[0:01] Some sorts of folks from Canada and all. Oh, that's

[0:04] why people come across the border. Yeah. I remember back

[0:07] in the day. Yeah, we used to.

[0:10] Have visitors in Paris and things like that. I mean,

[0:12] in that town was just booming.

[0:18] To grab my laptop on the other side. And when

[0:21] you turn 19, you.

[0:38] Wants me to

[0:49] she wants to sleep. She's gonna go, it's gonna.

[0:56] I don't care about the wind. I just don't want

[0:58] the snow. This is gonna be take to the invention

[1:01] machine. Right. I.

[1:04] Really just thought you ready? I don't. You ready? Yeah,

[1:09] don't absolutely. It's 5 31.

[1:14] Good evening.

[1:15] I'm gonna call this meeting to order. It's my pleasure.

[1:18] To have you join us here at the Oshtemo Charter

[1:21] Township joint board meeting.

[1:23] I'm gonna call this meeting to order and again, and

[1:27] I'm gonna invite you to join us in the pledge

[1:29] of allegiance.

[1:33] Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

[1:38] Into the Republic for which it stands.

[1:41] One nation under God.

[1:43] Indivisible with Liberty and justice.

[1:46] For all

[1:57] item three on the agenda.

[1:59] I'm going to strike because we don't have remote location

[2:03] identification for this meeting. There is no zoom.

[2:08] So we are broadcasting VR, PMN partner, but there is

[2:13] no zoom option.

[2:15] For the

[2:19] for remote location identification.

[2:23] So next I will move to item four, which is

[2:26] approved of the agenda.

[2:28] Sir, anyone here wishing to make any changes to the

[2:30] agenda.

[2:34] I moved to

[2:36] adopt the agenda.

[2:38] With the amendment of removing item three.

[2:47] Of approving the agenda, do that.

[2:51] That's true. I guess these really bore our just kind

[2:53] of update meetings. Oh, okay.

[2:55] So, I guess I will ask, does anybody wanna add

[2:59] anything to the agenda?

[3:02] Okay, well then we will just move forward.

[3:05] Yeah, this is like not a decision making body. Okay.

[3:08] So.

[3:10] We'll begin on item five, which is just a round

[3:13] table of introductions.

[3:16] Why don't I start with you clerk, farmer and we'll

[3:18] go around. And if you would just identify.

[3:21] Who you are and what board or committee you're associated

[3:24] with.

[3:26] Dusty Farmer. I'm the clerk in elections administrator for.

[3:31] And I also sit on the zoning board of appeals.

[3:34] Appeals Zak Ford. I'm a Trustee on the Township board.

[3:38] Benac Wakeley accountant for the Township.

[3:41] Michael KK, she, her pronouns and I'm on the ZPA.

[3:46] I'm grace Engels. I'm on the planning commission.

[3:49] Scott Jeffries planning commission.

[3:51] Round for plan planning, commission, Mel Smith. I'm on the

[3:54] planning commission.

[3:56] Mike chairman planning commission in Township, Gordon.

[3:59] Jodi Sikora staff to the Township planning director.

[4:04] Neil Sikora Township, Trustee and Kamo friends of the park.

[4:09] Planning commission.

[4:12] I'm friends. The

[4:14] Vanessa street. I'm the parks director crash Mo Township and

[4:17] the liaison for Oshtemo friends.

[4:22] I'm the supervisor.

[4:24] Oshtemo Township board member of the downtown development authority, the

[4:28] south Drake road corridor improvement authority.

[4:32] And forensic support, Macy Walters. She, her pronouns. I am

[4:36] the brownfield redevelopment administrator for Kamoo county and I chair

[4:39] the.

[4:40] Soda board, Danny pantser soda board.

[4:48] Horn of public works director for SPO chip.

[4:52] I just want to give a shout out to the

[4:54] strong showing of the planning commission here today. you

[4:59] told.

[5:00] Everything. We're looking for a we're. I, you know what,

[5:04] there I can, I'll go find some treats in the

[5:07] office.

[5:08] definitely earn next. We're just gonna do some updates

[5:13] and we will start with.

[5:16] Director playing director Stefforia and an update about our downtown

[5:19] development authority. Thank.

[5:22] Downtown development authority. They meet every other.

[5:25] Month and a big

[5:27] time effort right now is working with consumers energy to

[5:30] get approval.

[5:32] Hold that we already have banners on that we might

[5:35] wanna put a second banner on. And the original agreement

[5:37] is from 2003 and they're act, they can't find it.

[5:40] Even though I scanned a copy of it. And so

[5:43] we had to start over and it's taking more than

[5:45] 18 months. It's been real frustrating.

[5:48] So I had hoped to get second banners up on

[5:49] the poles and get a more visual punch. We're hoping

[5:53] now Christmas rich.

[5:56] Blair, our media and communications representative is gonna help me

[5:59] pick out the banners and we're gonna get those up

[6:02] for the holidays.

[6:04] Holidays, but keep 'em wintry so they can leave them

[6:06] up till spring . So they won't say happy holidays,

[6:10] but you'll get the idea.

[6:12] So that's real progress to be so close. Finally.

[6:16] With consumers, energy. Mm-hmm . That is the most disor.

[6:18] Anyone here work for them. that is the most

[6:22] disorganized.

[6:24] Disorganized organization and what they get away with.

[6:26] Statewide is ridiculous. How many projects they delay road projects

[6:29] and alike.

[6:32] Park projects.

[6:34] Projects and we're getting streetlights again. We are waiting on

[6:37] consumer's energy to do a new contract with the Township

[6:40] and it can probably speak to it more, but we

[6:42] finally.

[6:43] Have it. And we finally have a price on the

[6:44] DDA is gonna pay for streetlights on ninth street from

[6:47] stadium to end where we don't have any now. And

[6:49] it's quite dark through there. So.

[6:51] That'll be a big improvement.

[6:55] Hopefully this year.

[6:58] That's it for DDA. Do you wanna share about the

[7:00] grant program? I think this would be for the DDA

[7:03] grant program. Sure. It started.

[7:05] As a facade grant program. And then the DDA decided,

[7:09] well,

[7:10] if we can get businesses to upgrade their signs, that

[7:13] would be an improvement to the property in the corridor.

[7:17] And then they expanded it to also landscaping. So now

[7:20] you can apply for a grant for facade, landscaping, or

[7:22] signs. It's up to.

[7:24] $5,000, but they have to match it. So if it's

[7:27] a $10,000 project, the DD will give a grant and

[7:29] pay for half of it.

[7:31] And the word is kind of spreading. We're still finalizing

[7:35] a list of businesses there and contacts to.

[7:38] Do a mass notification of this grant program to them.

[7:49] Next

[7:52] Vanessa. Do you wanna talk about Oshtemo? Sure. Do we

[7:54] have any other members of the DDA here? Oh, DDA.

[7:58] No, no.

[8:00] Okay.

[8:04] Justin just summary of Oshtemo friends of the parks. We

[8:07] meet monthly.

[8:08] The goals of the board are to support the programming,

[8:11] volunteerism and fundraising in our parks.

