February 23, 2009 Council Minutes
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VILLAGE VILLAGE OF MATTAWAN
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING FEBRUARY 23, 2009
MINUTES
1. CALL TO ORDER AT 7:00 P.M.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ATTENDANCE
Present: Kucinich, Kirklin, Bemer, Markle, Spulick, Ashbaugh, McLean
Others present: Attorney Graham, Karl Freed of Fleis, Liam Hickey, Fire Chief McLean, Richard Underwood, Ariel Anderson, Jamie Harmon, Claudia Spulick and others.
4. WELCOME TO THE PUBLIC
5. ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING BEING RECORDED
6. OPEN PUBLIC HEARING ON TWO IFT APPLICATIONS FOR MPI ON PERSONAL PROPERTY ONLY.
Motion by Markle, support by Bemer, to open the public hearing on the two IFT applications for MPI on personal property only. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
7. PUBLIC COMMENT ON IFT APPLICATIONS
There was no public comment.
8. CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING
Motion by Kucinich, support by Kirklin, to close the public hearing on the IFT applications for MPI on personal property. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
9. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
Under new business K Safe routes to school
10. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Motion by Kucinich, support by Markle, to approve the agenda with the addition. All members voted in favor Motion carried.
11. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 9, 2009
Motion by Bemer, support by Spulick, to approve the minutes of February 9, 2009 as printed.
Roll call vote taken six members voted in favor. McLean abstained. Motion carried
12. BILLS TO BE APPROVED IN THE AMOUNT OF $50,782.65
Motion by Markle, support by Ashbaugh, to pay the bills in the amount of $50,782.65. Roll call vote taken all members voted in favor. Motion carried.
13. LIMITED PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY AGENDA ITEM
There was no limited public comment.
14. BOARD AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. PARKS & REC COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 16, 2009 – CHAIR BEMER
Chair Bemer reported on the two meetings that the Park & Rec Committee had. February 9th the Committee went through the Parks five year plan and the corrections and final wording so it would be ready to send to DNR before applying for grants.
On the 16th they discussed the property on Concord Avenue that is for sale. It is 17-20 acres for $90,000.00. The cost to apply for a grant is $3,500.00. They also discussed support by the DDA for Christmas decorations. Superintendent Anthony will be getting in touch with the school about the land they might have available.
B. DPW COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2009 – CHAIR KUCINICH
Chair Kucinich stated the committee spent the whole meeting going over the DPW budget.
C. PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 18, 2009 – LIAISON MARKLE
Liaison Markle stated the Planning Commission had a discussion of 42LLC. The new site plan is what was agreed to at the meeting. The row houses decreased from 52 to 47.
15. STAFF REPORTS
A. POLICE REPORT – CHIEF VERHAGE
Chief VerHage stated that the Police Department had 69 calls for service and 17 citations were written. He also informed us that Officer Hutch is back to work at the school. He wanted everyone to know that we haven’t had a lot of interest about the Neighborhood watch. He hasn’t had a lot of response, only two people from the Village have inquired about it.
B. CLERK’S REPORT – R. GOHEEN
The two IFT requests are for personal property only. The real property abatements have been granted for both facilities. New public notice was published in Courier Leader, and sent to all involved taxing authorities per procedure.
16. OLD BUSINESS
A. SEWER/SEPTIC SYSTEM ON CONCORD
Please see Superintendents recommendations.
Superintendent Anthony stated that servicing Concord with sewer would cost at least $60,000.00. That is with running gravity for about 150 feet. Then he would have to get a small grinder station which costs about $3,000.00. This service would cover Mr. McLain’s property as well as the two Austin rentals.
Motion by Bemer, support by Markle, to send this to DPW committee. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
B. UNI PROP OUTSTANDING WATER/SEWER BILL
This item was removed from the agenda.
Motion by Bemer, support by Kucinich, to remove item B, Uni Prop’s outstanding water/sewer bill from the minutes. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
17. NEW BUSINESS
A. DECISION ON M-2 BUILDING FOR 8 YEARS ON PERSONAL PROPERTY
Motion by Kucinich, support by Bemer, to grant the IFT on the M2 building for 8 year personal property as requested. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
B. DECISION ON Q BUILDING FOR 6 YEARS ON PERSONAL PROPERTY
Motion by Bemer, support by Kirklin, to grant the IFT on the Q building for 6 year personal property as requested. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
C. ADOPT RESOLUTION APPROVING APPLICATION FOR MPI IFT FOR PERSONAL PROPERTY ON M-2 BUILDING
Motion by Kucinich, support by Bemer, to adopt the resolution approving the application for personal property on the M-2 building. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
D. ADOPT RESOLUTION APPROVING APPLICATION FOR MPI ON IFT FOR
PERSONAL PROPERTY ON Q BUILDING
Motion by Bemer, support by Kirklin, to adopt the resolution approving the application for personal property on the Q building. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
E. APPROVAL OF ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION BUDGET
The engineering services agreement budget is proposed to be amended to add to the budget to allow for additional construction administration/inspection time required due to the extended construction contract time period. Upon village approval of the proposed budget adjustment the attached amendment will need to be signed and submitted to Rural Development for approval. The additional amount is $4,500.
