[0:51] Welcome board uh and welcome members of
the public who came tonight. Appreciate
[0:56] you being here. We are going to call
this meeting to order at this time of
[0:59] the Georgetown Township Board of
Trustees. And we'd like to begin always
[1:04] with a prayer of dedication for
guidance. And so we'll look to uh to
[1:09] Jean tonight.
>> Thank you, Jim. Pray.
[1:14] Thank you, Lord, for bringing us
together tonight. Lord, we ask for
[1:18] guidance and wisdom as we go through
this agenda and meeting that we have.
[1:22] [clears throat] We ask you, Lord, to
continue to be with our township, be
[1:26] with our employees, Lord, and the hard
work that they do. We ask that you just
[1:29] continue to guide them. Also, our
firefighters and policemen, Lord, keep
[1:34] them safe. They can go home to their
families.
[1:36] Lord, we thank you for this beautiful
day that we had today and we thank you
[1:41] for your many blessings bestowed upon
all of us and we just love you Jesus.
[1:46] Amen.
>> Amen. Thank you.
[1:48] » Stand for our pledge of allegiance.
[1:56] I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[2:02] [clears throat] republic
>> for which it stands, one nation under
[2:06] God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[2:11] » Thank you. May be seated.
Ask our clerk to acknowledge the role.
[2:17] » They're all present.
>> Wonderful. [clears throat]
[2:21] And how about a motion to approve
tonight's agenda? So move
[2:24] » support.
>> Who's supported? Any questions,
[2:28] concerns?
Hearing none. All in favor say I.
[2:33] » I.
>> Any opposed? Our agenda is approved
[2:36] tonight. So we thought we would squeeze
in. We saw Representative Slaw here
[2:41] tonight and uh he'd like a chance to
just give us an update from Lancing.
[2:46] We'll squeeze him in on the front end
here if we can. appreciate you comingate
[2:51] » that you'd be willing to squeeze me in
at the beginning. So, thank you for
[2:53] doing that.
>> Yeah, no problem.
[2:56] » So, in Lancing, uh been really light in
having to be there. There's just not
[3:01] been much call to be there that based on
what's going on with um first the
[3:05] primary election, then other stuff
happening. Um, this last weekend, I'm
[3:11] sure most of you guys were uh aware that
the uh uh the nominating convention
[3:17] happened for the Republican party and so
that took a bunch of the air out of uh
[3:22] and time out of things. Um, probably for
my experience, that was uh probably the
[3:28] nicest, most friendly, congenial
uh statewide convent nominating
[3:33] convention I've been to in all the years
that I've been in uh political world. um
[3:38] which was way more fun to walk away from
that because I feel like oh maybe
[3:41] there's a different kind of uh face
that's being put on the party which is a
[3:45] good thing. Um there are several things
that are that are out there though that
[3:48] you guys might be interested in. One is
the and they're related to well the
[3:52] first two are related to the citizen
petition drives. Uh there's a drive to
[3:57] it's called money out of politics. So,
MLP um and the the goal is to keep uh
[4:06] large organizations from be able to put
money in to try and influence elections.
[4:10] Specifically though, it it details that
it would be any organization that has a
[4:16] government contract that has $250,000 in
revenue or more in a year. um or uh
[4:25] utilities so DTE consumers energy they
and um it includes uh because it's the
[4:32] the contract kind of stuff so
uh Blue Cross Blue Shield would be
[4:37] affected and what would happen is there
if this goes if the petition drive goes
[4:43] through is that there'd be um
you'd have so just lost words here. So,
[4:52] um you'd have uh the inability for those
organizations to be able to put money
[4:57] into political things. So, anything
that's that could smack us politics, you
[5:02] they would not be able to put money into
it. Interestingly, um it does not
[5:06] include unions or any of those kind of
things. So, we're wondering why and
[5:10] what's happening with the with the whole
process. Um it it would be interesting.
[5:16] It's a freedom of speech thing for me.
So, let's just say that Gary worked for
[5:21] um uh DTE. He would not be able to give
money even personally to anybody that's
[5:29] doing political stuff. So, he wouldn't
be able to write a check to any of you.
[5:32] Um and we just think that's a freedom of
speech issue and it will be contested,
[5:36] I'm sure. Uh there's also a citizenonly
voting um thing ballot proposal that's
[5:42] out there. Um, and the ballot review
committee is saying, "Oh, you they don't
[5:48] have enough signatures to be able to put
that on the ballot." And they're talking
[5:53] seven signatures out of 700,000 that
they collected that they're short, seven
[6:00] valid signatures. Um, so we're
questioning how does that all fall and
[6:05] and who's doing it. Um there is there
will definitely be lawsuits related to
[6:09] this when it comes out just based on the
way that uh we believe it's going to
[6:13] fall. Um PA233 continues to be in the
news. Um that's where it's the township
[6:21] zoning and planning is put it set aside
by three people in Lancing who can
[6:28] decide where a a solar field goes, where
a wind turbine system gets set up, where
[6:34] a data center gets set up. Um, and so
we're concerned about that as well.
[6:38] We'll continue to work on trying to find
a way to to take that out. It was that
[6:43] PA233 was put in place when it was a
Democrat trifecta. So they had the
[6:48] legislature, the executive branch um and
they they pushed [clears throat] it
[6:52] through and uh obviously that's making
an impact in Zealand Township, Jamestown
[6:57] as close as your doors uh next door
neighbors. Anyway, those just a couple
[7:02] updates and uh we're back in session
again tomorrow. So, I'll be in Lancing.
[7:07] Happy to answer any questions now or
later.
[7:10] » Questions?
>> I have two. What's your thoughts on
[7:15] opening up the constitution for the
state?
[7:18] » Um, I I think there's some really valid
reasons. We've got some we've put a lot
[7:22] of stuff in place over the years that
has changed the flavor of some of that
[7:26] constitutional language. Um, so that
part is good. there's um some concerns
[7:33] about what gets opened up and how much
and do you want everything open at at
[7:38] any given time. So there's still
questions about how are we going to do
[7:42] that and how how best does it work.
