Lake Linden Village Council
Regular Meeting
April 8th, 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, Frendewey, and Schuldt.
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Schuldt to approve the March regular meeting minutes as presented. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Schuldt to approve the March 11th Closed Session meeting minutes as presented. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Approval of Agenda:
A brief discussion of the agenda resulted in three additions and a motion from Trustee Schuldt and supported by Trustee Hamlin to approve as edited. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Public Comments:
Chris Rebman, 5th grade teacher at the Lake Linden-Hubbell school, and five 5th-graders were on hand to make a presentation about their grant award to design, and construct a disc-golf course on the Village Sands.
Mr. Rebman began by describing the sport and the growing participation in it. He said facilities were very limited in number and a local facility at Michigan Tech was overcrowded and well-utilized. He explained that there were numerous economic benefits to the community and that such a facility would draw participants from a wide area.
To conclude the presentation five 5th-graders read observations from their classmates about the projects potential and the excitement of getting the project under way. After the presentation the Village Council expressed whole-hearted support for the project and pledged to lend support of the course’s development.
Bills and Financial Statement:
The bills and financials were introduced. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Hamlin and supported by Trustee Schuldt to approve the bills as presented. Poll Vote: Yes: Hamlin, Frendewey, Schuldt and Fisher. No; None. Motion was carried.
Correspondence:
Clerk Poirier read a solicitation for dues renewal from the Michigan Municipal League. He said the League was a valuable resource for information and well worth the money. A motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Hamlin to approve $1,095 for renewing MML membership dues. Poll vote: Yes; Frendewey, Hamlin, Schuldt and Fisher. No; none. Motion was carried.
Clerk Poirier said that a case was made to the Torch lake Township Board of Review regarding a re-classification of the Sportsman’s Club property. The Village received a tax bill on the property for the first time in the summer of 2009 after a township-wide assessment. The presentation had little effect on the tax bill so the Village would present a case to the Michigan Tax Tribunal as the next step in the appeal process.
Poirier said that, although he had not yet received materials from Michigan Works!, he had spoken to Jude about getting two summer youth workers through the program. He said unless there was Council opposition he would pursue that again this year since the workers were provided at no cost to the Village. The Council unanimously supported that strategy.
Committee Reports:
Executive (Chair: Trustee Fisher):
President Fisher gave an update on the MSHDA grant. He said the Village did not get funded in the winter round of funding but said Ray Gerhart of Northern Consultants was optimistic that the Village could get a grant in the spring. He said that the new amount, as suggested by Jim Davis at MSHDA, would probably be $300,000. After a brief discussion the following resolution was presented for the Council’s review.
RESOLUTION OF AUTHORIZATION
Authorizing a grant application for the MSHDA Housing Rehabilitation Program.
WHEREAS, the Village of Lake Linden is interested in the continuing effort to provide affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income residents, and
WHEREAS, the Village of Lake Linden has reviewed and understands the content of the application for funding, and
WHEREAS, the Village Council of Lake Linden has decided to apply for up to $300,000 MSHDA Housing Rehabilitation Program Grant,
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Village Council of Lake Linden authorizes Ray Gerhart of Northern Consultants, Inc. to prepare the application for funding through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority’s Office of Community Development, and further authorizes the Village President to sign all documents on behalf of the Village Council pursuant to this application.
Motion: Trustee Schuldt Support: Trustee Hamlin
Poll: Yes: Schuldt, Hamlin, Frendewey, Fisher.
No: None.
Absent: Aittama, Frohmader, Hoffman.
Adopted this 8th day of April, 2010
_____________________________ ______________________________
Edward R. Fisher, President Robert A. Poirier, Clerk
Utilities/Services (Chair: Trustee Hamlin):
President Fisher said that the agreement issue to provide water to the townships had not yet been decided but that it appeared that Michigan-American would continue to provide water in the short term. He said the issue would be revisited at the appropriate time and that the upgrades to the Village system would still be included in the original project work so that the village could bid on providing water in the future.
There was a brief discussion about the possibility of holding a general curbside clean-up in the village. After a brief discussion no trustee called for a motion on the issue and no action was taken.
Buildings & Parks(Chair: Trustee Frendewey):
Clerk Poirier said the girl Scout troop had approached him about planting seedlings in the village Park. After a discussion it was decided that a more suitable location would be along the shore on the north side of torch Lake where Village-owned land could benefit more from the plantings.
Equipment(Chair: Trustee Frohmader):
No report.
Streets(Chair: Schuldt):
Clerk Poirier said that he had spoken to MDOT regional maintenance people about the possibility of using unspent trunkline funds to assist in paying for a new shelter for the stockpile. He said that a shelter would soon be mandatory and the easy winter created an opportunity to use some state funds to cost-share the project. He said he was to compile some information to facilitate this possibility.
In a related issue, he said MDOT had asked the Village to sweep M-26 through Hubbell and tamarack. He said it would be a one-time service and would be reimbursed by MDOT at Schedule C rates for equipment and labor. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Trustee Schuldt and supported by Trustee Hamlin to approve sweeping the township portion of M-26. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Public Safety(Chair: Trustee Hoffman):
Chief parker gave a fire department report. He said the department was searching for other departments to donate the old turnout gear to. He said he did not think it was of any real saleable value.
Clerk Poirier said that the newsletter just sent out mentioned a renewed emphasis on enforcing ordinance provisions related to junk and junked vehicles in peoples’ yards. He said to facilitate the process of carrying through on notices to clean up property an ordinance enforcement officer could be appointed and that he would volunteer to serve in that capacity. A motion was made by Trustee Hamlin and supported by Trustee Schuldt to appoint Clerk Poirier as the Ordinance Enforcement Officer with stated authority to carry out notification and penalty provisions within the Ordinance Code of the Village. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Zoning Task Force:
No report.
Downtown Development Authority:
President Fisher explained that as the next step in the process to extend the boundaries of the district the Council could hold their Public Hearing before the May regular meeting.
DDA Chair Pummill said the DDA had purchased 6 new Christmas ornaments and that several other were being refurbished as previously detailed to the Council.
Trustee Hamlin said that the City of Hancock was in the process of developing a plan to pave the DNR trail between Hancock and lake linden and he thought letters of support for the project could be written by the Village and the DDA. After a brief discussion it was decided that the clerk get more information about the project from Hancock and report back at the next meeting.
President Fisher said he had not heard from the North Houghton County Sewage Authority recently about the proposed project there. Clerk Poirier said he would get more information for the may meeting.
Lake Linden Housing Commission
No report.
Youth Council:
President Fisher said that the YC trustees had had a good meeting with a lot of good ideas for the park. Among those were: an event at the Lake Linden marina, a local mountain bike event, beach volleyball court, a raft for diving off the point behind the tennis courts, and an open music forum at the new pavilion in the park.
Late Agenda Items:
None.
New Business:
None.
Old Business:
None.
Closed Session: A motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Hamlin to enter into closed session to discuss employee issues. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Schuldt and supported by trustee Hamlin to go back into open session. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
After a brief discussion a motion was made by trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Hamlin, upon a recommendation by President Fisher, to terminate Chief Josh Peters employment with the Village pursuant to the terms of the “at will” agreement between Chief peters and the Village of lake Linden. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Announcements:
None
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Trustee Hamlin and supported by Trustee Schuldt. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 8:18pm. There were 16 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]