Craig Schumaker stated that this should be the final payment. The overage was due to water test of piping and the extra time required to complete the punch list.
Attorney Graham stated that this amount was less than half of the compromised date of damage figure. From a legal perspective its certainly a prudent package.
F. LITTLE LEAGUE LAND DIVISION
The Little League has applied for a land division and is asking for a waiver, if possible, of all or part of the application fee as the Council has done in the past. The application fee $150. The Village will incur some cost for Karl Freed who has reviewed the land division application and asked for a survey and proof of ownership for the Masonic Building. Eric Schacht has been contacted and has supplied the necessary paper work.
Motion by Bemer, support by Spulick, to waive the application fee of $150.00 for the Little League land division. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
G. DENSITY ISSUE FOR ARIEL ANDERSON/42 LLC ON MCGILLEN AVENUE
The Planning Commission recommended 5-2 to send to Council to approve a waiver per ordinance Article 16.20 which gives Council authority to waive the density. They are asking for 47 units. The motion from the Planning Commission was to send to Council for approval up to 47 units, sections 7,8,9,&10 are reduced to 6 units, and 4,5,&6 become 5 units with the condition the rest of the qualifications be will be met under the requirements of Article 16.30. Superintendent Anthony has approved the water/sewer portion and Mattawan Fire Chief Terron McLean has approved the turn lanes, but has concerns regarding a turn around. The new plans should address this issue. Chief McLean will be present at the meeting.
Underwood thanked the Planning Commission. He explained the difference between a regular house and a row house size. He asked the council to think tall and thin, compared to a house that is wide. With the change the Planning commission recommended the density is now at 57%, and the open space at 43%. He went over the different density’s that other villages allowed, which were more than we allow.
Chief McLean had only two concerns. His one concern was the turning radius, but that was corrected, and the other was at the end of the drive there was no place to turn. The fire department would have to back into the driveways. Mr. Underwood asked if they could move the hydrants to the road, instead of being in the back of the homes will it help. Chief McLean said that if he moved the hydrants it would be sufficient.
Freed stated that tonight’s issue was solely on density. Markle explained what was discussed at the Planning Commission. Two sections were reduced. Sections 7,8,9, &10 would have only 6 units instead of 7, and sections 4,5,&6 would become 5 units instead of 6.
Motion by Spulick, support by Kirklin, to waive the density under 16.30A page 201 of up to 47 units for the Ambelside Condominium Development. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
H. BUDGET ADJUSTMENT FOR HEALTH INSURANCE
Need to make a budget adjustment budget to account # 101-215-71900 in the amount of $3,000 to cover health insurance for Administrative Assistant Spulick for remainder of this budget year.
Motion by Markle, support by Bemer, to adjust budget to cover health insurance for Administrative Assistant Spulick. Roll call vote taken. Six members voted in favor. Spulick abstained. Motion carried.
I. PARK & REC GRANTS
Councilperson Bemer stated that what the Park & Rec Committee wanted to do was to apply for a land acquisition grant. She stated we have the money in the budget this year to pay for it. The cost to apply for the grant is $3500.00 which is due by April 1st.Jamie Harmon thinks that we have a good chance of getting the grant because we haven’t applied for one before and because it’s tied in with the parks. President McLean asked if we needed to specify what land we are interested in. Ms. Harmon said yes you must have property your interested in. They are also trying to tie in to safe routes for schools with grant money at the same time. It will be a 25% top match for the land acquisition. We can do the match next year. Superintendent Anthony stated that what were doing is moving ahead on the five year plan. First is the land acquisition, second the trail system and third the trail head.
Motion by Markle, support by Spulick, to proceed with the grant application. Roll call vote taken. Six members voted in favor. McLean voted against. Motion carried.
J. WATER RELIEF REQUEST FROM RESIDENT OF WEST POINT HILLS
This leak was reported to the Village office and Superintendent Anthony was notified immediately and verified the leak as per procedure required by Council. Water relief has been granted in the past for water that did not go down the sewer.
Motion by Bemer, support by Markle, to send to DPW Committee. Roll call vote taken. All members voted in favor. Motion carried.
K. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL PROGRAM
Superintendent Anthony explained that sidewalks were a part of the 5 year plan we had already discussed. With this service from Lagrow Consulting, all contracts and proposed services would be coordinated by them. The advantage to this program is the construction dollars is zero match. It would cover 2.2-2.8 miles from the school. Anthony contacted MDOT to see if it is an allowable expense under Act 51. He found out that under ACT 51 one of the requirements was that we spend 1% of the money on a non motorized path. Anthony stated the money is there and we can tie this into the park plan.
Motion by Markle, support by Bemer, to hire Lagrow Consulting for our safe routes to school not to exceed $7,000.00. Roll call vote taken five members voted in favor, McLean and Ashbaugh voted against. Motion carried.
18. COMMUNICATIONS
a. MML Legislative Link for February 10, & 17, 2009.
b. Letter from Mark Boven regarding stimulus package
19. COMMENTS FROM VISITORS
Liam Hickey thanked the Village for their continued support.
Ariel Anderson thanked the Council and stated she was looking forward to a good partnership with the village.
20. COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL
Councilperson Bemer thanked Superintendent Anthony for all his work on the grants.
21. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30PM