>> Second question is and I predicted this
[7:47] about a year ago. My fear is that and I
seen that uh the state is getting with U
[7:53] of M for a data center and if that's the
case will they be able to circumvent
[7:59] where data centers go because you know
as well as I do colleges and schools can
[8:03] do whatever they want to they do not go
by zoning they don't go by building code
[8:07] they go by state so I'm curious if
that's a loophole that data centers are
[8:13] going to be able to use by partnering up
with a college or a university and build
[8:17] a data center under education
So the answer is I believe you're right
[8:21] that there is a possibility of making
that happen. Um with the advent of PA233
[8:26] they probably can do it um maybe even
under better cover than they would have
[8:32] by themselves. They can do it now with
this PA233 which will help them and uh
[8:36] enable them to make that happen.
>> That was my fear. I I said right away
[8:41] that's that's going to be what's going
to happen. I see in the news U of M is
[8:45] already targeting it. So
>> you open the door and there's
[8:48] something's going to stick its head in
there, right?
[8:50] » Mhm.
>> Well, the problem is has been the
[8:54] schools can do whatever they want. They
don't even follow zoning laws. They
[8:57] follow setbacks. They do whatever they
want. They're not they don't they're not
[9:00] they're not under any township
organization. You look at even our old
[9:04] local schools, they don't build
according to setbacks. They got
[9:07] buildings too close to the road. They
just do what they want and they don't
[9:10] have any oversight. So if they don't
have oversight and the data centers
[9:14] figure that out, they can turn around
and say, "We'll call an education. We
[9:17] can do that
>> and they can circumvent property taxes
[9:22] too.
>> So that's something to watch."
[9:27] » Brad, question on that ballot initiative
regarding voting. You said, you know,
[9:32] they're saying that they had fallen
seven short. I'm presuming they
[9:35] submitted many more over whatever the
requirement was and the state is saying
[9:38] hey we've examined and knocked out these
certain signatures to the point where
[9:41] it's just below the threshold. Is that
correct?
[9:43] » That is correct.
>> So the litigation that would be ongoing
[9:47] is it intended to be and would it be
accelerated such that there'd be a
[9:51] decision one way or another before it's
too late for the November primary or
[9:55] general election?
>> Yes, you are absolutely correct. That's
[9:58] the that would be the goal. they would
um you'd put it out there and try and
[10:01] get directly into the state's uh Supreme
Court work at at it from the top because
[10:07] you got to get you have to get there
really quickly.
[10:10] » Yeah. And if somehow that didn't happen,
that is it didn't go quickly enough. It
[10:15] was specifically targeted for this
election cycle, meaning you'd have to
[10:18] start over again if you tried to do it
for the following cycle. Right.
[10:22] » That is you are absolutely correct.
>> Okay.
[10:25] » Turned in roughly 725,000 signatures.
They needed 480.
[10:30] » Okay. So, they're saying that 245,000
>> of those signatures are invalid.
[10:36] Slightly more than that.
>> Correct.
[10:38] » Okay.
>> Wow.
[10:39] » That and that number is significantly
different than some of the other
[10:43] proposals that have come along um in the
past where they've you know so the
[10:50] question is is it is it right? Is it
fair?
[10:54] » Okay. Meaning is it right or is it fair
as to which signatures are valid or is
[10:58] it right or is it fair as to what the
actual proposal is?
[11:01] » No, it's that the signatures would be
valid.
[11:04] » Okay.
>> I mean you over here you'd think it
[11:08] would be almost mathematical in sense of
these are the rules and it either
[11:13] complies with those rules or it doesn't.
>> Right. But that they're complying with
[11:18] the rules would make sense if the ones
before this all doveetailed into what
[11:23] you're seeing now.
>> Yeah,
[11:25] » that's not how it is. The ones before
this had much more leniency than what's
[11:29] happening with this.
>> You know what's really interesting about
[11:31] that, Brad? I'm sure it's being argued,
but that's the exact opposite of what's
[11:34] happening with voting generally, meaning
we've relaxed the rules since co to
[11:39] where certain things are allowed to be
examined again. That signature isn't
[11:43] just right or you miss something, you
can correct your ballot or I mean, it's
[11:47] all been in the in the direction of
either leniency or corrective action.
[11:51] This would seem to mitigate the opposite
direction. You're
[11:55] » absolutely correct.
>> Yeah. Well,
[11:58] we'll watch that. Good.
>> Anybody else?
[12:02] Okay, hearing none. We appreciate that.
>> Thanks for having me on first.
[12:06] » Thank you. It's good seeing you.
>> All right, item six on our agenda
[12:10] tonight is communication letters and
reports which have been received for
[12:13] information. And item seven, I look to
the general public here public comment
[12:17] on the items of tonight's agenda, of
which it's a it's a shorter agenda than
[12:21] most. So, we've got an item regarding
the master plan. We've got an item
[12:25] regarding um assessing. And so is there
anyone here tonight who's looking to
[12:30] speak to those particular items? If not,
you'll get another opportunity here
[12:34] toward the end of the meeting to speak
to whatever you wish. So,
[12:39] welcome to step forward. Yes, sir.
[12:46] » Hey, my name is Kevin [clears throat]
Hzinger, 2669 Tamarak Drive. Um, I just
[12:52] wanted to get some clarification or I
guess put it on record in the video. Um,
[12:58] I just had concerns. Um, I am not an
attorney by any means. Um, but I did
[13:03] notice that one of the uh land uses for
future and current land use is
[13:08] explicitly church. Um, and I agree that
probably most of the township uh would
[13:14] only ever attend a church. Um, but I
kind of feel that that's a little bit uh
[13:23] specific and uh could kind of maybe set
the township up uh for some legal
[13:29] ramifications potentially um if another
religious institution that doesn't call
[13:33] itself a church wanted to come in. Um I
also noticed that that's also used in
[13:39] the zoning ordinance um specifically.