[8:14] Parks couple updates about our board. There's been a leadership

[8:19] change. Dennis Patzer stepped down after 13.

[8:23] Plus years.

[8:25] Thank you.

[8:28] I feel the same way, public shame. Oh my God.

[8:36] Currently Sherry bell is the interim president.

[8:39] And we have new one new member long-term volunteer. Molly

[8:43] page has just joined. So.

[8:45] We are back up to six and we are still

[8:47] looking for more members.

[8:49] So we are allowed to have up to 11 on

[8:52] our board. So we're always looking for new people who

[8:55] wanna get involved in the community, especially.

[8:57] The parks, getting outdoors and engaging with our residents. So

[9:00] if that's something you wanna do or someone, you know,

[9:02] that would like to do, please send them our way.

[9:05] I wanna take a quick moment and highlight the fruit

[9:07] belt rail trail project.

[9:10] Friends of the park supported the completion and all the

[9:13] activities for this project related to volunteering along the trail.

[9:19] Building some benches, one of our FOP members.

[9:22] Built several benches made from reclaimed materials. So a black

[9:28] Walnut tree fell in the parks and we.

[9:31] Milled it reclaimed it and filled benches out of it

[9:32] for the fruit belt. So he spent.

[9:35] Probably 70 hours building those benches. You don't have to

[9:38] do that if you join, but .

[9:42] If you want to, if you want to though.

[9:46] And we had our ribbon cutting in July. So the

[9:49] trail has Benac officially opened a couple of months. The

[9:51] use is, is incredible.

[9:53] There's constantly people on it, which is fantastic. And a

[9:56] lot of good response.

[9:59] We will be celebrating the hundred 20th anniversary of the

[10:04] first train that ran along.

[10:06] That route from south, from Kalamazoo to south Haven. So

[10:09] the entire line.

[10:11] The first run of it was April 24th.

[10:15] 19. Oh seven.

[10:17] So next April 24th, which is a Saturday will be the

[10:20] hundred 20th year of that.

[10:23] Start of that line. So we're gonna have.

[10:25] A celebration activity.

[10:28] Speakers about the history of the line and also history

[10:30] of Oshtemo. So look forward to that for next year.

[10:35] Volunteer engagement, friends of the parks spent.

[10:39] Over 200 hours between them and additional volunteers.

[10:42] Removing invasive species habitat, restoration, trail maintenance, and park improvement

[10:46] projects at our regular biweekly.

[10:49] Volunteer sessions. So we meet every other Friday from 10

[10:52] until noon.

[10:53] Out in our parks, bouncing around to different properties, doing

[10:56] projects that need to get done.

[11:01] And community programming. So we had.

[11:04] Friends of the park supported several successful community events and

[11:07] programs this summer.

[11:09] We did spring park cleanups and garlic mustard poles.

[11:13] Poles. We did five, well, four so far. We have

[11:15] another one in October five guided nature walks, which are.

[11:19] Going well, and then we had our three music in

[11:21] the park concerts.

[11:23] Concerts averaged about, or we total about 800 people for

[11:26] those.

[11:27] Concerts and brought in about $800 of the raffle money

[11:31] to go back into our parks. So I've done a

[11:33] pretty successful summer. We had great weather.

[11:36] Can't beat that.

[11:38] And lastly, I just wanna mention that upcoming, not this

[11:40] weekend, but next weekend we honor national public lands day

[11:44] where we host a.

[11:46] Volunteer group to give back. We will be at Township

[11:48] park.

[11:49] Right back here doing work on the disc golf course

[11:52] and the back trails.

[11:54] Trails Oshtemo rotary has again.

[11:57] Graciously donated money for feeding everyone pizza. So it's a

[12:01] couple hours of work and then a nice pizza lunch

[12:03] for you. So we encourage you.

[12:05] To spread the word or come and show up for

[12:07] that. And then lastly, our fall event at Drake is

[12:09] the next day, Sunday, September 27th.

[12:12] From two to four is at Drake farmstead park. We

[12:14] host a community fall event. There's historic house tours.

[12:19] Tours music, couple of food vendors.

[12:22] Activities, crafts kid stuff. So if you also want to

[12:25] volunteer for that and help with any of those areas,

[12:27] we would more than welcome you on.

[12:30] It's been a great year. I think in friends of

[12:32] the parks, I think we got a lot of stuff

[12:34] done and I look forward to next year.

[12:38] Thank you, Vanessa. That's an incredible amount of work.

[12:43] Speaking of incredible amount of work. Jody, do you wanna

[12:46] talk about our planning commission?

[12:49] Do you, Mr. Chair?

[12:51] No,

[12:54] hello. They are very carefully, deliberately.

[12:58] Walking through a draft, one of an energy.

[13:03] Systems ordinance, which in itself is like 35 pages.

[13:08] Pages long and we'll have appendices.

[13:11] Appendices they're nearly there. They spent two meetings meeting for

[13:16] two hours on taking public comment.

[13:19] Both those meetings and then we'll be getting through.

[13:23] Hopefully draft one at their first meeting in October, which

[13:26] will be the second Thursday. I think it's the eighth.

[13:29] And starting to walk through the appendices and then taking,

[13:32] getting a lot of great public comment needs to be

[13:35] vetted for accuracy.

[13:38] And based on science.

[13:40] And working in some of this great.

[13:42] Feedback we're getting into draft to, and then maybe.

[13:46] We will just walk through red line changes with draft

[13:48] two, no need to start over.

[13:51] At the same time.

[13:54] Leanna Harris.

[13:55] And the public works department are working to strengthen and

[13:58] consolidate our environmental related ordinances that are scattered right now.

[14:04] In a mix of it's in the site, condo ordinance.

[14:06] It's a general ordinance. It's in various sections of the

[14:09] zoning ordinance, wetland steep slopes, natural features.

[14:13] Features tree cover Woodlands. So.

[14:16] We wanna put those all in one spot.

[14:19] And strengthen them and wellhead protection. So they're working on

[14:22] that. Also the planning commission will be looking at.

[14:25] That a red line version of what's new. What's just

[14:28] getting moved at their meeting next week.

[14:31] And we're also at the same time, working with progressive

[14:33] companies.

[14:35] Based on the comprehensive plan that was adopted earlier.

[14:37] This year to pretty much overhaul our zoning ordinance and

[14:42] update.

[14:43] Some of most of the requirements.

[14:46] Like, and look at new minimum requirements for home size,

[14:50] lot size.

[14:52] Things that might be getting in the way.

[14:54] Unnecessarily of creating housing that is not as expensive.

[14:59] Creating new opportunities for housing.

[15:03] Renaming village commercial to neighborhood mixed use and loosening up

[15:06] to standards. There are 34 ages in the zoning.

[15:09] Ordinance of what you have to follow. If you wanna

[15:11] build something in our village commercial district, then we really

[15:14] think that is stunted. We don't think we know that

[15:17] that is maybe.

[15:18] Deterred some investment.

[15:20] So we're looking to write a neighborhood, an excuse district.

[15:22] That's gonna be in front of the planning commission next

[15:25] week. I'm 99%. Sure. So.

