Lake Linden Village Council
Regular Meeting
October 13th, 2011
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:, Hoffman, Frendewey, Schuldt. Hamlin, Vendlinski and Frohmader were granted excused absences.
Approval of Minutes:
A motion was made by Trustee Frendewey and supported by Trustee Hoffman to approve the September regular meeting minutes as presented. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
A motion was made by Trustee Schuldt and supported by Trustee Frendewey to approve the September 28th public hearing and special meeting minutes as presented. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Approval of Agenda:
A brief discussion of the agenda resulted 2 additions and a motion from Trustee Schuldt, supported by Trustee Frendewey, to approve the agenda. All were in favor. Motion was carried.
Public Comments:
President Fisher gave a presentation to those in attendance on the two parking lot projects through the Great Lakes Restoration initiative and administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. He went over the reasons for capping the parking areas and the mitigation of non-point source pollution. He went over the processes by which the run-off was cleaned before running into the waters of the lake by explaining the rain gardens and porous paving area between the lots and the lake. He said the added benefit was that a large area could also be utilized for an ice rink and possibly a skatepark.
Vada Riederich gave a short presentation on the Spooktember event at the village campground. She said she hoped it would be an annual event and the Council agreed that it was a very nice addition to the “calendar of events” being developed in and around the Village park.
Bills and Financial Statement:
The bills and financials were introduced. The clerk pointed out that there were several large expenses in the past month, including the TIF payment to the DDA, the water bond payment, a double Blue Cross bill and payments to SemCo Energy and UPPCo for the utilities to the Heide lot that was sold on Garden Street, that accounted for the very large numbers for each of the funds, about $150,000 overall. Poirier also said that he and Fisher were working on some general fund budget numbers for presentation at the next meeting. He said there were several major changes to the assumptions made when the budget was adopted that required attention by the Council.
After a further review of the bills and footnotes the following motion was introduced:
Upon review of the attached monthly expenses, Trustee Frendewey supported by Trustee Schuldt made a motion to approve the following totals for payment:
General Fund $74,527.45
Water Fund $60,352.67
Major Streets Fund $ 2,281.64
Local Streets Fund $ 4,415.11
Sanitation Fund $ 9,212.82
TOTAL $150,789.69
Poll vote: Yes: Frendewey, Schuldt, Hoffman and Fisher.
No: None.
Motion carried.
Correspondence:
Clerk Poirier read a letter from the Michigan Coastal Management Program informing the Village that the proposal submitted for funding improvements to the docks and marina area had not been funded. Poirier said he would attempt to get a rundown of the scoring for the grant to see where it may have come up short.
Poirier read a letter from the Torch Lake Area Sewage Authority regarding an excavation on Gregory Street for a new sewer service lateral. The old lateral to the residence had been capped previously and when the Village laid the new water main along Gregory Street it was placed in line with the capped lateral. The contractor on the new service had to reroute the sewer service lateral which made the final costs for the service nearly double. The TLASA was asking the Village to pay half of the total costs, or $1,397.30. There was a discussion with TLASA Chairman Dennis Racine about the details of the dig and the expectations of the Authority with regard to the request. Fisher countered with the fact that if the expectation was to involve the Village financially then the Village crew should have been consulted prior to closing up the dig. After a time it was tabled when Fisher said he would consult with public works foreman Ron Schmitt for a further clarification and recommendation of how to proceed.
Poirier reintroduced the ad solicitation from lake Superior Magazine that had been discusses at the last meeting. Poirier said the Magazine published 7 annual issues. Six bi-monthly issues and a travel Guide published in late January or early February. He said the single rate for any of the issues, including the travel guide, was $210. The rate for any two publications was $400. The “best value” rate pitched to him was $696 for any four issues. After a brief deliberation a motion was made by President Fisher and supported by trustee Frendewey to approve a single issue ad in the amount of $210 and place it in the Travel Guide edition in January. Poll vote: Yes; Fisher, Frendewey, Hoffman and Schuldt. No; None. Motion was carried.