So, I would uh kind of think that that
[13:45] could also get looked at by uh legal
counsel just to make sure that no one's
[13:51] uh being set up to potentially have the
township be sued over any type of
[13:55] religious freedoms or anything like
that. Thanks.
[13:58] » Thanks for coming.
[14:02] » Anyone else?
[14:06] » All right. Seeing none, we'll close that
initial public comment period. Item
[14:09] number eight on your agenda tonight is
your consent agenda. Is there a motion
[14:13] to approve tonight's fairly short
consent agenda?
[14:16] » Some move.
>> Okay. Any comments?
[14:20] » All in favor say I.
>> I.
[14:23] » Any opposed?
Passes. Item nine then, master plan
[14:27] update. And I thank you that we've got
Tanya here from Wayman Works tonight.
[14:32] The Ala Varia. Is that how I say the
last name, Tanya? Is that okay? Yeah.
[14:36] Say my last name. Maybe you can get me
back. Okay. Well, that's perfect.
[14:40] Actually, you grew up Granville, though.
Yeah, there you go. [laughter]
[14:44] Uh, thank you, uh, Tanya, for being
here. As this board well knows, we spent
[14:48] considerable time this past um, meeting
uh, running through the master plan as
[14:55] that have been presented to us by the
planning commission. It went back to the
[14:58] planning commission with the various
comments that were made both verbally
[15:01] and in in writing. Um, I know Ryan
worked on this. I know Manette worked on
[15:07] this. I know Tanya worked on this. I
know the planning commission worked on
[15:10] this as well. And they're meeting this p
past Wednesday and they have submitted
[15:13] and you've seen it as links in your
agenda tonight um an updated version.
[15:19] And so uh tonight what we expect will
happen is that there will be a master
[15:24] plan resolution that we'll vote upon uh
so that the next steps in the process
[15:30] can occur and we can bring this to a
conclusion. Um, and I want Tanya in a
[15:36] moment to be able to talk about at a
30,000 foot view. This is what remains
[15:41] to be done and here's when it becomes
official, assuming all goes as planned.
[15:46] So, um, with that in mind, I'll I'll
simply make the comment that I went
[15:52] through after you all went through and
and did the work you did to see that the
[15:57] things that were discussed this past
meeting that were forwarded to the
[15:59] planning commission were incorporated.
And from my review, point by point, they
[16:04] all seem to be incorporated. So, I I
don't see an omission in that respect.
[16:09] Um, and I appreciate that. And I want to
say further on the record, I said it
[16:13] last week, but Tanya weren't here, how
much we appreciate the amount of time
[16:17] that you and the planning commission and
Ryan in particular have spent on this
[16:24] process for now 18 months. Um, and
that's just a whole lot of time and
[16:29] hours and, you know, public input and
debate and discussion and we had a
[16:34] couple of joint meetings as you know
with you and just there's a lot a lot a
[16:37] lot that went into this process this
time. And we don't anticipate that every
[16:41] time, but it had been a couple of
decades and and so it was a very
[16:46] significant undertaking. I just want to
say on the record again how much we
[16:49] appreciate the time and the effort you
put in. Gary, you're the only one who
[16:53] was on both sides. So I arguably, you
might say maybe between you and Ryan.
[16:57] Um,
>> no, most time. I don't know.
[16:59] » Ryan did a whole lot more than I did.
[laughter]
[17:01] » I just cheerleaded Ryan. It's all I did.
Came came in at a boy and pat him on the
[17:06] back and good job. Good job, Ryan. Good
job. So we we thank you and and there's
[17:12] there's a lot of creativity and thought
that's gone into this, there are some
[17:15] changes that we call somewhat material
to what previous master plan was, but we
[17:20] felt like confined within the goals as
they're shared among the leadership of
[17:25] the township. And and I want to say, I
think I said this last meeting as well,
[17:28] but um there's not a one person on this
planning commission or on this
[17:32] particular board right here, our
Georgetown board, who has anything but
[17:38] the desire to see this township uh
succeed and be a place that they love to
[17:43] call their home because that's where we
live, right? And so I I think
[17:48] motivation-wise in all, it's just been
um strong for the township uh across
[17:54] both boards. And that doesn't mean, as
we well know, that means that doesn't
[17:59] mean unonymity, but it does mean that
we're coming from the same place of
[18:04] desire to make things better for our
residents. So, I appreciate that fact
[18:09] and that we can reach a consensus that
doesn't give everybody everything they
[18:14] wished, but um results in a good
collaboration that we can all feel like
[18:19] has advanced, you know, the township and
in this important document that helps to
[18:24] guide future policy. Um, I want to say
one more thing also. I I think I
[18:29] misspoke somewhat in the last meeting in
terms of how I represented Josiah
[18:33] Sammy's view of when I was talking about
some of the more rural areas and the
[18:37] wish to protect some of that um for
green space and for you know buffer and
[18:42] just beauty and and all the rest and um
if I misspoken that way I apologize
[18:47] because uh he and I would say the
planning commission as a whole and of
[18:50] course Tonnie you spent a lot of time
with him on this but uh every one of
[18:54] them would say we love and appreciate
the fact that we don't want one kind of
[18:59] thing happening everywhere. And I know
for a fact, for example, with Josiah,
[19:03] that he appreciates uh the the
buffering, the the the you know, open
[19:08] natural space and and farmland and rural
residential and some of those things.
