Van Buren Township approves new coal tar ordinance with teeth

When Van Buren Township was the first municipality in the state to enact a coal tar ban in December 2015, the ordinance was educational in nature and had no penalties.
Since then, other municipalities have also enacted bans, but they had penalties.
The VBT Environmental Commission wanted to add teeth to its ban and at the March 21 meeting of the township board of trustees, the new ordinance was enacted unanimously.
Matthew Best, deputy director of the department of planning and economic development, said the new ordinance includes a lower polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) limit and enforcement, which includes misdemeanor injunctions, and the requirement for sealant applicators to register with the township.
Best said high PAH limits are carcinogenic.
Trustee Sherry Frazier asked if driveway sealants with reduced PAH were the same price as sealants with coal tar and higher PAH.
Best said it was about the same and depends how the products are mixed. He said individuals can only buy low PAH sealants in 50-gallon buckets.
Trustee Reggie Miller said often someone will knock on the door and ask to seal your driveway. She said now she can ask for their registration with the township.
“Dr. David Wilson was the prime candidate pushing this,” said Trustee Paul White. “It’s kind of sad he’s not here today to see this …”
“I believe Dr. Wilson is here with us today,” Best said.
“We were the first in the state and since then seven communities passed coal tar bans and now are looking at what we’re doing,” Best said.
Trustee Miller said she remembers when a lobbyist came from coal tar applicators.
Best said the woman from the Pavement Sealing Coalition, based in Washington, D.C., contacted the township about the ban.
“We gave her an hour to speak,” he said, noting, “We have yet to hear back from her since.”
In other business at the March 21 meeting, the board:
• Watched Van Buren Civic Fund representative Mark Laginess present a grant of $6,300 to the Clerk’s Department to replace 10 laptop computers to support the elections. Wright said the township went over to electronic polls and now the laptops are five years old and have reached their life expectancy. “They are not starting up like they should,” he said. He said the 10 laptops are being passed on to the senior department. Laginess explained the Civic Fund was started in 2005 with a $1 million grant from Visteon and since then the fund has given away half a million dollars. He said Clerk Wright wrote a few grant requests to the fund;
• Heard Supervisor Kevin McNamara read a letter to Chief of Police Jason Wright from a resident praising the actions of Officers Harrison and Sweet, who got her generator up and running when her power was out because of the storm;
• Heard Supervisor McNamara also read a letter he sent to the schools thanking officials for their work on the warming center set up at the high school. He said VBT called the City of Belleville and Sumpter Township to work together to take advantage of the center. He said more than 100 individuals took advantage of the services there and some even stayed the night. “I didn’t really know what being a supervisor was until then,” McNamara said of the storm. He said there were 460 calls that came into dispatch, low water pressure that almost made a boil water advisory necessary and when the water came back on it blew the sanitary system. He said the supervisor’s office was used as a data collection center and seniors were transported to the warming center. Pieces of literature were passed out and the IT department put information on cable. “I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” he said;
• Heard McNamara announce that the free pickup of yard waste resumes the week of April 3 and that residents will be able to dispose of up to seven tires per household at a free disposal center at the township hall from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 3;
• Heard the Independent ask about what is being done about getting a new fire chief. McNamara said they got a “bunch” of applicants and five were interviewed. He said within the next two weeks their choice will be announced. He said those doing the interviewing were the supervisor, clerk, treasurer, Public Safety Director Greg Laurain, and Police Chief Jason Wright. McNamara said he cannot stand to call Wright his official title: Deputy Director Public Safety – Police. He is changing that to Police Chief. The new Deputy Director Public Safety – Fire, will be called Fire Chief, he said;
• Heard Trustee Sherry Frazier note the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War is coming and her late husband’s two brothers served honorably in that conflict. She said the Vietnam vets did not have the welcome home they should have had and she would like the township to honor Vietnam vets. She also praised the Rotary Club for its installations of portable libraries. “There are good things happening,” she said; and
• Heard Trustee White ask to meet with two of the three full-time elected officials after the meeting to discuss an issue.