[0:16] [Music] okay we're we're ready I'd like to call

[0:23] or the Genoa Charter Township board meeting on April 20th 2020 if everyone

[0:30] would stand for the Pledge of Allegiance

[0:37] [Music]

[0:58] but next on our agenda is called to the public we have a phone line that's open

[1:07] and we also requested folks beforehand to email us as with all call to the

[1:15] public's we do not and immediately to those requests but we didn't eat those

[1:21] and if there's something we need to get back with you on and we will so we'll

[1:26] just kind of proceed from there this is just a new territory for all of us so

[1:31] bear with us let's move to the approval of the consent agenda the approval

[1:40] bartilson moves approval supports we have a motion in support of discussion

[1:49] all in favor signify by saying aye oh actually I already broke my own rule

[2:00] let's move on to the approval of the regular agenda that would be items 4

[2:08] through 6 plus correspondence Russian and

[2:13] a couple of memos yeah what I've heard moves approval Martinson support we have

[2:21] a motion and support is there any dissension we're gone this passes with

[2:31] unanimous importantly now have an agenda

[2:36] item number four this is a request for the approval of an agreement with a

[2:41] Livingston County Road Commission quarter Dylan sweet long sweeping

[2:45] improvement with a 50% cost sharing with Livingston County Road Commission not to

[2:51] exceed ninety nine thousand dollars I move to approve for discussion find

[3:01] support okay I have a question maybe you can help clarify this for me in fact

[3:08] this appears for the next for item not only item four but also four five and

[3:12] six on item one of the project agreement it says the cost of the project not to

[3:21] exceed ninety nine thousand and if you drop down to item C it says on the third

[3:28] line if there is a dispute over the balance due upon completion Township

[3:34] will pay the amount claimed by the Road Commission doesn't that contradict each

[3:39] other so I'm sorry jr. on section one C yes well first I'm on the fruit and

[3:54] number one the section on number one says project not to exceed ninety nine

[3:59] thousand then you can drop down to see it says if there's a dispute over the

[4:05] balance do Township will pay the amount claimed by the Road Commission that's

[4:11] scene one seems to contradict the other I'm either you do not exceed 99 or you

[4:17] do if they calculated it to be over ninety nine all I can tell you this is

[4:24] standard boilerplate language that they have

[4:26] the same language we've approved probably dozens of times the Road

[4:31] Commission has eaten a lot of overages whenever we get into a problem they take

[4:37] it on the chin for us so I don't foresee any issues typically they have a 10%

[4:44] overage when we do special assessments but because this is a cost sharing

[4:48] project they have a little bit different language but this is what we've proved

[4:52] over and over again if you'd like I can check with Council to see if we need to

[4:57] table this or whatever but we haven't had well I think that's boilerplate from

[5:04] a lot of contracts it just means withhold payment under a contract while

[5:11] you're disputing I don't know that that applies to an overage it's just you know

[5:17] if you're not happy where to work at a point in time paper payment and arguably

[5:23] what I think that almost I are millions of contracts are written that I hurt her

[5:29] a lot of cases especially when you're dealing with I'll call it underground

[5:33] work what transpires is we can sit there and say we have the best knowledge

[5:40] possible of what we're getting into but you could put a shovel in the ground and

[5:45] hit water a ton of it yet one foot whatever the case may be so it's just

[5:51] that precautionary thing in the event there they totally unforeseen and to do

[5:57] the appropriate engineering hydro and everything else we would never get a

[6:03] real project done anywhere in the state well and I know you'll recall we have

[6:09] done and we have done deal so there shouldn't be many surprises we know what

[6:16] we're getting into and you're right Jim that's not really

[6:19] for overages it's just if there's any claim we're agreeing to pay so what's

[6:26] your pleasure folks we have like you said we've approved this boilerplate

[6:30] contract many times I do I don't have a problem moving forward my face

[6:36] well--we're prove all okay well support the one thing I'm going to

[6:44] request from the motion support is that we change the term and the headline from