[19:12] And so, um I didn't want to I didn't
want to pit it as one view or another,
[19:17] but I think it's really something that
is a shared view and uh sometimes it's
[19:22] more in how do you express it and what
else do you offset that with? that I
[19:25] feel like the planning commission
believes they've offset that strength
[19:29] that's come out of this master plan
related to our value of farmland and and
[19:33] rural residential with uh new creative
type of opportunities in different
[19:41] pockets within the township for what we
might want to see happen in the future
[19:46] uh with development and the like. And so
I I do think there's a there's a
[19:50] trade-off there, right? that that I'd
say most probably fall some on each
[19:54] side, even if they favor one more one
side than another. So, I just wanted to
[19:59] to make that clear in case I misspoke
last time. So, the the floor is open um
[20:04] among ourselves. If there's anything
more that wasn't said before that you
[20:07] want to say, now is a good time to do
so. Um after which we'll have Tanya just
[20:12] briefly address sort of what would
happen next and then we could have a
[20:16] roll call vote.
Well, I'll just say which I said the
[20:20] last meeting, but Tanya was there. I
appreciated her work and um I felt that
[20:26] you didn't come agenda driven, which I
really appreciated. You you we asked
[20:30] questions, you gave if you didn't have
an answer, I'll find out. You came back,
[20:34] you did that, and I think you did a
really good job. I appreciated your work
[20:38] on it. So, yeah.
[20:43] I I had a chance to talk to Ryan this
morning and just very um
[20:50] casual and I said that was probably the
most productive meeting
[20:56] um but we as a board collaborated
um that I've ever ever participated in.
[21:04] it uh was done incredibly well and Ryan
had shared with me that Manette had said
[21:11] the same thing that as she watched it um
she thought it was incredibly productive
[21:19] and you alluded to this before Jim that
uh
[21:24] every 5 years sometimes it's almost I
don't say rubber stamp but very few
[21:28] changes are made and this was much more
significant
[21:34] And the world is changing. The power in
Lancing has changed dramatically where
[21:39] they pulled power away from local
municipalities.
[21:44] And I think this is a way to uh address
that.
[21:48] And in 5 years, another board things can
shift. But u I thought it was done
[21:54] incredibly well and I felt very
comfortable. I think everyone else did.
[22:00] Michan,
>> you covered a lot of ground last time,
[22:03] so I feel very comfortable with all the
work that everybody has done, uh,
[22:07] especially behind the scenes and, you
know, all your efforts. So, thank you.
[22:12] Kudos.
[22:16] » Excuse [clears throat] me. Do we have a
copy now that is has the changes on it?
[22:24] » Okay.
>> Do you have it on there?
[22:31] Can I speak
>> everything that everything that we
[22:35] » have written down the yellow things will
be changed and I just
[22:39] » I guess just my own satisfaction just
like to see it just to see what the
[22:43] wording was or whatever.
>> Other than that I have no problem
[22:46] » wasn't one of the the attachments and
the links here as I went through it. It
[22:49] was an August 18 version which was a day
before their meeting on the 19th which
[22:54] then out of that came like a page of
additional. So the combination thereof,
[22:57] you're right, we've not seen that final
last integration. And maybe we could
[23:01] even say and understand for the record,
so to speak, that assuming this were to
[23:05] be um advanced or I think the the
resolution, correct me if I'm wrong,
[23:09] Kelly, is more or less, you know, it is
our intent, right? It's our intent to do
[23:13] thus and such is not the final vote,
>> right? There's still a lot of steps to
[23:16] take.
>> Yeah. So that if there was something
[23:18] that got missed,
>> we can clean that up, right?
[23:21] » Don't anticipate it, but we can do that.
Yeah. No problem. Y
[23:26] We've all said it a few different ways,
but I'll just uh I think clarify my
[23:31] feelings on it and selfishly take a
little bit of credit because I I feel
[23:36] like I this was something that was
really important to me to use a
[23:40] reputable company to do a master plan
this goound. Um, and it wasn't my sole
[23:45] decision, but I pushed really hard for
it because you can see through the data
[23:50] that we are sort of reaching the end of
our our growth boom. And that's not to
[23:55] say that we don't still have yet a lot
of growth and development on the
[23:58] horizon, but we're slowing down a bit.
And so we're really at this interesting
[24:03] crux of we still feel like we're in this
growth mindset. But the reality is is
[24:09] we're kind of shifting into a slower and
steadier growth and now it becomes even
[24:13] more important for us to curate that and
exactly where we want the last bits of
[24:17] developable land to be. And I do feel
like it was important to work with a
[24:22] company like Williams and Works. Tony
did a great job. I just think that it
[24:25] really captured what was important to
our board, what was important to the
[24:29] planning commission. I think there was a
lot of uh compromise and really good
[24:33] discussion by both parties. Um, and I'm
I use this phrase a lot. We deserve nice
[24:39] things and this is a a wonderful master
plan that will, I think, really guide
[24:44] the future of our our township moving
forward. So, thank you for all of your
[24:48] work. Everybody, Ryan and Tanya and
Planning Commission. I really appreciate
[24:52] it.
>> Well put. Um this would be a good time
[24:56] Tanya if you want to come forward and
just address it again a high level view
[24:59] it gets published to whom and then when
do we actually officially go okay it's
[25:03] adopted.
>> Sure.
[25:04] » So um
the wrong file but I I know that we have
[25:10] addressed all the edits. So, I will make
sure that Ryan and Justin get that final
[25:15] draft um that um the planning
commission, the board have gone back and
[25:20] forth about and collaborated on. So,
I'll just say that. Um so, from here, um
[25:25] after tonight's meeting, um there is a
formal 63-day review period that, uh the
[25:29] plan must go through, uh to meet the
Michigan Planning Enabling Act. And that
[25:34] allows any member of your community,
anybody um but as well as uh your uh
[25:39] neighboring communities, your adjacent
communities, um you know, utilities,
[25:44] MDOT, there's a specific list of
agencies that get a formal uh letter
[25:48] that says the draft plan is out for
review. Um at that point, then uh the
[25:53] public is welcome to provide comments.