[15:28] Those two items will be on the agenda of the

[15:30] planning commission next week. So it's three.

[15:32] Large tasks in front of the planning commission, in addition

[15:35] to the applications for our site plan approval and special

[15:37] use approval. And rezonings, don't go away while you're.

[15:40] Working on these other projects.

[15:43] Projects. Julie, do you wanna mention this over recording too?

[15:46] Oh yeah. And then we have zoning language in place,

[15:50] right?

[15:51] Now for principal utility scale solar and the planning commission

[15:54] held a hearing.

[15:56] And has recommended to the Township board that the solar.

[15:59] Moratorium against the zoning language, be adapted and put into

[16:03] place for six months while we finish up the energy

[16:05] systems.

[16:07] Our approach right now because we're a sophisticated, urban Township

[16:11] is to address wind solar and energy storage.

[16:14] In one ordinance. I know MTA is telling communities, you

[16:17] should split that up, but they're also.

[16:20] Catering to rural townships that don't have staff here. We

[16:23] have a, a pretty good staff. There's three planners. There's

[16:25] two engineers. There's in-house legal counsel.

[16:28] We can write an ordinance. We have a sophisticated planning

[16:31] commission that can handle it. So that is.

[16:34] Our current approach is to treat all sophisticated. I was

[16:37] talking about Ron.

[16:41] So this is recorded, right? It's being broadcast, being broadcast.

[16:45] Yeah.

[16:47] That's why whisper. We feel comfortable treating, addressing it all

[16:51] in one ordinance section. Although we've gotten a little bit

[16:54] of feedback.

[16:55] Saying you shouldn't, but I don't comparing us to maybe

[16:58] some rural townships that don't even have a zoning administrator

[17:01] on staff. It's the local building authority that.

[17:03] Reviews zoning for them. So.

[17:07] And I would add based upon.

[17:09] Planning staff recommendation. We've added meetings for November and December.

[17:15] Yes. So they'll be meeting in November and December 1st and

[17:18] third, where normally they're a second and fourth Thursday, but

[17:21] Al wanted to watch the lions and.

[17:23] He refused to meet on Thanksgiving. so we're meeting

[17:26] first and third and those two months to stay away

[17:29] from the holidays. But.

[17:31] Cuz we have this work to do, but we also

[17:33] have applications still coming in and we already have long

[17:36] meetings.

[17:37] Meetings. We have long meetings, as you know, as is

[17:40] a Township.

[17:45] Before we move on. Is there anything, any of the

[17:47] commissioners want to add to.

[17:49] Playing directors dysphorias update.

[17:53] No, but I just wanna point out that the last.

[17:56] Four months have been exceptionally busy for the planning commission.

[18:01] But we're very fortunate in the staff led by Jodi.

[18:05] And Colton.

[18:08] But hat, they they've just done a tremendous job.

[18:11] And it hasn't been easy because this has been, as

[18:13] you know, it's been kind of a lightning rod issue.

[18:16] And they they've worked through it with a lot of

[18:19] class.

[18:20] And they continue to do that.

[18:22] Certainly makes our job a lot easier.

[18:27] Thank you chair. I couldn't agree with you, Morris. It's.

[18:31] We do appreciate all the hard work the staff has

[18:33] been.

[18:36] Putting into the efforts of the planning commission, particularly.

[18:44] Next

[18:46] oh, sorry. Jodi, south Drake corridor improvement authority. .

[18:50] Again, mm-hmm, planning high. Amples a lot.

[18:54] They don't have the same budget as.

[18:57] DDA their tax capture is only.

[19:00] About $80,000. But.

[19:02] What they're doing with their tax increment is paying the

[19:05] Township back.

[19:08] For the path on Drake road that now goes from

[19:10] west main to stadium. Eventually you'll go all the way

[19:12] down to, I mean, west main to K I'll eventually

[19:14] it'll go K.

[19:16] KL to stadium. So that is a majority of their

[19:18] budget every year.

[19:20] But they did approve at their meeting, not earlier today,

[19:24] but their meeting earlier this month to pay for streetlights

[19:27] on our side of Drake road, that.

[19:29] Are within their capture area, which runs from west main

[19:32] to stadium. So where we really need lights still is

[19:35] KL.

[19:36] KL to west main that soda can control. And then

[19:38] west along Drake, and then going north, the Township will

[19:42] pay. Cause that is out of the soda territory.

[19:45] And they also have a grant program, but it, their

[19:49] emphasis is more on.

[19:50] Safety. So if a business in the district along Drake

[19:54] road might want more lights for their property or security

[19:57] cameras.

[19:59] They would be eligible for a grant and we.

[20:01] Also reach out to the Sheriff's office again, to just

[20:03] get what specs do they need on these cameras?

[20:06] And what type of retention so that.

[20:09] The data will be useful for them in solving crimes,

[20:11] but there will be an expectation if someone wants a

[20:14] grant also in the DDA for a security.

[20:17] Cameras that there's gonna be a minimum expectation.

[20:20] And those are

[20:23] either. Yeah. They're typically it's offered to businesses in the

[20:27] DDA, the cameras, these, this camera program is.

[20:30] Installation or support for cameras on their property.

[20:35] So if

[20:39] I don't know a, B, C.

[20:41] Dental Andre road.

[20:44] They could apply for

[20:46] camera installation on their property to coordinate with the Sheriff's

[20:50] department, if they wanted.

[20:54] We also have a couple vacancy on the board. If

[20:58] you know anybody who's interested, I'm not sure about the

[21:00] eligibility.

[21:02] Requirements are for soda, but.

[21:04] Is it two that we're, we need a resident that

[21:07] lives within a half a mile of the district or

[21:09] in the district. And then.

[21:12] We do need

[21:15] two more members at least to.

[21:17] A majority of which have to have a ownership interest

[21:19] in the district.

[21:21] We have a at large member now, and I consider

[21:24] you as a county's rep to have an interest since

[21:26] we capture county taxes. Okay.

[21:33] oh, yeah, openings.

[21:35] Openings. And our next meeting is December 12th, unless there's a

[21:38] reason for a special meeting between.

[21:40] Here and there, but we meet quarterly.

[21:46] Yeah, thanks. Murgia thanks for the good conversation. The soda

[21:50] board had.

[21:51] A special meeting just ahead of this meeting.

[21:54] To

[21:56] take a look at the repayment schedule.

[21:59] For the path and also get itself ready for their,

[22:03] for budgets. So.

[22:05] It was good. It was good coverage. It was a

[22:06] good meeting. Good conversation.

[22:11] Zoning board of appeals.

[22:13] Appeals. They've had quite a few meetings canceled this year,

[22:18] which tells me we have a solid zoning ordinance.

[22:22] That not too many people need to ask for relief

[22:24] from it.

[22:25] But they also conduct slight plan review for permitted uses,

[22:28] which is unusual.

[22:30] For a community where your zoning board of appeals conduct

[22:32] site plan review. But that's been the case here since

[22:34] the eighties, because the planning commission's always been so busy

[22:37] that if something.

[22:38] Something's non-controversial and a permitted use kick get to the

[22:41] other board.