[6:50] Brighton Street to Brighton Road - okay could I make one more correction here -

[7:04] absolutely let's go back to item one and on the second sentence it says the

[7:09] remaining balance of will be paid should one of the utter the of should be

[7:16] removed and it should say the remaining balance will be paid by the Livingston

[7:22] County Road Commission sure we can delete the of okay that goes for the

[7:30] other two as well they both say the same thing thank you

[7:41] with those couple of modifications clean up does everybody understand exactly

[7:49] what we have now here yes is there any

[7:55] dissenting votes hearing none this will pass with unanimous support

[8:04] okay item number five and you'll probably have to bring up at least the

[8:11] of again let's go to the request for the approval of an agreement

[8:15] Livingston Commission warming mill an overlay of chosen Road from Brighton

[8:21] Road to last with a 50% cost sharing with the Livingston County Road

[8:27] Commission not to exceed one hundred and eighty two thousand five hundred what is

[8:33] your pleasure I guess I just want a point of reference here is that we are

[8:39] doing these projects because their public roads and the county contributes

[8:45] to these we cannot participate if it's not a public County Road so that's why

[8:51] we're targeting these four streets yeah I just one question about it this

[8:57] is from Brighton Road to Latin Road one point or Chilton Road Brighton Road to

[9:07] Latin Road approximately 1.1 miles is that all of this one well there it's

[9:13] it's hard to believe but yes just past that roundabout yeah I just I looked at

[9:20] a map I could what might throw a little bit Jim is the roundabouts brand-new and

[9:28] it's in the middle of it so they're not going to work they've already done

[9:31] probably about a fifteen fifteen tenths of a mile correct

[9:41] okay I don't have an issue Mortensen moves approval and you mentioned I think

[9:54] the of is still in this one also that's not yeah yes and remove that rep sure

[10:02] yes yes okay yes if an ocean apart with that change any comment any discussion

[10:17] hearing none is there any dissent in regard to this particular motion yeah

[10:29] this passes with unanimous support let's move to number six this is approval of

[10:38] an agreement with the living Scotty Road Commission for a milk overlay of door

[10:43] road from by 96 to River with a 50% cost sharing with the Livingston County Road

[10:51] Commission not to exceed one hundred and twenty two thousand five hundred dollars

[10:58] what is your pleasure low approval is culeros Marcus the support

[11:07] whatever of course removing the of you guys yeah okay so we have a motion

[11:16] support any further discussion any dissension hearing none this passes with

[11:27] unanimous support is she'd have a memo from Comcast and this is they're gonna

[11:43] continue to ensure that our communications facilities and services

[11:47] are operating and maintained during this period of a national emergency related

[11:53] to Kovac nineteen you have another memo from Comcast

[11:58] related to the Cartoon Network moving to digital preferred package and the last

[12:05] item you have is correspondence between our Township manager Mike Arkin all and

[12:10] the resident who appreciates what we've done with refuse collection and disposal

[12:16] for his personal property and part of that if you wish to make comment or ask

[12:32] questions or I should say if the manager are you going to go over your response

[12:38] in this discussion item sure I have a couple things our council is watching us

[12:43] apparently an indicated bill that we didn't close the call to the public so

[12:47] that actually appropriate at this time make a motion to close the call to the

[12:54] public hearing no dissent all the public is did we get a support who is their

[13:09] original maker technically I was which I can't do Robin and Diana yes thank you

[13:24] and normally we don't even have to do with them but I appreciate it

[13:35] so in terms of the correspondence and four-member discussion I thought it was

[13:39] appropriate to update the board as to what we're doing in this pandemic we

[13:45] because we've stayed pretty solid water and sewer and refuse are the three

[13:50] essential services we provide here you can throw in elections too sorry Polly

[13:54] elections refuse water and sewer so we basically split the workforce in

[13:59] half to separate them if something happens we don't need everyone getting

