Here are over two hundred links to the the 11/26/2019 meeting video. Clicking on any of these will plant you in the video at the point where the agenda item or noted item began transpiring. This serves mainly as a series of breadcrumbs and waypoints to help you relocate something you may have remembered hearing.
Beginning with the 12/10/2019 meeting, we have also begun indexing some of the meeting packets. Why? To ease locating the trails of cupidity and deliberate misrepresentation that have resulted in the theft of your Township's only chance at a useful Lakeside park.
Here's a portable, clickable version fo the LiveTimeline
11/26/2020 Northfield Township Board of Trustees meeting LiveTimeline
And here's the stuck-to-the-webpage version of the LiveTimeline
Call to order
Invocation
Pledge
Roll Call
Presention of the Audit report
- Zelenock asks for an explanation of how Sewer Fund works, "because it is different."
- Pffeifer explains Sewer Enterprise fund
- Only $2,000,000 cushion, meaning operations
- Dockett: why don't we have these funds in the sewer fund in case we have a problem?
- Pfeiffer: recommends a rate study
- Dockett: But we're not putting any money away. That's the problem.
- Beliger: motion to accept the audit report as presented
- Roll call vote on motion to accept the audit
Call to the Public
Board Member Responses
- Wayne Dockett
- Chockley: attempts to mansplain retainers
- Manley:
- Zelenock: Taxes payable Dec 2nd, not before. She thanks Burns, says his institutional knowledge will be hard to replace.
- Chick:
Motion to adopt the consent agenda minus #4
- Beliger: question on the minutes, pulled
- Zelenock:
- Dockett:
- Zelenock:
- Chockley: announces a December 3rd, unilateral Q&A
- Chick: three years ago as a board we decided to hold Town Hall meetings and do them quarterly and we have not
- Chockley totally steps on everyone's suggestions, as if not "showing up next tuesday"" were her idea.
- Beliger:
- Dockett:
- Chick on adding an additional planning commissioner to one of the downtown boards
- Chockley: I knew that wasn't gonna flow so it's pulled
- Dockett: Can I understand this?
- Chockley: Motion to adopt the agenda, 46 minutes into the meeting
Agenda Item 1: Update on Sewer backups
- Aynes' report
- Chick
- Willis
- Otto
- Willis: we have a verbal agreement with them now
- Dockett: maybe the sewer's been on for 25 years
- Otto: Who's responsible for the continued maintenance of those lines and when are they maintained?
- Willis: We are responsible ...
- Otto:
- Chockley riffs like Hank Kimble about disposable wipes, like Trump about fatbergs...
- Dockett: It's on every sewer bill. The warning against flushing wipes. Chockley doesn't know this because she's never paid an NT sewer bill. (Our chief cheerleader for amping up the cost of sewers in town. Irony Gold.)
- Otto: They will. Because the school did what they did and we did what we did with the manhole
- Zelenock
- Aynes: Just to elaborate... SAW grant study has demonstrated Township liability for past home damage
- Manley
- Homeowner at the podium, Homeowner's insurance policy has $10K cap on sewers damage, less than the actual cost of cleaning up, If they make the claim they face a $513/year insurance cost increase for next five years. They moved into this house in November 2017, just as sidewalk was finished.
- Homeowner: It's been exactly two years and in the last two months we have had three backups
- Otto: motion to draft agreement that schools notify township in advance of sewer work being done and that the township inspect it
- Zelenock: motion to have mr. burns read the agreement
- Vote and motion passes, 7:0
- Chockley: motion to postpone decision on this item until next meeting
- We have to ask our auditor how much to set aside as contigent liability.
- Zelenock: We'd have to ask our auditor if having that contingent liability would affect our borrowing rates any bonds, hint hint
- Chockley dangles the idea of covering up borrowing rate impact knowledge in a closed session.
Agenda Item #2 Ordinance #1971 to amend
- Motion by Chockley to move the sunset clause of ordinance
- Dockett: why are we extending it?
- Chockley: publication error
- Aynes explains...
- Vote on the motion: passes 5:2
- Otto: my concern on this is that...
- Burns explains "why the 21st works
- Manley: If we knew this was going to be an issue
- Aynes:
Agenda Item 3: Proposed application procedure
- Chick: I don't see any harm in going through it
- Otto:
- Lippens's comments on application process
- Burns weighs in: I think whatever the procedure is should be on the next agenda and the board should vote on it and approve it
- Burns: I think you should have the procedure in place
- Undercurrents of Chockley waffling, attempting to delay
- Burns: I think you should have it in place on the tenth of December
- Otto
- Burns: I don't believe you need a moratorium, but you may consider an administrative ordinance at your next meeting outlining the procedure and the criteria
- Lippens: Mr Burns and I discussed and agree on that...