[22:43] But they do have a meeting next week. There's.

[22:46] There's a variant for a bed and breakfast in on

[22:48] south first street. That will be on the agenda.

[22:52] And then

[22:54] next month, a property on west Michigan avenue needs, frontage

[22:58] and setback variance.

[23:00] So Meg, there'll be a couple meetings coming, coming your

[23:03] way. And.

[23:06] Alice liaison from planning commission, two zoning vertical appeal.

[23:10] Of it. Yes.

[23:18] I can't get enough of ordinances and variances.

[23:21] Variances and , I, I didn't want to take the

[23:23] lead on that, cuz I didn't want to have to,

[23:25] you know, open up with it. We didn't do anything

[23:27] the last three months.

[23:29] But Jodi took the head, you know what appreciate, and

[23:32] that's the goal. If you zoning, doesn't ZBA, doesn't need

[23:35] to meet much if.

[23:37] Our zoning ordinances are working for us. So that's cool.

[23:46] I mean a little booboo here.

[23:48] Anna. I think I wanted to hold TA chip board

[23:51] for last. If you don't mind, do you, can you,

[23:54] can we flip and you give us our.

[23:56] Sewer update. Sure.

[23:59] So hopefully everybody is

[24:01] familiar about the U S D a.

[24:04] Sanitary sewer expansion projects in Oshtemo.

[24:09] This has been a long time coming. There was a

[24:11] strategic plan done back in 2010, 2011.

[24:15] About how to tackle some of the.

[24:19] Existing dense neighborhoods that we were gonna have to retrofit

[24:22] with sanitary sewer.

[24:25] So we

[24:26] did complete phase one.

[24:30] The, that has one lift station. It's pretty large lift

[24:33] station. It's in the sky Ridge driftwood neighborhood.

[24:36] And is now up and active and the city.

[24:40] Is overseeing that

[24:42] that project included two neighborhoods, sky Ridge, and driftwood off

[24:46] of Drake road.

[24:48] And then the fair lane Platt, which is Fairgrove will

[24:51] Damir off of stadium.

[24:54] Kind of near upper bellies.

[24:56] In total, that is 152.

[24:59] Connections to the public sanitary sewer.

[25:02] We

[25:04] we had five systems that were failed.

[25:07] When we were trying to get that.

[25:11] The final testing.

[25:13] Done and people were calling daily to see when they

[25:15] could get connected. There's been a few more that have

[25:19] come out of the woodwork that weren't known, but.

[25:21] During sales.

[25:24] People have actually been very excited that there's the option

[25:26] for public sewer.

[25:28] When they're going to buy a home in those neighborhoods.

[25:31] Neighborhoods. So we are starting to see those connections roll

[25:34] in. We also had somebody in one of those neighborhoods.

[25:37] Neighborhoods coming and pay for their connection fees before the

[25:41] lift station was even active. So they wanted to get

[25:43] connected and have that taken care of.

[25:46] And get it all done. So now we're in phase

[25:48] two, which is.

[25:50] The Westport neighborhood, just north of Meyer between ninth and

[25:55] 10th and H and west main, if you will.

[25:59] That is about 490 connections.

[26:03] And it has three lift stations.

[26:05] Stations and we've broken into two different contracts. So we

[26:09] started on the first contract this year, starting from H

[26:12] avenue.

[26:13] Heading south. The contractor's goal was to get half of

[26:17] the contract done, which was about 10,000 feet.

[26:21] In 2026.

[26:23] We are about 2000 feet ahead of schedule.

[26:26] So that is good news, but not something in construction

[26:30] that we get.

[26:31] Really excited about cuz we can lose that momentum quickly.

[26:34] So.

[26:37] And that

[26:39] contract. So just Torrington to H we have eight failed

[26:43] systems that we know of so far.

[26:46] A few of them, we found when we were digging

[26:48] because they are in the right of way. And we're

[26:51] right up against the road.

[26:53] Or some of, one of them had a utility.

[26:55] Board right through it.

[26:58] And we do have one resident.

[27:00] That is pumping their system every three weeks.

[27:04] And they are limiting their use. So her husband.

[27:07] Showers at the gym.

[27:10] She does the whole like get wet, then turns off

[27:13] the water and tries to wash her hair. Then turns

[27:15] it on really quick. And then they're taking.

[27:17] Their laundry to their kids' house.

[27:20] So it's definitely a need. I like to share those

[27:22] stories with people. Not because I want anybody to be

[27:24] in that situation, but.

[27:26] It just shows the importance of what we're doing and

[27:29] that it will be immediately.

[27:32] Utilized

[27:34] we are

[27:36] still in the process of.

[27:39] Securing the act 180 5 bonds with the county.

[27:42] Our goal is to close on those early in 2027.

[27:46] And complete country club village, which is the neighborhood kind

[27:50] of behind latitude.

[27:52] If you're familiar with it's large lane, south of west

[27:55] main it's 10th street, north of west main.

[27:58] And that's another hundred and five connections. There's actually already

[28:01] sewer down lodge lane. So a lot of people are

[28:03] already connected to that. And this would be kind of

[28:05] the side streets.

[28:07] But it would all end up getting paved all at

[28:09] the same time. We did make that change.

[28:12] When we updated the plans last year, and then we're

[28:15] also looking at sanitary sewer.

[28:18] On eighth street.

[28:20] If you've driven down that recently, you're probably aware of

[28:23] the, the war zone that it is, but the Township

[28:25] has a policy that we won't.

[28:28] Won't put road funds towards a road. That's programmed in

[28:30] the C I P for.

[28:32] Sanitary sewers. So

[28:35] I'm gonna remain optimistic.

[28:37] That we're gonna keep being efficient.

[28:39] And recognizing some of the economies of scale and gonna

[28:43] be able to get this all done.

[28:45] With the bonds.

[28:47] That we have and the act 180 5 bonds and new

[28:50] connections coming in. So.

[28:53] The other two things related to sewer that I wanted

[28:55] to highlight is that the Township board.

[28:58] I believe it was 2020.

[29:00] Set up the hardship.

[29:03] Revolving funds. So we have a.

[29:06] HARC committee a hardship.

[29:08] Assistance review committee. They do have a meeting coming up,

[29:11] but we have seen some.

[29:14] More applications roll in now that the group of 300,

[29:17] which was the original before we.

[29:20] Started adding more sewer people who were adjacent to sewer

[29:22] that were required to get connected.

[29:25] We have a few of those left that are just

[29:27] going through the hard process.

[29:29] And then we're already seeing a lot of interest from

[29:32] the U S D a.

[29:33] Neighborhoods as well. So we're glad to have that program

[29:37] to offer to the residents and help administrate it in

[29:40] public works.

[29:42] And then

[29:44] another thing we tried.

[29:46] To do this year was a little bit different and

[29:49] better communication. And so the Township board approved.

[29:54] A texting program.

[29:56] So we've been

[29:58] sending out texts to try and coordinate with people as

[30:01] they can't get into their driveways or they should park

[30:04] elsewhere or.

[30:06] If their internet service goes down, those kinds of things.

