PC appointments disappoint, New (more expensive) Planner hired, Treasurer battles Fink over Township Cash,

Agenda Topics: Election of PC officers, ZBA, Parks & Rec representatives, PC Bylaws, Lake Zoning overlay

2nd Planner Washes Hands of Northfield Government!

Before we begin:

 If you want to feel good about this Community, use this LiveAgenda (click it) to watch your neighbors speak at the first and second Calls to the Public.  In their voices and their words you will find wisdom, eloquence, a deep love and committment to living life here in Northfield Township.  These are your neighbors, your friends.  You can feel the heart of your Community in these speakers.

Whitmore Lake Preserve Spencer Rd sign 3 360w

 235 acres of Northfield Township have been conserved as a County Nature Preserve by the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Board.  At tonight's meeting the necessary rezoning was recommended for approval by the Township Board.  Parking area site plans were approved.

Included in this application is a Wetland Delineation Report.  It contains the map below.  The report describes the indications of wetland found at various locations on the property.  This is more scientific than simply listening for squishy sounds as you trudge across the tundra. 

Much of the Preserve, 119 out of 235 acres, is protected wetland.  That protected status spills over into much of the adjacent property, especially in the four adjacent parcels to the southwest.  The County wanted to add those to the Preserve but could not. 

Roll your mouse over the map below left to see the purchased and unpurchased parcel boundaries.  According to Tom Freeman, County Parks and Rec. purchased the 235 acres for "a little under $6,000 an acre." [LiveVideo]  Two of the parcels they could not obtain, totalling 22.2 acres and labled Wellings on the 2012 map below, sold in February, 2015 to a private individual for $221,000, about $10,000 per acre.

In another Agenda item, Nowatzke Trucking asked for site plan amendment, permission to replace a required 8 foot opaque fence with a 4 foot chain link fence.  The PC declined his offer.

WLPreserve WetlandRpt p 8 420h445w crop comp

Planner DuMouchel's draft of a letter representing Northfield Township's response to Webster Township's Master Plan was approved. 

The final revisions of the PC Bylaws were approved for public notice and will be voted on in a future PC meeting. The Article 8 provision - rewritten to turn Master Plan approval into a simple majority vote will stand unless - before the final vote on the Bylaws - one of the four Commissioners who voted to approve this revision moves to reopen and revote the issue.  Commissioners who voted in favor of a simple majority were Dignan, Stanalajczo, Iaquinto, and Roman.  Chockley and Chick voted against the degradation.  Cousino was absent.

DuMouchel again spoke up for the Master Plan: “I know I've said this before. I just also would like to urge you to reconsider taking as consensus a position as you possibly can on the Master Plan. It is a foundational document. It will be the first thing you have to look at when every other request comes before you so I think you don't want that to be hanging by a thread. That's just my strong professional opinion.” [a LiveQuotation link]

What else is in the revised bylaws? 

Less restriction on conflict of interest.  Less public notice.

Despite DuMouchel's directness, there was no public follow-up to the grave concern about Beckett & Raeder's billing policies shared with us at the December 8th Board meeting by Township Manager Howard Fink.  Nobody said anything.  Is that because, as Fink himself admitted [LiveVideo] at that same meeting, there had been no policy in place?

My opinion is that DuMouchel's real sin was telling the PC (and presumeably, the Township Board, if they were listening,)  the truth about the meaning of the 1996 and 2010 Township Surveys at the September 16, 2015 PC meeting.  You read about it here and you can watch it here.

 

But remember folks, a LiveAgenda is the only way to watch a meeting.  Press ReadMore to see today's.

Township Board Borrows $800,000 for Sewer Extension

Manager Dismisses Resident’s Concerns as “Misconceptions”

  1. English Translation of the Yellow Postcard you received from Northfield Township
  2. December 2, 2015 Northfield Township Planning Commission
  3. November 24th Northfield Township Board - "Throwing Money Away"
  4. November 18th Planning Commission: Bylaws - "The public doesn't have any input on how we're functioning here."
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