- Mr. Burns: I think you should have the whole process in place before the 26th and that the board should vote on it. Ideally it would be in ordinance form and it should be done
- Burns: because you can expect applications on the 26th regardless of what you do
- Chockley: What if we decide to
- Burns: I think you should have all of it in place before the zoning ordinance goes into effect
- Chockley: Yikes
- Otto explains why everything about this process/non process is confusing
- Chick: concern over lottery vs first come, first serve? You're gonna have a line out there anyway
- Lippens on Lotteries
- Chick: applicants need to understand
- Manley: I don't want people lining up here
- Aynes on whether an additional body is necessary
- Lippens offers McKenna assistant planners to help
- Zelenock: I need a little help in understanding
- Lippens' response
- Zelenock: So if I had ten qualified applicants... and they all score ten, how do we choose?
- Otto: How do we do it with alcohol?
- Zelenock: Alcohol is pretty easy, unfortunately
- Zelenock: Miss Otto, they didn't have to come through really site plans. they filled out the requirements with the state and the state said yes.
- Chick: I would assume...
- Zelenock: so you're telling me
- Zelenock: I'm just thinking that people will come very well prepared
- I may be where I have six very well qualified applicants.
- Lippens: So... ummmm
- Burns laughs
- Beliger: Let's say for instance I wanted to open a dispensary
- Lippens: See, these are all good questions
- Lippens: the document does say one application per site
- Beliger, utterly uncomprehending, "could I buy 5 applications for my one site?
- Otto: temporary staff needed
- Lippens: So, two recent comments
- Lippens, So...
- Zelenock: personally I see no reason to not meet the 26th date
- So, who's gonna be on the committeecc
- Chockley: ""Awesome.
- Chockley: I would like us to have a decent scoring mechanism
- Lippens on original scoring mechanism rejection by board
- Lippens: It's my understanding that my original scoring mechanism was rejected by the board
- Chockley: I do. Some of the items in the scoring were worthless. Security? They have to have security anyway.
- Otto:
- Chick: You can't ask vague questions...
- Lippens: The local development model has
- Buena Vista Township score sheet
- Zelenock: We want to be a good business climate for marijuana
- Aynes: Just one other comment
- Otto:
- Burns: If there's no quorum, it's up to the committee
- Zelenock: to me a follow up on that, "Mr. Burns...... Would ther be a potential conflict going forward?"
- Otto: yes... (internet lawyering is such a drug)
- Zelenock: I'm asking Mr. Burns
- Burns: Typically it would not be an open meeting. It would be a staff work session.
Agenda Item #4 The North Village Committee
- Lippens' memo re North Village Committee Report
- Lippens: Our next step
- Lippens: We've been asked for our scoring evaluation
- It was the opinion of the committee that
- Chockley: but they should be able to come back with the financials really quickly...
- Beliger: moves to affix the property description to this, ??
- Manley: does the land division act permit combining then dividing the land
- Lippens answers yes
- Zelenock: Has the North Village Committee reached out to the Washtenaw County Parks people?
- Lippens As staff representative I can reach out to Washtenaw Parks and Rec
- Aynes: also when we had the orientation through the road commission blah blah blah
- Zelenock: we did make a motion saying anything coming back from the north village needs to be scored
- Chockley: we're voting on providing a template to Developers
- Chockley: does that mean we need a legal description? well; we're not even close to that...
- Lippens: sorry ....
- Chockley says the developer can pick the five acres himself
- Zelenock: what was your comment mr burns?
- Burns: the legal description is designed to be specific
- Chockley: it will be once we sell it. (lolz; is she really that obtuse?)
- Chockley: Then we won't get it done very quickly
- Beliger: Do you have any suggestions, Mr Burns, on how to move forward with this?
- Zelenock: I'm a little confused. Where are we now?
- Beliger takes charge. We're going to get a survey done, not to exceed $2000?
- Beliger: Five Plus Acres is what we're looking for
- motion passes 6:0
- Otto: asks about appraisal
- Zelenock: my thought on the appraisal
- Burns: Both ways
- motion passes 6:0
Agenda Item 5: 75 Barker
- Chockley: we cannot sell the parking; we cannot sell the parking
- Beliger: motion to table until after the new year
- Lippens: I would have to review. lot sizes.
- Chockley: ok; let's get that report for the december 10th meeting. Lippens: What report?