[30:09] So hopefully we've had, we've had a lot of really

[30:12] great feedback.

[30:13] From that. So I think it's been.

[30:16] Successful for those of who.

[30:18] Like get and pay attention.

[30:20] And we can track, you know, who's actually clicking through

[30:23] to the website.

[30:24] So that was the final thing I was gonna mention

[30:26] is that we created a standalone phase two page on

[30:29] the township's website. If you go to the homepage and

[30:31] there's all those tiles.

[30:33] Tiles. It's one of the tiles on there. We have

[30:35] an interactive map that shows the progress of construction where

[30:40] closures are, and then.

[30:41] Where the upcoming segments of road and where we're headed

[30:43] to next.

[30:46] At a minimum once a week, we put.

[30:48] Updates related to construction activities.

[30:51] And then there's a whole bunch of other information about

[30:54] frequently asked questions.

[30:56] Questions, how to get connected.

[30:59] We edit a construction glossary.

[31:02] So some of the different.

[31:04] Stakes or flags that are in people's yards. We took

[31:07] pictures and tried to add some context to them so

[31:10] they could understand what was happening.

[31:13] There are some safety reminders on there. We had some

[31:15] kids.

[31:17] Using the manholes as playground equipment and things like that.

[31:21] And the piles of dirt in the street as.

[31:24] You know, activity space. That's a park idea, Vanessa.

[31:29] So we've been trying to get out as much information

[31:31] as we can. So those are just some other ancillary

[31:34] things I wanted to mention about the sewer.

[31:37] But overall it's been a, a.

[31:39] Pretty successful construction season for us.

[31:43] It's really exciting.

[31:45] I also wanna commend the public works department.

[31:49] Because with any project, there comes a certain level of.

[31:52] Dissatisfaction.

[31:55] At various times and our public works department has done

[31:58] an excellent job of.

[32:00] Tracking the feedback from residents.

[32:03] Residents making real time resolution and feedback.

[32:06] And trying to help people.

[32:09] Experience that project as positively as possible. And I think

[32:13] you guys have done a, a fantastic job of that

[32:16] and I appreci.

[32:17] Appreciate it immensely.

[32:20] And it's really

[32:22] creates a, a great history too. Actually, the more.

[32:26] Capital projects. We do like this. We will learn from

[32:28] that. It Al almost becomes data. So.

[32:33] Great. Thank you, Anna.

[32:36] And actually, is there any other que I mean, I

[32:39] asked Haan to come update about sewer, particularly because.

[32:43] The board meeting, we just talked about the vehicle garage

[32:46] update, but is there any questions.

[32:48] Questions for the public works director.

[32:53] We offer field trips. If anybody's interested. That's right.

[32:57] Maybe, I guess I do have one question. Did we

[32:59] just talk at soda earlier about wondering.

[33:02] When the last time public works might have taken a

[33:04] walk down the path.

[33:05] Oh, yeah. Do you know the last time.

[33:09] The Drake road path.

[33:11] From

[33:14] west main to

[33:19] when the condition of that sort of had a question

[33:22] related to maintenance. Yeah, we do. So few years ago,

[33:26] the Township.

[33:27] Board authorized a

[33:30] as a non-motorized asset management plan. So we.

[33:34] Had a consultant traverse, the every piece of non-motorized.

[33:39] We just talked about this at the board meeting and

[33:41] the board approved and as needed contract for some of

[33:44] the projects that came out of that. But then.

[33:47] Continued to come up of these tiny segments or tiny

[33:50] projects where they're not something we would go out to

[33:54] bid.

[33:55] On. So we now have a contractor on board to

[33:57] help us with some of those.

[33:59] Minor repairs. It, it does happen that with utilities.

[34:04] Were not the

[34:06] permitting agency for work in the right of way, whether

[34:09] it's MDA or the Road Commission right of way. So

[34:11] we don't get copies of those permits and.

[34:15] Some of those utilities.

[34:17] The damage shows up right away. And some of it

[34:20] takes years to.

[34:22] Surface. So when we can, we catch it right away

[34:26] and get that company to fix it, but there are

[34:29] some.

[34:30] Historic damage that we're gonna have to go back and

[34:32] fix. So.

[34:34] I think it was just last week that we got

[34:36] that contractor on board. It's a little late in the

[34:39] season, but we have outlined some of those projects.

[34:42] Projects. And that specifically was when some of the Drake

[34:44] road.

[34:47] The entire segment, actually all the way up to the

[34:49] roundabout at.

[34:51] I'm probably I'm sorry. Even further north than the roundabout,

[34:53] all the way into ravine.

[34:56] Where there are gonna need to be spot repairs along

[34:57] that entire stretch. So.

[35:00] Yeah, I would anticipate we could get a lot of

[35:02] it done in 2027. But.

[35:04] Some of it inevitably might be something we defer. If

[35:07] it's better to wait for a project, we know that's

[35:09] coming or.

[35:12] Requires some more underground work or something to correct it

[35:14] the right way. So, yep. We do monitor those things.

[35:17] Throughout the entire Township.

[35:20] Cool. Thank you.

[35:25] Good question.

[35:28] All right next.

[35:29] Some board updates.

[35:31] Updates. So

[35:34] we'll start with Mr. Sikora. .

[35:38] I don't really have anything in particular update. I.

[35:42] Mutual usually have a spiel at Township board meetings. We're

[35:46] working heavily on budget.

[35:48] Right now. And that's the big thing is.

[35:50] Figuring out how much money we're gonna have. And.

[35:54] Where we're gonna spend it and what's not gonna make

[35:56] the cut and what it is. So it's a lot

[35:59] of work and.

[36:01] Hardware job.

[36:03] And, and the different other end of the sewer work,

[36:07] if you're in Oshtemo and you have city water, it

[36:09] starts this weekend that they're gonna be.

[36:11] Flushing a Hibbard. So don't forget that it's on the

[36:13] website.

[36:14] Where it's coming, what days? So just heads up.

[36:19] Does the city mail to residence? I, yes, I have

[36:21] well water, so I wouldn't know. So yeah, they, they

[36:24] do, they mail to residents and let 'em know. Okay.

[36:26] Good.

[36:27] And I know rich put it out there, but there.

[36:30] Wondered.

[36:36] Trustee for four, have anything for the group.

[36:44] Confirmer I can share that we.

[36:47] Have received our ballots for the November election.

[36:51] We have not received our testing materials yet, but we

[36:53] expect to be completed with our testing.

[36:56] Before the end of this week, fingers crossed. We.

[37:00] Again, we're still waiting for the testing materials to get

[37:02] here.

[37:04] And that's the process where we bring every tabulator into

[37:07] this room and every voter assist terminal into this room.

[37:11] And we run.

[37:13] A series of ballots through each one of 'em.

[37:16] For public accuracy.

[37:21] and I guess the other thing is that the,

[37:23] we expect ballots to be picked up and mailed out

[37:26] on September 29th. So if you are on the permanent ballot,

[37:29] list you can watch out for your ballot. It'll be

[37:32] coming through the mail soon.

[37:38] Yeah, poor. Linda doesn't have any room. Laughter. She was

[37:41] cold. she? She has every single purple envelope back

[37:45] there right now.