We will also be having an open house
[25:57] that I will be later coordinating with
um Justin and Ryan to make sure that the
[26:02] public has not only just, you know, an
opportunity because it's online, but we
[26:06] will have um an open house where people
can come and talk to us and view and ask
[26:09] questions specifically. Um during that
63-day review period, comments may come
[26:14] in. Usually, they don't. And uh
>> yeah,
[26:17] » if there is, that's that's great. Um
Brian and I will and Justin will address
[26:21] those. if there's anything like
significant um or to note, we will kind
[26:26] of or go through those and um let the
planning commission know and and and
[26:31] whatnot. I don't anticipate anything.
However, you know, you never know. Um
[26:36] and the comments will be coming to the
township uh from that after the 63-day
[26:40] review period closes. Um then it goes
the draft plan then goes to uh public
[26:46] hearing during the planning commission
and um the then the planning commission
[26:50] recommends that the draft or plan become
the approved plan by the township board
[26:55] and then the township board um would
then uh approve adopt the final master
[27:02] plan. Again, if there's any comments uh
that come in from the public that are um
[27:06] substantial, we'll go through that. That
may um warrant further discussion and if
[27:11] we need to make adjustments, we'll kind
of do that at the end or after the
[27:14] 63-day review period. But at this point,
all the hard work has been done. Um it
[27:19] may take, you know, in 63 days, we also
like to give a little cushion and buffer
[27:24] because of mail and all that sort of
stuff. So, it's really like roughly, you
[27:28] know, five, six months from now, which
sounds like a long time, but because of
[27:32] everything, it it's just process really
at this point. Um, again though, the
[27:37] public will have opportunity for public
comment and um, you know, uh, for them
[27:42] to weigh in as well as what they see in
the plan. Once the, uh, final plan is
[27:46] adopted, it's your current master plan
and away you guys go for the next five
[27:51] years. Um and uh the master plan process
um the of the document itself is
[27:58] complete but then it's actually on to
implementing the plan which is the real
[28:02] work.
>> I need to clarify when you said that
[28:03] five to six months a moment ago um I
envisioned that there would be something
[28:08] probably coming back in front of us in
November
[28:11] » that possibly called a vote on or not.
So, um I'm not going to do the math in
[28:15] my head like
>> after the 63 days,
[28:17] » but kind of at the basically at either
the end of 2026, [clears throat] early
[28:20] 2027. It kind of depends on, you know,
uh where those 63 days, you know, plus a
[28:26] week or two buffer on either side and,
you know, when you're when the planning
[28:29] commission meets when the board township
>> I've done that math and that would still
[28:34] fit within this year. But then you said
something about five or six months. So
[28:38] like kind of roughly from now if I tell
you four months you know and it's five
[28:42] months then you're going to be well
Tanya it was it was you said four
[28:45] months. Yeah. So
>> my question was is that something beyond
[28:48] the 63 day and the plan?
>> No no no that's just giving roughly
[28:52] roughly 6 months from now. Maybe it
lands more like four or five months.
[28:56] Maybe it's more like five or six. I'm
telling you six to kind of give in just
[28:59] a little bit of cushion.
>> But my naive to think of you know 63
[29:02] days from now is like October 26.
And then let's say they meet for the
[29:07] first meeting for planning commission in
November and they go, "All right, you
[29:10] know, here's what we're going to do."
And then maybe it's too late to get it
[29:14] to our November meeting. So the first
meeting in December, we look at I mean,
[29:17] wouldn't it still likely be this year?
>> I mean, it'd either be like December or
[29:23] January. So when I say like the end of
this year, it's only because the way the
[29:27] calendar falls. And again, like 63 days
is the statuto thing, but I'm also
[29:33] looking out for you for any potential
future lawsuits. And even though it says
[29:37] 63 days, uh our um our kind of our best
planning practices, it's 63 days from
[29:42] the time your letter gets received by
the municipality.
[29:47] So, you know, unless you drop, you have
to drop the and it's by mail that
[29:52] because the U Michigan planning and so
there's there's minutia, right? Like I
[29:55] can talk to you about that minutia here.
No problem. Um I will work after the
[30:00] meeting is done tonight and I um I'm
getting the flavor that you would pass
[30:04] the resolution. I will talk with Ryan
and Justin and we'll have a much better
[30:08] understanding of when that actual 63-day
period plus a couple weeks and kind of
[30:14] start to look at um you know when the
next planning commission would be after
[30:17] that and then when the next township
board would meet after that.
[30:20] » The reason I'm kind of interested in
that is it would it would tend to
[30:24] coincide with the end of our moratorum.
Yes. That'd be nice, right? To have
[30:27] that.
>> Yep.
[30:28] » I am I am trying to balance again the in
the uh in the future you could uh
[30:34] potentially get sued on master plan
process, right? And so because of the we
[30:40] want to make sure you're following the
process and not like if somebody sends
[30:43] out the letter and you don't give them
like a full week to get that letter and
[30:47] so on and so forth. just trying to give
you a little bit of buffer rather than
[30:52] exactly 63 days and then let's say the
letter doesn't get out on time and all
[30:55] that because of US mail the I'm sure
Justin and Ryan will email stuff but
[31:00] again because the Michigan Planning
Enabling Act was written per
[31:04] [clears throat] like USPS you know US
mail so
[31:08] » um that has been our planning practice
and that has stood us by goodstead and
[31:12] that's kind of what you're also hiring
us for is to kind of look out for those
[31:15] little kind of gray areas those
contingencies not because it's uh
[31:20] unimportant but because we are actually
trying to keep your best interest and
[31:24] everything kind of the margins clear
moving forward so you don't have to
[31:27] worry about you know if master plan
stuff comes into play and during a
[31:32] development you know and go through FOYA
they'll see that they through this
[31:36] process we met the Michigan planning
enabling act plan master plan process
[31:40] and we weren't short by a week and so
all all of a sudden they got you on a
[31:43] process so that's what that's about Mhm.
Okay.
[31:50] » Thank you.
>> Thank you guys very much.
