KIMBALL TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES
2160 WADHAMS ROAD, KIMBALL, MI 48074
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 20, 2021
6:30 P.M.
Usakowski opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL OF OFFICERS: Usakowski, Jackson, Wrubel, Sturdevant, Hoffman and Deland.
ABSENT: Ward.
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APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Wrubel motioned to approve the agenda as presented supported by Jackson.
Motion Carried.
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PRESENTATION OF MINUTES FOR APRIL 6, 2021 AND APRIL 08, 2021
Jackson motioned to approve the minutes of April 6, 2021 and April 8, 2021 as presented supported by Sturdevant. Motion Carried.
III. CONSENT AGENDA AND COMMUNICATIONS
A.
Check Register from 03/31/2021 to 04/13/2021
- Revenue & Expenditure Report for Period Ending 04/30/2021
Sturdevant motioned to file and pay the bills totaling $199,135.92 supported by Jackson.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Sturdevant, Jackson, Usakowski, Wrubel, Hoffman and Deland. NO: None. ABSENT: Ward. (6-0-1) Motion Carried.
- BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS
None.
- PUBLIC COMMENT (Brief Comments)
Dennis McCallom, 702 Allen Road: Is the 900,000.00 that the township will receive going into a separate account?
Usakowski: We plan on putting that into a separate account. We are not sure completely what all we can use that money for yet.
Discussion.
McCallom: Why are we paying for Neil Erickson to go to the conference he is going to in person with all the Covid related issues?
Usakowski explained.
McCallom: Wondered about political signs, fire arms and several other issues he worries about.
Discussion.
- DEPARTMENT REPORTS
Assessing-Kelly Timm
Kelly couldn’t be here tonight but she did leave us her information.
We had a total of 56 people petition to the Board of Review. The veteran’s exemption and poverty exemptions were 38 of those so they only had 18 people contesting their property evaluations.
Last year they were able to switch over portions of our data base to meet the CAMA Data Standards. These are new standards set by the State of Michigan.
They have visited 1,115 parcels last year. The goal was 1,000 and that was despite the three months missed due to the Covid outbreak.
Next year we will be audited with an AMAR review.
2021/2022 goals is to visit 20% of the parcels, which is about 1,000 parcels to complete the AMAR review.
Deland: I see that Four Lakes is going to the Tribunal again this year.
Usakowski: Yes.
Deland: Weren’t they the ones that risked going to the Tribunal last year and you approached the county and other recipients of a lot of the tax money to see if they wanted to chip in and fight that?
Usakowski: Correct.
Deland: They didn’t.
Usakowski explained.
ZBA-John Sturdevant
At a previous meeting we approved a Class A designation for property on Isabelle. There is a trailer back there that is in need of repair and they want to remove that trailer and put up something new. Neil told them that anything new would have to meet the square footage of today’s ordinance which that one doesn’t. So it would have to be bigger than what is there but we gave them a Class A designation because they are going to improve it.
Property owner for the ammonia plant, where it sits right now, is dividing that into three separate parcels. We gave them a 4-1 ratio variances for the parcels because they are skinny and long. There is a pond on the property that encroaches the property line. It is supposed to be 30 feet away and it is only 10 feet away so we had to give them a variance for the pond.
The proposed center parcel of that property is what High Grade Concrete is interested in to put their plant back in there. It would be back in there about 500 feet from the road. So by the time the trucks hit the road, there won’t be anything left on the tires to track onto the road. They are in negotiations with the property owner now.
The corner of Griswold and Allen Roads, they split that lot and we had to give them a variance for road frontage because they were too close to the road. The garage is right on the property line so they have to address that.
Deland: What ever happened to the greenhouse on Range Road?
Sturdevant: The greenhouse on Range, they appeared for us to get a Class A designation which would allow them to rebuild from a previous business that was there. We did give them a Class A designation for that but also in the zoning book under C-1.
Discussion.
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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NEW BUSINESS
- Resolution #11-2021: To Sell Tax Foreclosed Property
Jackson: We are going to be sending letters out to residents that live within 300 yards of the properties when this gets approved. They will be posted in The Times Herald and our website. There are bid forms for people to fill out. The resolution will need to be approved first. This money has to be put separate if we sell any of these.
Wrubel: My name is spelled wrong on the paperwork. Will the lawyer fees come out of this money?
Jackson: Yes.
Deland motioned to adopt Resolution #11-2021 to sell tax foreclosed properties supported by Jackson.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Deland, Jackson, Hoffman, Sturdevant, Wrubel and Usakowski. NO: None. ABSENT: Ward. (6-0-1) Motion Carried.
- Annual Outdoor Warning Siren Prevention Maintenance Program
Sturdevant: I talked to Chief Gratz about this and he said that previously Westshore was able to get two or three sirens done a year at a cost of $3,000. We still have one, possibly two that are nonfunctional. With this agreement, they are going to work on all eight of them and put the two back together that don’t work and get them working. The batteries themselves are close to $300. So we are getting service on all eight sirens at $400 apiece and that is going to include a new battery every three years. It’s being looked over by the county now.