[37:46] So

[37:48] I'm like, oh, ballots are here.

[37:51] treasure. Buszka.

[37:54] Code just a 10 update, the last or date or.

[37:58] None kind wise. So no interest tax summer taxes where

[38:01] yes was yesterday. And it's been a really unusual year.

[38:05] Historically, we've had a sum payments come in on the

[38:07] 14th and some in the Dropbox and some random online.

[38:12] This year was crazy.

[38:14] Yesterday. like three staff, me, myself included we're going

[38:19] nonstop. Our stock of checks were this thick. I had

[38:21] over 200.

[38:22] Online payment. I don't know what happened, but we're still

[38:25] working on payments. .

[38:28] So we have the payments, but I'm gonna have to

[38:30] backdate some of 'em to yesterday cuz we had it,

[38:33] but it's just a catch up now. It it's been

[38:35] a crazy.

[38:36] Summer winter or summer tax. It was happened at that

[38:39] point. It was .

[38:42] I actually took a call from a resident.

[38:47] Must have been last Friday.

[38:50] Who stopped in

[38:52] to pay taxes at one o'clock and she was questioning.

[38:56] That one o'clock being that closure.

[38:58] And then when she came back to pay her taxes,

[39:01] taxes. She noted, you know, the number of people at

[39:04] the counter. And I, I had to describe to her

[39:07] I'm like, just because.

[39:08] Not everybody's trained on how to take tax payments. Like

[39:11] I don't take tax payments it's if I did, that

[39:14] would be very wrong.

[39:16] So there's a, there's a assumption that when somebody comes

[39:19] to the counter and they see people.

[39:22] That they assume everybody knows how to do that.

[39:26] So might be good information to share during.

[39:30] Peak tax times, like not everybody knows and is trained

[39:33] on how to take these payments. Yeah. So mm-hmm

[39:36] or don't come at the last day. right.

[39:38] Definitely I'm the last day. Yeah.

[39:41] Yeah, and we do stay open on the last day

[39:42] during the lunch. So nobody's sent away or walks away.

[39:45] We're open during lunch. Right? The other thing is we

[39:48] only have two terminals.

[39:49] Terminals. So it's like, regardless if I tour in 20.

[39:52] There's still only two people that can take payments for

[39:54] a time. Fine. Oh, that's so interesting.

[40:00] Can you like rent a terminal, like temporarily? Like, I

[40:03] mean, I said we do send 'em back to their

[40:05] desk.

[40:05] To run payments sometimes. Oh, okay. So you can, okay.

[40:09] It just, you know, then they're going all the way

[40:11] back to their desk and that's the efficiency goes away.

[40:14] Yeah.

[40:16] No poor sale yesterday. I was like, woo. She was

[40:18] hopping. Yeah. She pulled a 200 payments out of the

[40:21] Dropbox yesterday. Mm-hmm .

[40:23] We haven't had that happen in like five years. I

[40:25] was like, what is happening this year? What's going on?

[40:27] Something's going on?

[40:29] It was, it was very strange. Hold on.

[40:36] I think I just have a few updates for the.

[40:40] Kind of relevant more broadly.

[40:44] So

[40:45] the Township board started community conversations this year to offer

[40:50] another opportunity for residents to engage with board members.

[40:54] It kind of arose out of the battery energy storage

[40:57] situation, but it's open.

[41:00] To any topics of conversation.

[41:02] Well, since we've added two planning commission meetings in order

[41:06] to advance.

[41:08] The ordinance, the November and December community conversations will be

[41:12] canceled.

[41:14] Because the planning, commission meetings and community conversations.

[41:19] Were on the same day. So rather than trying to

[41:21] find another day to do another, do that commute, we're

[41:24] just going to let the planning commission do. It's very

[41:26] important.

[41:27] Work. And there will not be community conversations for November

[41:31] and December.

[41:32] And we'll make sure that we broadcast that.

[41:36] Widely from the various Township.

[41:40] Social media and website and all that good stuff.

[41:44] They've been very successful though, and really an enjoyable.

[41:49] I think everyone that's attended, it's really an enjoyable.

[41:53] Time to listen and have a conversation with residents and.

[41:58] And you know, and a little less formal.

[42:02] Environment. Yeah. The hour goes really quickly.

[42:04] It really does. Yeah.

[42:09] One other question.

[42:11] Just because we have so many members of the planning

[42:13] commission here, and so many members of the board here.

[42:16] Is kind of in an unprecedented.

[42:19] Way we've had residents ask to have their.

[42:24] Feedback their letters.

[42:26] Letters included given to the board members included in packets.

[42:30] Packets. And we've tried to accommodate that.

[42:34] In a systematic way and it's still not systematized.

[42:38] Enough. So

[42:41] it is kind of, I mean, the amount of resonant

[42:44] feedback we're getting right now is I certainly.

[42:47] I've never seen anything like that. I mean, you've been

[42:49] around longer than I have, but at a high level,

[42:52] it's, it's really remarkable.

[42:55] And there is no

[42:57] there's no precedence for it. And there's also, it's not

[43:00] required by law.

[43:01] That we include that public comment.

[43:04] In that is submitted in that way.

[43:07] In packets or attach it to minutes. It's a practice

[43:10] that.

[43:11] That sometimes is done.

[43:13] So last week at, at Jodi's request because it is

[43:19] coming from multiple directions, we are gonna.

[43:22] Put out, not a policy, but a procedure.

[43:25] So that everybody is operating under the same set of

[43:28] information when it comes to.

[43:31] How public comment.

[43:33] For those that wanna have it submitted is going to

[43:36] be treated.

[43:38] And right now and it, it rich, our meeting communications

[43:42] person was on vacation last week. So I needed.

[43:46] Him into that mix.

[43:48] We're going to the plan is.

[43:51] That we're gonna treat, we're going to, we're gonna put

[43:54] public comment on the website. Like we do the minutes

[43:59] or.

[43:59] The receipts and disbursements report. So if you wanna read

[44:03] the public comment, that's come in on a, on for

[44:07] a particular meeting.

[44:08] You can just click on that link and it'll be

[44:11] all there in one place. So.

[44:13] I certainly, we certainly don't wanna miss.

[44:17] Public comment that's intended for a packet.

[44:19] But it is a little difficult internally.

[44:22] To sort of, does it go this week next week?

[44:25] Does it go to planning? Does it go to Township

[44:27] board? Does it go to everybody? So.

[44:30] Hopefully very soon, we'll have a procedure that everybody can

[44:33] count on and, and follow.

[44:36] So I just, that came up at our meeting.

[44:38] Last week. One of the residents said that we weren't

[44:41] getting the letters.

[44:42] Letters. And so I talked to Jody and I asked

[44:45] her, are we not getting anything?

[44:47] Because I'm sure it's the same with every board.

[44:51] Prior to the meeting, we get an agenda.

[44:54] And we get the documentation that's supporting what's on that

[44:57] agenda. Mm-hmm and oftentimes.

[45:00] There's a bunch of handwritten letters. Mm-hmm that are

[45:02] attached to it. Okay. Mm-hmm and then sometimes.