[31:53] » Thank you. I want to say before we have
the resolution vote to the public that's
[31:56] here, um public input that you're
describing, Tanya, is additional public
[32:01] input, meaning there's already been
significant public input, probably more
[32:04] than we've had maybe ever. Uh and so
much of what you'd see in the in the
[32:08] master plan itself, the last 75 pages
maybe or 50 pages is public input. Uh
[32:15] and so certainly there's been a a a
terrific opportunity for the public to
[32:19] give input thus far and there will be
one last chance if you will. So all
[32:24] right. Well, this is a roll call vote
and again u we need to have a a motion
[32:33] to approve.
Me just pull this up here. And we were
[32:37] given a draft resolution.
If someone whoever is looking to make
[32:42] the motion
uh would like to phrase that here, it's
[32:46] it's it's an approval, but it's it's an
intent to adopt basically. So, is there
[32:50] someone who' like to make a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve a
[32:54] resolution approving the mass draft
master plan for distribution asserting
[32:58] the township board's right to adopt such
a master plan.
[33:02] » Okay.
>> As written,
[33:04] » move supported by Kelly. Okay. Uh, all
right.
[33:09] Everyone had their their say last time
this time. Okay, it's a roll call vote.
[33:13] Uh,
>> wearing
[33:15] » yes.
>> Schwam,
[33:16] » yes.
>> Grassman,
[33:18] » yes. Beldink,
>> yes.
[33:20] » Yes.
>> Kelly,
[33:22] » yes.
>> Yes. All in favor?
[33:26] » All right. Thank you.
Item number 10 tonight, interlocal
[33:31] agreement. Um, is there a motion to
approve the interlocal agreement for
[33:35] Ottawa County to approve the designated
assessor for the period beginning
[33:39] January 1, 2027?
>> So move.
[33:42] » Support and supported.
All right. Discussion among the board.
[33:52] Again, for the benefit of our public
tonight, either watching or here in
[33:54] person,
um, this is not a choice of of who we
[33:59] want as our assessor. We have our assess
our assessing um being conducted by the
[34:04] county. Uh this is more the question of
if there were to be a failure of an
[34:08] audit by the state and I think even a
second failure. Does it take two? Yeah.
[34:12] There has to be somebody to whom you
have to get a new assessor. So you
[34:15] either hire one you have this designated
assessor as has been proposed here or
[34:20] the state will choose yours. So I think
their hope is tell me Justin if I'm
[34:25] right that every municipality in the in
the county would say yes. You know,
[34:29] Brian Busher would be the the person,
>> correct?
[34:33] » Be the designated. Yeah.
>> Correct.
[34:35] » And has been, right?
>> Correct.
[34:37] » Yeah. So, continuing.
>> Correct.
[34:39] » Yeah.
Any questions, concerns?
[34:45] All right. Hearing none.
All in favor say I.
[34:50] » I. I.
>> Any opposed? All right. It passes.
[34:56] Well, already to our second public
comment period. Uh, as I said, it's a
[35:00] shorter agenda tonight. So, this is your
opportunity as a member of the public
[35:04] either speak to the issues we've just
gone over or anything that's on your
[35:07] mind.
[35:13] » F1482 Winterfred. Facebook isn't always
accurate, but uh, if it is, happy
[35:19] birthday, Jim.
>> That's [laughter] funny.
[35:21] » Accurate on that one.
>> Was it accurate or was
[35:24] » it was accurate? Yeah. Started my day
with a dead battery. It's been getting
[35:27] » your birthday. Congratulations.
Appreciate it. Um, [laughter] we're
[35:30] pretty light nature here, Justin. I'm
very happy with the uh young men and
[35:34] women working at 8 Street checking the
ID.
[35:37] » And the the thing to me that is most
important that tells me they're doing a
[35:41] great job is when I come in the second
time, they go, "Oh, yeah. I know you're
[35:43] good to go." So, I don't have to even
show the ID there. Great work with uh
[35:47] the park over there with the the
basketball court
[35:51] uh pickle ball and stuff. that looks
like it's going outstanding. Uh the
[35:55] geese issue doesn't seem to be as bad at
8 Street Park there. So, congratulations
[36:00] as that as well. Uh, one thing about
budget stuff coming up with fire
[36:05] department issues. Again, I I do think
we're still understaffed at the fire
[36:09] department.
And in my humble opinion, moving
[36:14] forward, maybe instead of excuse me, not
buying land, maybe spend some more money
[36:19] to get some more people working at the
fire department.
[36:23] The I mean, the very basics of
government are here, and this is as low
[36:29] level of government as you can get.
We're talking building roads, water,
[36:33] sewer, fire, safety. I'm looking in the
library budget in the senior center is
[36:38] more. I believe we're right at the same
amount we're spending on the fire
[36:41] department. And right now, I believe we
have two people maybe working 8 to five
[36:44] full-time, which is an improvement, but
they also have to handle calls now for
[36:49] uh potential medical emergencies as
well. And I don't know if you've seen
[36:54] it, probably have. There's a video from
probably about eight years ago where a
[36:58] house burned down in Georgetown Township
and before they could even get there, it
[37:01] was almost burning down the house next
to it. They had to spray it down. The
[37:04] the shingles and stuff were going there.
So, I don't know how much it would cost
[37:09] to get at least maybe two people at all
the stations because, you know, somebody
[37:13] lives over on Kenno and you have two
firefighters maybe at the branch that's
[37:16] down over there on that side there. If
they get called, you got to go through
[37:21] lights, potential traffic. it could be
easily 15 minutes before they get there
[37:26] even with two people working there. And
it's very important
[37:30] uh that they get there soon as possible
to try to mitigate damages and stuff
[37:34] like that. So that's just something to
consider uh in my opinion as the budget
[37:39] comes up. Thank you.
>> Thanks Sean.
[37:41] » Thanks Sean.
