Lake Linden Village Council
Regular Meeting
January 14th, 2010
The Lake Linden Village Council met on the above date at the Village Hall at 6:30pm. President Fisher presided. The following Trustees responded to roll call: Hamlin, Aittama, Frendewey, and Hoffman.
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Hamlin to approve the November regular meeting minutes as presented. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Approval of Agenda:
A brief discussion of the agenda resulted in a motion from Trustee Hamlin and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve as submitted. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Public Comments:
Trustee Hamlin gave a brief update on the mini-baja event scheduled for February 20th. He said the response for entries had not been as strong as hoped because of tight budgets and university funding issues. But the plan was to have a much longer track that wound through the campground and near the ballfield. He said spectators would have more space and the pit area would not be as congested if it was behind Rustic Meadows. He said the team had planned advertising as the event drew nearer.
Bills and Financial Statement:
The bills and financials were introduced. Clerk Poirier pointed out that the December and January bills were kept separate and required separate approval. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Aittama and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve the bills as presented. Poll Vote: Yes: Aittama, Frendewey, Hamlin, Hoffman, and Fisher. No; None. Motion was carried.
After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Aittama and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve the bills and financials for January. Poll vote: Yes; Aittama, Frendewey, Hoffman, Hamlin and Fisher. No; None. Motion was carried.
Correspondence:
Clerk Poirier read letters pertaining to the proposed project in Florida location by the North Houghton County Sewage Authority. Trustee Aittama called for an immediate response to this issue and vehemently stated that the project could threaten the Village water supply which, if done would put the Village in an impossible position. It was determined to meet with Dick Supina to discuss options for responding further to this issue.
Clerk Poirier presented a membership solicitation from the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance. After a brief discussion a motion was made by trustee Aittama and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve the $180 necessary to renew membership. Poll vote; Yes; Aittama, Frendewey, Hoffman, Hamlin and Fisher. No; None. Motion was carried.
Clerk Poirier introduced two letters from Par-Plan insurance Risk Control Rep Tom Lindeman regarding deficiencies in the current safety and procedural policies of the police and fire departments. Poirier said that good progress had been made by the Council in adopting policies over the past six months pertaining to fiscal issues. The letters indicated that the next focus should be on policies detailing safety and inspection procedures and an overall policy manual that documented all aspects of village operations. Poirier said in the next few months he would be presenting policy drafts to address the Par-Plan’s concerns. Clerk Poirier presented the annual permit from MDOT for work on the trunkline. He said the purpose was for the village to be able to perform maintenance work along M-26 without applying for a permit for each individual instance. After a brief discussion a motion was made by trustee Sittama and supported by Trustee Hoffman to approve signing the document. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
The clerk read a letter from the Michigan Dept. of Community health about grant opportunities for fluoridating water supplies. After a brief discussion it was decided that more information would be gathered for review at the next meeting.
Committee Reports:
Executive (Chair:Trustee Fisher):
President Fisher informed the Council that the line of credit at Range bank was about to expire. President Fisher said he had spoken to the bank representative and said it would be acceptable to pay half of the remaining $12,500 balance, and to extend the remaining balance over the rest of the calendar year. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Aittama to authorize paying $6,250 immediately and to authorize signing an extension of the line through the rest of 2010, the latter with the signatories being designated as the Village President, Village Clerk and Village treasurer. Poll vote: Yes; Frendewey, Aittama, Hoffman, Hamlin, Fisher. No; none. Motion was carried.
President Fisher informed the Council about progress on the Meneguzzo property issue. He said that the process for remediating the property through the use of Brownsfield funds was still moving forward, being assisted by the County. He said that Louis Meneguzzo was still interested in having the Village annex that property if things progressed as hoped. Trustee Aittama reiterated his belief that the museum should also be annexed if that was the case. Fisher said that those decisions were still far away, that at this point his report was informational and that it would be a complex issue to tackle when the time was right.
President Fisher informed the Council about a grant opportunity through the great lakes Restoration Initiative grant program. He said he had been notified by OHM Hitch about the program. It was a 100% grant to remediate and/or restore areas along the shorelines in the state. He said there were two projects that were being looked at for possible funding. First, the paving of the parking lots near the beach area and near the boat launch and marina. He said the focus of those projects were to restrict run-off into the lake by sloping the lots to channel water away from the shore. Second, was to look into connecting the main lake to the inner lake behind the High school. He said they had discussed the idea of creating a channel or putting a pipe in to move that water. The inland lake area was stagnant and would benefit greatly from the project. The concern, he said, was the nearby beach area if the water was moved in that direction. That project, however, would be extremely expensive and it was finally decided that a grant to fund a study of the project was more worthwhile at this point. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Aittama and supported by Trustee Hamlin to approve up to $2,000 for OHM Hitch to prepare the grant application with the understanding that the DDA would be asked to cost-share one-half of that at their next meeting. Poll vote: Yes; Aittama, Hamlin, Hoffman, Frendewey and Fisher. No; none. Motion was carried.