[45:06] During the meeting mm-hmm because they, the.

[45:12] Letters haven't come in or in time. Okay. We get

[45:15] more letters to read mm-hmm and at the.

[45:18] Meetings last night or what did we get? Half inch,

[45:23] three quarters of an inch pages of letters from.

[45:26] Empty state people. Nobody can make a statement. They've gotta

[45:28] put it in writing.

[45:30] And so you hear it twice.

[45:32] And you get a whole stack of letters. So.

[45:36] I think it's a great idea to have a procedure

[45:38] if that's gonna make things easier, but this perception that

[45:41] we're not reading.

[45:42] Comments or letters that are presented is.

[45:45] Totally off base, as far as I'm concerned.

[45:48] Well, like I said, it's unprecedented.

[45:50] I mean, I can think of earlier in my board

[45:53] service, like.

[45:55] Once in a while, we'd get something in writing that

[45:57] would be requested to go to the full board. So.

[46:02] You know, I think

[46:05] how will we know that something's been posted? Are you

[46:07] gonna send out a, so just like the Township, you

[46:11] know, like if you go to click on.

[46:12] The website and there's the agenda. And then it might

[46:15] say under the agenda, receipts and disbursements in minutes.

[46:19] It, I have, hasn't been fully vetted yet, but it'll

[46:21] say something like.

[46:24] Public comment.

[46:25] Received concerning this meeting or, you know, like it it'll

[46:29] be a, it'll be a Dr. You know, it'll be

[46:31] a link there. Okay.

[46:34] We'll have to go and look to see if there

[46:36] is anything. We're not gonna get some kind of notification

[46:38] that, Hey, we've posted public comments. Oh. You know,

[46:42] what we do put receipts and disbursements in those kinds

[46:45] of things on a consent agenda.

[46:47] On the regular in the, on the consent for the

[46:50] regular agenda to remind the board members.

[46:52] To go read those things. So that's a good point.

[46:54] We should probably, if I put a link on the

[46:56] agenda link on the agenda,

[46:59] but like if we get 50 pages in a meeting,

[47:02] and we hear the comment and we get it in

[47:04] writing. I don't wanna read it again for the next

[47:06] meeting. Right? I've already heard it, read it and unread

[47:10] it again.

[47:10] In the minute, like how do, how do we organize

[47:13] that? Because it, because it makes the package packets unmanageable.

[47:16] Mm-hmm if the stuff's in there and.

[47:19] Triple kit. I will say, I know. I believe that

[47:21] there are some residents.

[47:23] Residents that bring their comments in writing because.

[47:27] Maybe they're they just don't use a computer a lot.

[47:30] So they type 'em out and bring them. I think

[47:32] they're generating the content they're giving us actually. Oh, I

[47:35] don't know if they're drafting it. Okay.

[47:40] Well, like I said, it's not fully vetted yet. I

[47:42] think what you're asking is.

[47:45] If it's like, like if it was given in the

[47:47] public comment in the meeting, can it just be in

[47:49] the minutes and not, not repeated in another, in another

[47:52] packet?

[47:53] Yes. So somehow some, some logic, my goal is, is

[47:57] that.

[47:59] The

[48:01] the public comments were no longer be attached to your

[48:04] packet. They'll be in a separate place on the website

[48:07] for you to go read them.

[48:10] But there's public comments in the, in advance.

[48:14] Mm-hmm that get attached to the packet that come

[48:15] I'm assuming in the mail to Jodi. Yeah, but we

[48:17] might, and then there's public comment in the.

[48:20] Meeting mm-hmm . So the ones you receive in the

[48:24] meeting, if we don't get it electronically,

[48:27] this is what I have to work out with the

[48:29] people that.

[48:30] Know more about the website than I do that we

[48:33] can go. And then like, let's say, somebody gives you

[48:36] a letter at the Dias and we didn't get it

[48:38] in an email.

[48:39] Then we'll scan it and just add it to.

[48:42] That minutes? Yes. Or something. Okay.

[48:46] Yeah, I'm not intending the 50 pages we got last

[48:49] week, putting that in another packet. Cause that would just

[48:52] be.

[48:53] Unnecessary. No. If we get public comment about something that

[48:57] is an actual public hearing item.

[49:00] I'm gonna put that in your packet. Yeah. If it

[49:02] comes in in time, otherwise if it's just general comment

[49:04] about a work item, we're not gonna be.

[49:08] Excuse me putting that in packets anymore. Right. But we'll

[49:10] so public hearing publish it. Public public hearing would be

[49:12] different.

[49:15] So look for more information on that soon and you

[49:18] know, we'll do our best to get it right.

[49:21] But certainly it's something that if some, if it's not

[49:23] working, we'll amend it and try to make it work

[49:26] better. So,

[49:30] I've been having my supervisors open office hours.

[49:34] And people are pretty regularly attending it's so it's very

[49:38] enjoyable. Another good.

[49:40] Opportunity to talk to folks and answer questions and.

[49:45] Like for example,

[49:50] having the planning or having the ordinance on the TVs

[49:54] at your last meeting.

[49:56] That came out of a resident suggestion from my previous

[49:59] supervisor meeting.

[50:01] And I thought it was a pretty good one. I

[50:03] mean, I.

[50:05] I, I watched it and I liked having it up

[50:07] there to read along with you. So anyway, you know,

[50:11] really trying to build those bridge.

[50:13] Bridges and let people ask questions and.

[50:16] So, and it's fun to have because for the first

[50:18] three or four months, nobody came. So it was, it's

[50:21] fun to have people come.

[50:23] As Trustee Sikora mentioned, it's full steam ahead on budgets.

[50:28] And if you're watching any of the Township board meetings,

[50:31] not only.

[50:31] Are we discussing budget? We're also discussing millages and fund

[50:34] balances.

[50:36] Balances. So we have

[50:39] meetings, September 22nd and September 23rd and September 20.

[50:45] Ninth with a goal to have a completed budget for

[50:49] public con.

[50:51] Public. Consumption's the wrong word for public.

[50:55] Review review.

[50:59] By October 13th.

[51:01] So that's kind of where we're at in the pieces

[51:04] with that.

[51:07] Oh, I haven't talked to the it director. This is

[51:10] kind of just something for the broad.

[51:12] Broader boards here.

[51:15] The mics on the diocese and the mics in this

[51:18] room.

[51:19] Are hot when you watch.

[51:22] Online the amount of

[51:25] conversation you can hear in this room is.

[51:29] Remarkable. So

[51:32] I'm gonna put a reminder.

[51:34] I'm gonna ask to have a reminder up there that

[51:36] you shut your mics off. When like, if you're, if

[51:39] you're on a break for a restroom or whatever, you

[51:41] need to shut your mics.

[51:43] Mics off, but even

[51:45] in the gallery here, you can hear a lot of

[51:48] conversations. So.

[51:50] Talk to the it director about it.

[51:53] I'm sure it's not at all intended to be broadcast

[51:56] on public media networks. So you should just be aware

[51:59] of that.

[52:02] But the other thing

[52:04] talking to a resident today.