[37:50] My name is Nancy Pan. My last name is
spelled P and Paul. O C H R O N. I live
[37:56] at 6402 36th Avenue. Um first of all,
I'd like to thank the EMTs. We I
[38:04] personally had to call 911 on 88 and um
along with the Ottawa County Sheriff's
[38:10] Department and uh the EMTs uh that
program is working. And secondly, I
[38:17] would like to start uh I've been kind of
away from things due to a family
[38:21] emergency, but my concerns have to do
with the speeds in the township. We I I
[38:27] mean, mind you, the Baldwin area is is
is is quite a concern since there have
[38:33] been several fatalities, but over by
where we live at 36th and Port Sheldon
[38:39] and Alward School is there,
we we don't even have a speed limit on
[38:45] 36th Avenue. Once once you cross in from
Hudsonville into Georgetown Township,
[38:51] there's not even a speed limit sign
there. And uh um I'm just afraid that we
[38:58] need to kind of revisit and I don't know
if the road commission has something to
[39:02] do with it or it's just something of a
concern within our own township
[39:07] community because
people aren't paying attention. They're
[39:12] they're driving faster than even I mean
I was even shocked to see that the
[39:16] posted speed limit between 28th Avenue
and 20th on on Rosewood is 50 miles an
[39:23] hour.
And that's a very heavily residential
[39:27] area with a lot of children. I mean,
there's Rosewood schools right over
[39:31] there if my memory serves me correct.
So, I just wanted to make a comment to
[39:36] see if there's anything being considered
about that because I think the speeds in
[39:40] our township are too high.
>> Thank you.
[39:45] » Thank you. Thank you.
[39:49] » Anyone else?
[39:57] Evan Hzinger, 2669 Tamarack Drive. Um,
after last or the meeting two weeks ago,
[40:05] um, I kind of felt like Justin kind of
got a little bit of a short end of the
[40:08] stick with the whole water billing
fiasco, whatever that might have been,
[40:13] Facebook. Um, but I just kind of wanted
to say that I feel like he's pretty
[40:19] awesome from everything that I've seen.
um when he went over the budget at that
[40:22] meeting um and just his communication
and that he's open to answering
[40:28] questions
um and that I think it's pretty clear
[40:32] that he's here to serve the public and
not to serve himself. Um so I feel like
[40:36] he kind of got the short end of the
stick a little bit at that meeting. Um
[40:40] so I want to put in a good word for him.
>> Thanks Kevin.
[40:43] » Thank you.
>> Very nice.
[40:44] » We agree.
>> How much you paying them? [laughter]
[40:51] Just wondering else.
[40:56] » All right.
Going once, twice.
[41:01] We'll close that second public comment
period. Uh item 12, discussion and
[41:04] general information among the board.
So looking to my right, I guess. Uh,
[41:10] anybody
>> just uh quickly with uh NY's comment
[41:13] about the uh speed limits and we're very
concerned about that too
[41:20] far down on Rosewood.
Um,
[41:25] yeah, I believe it was 5055
and uh we had we got the the local,
[41:32] excuse me, our local representatives
involved
[41:35] and uh basically the Michigan State
Police decide and they put they monitor
[41:42] it and then the the problem is as they
monitor it other sections then may get
[41:48] kicked up and unfortunately
we have very little power on that type
[41:53] of thing. And that's why you see many
many communities where it it it jumps up
[41:58] and it's scary how fast the cars are
going, but locally we have very little
[42:03] authority at all.
[42:07] » But we
[42:10] thank
>> one of the things we'll appreciate too
[42:14] in the new budget is there's discussion
we'll have to consider about adding an
[42:18] additional deputy with a traffic focus.
Um, and then we're looking at other
[42:23] possibilities beyond that, whether it be
another deputy or whether it be some
[42:26] form of overtime. But, um, those who are
hopeful of more policing in that
[42:31] respect, I think, are going to have
their wish
[42:34] » with that, you know, I think with that
budget. So, we'll see.
[42:38] » I have I have noticed in the last couple
months there's more police presence in
[42:42] Georgetown there's been a while. I get
around the township a lot and I ride and
[42:47] I have jobs going from Grand Haven to
Jamestown and I've seen more presence
[42:53] lately in Georgetown Township I've had
in a year. So I don't know if the new
[42:59] quadrant system you guys got going is
working and that's the reason why. But I
[43:05] have seen more presence which is good
>> that's that's key. Presence is key.
[43:11] » By the way, Sheriff Dbor will be at our
next meeting I believe. Is that right?
[43:15] » Yeah. Next meeting.
>> I just wanted to say one thing. I didn't
[43:18] I didn't want to say it at the last
meeting because I think the emotions
[43:23] were running high over that
uh Facebook debacle and the the water
[43:30] billing issue. But I just want to say
for the record a friendly reminder that
[43:35] uh Facebook is not an accurate place to
get your news. that the township board
[43:40] is easily available and accessible via
email. All of our emails are on the
[43:46] website. I point that out because the
Facebook posts will get hundreds of
[43:50] comments and I don't have a single email
from a resident and eight people will
[43:56] public comment here at a meeting. But
yet Facebook generates hundreds of
[44:00] comments. And I just want to make clear
that Facebook is not the source of
[44:05] truth. That there are seven members here
plus Justin, plus other staff people.
[44:10] Our job is to serve the community. And
we want to be able to do that. And so I
[44:15] would just encourage people um to it
takes just as long to write an email to
[44:21] the board as it does to make a post on
Facebook. So I just think that we should
[44:25] encourage folks to do a better job of
coming to the source of truth. we're all
[44:29] here and and able to speak to any of the
issues that that might come up and I
[44:35] know that we're all willing to do that.
So, just wanted to put that out there.
[44:40] » Yeah.
>> Thanks, Kelly.