Committee Reports:
Executive (Chair: Trustee Fisher):
Clerk Poirier introduced a summary done by the Michigan Municipal League about the new Senate bill signed into law essentially capping costs for health care insurance. Poirier said that the Village would not immediately be affected and that the Council did not have to act right away since their employment agreements and the collective bargaining agreement were renewed prior to the bill’s passage. He said to make sure the Village was in compliance he would send a letter to the Treasury Department stating that work agreements were in place.
Poirier said that he had met with Vincent Babcock of the Employee Benefits Agency in Marquette regarding the Village’s health care coverage. Mr. Babcock said he had obtained the renewal rates from Blue Cross and that they were “substantially better” than what he thought they would be. Poirier said he did not yet have the numbers but when he received them he would get them to the Trustees as soon as possible.
Utilities and Services(Chair: Hamlin):
Poirier introduced a summary comparison between the water fund revenues and expenses from 2009-10 and 2010-11. He said that the expense numbers from 09-10 were inflated by the water main leak and contamination problem at 9th and Gregory Streets. He said that if the numbers were carried out for the rest of the fiscal year the revenues and expenses would be almost exactly balanced, but that this did not leave much margin if another problem were to arise. President Fisher said that if a new meter replacement policy were undertaken that the additional revenue generated from the more accurate consumption totals it would perhaps eliminate the need for a substantial rate increase.
Buildings & Parks(Chair: Trustee Frendewey):
There was a brief discussion about issues relating to the new area for the ice rink in the new parking lot next to the pavilion. There were several matters to be tackled before the rink could be “opened for business”. Lighting for the rink and boards were to be brought before the DDA Board at the regular November meeting on November 3rd.
Equipment(Chair: Trustee Frohmader):
Clerk Poirier said that the John Deere Loader 310 was in desperate need of two tires. He said the local tire shop would not retread the current ones because they were in bad shape. Foreman Ron Schmitt had priced them in a couple of places and found them at $700.00 each. After a brief discussion a motion was made by trustee Schuldt and supported by Trustee Hoffman to approve up to $1,500 for the purchase of two loader tires. Poll vote: Yes; Schuldt, Hoffman, Frendewey and Fisher. No; None. Motion was carried.
Streets(Chair: Schuldt):
Clerk Poirier introduced a letter and attachment from the Michigan Dept. of Transportation that estimated the next fiscal year disbursement for the Michigan Transportation Fund (MTF) at $107.00 over last year’s number. He speculated that changes were coming to this program as well in the near future but told the Council at least there was not a decrease in funding as there was in the revenue sharing program.
Public Safety(Chair: Trustee Hoffman):
The police report was read into the record. Chief Stefonich was on hand and briefed the Council on ongoing administrative issues in the department, specifically some training funds that had gone unused. She said she had been working with MCOLES, the Michigan Police certification agency, on catching up on training programs.
There was no fire report but Poirier said he had spoken to the department about going out on Halloween for trick or treating and said they would do it again this year.
Zoning/Ordinance Task Force:
Clerk Poirier said he was meeting with the Par Plan insurance representative about complying with several recommendations for their coverage. He said draft copies of the employee handbook and safety manual were on the list of things to do and he would be presenting the committee with items for review in the next few weeks.
Downtown Development Authority:
Fisher reported that the Farmer’s Market had been very well received in its first year and that it was an overwhelming success given the slow start to the season. He said there were 16 vendors and they represented a wide range of goods and produce. He looked forward to getting it started agina next year.
DDA Chairman Steve Pummill also added that the DDA had purchased a trailer to aid in the setup of the tents and was also looking into getting some tables for next year.
Pummill also said the DDA was discussing the ice rink issues and would be holding a special meeting on Saturday to discuss the DDA grant program structure and to hear a proposal to open a bakery in the E-center.
No report.
Lake Linden Housing Commission
No report.
Youth Council (Chair: Vendlinski)
No report.
Late Agenda Items:
New Business:
None.
Old Business:
President Fisher informed the Council that all the apartments in the new Hardware units were rented already. MSHDA representatives were extremely pleased with the project and looked forward to working with the Village on upcoming projects as well.
Announcements:
None.
Adjournment:
A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Trustee Hoffman and supported by Trustee Schuldt. All were in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 7:37pm. There were 5 members of the public in attendance.
_____________________________ __________________________
Edward R Fisher, Village President Robert A. Poirier, Village Clerk