[14:04] sick at one time we're driving separately the crews are showing up

[14:10] independently so they're not having three two or three guys's a truck the

[14:14] biggest concern here has been refuse collection advanced was down eight

[14:19] drivers due to one positive and some pre-screening issues so we've

[14:25] temporarily suspended the large item pickup in any yard waste collection I

[14:29] talked to the district manager today they're getting back

[14:33] drivers some new ones they're leaving but the whole is getting back to normal

[14:39] and they're hoping to reinstitute a large item pick up very shortly

[14:46] I would hope in may hopefully when the executive orders change if we don't

[14:50] don't get extended so same thing with yard waste we've canceled the spring

[14:55] yard waste pickup or drop-off here at the township hall people have been

[15:00] pretty understanding they you know that this is a unique situation we've had a

[15:03] few residents one thing that's going on is a lot of people are cleaning out

[15:08] attics and garages so we've seen a real spike in in garbage flow but they've

[15:15] done a great job we're trying to keep the drivers in the truck we don't want

[15:18] them touching material and so far knock on wood we've been able to stay the

[15:23] course and not have any missed pickups greg has some more information for you

[15:31] there's also a recommendation that we suspend overdue payments penalties for

[15:37] for our water and sewer users or users which i think is appropriate

[15:41] we've got enough operating cash to handle that for a quarter or two and

[15:47] seems like the right thing to do given the fact that so many folks are not

[15:51] drawing a paycheck right now and just there you all know the emag Water

[15:55] Authority already approved to waive the penalties on their billing and authority

[16:02] good well I don't have problem with that but should we not make it have that make

[16:08] a motion that's entirely appropriate if you would like to make a motion to

[16:15] suspend late fees for the Oak Point water Lake Edgewood water and sewer

[16:23] districts that would be appropriate kind of them yeah it is it's a so hunt motion

[16:55] support support yes we did at M hog geo in regard to holding off any one other

[17:14] item related to the Dylan is there a need dissent hearing none and this pass

[17:29] is with support sorry go ahead Mike sure in regards to the Dylan project we were

[17:37] trying very hard to do that in concert with a special assessment for the

[17:41] balance of the neighborhood over there Dylan

[17:44] a Magnolia Laurel and Holly we were gonna try to do all those roads at once

[17:53] the projects can move forward independently the drainage that we all

[17:57] are aware of that we've been talking about for school is really within a

[18:01] two-block stretch coming off a Brighton Road north on Dillon we have a contract

[18:07] with the Road Commission to do a slurry coat and patch seal which would have

[18:13] really made it look nice given this pandemic I didn't think it was

[18:18] appropriate to move forward with the informational meetings and kind of the

[18:20] hands-on hand-holding we need to do with the neighborhood to get this thing done

[18:25] right so again we're gonna try to do that they can move forward independently

[18:31] so I'm gonna send a letter if it's okay with the board doing two things one

[18:36] letting them know we're going to address their problem which is gonna be very

[18:40] very popular - I'm going to inform them that once we get past these open meeting

[18:46] restrictions and you know the restriction on the number of people who

[18:49] can congregate one spot will move forward with an informational meeting

[18:53] and try to get an SI D done so everything will look look all new out

[18:58] there but I think you're gonna be very very popular you're gonna make a lot of

[19:01] people happy by the action you just took this evening other discussion yes

[19:10] [Music] billon I talked to Dan I attended an

[19:17] empty a webinar on actions related to the virus and I got to tell you it was a

[19:29] good seminar but I reteamed nothing I mean it just went into when you're about

[19:35] the other and I think part of the problem it was a QA different people

[19:41] wrote in emails and I don't know about you but if you what I did go to any

[19:48] seminar you know I listened to the presentation or I get to the Q&A part it

[19:55] just doesn't work for me but it raises a question and in light of

[20:03] this new digital age we should re-examine our per diem policy about

[20:13] attending meetings you know any kind of meeting that is reimbursable and should