[44:41] » Well said. Well said. I I want to
mention this past uh Friday uh John and
[44:46] Justin and I attended a Ottawa County
leadership summit which was hosted in
[44:50] Allenale and had all of the pretty much
all the supervisors or mayors uh within
[44:56] Ottawa County and several of the Ottawa
County officials there and it was a good
[45:01] discussion. It's just eye opening
sometimes when you hear from other
[45:05] cities and townships who are so busy. Of
course, you you've got your own
[45:08] responsibility right here, but when you
hear from others and you realize some of
[45:11] the things they struggle with, um
whether it be the things we're obviously
[45:14] aware of in Blendin or in Jamestown
where they're kind of having their own
[45:17] battle with some things of land use, um
water availability, and even to hear a
[45:24] couple of them say, "We've got mostly
dirt roads yet and we have no budget for
[45:28] roads." It's like, wow, we are uh pretty
blessed that way to go virtually every
[45:35] road with the exception of a section of
Jackson. Um, right, is is paved and on a
[45:41] on a schedule. It's like, yeah, some of
those things you maybe take for granted.
[45:45] You see, wow, that's going way back in
time to the point where this township
[45:49] would have ever been where some of these
are, and you realize that's there's a
[45:52] lot of building ahead of them. That's
going to be tough work, you know. Um,
[45:56] and it's just nice to be to appreciate,
you know, even though we strive for for
[46:01] bettering things to realize how far
things have come. So,
[46:06] » it's a good uh good meeting,
>> Jim. There was laughter about taxes
[46:11] because as because all of them as they
collect their taxes, people come in and
[46:15] they say, "I am paying so much." and
they'll say, "But that's going to the
[46:19] schools and it's going to Ottawa County
and our percentage is well under 10%."
[46:26] And
people think we're getting by far the
[46:31] majority of it. And we're and as Gary
says frequently, we're 7 8% and all the
[46:37] taxes that are collected for the summer,
we don't get any of that. We collect it
[46:42] so they think that this is where the
money is at. And I'll have people say to
[46:47] me, "We should kick in and help the
schools."
[46:52] Yet the schools, I believe, are about
65% or more.
[46:55] » More
>> 77
[46:57] » 77%.
>> Right across the room from me at that
[47:01] meeting was the Howland Township
Supervisor, last name Tla. I wanted to
[47:05] ask him if he's related to Isaac. He
probably is.
[47:07] » He's his uncle.
>> He's his uncle. Okay. Uh but to sit
[47:10] there and they So they're the next
largest population
[47:13] center in Ottaw County to us. I think
they're around 35ish. So roughly, don't
[47:18] quote me, but about 20,000 behind us.
>> Is it 18 point something mills or 21
[47:23] point something mills for them? He mills
their their rate. You don't remember?
[47:29] » Okay. You don't want to get my numbers.
I'll I'll throw my numbers out there.
[47:32] Huh?
>> You're it's close.
[47:33] » It was I'll call it the lower of the
two. It was like 18 point something
[47:37] mills and we're at 2.25. Whoa. Um it was
I mean I understand we're two different
[47:44] municipalities but yeah just
>> the other the other thing we don't
[47:48] realize in the finance part of it is
that because we get no taxes in the
[47:52] summer the money we collect in the
winter has to last us all year and so
[47:58] you have to have you have to have a
certain amount of backup funds to pay
[48:04] your bills.
You know, like if I only paid you once a
[48:08] year, you got to be able to you got to
be able to gauge that money all year,
[48:15] » which most people can't,
>> right?
[48:17] » And and so you have to have an
additional amount of funds to pay your
[48:22] bills until you get paid again if if
that's how you're running things. And
[48:26] then you have to depend on the state to
share revenue sharing. So there's a
[48:30] there's a lot more behind the scenes
when you're doing your budgets. And I
[48:34] appreciate Justin and how he does
budgets because I talked to him too. I
[48:38] was like, you people don't realize you
got to have either a line of credit or
[48:41] you got to have the cash available
either way.
[48:45] » And around township district. So,
>> Yep.
[48:49] » It's a good point.
[snorts]
[48:52] » Okay. Anyone else?
>> Um, I did go to another historical
[48:55] meeting last Thursday. Um, the sign at
Rosewood Park was kind of misunderstood.
[49:02] It was supposed to go in the 20th, but I
think the email got confused a little
[49:07] bit. So, now they're still in the
fabrication process, we heard. So, we're
[49:12] still hoping it'll come out here first
part of September and they want to have
[49:15] some kind of little unveiling or
something. Um, I think he's going to
[49:19] work with Justin Randy on a date on that
that that if the board members want to
[49:23] get involved. And then uh when the
newsletter comes out for the historic
[49:28] society and I think Georgetown this
latest thing I talked about last week
[49:32] with um trying to get community
involvement with u first aid and 911 250
[49:39] that kind of thing that they're got a
whole program and that's uh you almost
[49:43] got to read it all because there's quite
a few uh programs that they institute
[49:47] out there that they'd like people get
involved with. So,
[49:50] » those should be coming up that you can
be able to read and get involved in if
[49:53] as you want want to and see you need to.
So,
[49:56] » you know, I love how you promote them
and stay involved. Appreciate it.
[50:00] » Um, you reminded me that we've got and
you guys remember a week from today, I
[50:04] think 4 p.m. You can make it if you
choose to make it out to Grand River
[50:08] Park, there's a a grand
reopening. I don't say Grandreek.
[50:13] » I'm sorry. Rush Creek. Did I say Grand
River? Yeah, Rush Creek.
[50:15] » Rush Creek.
>> What would you call that? a
[50:18] » uh ribbon cutting for
>> ribbon cutting for new improvements.
[50:21] » We're going to have bubbles. It's going
to be We're have popsicles. It's going
[50:24] to be a great time.
>> Pops or something. Yeah,
[50:26] » I love it.
>> Nice. Spread the word. Okay. Is there a
[50:30] motion to adjurnn? Move. Support.
>> All in favor say I. I. Opposed. We
[50:35] adjourn.