Sturdevant motioned to approve the $3,200 for the Annual Outdoor Warning Siren Prevention Maintenance Program supported by Wrubel.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Sturdevant, Wrubel, Jackson, Hoffman, Deland and Usakowski. NO: None. ABSENT: Ward. (6-0-1) Motion Carried.
- Budget Adjustment
Usakowski: We will bring this back to the next meeting.
- Resolution #11-2021: To Sell Tax Foreclosed Property
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AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
None.
X. OFFICERS REPORT
A. Supervisor Usakowski
Little League is opening this weekend. The fields are looking pretty good. Little League came out there and worked on the infields. The restrooms will be open for that weekend plus we are bringing in some additional port-a-johns.
Smiths Creek Park is still pretty wet.
DPW did a great job with the water main break. They stayed onsite until 2:30 in the morning. We appreciate all their work.
B.
Clerk Wrubel
We are working on cleaning the Range Road area, LaFrance, Garfield, etc. They have found several leaks and manhole covers that have been pushed down.
I need approval for Hickory and Marlette Roads area. They were working on the mapping, and as they were working on it they were also checking curb boxes and D boxes and we had several repairs they had to make on these boxes. So I have a $900 bill for HP Electric to go in and fix those curb boxes and D boxes.
Sturdevant motioned to approve the $900 bill for HP Electric for checking the curb boxes and D boxes supported by Usakowski.
ROLL CALL VOTE: YES: Sturdevant, Usakowski, Jackson, Wrubel, Hoffman and Deland. NO: None. ABSENT: Ward. (6-0-1) Motion Carried.
We’ve had two water main breaks. Port Huron Township had bored into our water main. They got it fixed and we had a boil water alert for all of Kimball and Clyde townships. It was hard to get it out to the media outlets because no one would answer their phone. I left my message anyway.
Usakowski: I can post the message on Twitter and it will be picked up there before any phone call.
Our second water main break happened today at Leland and Louks Roads which affected about 20–25 homes. A boil water alert was issued for those homes. We also had a funeral during all of that.
Usakowski: Is Port Huron Township responsible for paying for the damage they created with the water main break?
Wrubel: I think so.
Sturdevant: I think that we should bill them for all the water testing, our manpower and all the water that we lost.
Discussion.
The DPW will be taking care of all the cemeteries as far as grass cutting.
I received very positive feedback on the newsletter.
I gave everyone information on a new phone system. There are four different bids. Brady’s came in and talked to us about their service which will cost $627.41 a month.
Usakowski went over what Brady’s system could do.
Discussion.
Will bring this back to the next meeting with more information.
- Treasurer Jackson
I talked to the county about doing something with Sparling Road.
Usakowski: On Sparling Road, residents were calling the road commission about problems with it and they were telling them that it was the townships problem.
Usakowski: I did a FOIA request with the county on several documentations. Sparling Road was a roadway that came under a jurisdiction of the county as a result of the MIT Act of 1951. This act moved all paved roads over to the County Road Commissions as a financial responsibility unless there was some kind of a written agreement with either a city or township. Since 1951 paved roads have been the counties responsibility.
Jackson: The particular bridge I am talking about is over a county drain. The Drain Commission doesn’t want to do anything with it unless it has support from the township which would be a 50% agreement to replace this bridge. It would cost $210,000 to replace it.
Discussion.
Jackson: What hours does Cal work on the weekend at the park particularly this Saturday?
Usakowski: Cal is going to be there.
Jackson: I normally set up the parking lot at the park but I won’t be able to do it all day this year. Was wondering if Cal could help do it.
Usakowski: Yes we can talk to him tomorrow.
Jackson went over the finances.
- Trustee Hoffman
Is the DPW taking care of cutting the grass at all the cemeteries?
Wrubel: Yes.
Hoffman: Any news on the old lawn mower?
Wrubel: They are using it. It’s working so far.
- Trustee Deland
Was wondering what is going on at Smiths Creek Road by the airport.
Sturdevant: That had something to do with the landfill.
Deland: Do we have enough weed whackers?
Wrubel: We have one weed whacker.
Hoffman: Have they taken inventory at the park yet?
Usakowski: Not yet.
Deland: Why are they cleaning the library so much?
Wrubel: I called the main library and voiced my opinion about it.
Usakowski: Jenna Reed has moved to the main library to run the children’s section. We are getting a new librarian from the St. Clair Library who is Becca Casey.
- Trustee Sturdevant
American Legion is still doing fish fries. Good Friday we had served over 170 meals. Fish fries will be the first Friday of the month starting in May.
Deland: I haven’t seen anything with the pop-up testing.
Usakowski: I just talked to the health department. They are going to start next week. They are going to drop off a portable restroom for them to use because they want to operate seven days a week.
The township cleanup is May 22 and 23. The only thing we need help with is to verify residency.
Deland: Have we heard anything about the tire grant?
Wrubel: Not yet.
Wrubel: Marysville School election is May 4th in Smiths Creek.
Trustee Ward
Absent.
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ADJOURNMENT
Deland motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m. supported by Sturdevant.
Motion Carried.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
Submitted by Becky Wrubel, Clerk