[20:24] somebody approve it to members approve it how should it work I don't know but I

[20:30] think for a future meeting maybe Mike could draft the policy or update the

[20:38] policy we have take a look at it what do you think I would I would lean toward

[20:46] pre-approval okay before you attend the meeting yeah yeah we can do that find up

[20:54] a BMP and get something back to you next meeting now again Garbus whether it's

[21:00] pre-approval or a post it should then if it's pre-approval we still should have a

[21:05] policy in place for that we'll just be ahead of the curve in case this comes up

[21:11] again hopefully this is yeah and this to me would apply to attendance out of town

[21:25] conferences or conferences by anybody was going to be expenses incurred so if

[21:31] you're broader kind of a little bit broader but take a look at it yeah very

[21:35] good yep good cuz it's Jimmy Chang the

[21:40] world's changing now I don't think I don't know what it's ever going to go

[21:44] back to but I think it's gonna whatever it turns out to be is gonna be different

[21:48] before does virus I couldn't disagree with you there on him okay anything else

[21:57] nope I have one quick thing did receive a coughing Panhandle Eastern last Friday

[22:06] they're going to be doing some property some clearing of their ease

[22:11] and he just wanted to give us a head up heads up so in case we were getting any

[22:16] phone calls or anything they did send out letters to all of the folks that

[22:21] would be involved with this but I just thought it was a nice gesture to say we

[22:27] know you're probably going to get the phone call so at least you know it's in

[22:31] our easements they've notified and left a number and stuff like that so if you

[22:36] hear anything that was all they've been quite aboveboard in regard to that and

[22:43] legally to do so by the way since was in those easements and my last comment

[22:52] personally is that we know that the state is already talking about struggles

[22:57] with their budget everything else so let's just make sure we're very

[23:00] cognizant and diligent when it comes to our budget we've done a phenomenal job

[23:05] through the years and let's just not count on any money from the state and

[23:11] just keep plodding ahead and I think we're in fantastic financial shape all

[23:17] of you folks that have been around a while have really done well with that

[23:20] and so it puts us in a good place but just be aware that could crop up and we

[23:28] shouldn't be shocked by it and then we do so I appreciate that also appreciate

[23:34] all the effort by all of you and all of the staff during these times that we've

[23:40] pretty well been seamless and totally operational so that's got to play well

[23:47] with all of our constituents and everyone out everyone else so thank you

[23:53] very much appreciate it yeah I like to give a quick update on elections I have

[24:01] about 85 people that work for me for elections and I'm going to be sending

[24:05] them a letter early in May make sure that they're still wanting to work the

[24:09] election and I hope I get a really good response because if I don't I don't know

[24:14] how we're gonna be right I don't know how any clerk in the state of Michigan

[24:18] is run going to run their election if they lose half of their people the state

[24:23] of Michigan can only do so much so hopefully it's gonna work out

[24:29] for us let's hope so are there any now all the elections have

[24:36] been postponed till essentially August is that true yeah the next election is

[24:40] August we start preparing early in June so that's only a little bit better than

[24:46] a month from now we'll be sending out 4,500 absent order ballot requests but

[24:52] we have close to 16,000 persons that are eligible to vote in Genoa Township so

[24:59] I'm really hoping that more people will sign up for automatic receipt receipt of

[25:05] fellows at home and then they can vote um at home and take their time alrighty

[25:11] anything else anyone a motion for adjournment is in order

[25:18] excuse me do we have to have another call to the public no no ok move to

[25:26] adjourn and that's the part with Jim who is the support Jerry I think so I'm

[25:39] sorry okay Rosa's voice really well what can I tell you I wasn't sure I thought

[25:47] Jim so to same time an adjournment hearing none we passed with unanimous

[25:53] support thank you very much you know I think everything went pretty darn well

[26:03] those out there for helping us with this technology appreciate it thank you

Genoa Township Public Meeting 4/20/2020

Transcript