Frederick. All in favor, the motion passed. A motion was made by Scott Frederick to approve the May 7th meeting minutes 2nd by Shanna Pollman. All in favor, the motion passed. A motion was made by Shanna Pollman to approve the May 11th meeting minutes 2nd by Scott Frederick. All in favor, the motion passed.
IV. Payment of Bills: A motion was made by Scott Frederick to pay the bills, 2nd by Shanna Pollman. Roll call vote. All in favor, the motion passed.
V. Treasurers Report: Revenue and sharing will be down this year but otherwise things are looking good so far.
VI. Correspondence: Road projects that are being done. Chip and seals. We received a check for $5,000 from the casino last week. Since the casino did so well last year, they decided to invested money into the local townships.
VII. Committee Reports
1. Planning Commission/Roads – Scott Frederick – They have had no meetings so there is nothing to report
2. Fire – Chief Lance Lohrke covered the months of March, April, and May. Chief Lance went over the number of calls for the months and what they were for. See attached report. There was a total of $10,691.50 for the 3 months of calls. April training was cancelled. May is drivers training, and that will go through June. The state had shut down training, but it is starting back up now. The new fire truck is now delayed due to Covid-19. It will be about 4-6 weeks out now. The Fire Department applied for another truck and we might have gotten it; they are waiting to find out for sure.
VIII. Public Comment: Mike Hammond introduced himself and talked about the motocross track on 28 Mile Rd. He’s been running it for 10 years. Dick informs him of what needs to happen in order to re-zone the property to legally run the track. They are trying to get a temporary permit. Mike states that they have brought 200 people into the township in the 4 weeks that they were running. He explains why it is helping the township by bringing in revenue. Dick states that we can’t give a permit until it goes through correct processes as it would be illegal, and you cannot get a temporary permit. The planning commission is trying to decide when their next meeting would be allowed without being in violation of what the state is permitting. Discussion about virtual meetings followed. In order to hold a meeting about this topic the people within 300 ft of the property need to be notified in writing. The cost for these meetings needs to be considered. The property would need to be re-zoned as light industrial instead of its current zoning of agricultural. Also adding a section to the ordinance to allow for the new zoned property which is currently zoned as agricultural. The cost of lawyer fees must be considered as well.
Commissioner, Gary Tompkins – County offices are open as of June 15 by appointment only. There is a “Safe Start and Preparedness” plan on the website about reopening the buildings. There will be 2 millages on the August ballot. Senior Millage and also a new Parks Millage. The County recycling tire collection has been postponed. The county commission meeting was cancelled. All meetings in June will be in Zoom format. The transportation study is complete; there will potentially be a millage put on the ballot for this. Roads – 2.5 million dollars down due to Covid-19 and the revenues and sharing going down. 40 miles of chip and seal is all that will be done. Discussion on what needs to be done is ongoing. Bridges – we have 11 bridges; 1 good, 7 fair, and 3 poor. Bridges are included in Gary’s road plan that he will continue to push. Senior services saw a 6% increase. Potholes were discussed, and the fixing schedule was touched on. The idea of going back to gravel was talked about, and the reasons why it doesn’t make sense. The worst roads were talked about (especially J drive N). Scott wants the road closed because it is so bad; he doesn’t want people hurt.
IX. Unfinished Business: None
X. New Business
1. Approve 2020-2021 Board Meeting Dates – Dick talked about the meeting schedule and said that they might need to be Zoom meetings after this one. Gary says that it might be possible to do live meetings in July. A motion was made to approve the board meeting dates by Scott Frederick, 2nd by Shanna Pollman. All in favor, the motion passed.
2. Discuss opening up hall and office hours – Dick talked about the hours that we are keeping right now. Monday and Thursday 9-12. We are getting everything completed that needs to be done in those 2 days. He is proposing that we open the office Monday and Thursday 9-3; and by appt only for Tuesday and Wednesday until further notice. Since we have the dropbox Scott thinks 2 days are sufficient. Sherrie would be there until 3, everyone else until 12 as normal. A motion was made by Scott Frederick, seconded by Shanna Pollman to have Township Hall business hours set to 9-3 Monday and Thursday and by appointment only on Tuesday and Wednesday until further notice. A roll call vote was taken with all in favor. The motion passed.
3. Discuss contingency fund/approve expenditures – Dick reviewed recommendations for budget amendments for 2019-20 that had not been addressed previously due to Covid-19. A handout for budget revisions was distributed and discussed. There was discussion on an error in the Clerk salary. Dick stated that due to the untimely passing of the Clerk Wesley Cuatt, he was requesting an increase in the Clerk salary line item for Training per the Budget Revision documentation as he did not want to request a return of a portion of his salary from his widow. A motion was made that the 2019-20 budget be amended to increase the Clerk budget by reducing the contingency fund and authorize the expenditure. Roll call vote was taken, all in favor, the motion passed. Dick asked to use the contingency fund to fix the balance of the budget amendments provided to the Board. After discussion, a motion was made to approve the 2019-20 budget amendments and expenditures. A Roll call vote was taken with all in favor. The motion passed.
4. Solar Field update – A third company is filing this week called Pine Gate Renewable Energy. They have two 200acre parcels. The meetings for that will need to be virtual. They would like to break ground late fall of early spring. Savion sold to DTE for $60,000,000. They have already given the $140,000 for the escrow account for the fire department. They want to be online by 2022. Pine Gate Renewable is planning on 2021.
XII. Adjourn: A motion was made to adjourn at 8:17 pm by Scott Frederick 2nd by Shanna Pollman. All in favor. The motion passed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Stephanie Craig, Secretary