President Fisher said the issue of the tax bills now being received on the Sportsman’s club property was next on his plate. He said the bills, totaling almost $5,000 needed to be addressed by the Village Attorney and that he would gather as much information as possible for submission to Mr. Mechlin. A lengthy discussion ensued regarding township Boards of Review and other options for dealing with the taxes. It was finally decided to turn information over to Mr. Mechlin and to make an initial case to the torch lake Board of Review when all the documentation was in place.
President Fisher informed the Council that the outdoor furnace at the De La terre Bistro had been cited by the DEQ. He said that the next step was for the DEQ to bring in instruments to measure the actual output of the unit and based on that result the Village would act in accordance with the newly-passed ordinance. He said the Council is walking a fine line between answering the concerns of it’s residents and working with a new business that could be a big draw for the Village. But, he said, the testing results would determine the next step.
Fisher said that he had received five responses from the school from students wanting to be part of the new Youth Council. He said the group represented a good range of interests and classes from 9th to 12th grades and they all seemed excited to be a part of the group. His hope was to hold a meeting in the next week or so to get things going. He said he had a good initial project to get things started and, although he declined to comment on the project because he wanted to let the Youth Council be the first to get discussions going, he said it would be a project of great interest to the students and the village. Fisher then recommended the five students for appointment to the first Youth Council from the Lake Linden Hubbell High School. A motion was then made by Trustee Hamlin and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve the appointment of Bryce Audette, Curtis Audette, Megan Budweg, Nick Monette and Kimberley Outinen to the inaugural President’s Youth Council. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
President Fisher said he had started looking into the possibility of working on erecting a wind turbine on the Village Sands. He had contacted Leonard Bohmann, a professor at Michigan Tech and an “expert” on technology of this sort, and arranged a meeting to try to determine the feasibility of this type of project. He said he would report to the Council as information warranted.
Utilities/Services (Chair: Trustee Hamlin):
Clerk Poirier said he and treasurer Jill DuMonthier had completed the training on the new BS & A water billing software. He said the system was easily adaptable and within a few hours was up and running with information on the Village’s billing information. He said the new system would require another incarnation of the water bill format and hoped to send out a newsletter-type mailing to introduce water system users to this change. Finally, he said the cost of the program, previously discussed by the Council but not yet formally approved, was $1,995.00 and could be deferred over a two-year period. A motion was made by Trustee Frendewy and supported by Trustee Hamlin to approve the cost. Poll vote: Yes; Frendewey, Hamlin, Hoffman and Fisher. No; None. Abstain: Aittama. Motion was carried
Buildings & Parks(Chair: Trustee Frendewey):
Clerk Poirier said information-gathering would begin in earnest for the proposed cabins in the campground. He said the process needed to begin quickly so work could begin in the spring. Issues such as type, size and layouts of the cabins were briefly discussed. Poirier said the hope was to involve students in the process, which Superintendent Craig Sundblad had already
Equipment(Chair: Trustee Frohmader):
Trustee Aittama stated that he thought the money to repair the snow blower should be expended as soon as possible. The proposed repairs to replace the engine on the second blower were discussed at prior meetings and thought to be around $6,000. After a brief discussion the topic was tabled and no action was taken.
Streets(Chair: Schuldt):
President Fisher presented a plowing policy to the Council. He said that it was in keeping with the effort to formalize Village policies that one be approved. He had done a good deal of investigating into what types of plowing operations the Village crew performed for businesses and residents and, realizing that sidewalks were an important responsibility of the Village outlined which ones by policy should be kept clean. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Aittama and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve the plowing policy as presented. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Public Safety(Chair: Trustee Hoffman):
Trustee Hoffman read the police report into the record. A motion was made by Trustee Aittama and supported by Trustee Frendewey to accept the report. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Zoning Task Force:
Clerk Poirier introduced a draft of a prepaid expense policy. He said he had yet to discuss the details with auditor Jackie Aalto but would do so before the next meeting. He said that this was the last major fiscal policy before moving on to employee/operations and safety policies that were discussed by the Par-plan risk control representative.
Downtown Development Authority:
Chairman Pummill was on hand to issue a report to the Council. He said he was going to contact marketing rep Jason Evens from the Portage Health System to lobby for a pharmacy in town. He said he thought there were plans to do so but a conversation couldn’t hurt.
He said the DDA was putting aside funds to extend the streetscape project. They had reserved $20,000 through last year and hoped to put away more this year.
He said the DDA budget would be approved at their next meeting in time for the Council’s approval in February.
He said there were discussions about replacing and/or restoring the Christmas decorations along Calumet Street.
No report.
Lake Linden Housing Commission
No report.
Late Agenda Items:
None.
New Business:
Clerk Poirier again brought up the idea of holding an annual meeting on the last Thursday in February. He said it was a good opportunity to gather all Village representatives and to conduct the business of appointments, designations and budgets. After a brief discussion it was tabled and no action was taken.
Old Business:
None.
Announcements:
None
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Aittama. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 7:57pm. There were 5 members of the public in attendance.
_____________________________ __________________________
Edward R Fisher, President Robert A. Poirier, Village Clerk
[Posted on the website of the Village of Lake Linden]