[52:07] Is you got when you're, they, they cannot.

[52:12] Hear past this bulkhead.

[52:14] And so really have to, when you're at the Dias,

[52:18] speak into that microphone.

[52:21] Some folks have soft voices.

[52:24] Naturally, but still getting

[52:28] a lot regular.

[52:31] Feedback that for folks sitting behind this bulkhead they're they

[52:34] just, they can't hear what you're saying. So just be

[52:37] mindful of that.

[52:43] Can't read my own handwriting. So I'll move on. We

[52:46] have a newsletter coming out the first week of October.

[52:50] So look for that. Rich is put in the final.

[52:53] Details and

[52:58] oh, I can read it. I wanna thank the clerk

[53:01] for your flexibility.

[53:03] She was talking about all the upcoming tech.

[53:07] Testing for the machines and.

[53:11] She had to, she, she let me borrow some of

[53:13] her time in the meeting room this week. in

[53:15] order to, so thanks for your flexibility on that Absolut.

[53:19] Absolutely Trustee Chapman.

[53:22] My bad you're you know why it is is cuz

[53:24] you're in Dr. Suit and I don't recognize you. That's

[53:26] that's totally what it is. It's no problem. No problem.

[53:29] Did you wanna.

[53:30] Close this out. I have no other comments. I just

[53:33] appreciate all the work that everybody around this table does

[53:37] for our citizens.

[53:39] Citizens and appreciate all the.

[53:41] Activity we've had as far as public involvement.

[53:44] So thank you to each of you for the service

[53:46] you do for our community.

[53:48] Thank you Trustee.

[53:51] And now we'll go to item seven public comment. We

[53:54] do have some members of the public. Did have anyone

[53:57] wishing to make public.

[53:58] Comment. Go ahead, Ms. I'm ready? Can you all hear

[54:02] me? Yes. Yes. Well, I'm gonna start off with complimenting

[54:06] the planning.

[54:06] Commission. I think they deserve it and they probably don't

[54:09] hear this very often.

[54:11] For the process with the ordinance.

[54:14] Revisions because it's a lot of work.

[54:17] And I think going through it word by word is

[54:20] really to start for the first draft is the best

[54:23] way to do it, even though it is painful.

[54:26] It's painful for everybody, but, and I also sympathize with

[54:29] the amount of work that.

[54:31] The planning commissioners, the planning director.

[54:36] And the staff

[54:38] go undergo with this because it's a complicated area.

[54:42] And it, my brain hurts trying to get, look, figure

[54:45] out everything that I need to in order to understand

[54:47] this issue.

[54:48] And I know a lot of residents feel the same

[54:50] and we have a lot of experts.

[54:52] Between the board and the community. So I, I, I

[54:55] think that they, they.

[54:56] They deserve that recognition and for doing this work.

[55:00] Round of work because I think it's significant.

[55:02] And I just appreciate it.

[55:07] Also would like to address the issue of.

[55:11] Addressing all of these different en energy ordinances, a single

[55:14] ordinance.

[55:15] Is that I know, I, I think I brought this.

[55:20] Before before the board and the plan commission.

[55:23] But having separate ordinances is something that the state recommends.

[55:27] Recommends also other experts recommend.

[55:29] And there's some good reasons for it. It, it doesn't

[55:31] have to do with.

[55:33] The workload for planning staff.

[55:36] Because I, I think our planning staff have the capability.

[55:40] And the, I guess, the bandwidth to work on it

[55:43] all at once.

[55:45] But the reasons why you should do it separately is

[55:48] one.

[55:49] Because of bandwidth issue for everybody.

[55:52] Is that you are dealing with three different technologies, solar,

[55:55] wind, and batteries.

[55:57] Those are all different, even though they're connected into one

[56:01] system.

[56:02] The system may have a lot of similarities, but they're

[56:04] each different.

[56:05] And if you, you wanna be careful about not.

[56:09] O of overlooking the fact that there's some unique differences

[56:13] in, in them that need to be addressed, which you

[56:16] could easily do in a single.

[56:18] Draft. So I recommend that for the second draft.

[56:21] Breaking it up because I think that for the planning

[56:23] commission to review it, it's gonna be a lot easier

[56:26] to look at solar, you know, battery first and then

[56:29] solar. And then.

[56:30] Wind solar was done before. Anything else? So that was

[56:33] done.

[56:35] You know, on its own. And also I've been told

[56:37] that Comstock.

[56:38] Did do it is doing its ordinances separately for energy

[56:42] and that they think that's a really good idea.

[56:44] So there's some good reasons to handle that. And I

[56:47] think that for especially a resident who are not really

[56:50] familiar with this issue,

[56:52] it's really hard and I think it'd be easier for

[56:54] them to recommend, you know, this is what this is,

[56:56] what is involved with solar.

[56:58] For example. So I just like to.

[57:01] Forward that also I have a, a.

[57:03] Question for Trustee Sikora.

[57:06] Is that there is mentioned at meetings that there was

[57:09] an environmental board, I think, in conjunction with the parks.

[57:14] Parks, and it's not really official anymore. What is the

[57:16] status of that? What is the purpose or is there,

[57:19] or is it like an appendix? Just kind of sitting

[57:21] there?

[57:22] Mm-hmm . That was why I brought it up.

[57:25] But what is, you know, what is it? Has it.

[57:28] I'm on it. So I can tell you that much.

[57:30] Apparently I was appointed to it. I think we needed

[57:33] to have it because of an ordinance.

[57:36] Required us to have an environmental board.

[57:39] I don't know whether it was for appeal or for

[57:41] something. Yes, no, that's right. Okay. Yeah. And then, but

[57:43] we've never had an appeal, so we've never actually.

[57:47] Met right. The, the board was formed when we thought

[57:49] there was going to be an appeal that was pre

[57:52] COVID. That was quite a bit a long time ago.

[57:53] COVID yeah.

[57:55] We were anticipating that a resident was going to basically

[57:59] wanna fight against the ordinance and appeal it to someone.

[58:02] It's an appeal at someone. So we formed the board

[58:03] and then they never, they never ended up, we, they

[58:06] figured out a different way to, you know, deal with

[58:08] their issue. But.

[58:10] That's. Yeah. Yeah. And that's all I was addressing is

[58:13] all these different committees. Are they meeting? Are they.

[58:16] Current, you know, have they.

[58:19] Gone beyond their, you know, use or have they, do

[58:22] they need to, you know, come up with a mission

[58:24] statement to understand what their purpose is? That that's what

[58:26] I was.

[58:27] Bringing up with that. Thank you. Hope that answers here.

[58:29] Yep.

[58:33] Are you all set, Rob? Yeah, I'm done. Thank you.

[58:35] Okay.

[58:36] Any other public comment? No, he covered it. okay.

[58:41] All right. Well,

[58:43] with that it is.

[58:45] 6 28. We have exhausted our agenda and this meeting is

[58:48] adjourned. Thank you everyone for your great work.

[58:51] Very appreciated.

[58:54] I have

Oshtemo Township - Joint Boards Meeting - September 15, 2026 Meeting

Agenda

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