- Zelenock: slow down...slow down. let's throw 500 balls up in the air. Marijuana needs to be our focus.
- Burns: There's five offers....
- Chick motion to direct mr lippens to study the lot split issue
- Breliger: Set the barker road money aside to develop new parking
- Zelenock: it's more expensive to develop new parking than to use the parking you have
- Otto question about easements, perpituity, developing on easements
- Lippens, laughing, answers
- Burns:
- Manley: application process vs potential land ownership
- Zelenock: Can we move on and start taking votes?
- Zelenock: Let's make it the first so we can...
- Zelenock: I do not support us selling that property
- Chockley: I don't either
- Zelenock: I think we should keep it. It's in the downtown plan.
- The Planning Commission has said, hey, why don't you refer this back to us?
- The DDA has said they can get people to look at it and do an estimate...
- Zelenock: I want people to know I have never been for selling that property
- Listen to our audit report? We're in good shape.
- Zelenock: I don't know what the hurry is.
- Beliger: I have thought we ought'a restore it but that's ...
- Chockley: Did we vote here to table? You're the only no. Zelenock I voted yes.
- Chockley: We're voting to table, 6:0
- Otto: I didn't hear the vote
- Chockley: All in favor to table, say Aye.
- There's another motion to direct Mr Lippens to ...
- Beliger: to do a lot split?
- Chick: in the downtown strategic action plan there are actually three scenarios for that corner...
- Otto: I asked. Nobody came back with answers
- Chockley: The DDA wanted it torn down
Chockley: The next one... I'd like to make a motion to approve the contract with Assessment Administrative Services
Beliger: I move to approve the contract with Point n Pay Credit Card Services
- Beliger: I have a question on this
- Zelenock: Depends. On taxes you pay 2.5%. Point n Pay will be 3% Sewers will be a flat fee of $2.75. It will be a percentage of your sewer bill. Sewers are a flat fee of $90.20, but any time sewers go up, the percentage will go up.
- Official Payments is being dropped by the [BSA] software that our entire township uses
- Chockley: All in favor say Aye
- Passes: 6:0
Beliger: Can I make a motion to have the zoning compliance application fees waved for the Christmas Tree sale?
- Beliger: I'm curious about this fee for a temporary sale
- Beliger: Why the charge? I don't recall this before. Then the explanation, a New ordinance, The Board voted...
- Chick explains
- Chick: Temporary sales for holidays and things like that
- Beliger: It seems a little expensive, a little extreme for selling Christmas trees
- Otto: I'm the one who wrote the request. I'll be recusing myself
- Otto explains the finances
- Otto: So the money from the Christmas Tree sale is separate from the [Kiwanis] Club and it goes directly to the 4th of July parade
- Zelenock: So I'm also on the Kiwanis
- Manley: We did it for the Library
- Chockley: It seems like it used to be a civic event. ( WTF does that even mean?)
- Otto: We did have to do a civic [event] permit before but now that this comes under holiday sales, we have to do a zoning permit
- Otto: And I did have to do a site plan because we're not doing it inside of 75 Barker; we're doing it outside
- Otto: Yes, all proceeds go to the parade
- Beliger: Doesn't the Township donate to the parade?
- Zelenock: Don't the police offer their service?
- Chockley, There is a line item in our budget for 4th of July. I don't know who gets that but it's in there.
- Otto: I think it goes to the police.
- Chick: I'm torn on this
- Vote on motion to wave the fees fails 2:2, Otto and Zelenock abstain
Agenda Item 9: Creation and distribution of an RFQ for legal services
- Manager discusses what we "can do" re reaching out, vs what has been done in the week or so that he's known of the attorney's resignation
- Beliger: Can we repeat the motion?
- Motion passes: 6:0
- Otto: Do we need a motion to accept Mr. Burns' resignation? Chockley: No we do not accept his resignation. ( Joke falls flat.)
Chockley: I'd like to make a motion to approve JPC19007, Whitmore Lake Climate Storage...
Announcements
- Beliger:
- Zelenock: LPC has received three applications for the three vacancies, wants more
- Chockley:
- Otto: I did wanna thank the board. If you don't ask... We have only fifty trees this year.
- Otto: One type of tree and one price: Frazier Firs at $45
2nd call
- Adam Olney:
- Marcia Christiant: ?
- ? Fakhouri: 2642 Creek Bend, Troy
- Anynes: generic whinging about the difficulties presented in dealing with FOIA
Board Member Comments: Chick
- Otto: Are we ready to have that on the website now?
- Lippens: sputtering
- Otto:
- Beliger:
- Zelenock:
- Manley:
- Chockley:
