Van Buren Township board does away with work-studies for 2022

There will no longer be Monday afternoon work-study sessions scheduled for the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees before the Tuesday regular meetings in 2022.
At the Nov. 2 meeting of the VBT board via zoom, the board unanimously approved the board meeting schedule for 2022 as part of the consent agenda.
At the end of the meeting, Trustee Reggie Miller said she hadn’t noticed when she voted for the schedule that work-study sessions had been eliminated and she was in disagreement with that.
Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara replied that the board can always add that if the board desires.
“They became rehearsals of board meetings,” Supervisor McNamara said.
“That’s what the MTA told us,” Trustee Miller said, referring to the Michigan Township Association. “It is a rehearsal, a time for the board to hear public comment.”
Clerk Leon Wright said it is the duty of the board to ask questions.
“Work-study was not a rehearsal,” he said. “It was meant to hear comments.” He said the board had a consultant and found the work-study had been used inefficiently.
Trustee Sherry Frazier said she agreed with Trustee Miller on the work-study.
Trustee Miller said the work-study sessions have been eliminated from the schedule and board members can think about it for a couple of weeks and add it to the agenda in the future.
The 2022 meeting schedule listed meetings at 6 p.m. at township hall on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, except for in January when there will be one meeting on Jan. 18. In August, budget review sessions are set for Aug. 15 and 16, following the only other meeting of the month on Aug. 2.
The VBT board hasn’t held a traditional work-study meeting since the Dec. 16, 2019 meeting. Work-study meetings have been held recently – on Oct. 4, Oct. 18, and Nov. 1 – only for the purpose of going into closed session.
In other business at the one-hour-and-40-minute meeting, the board:
• Approved the personal services agreement with Lawrence Luckett as the Director of Public Services, replacing Matthew Best who resigned to take a job with Pittsfield Township. Human Resources Director Nicole Sumpter said Luckett comes from the City of Detroit bringing 26-plus years of governmental services, serving in a mayor-appointed position as the assistant director of maintenance and prior to that as the general manager of facility maintenance. He has a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Central Michigan University. She said he is a very educated person and his skills cover significant areas spanning from transportation, budgeting, overseeing construction and renovation projects, personnel management and coordinating departmental efforts. He has been a resident of Van Buren Township for 11 years and said he would work hard for the township and start on Monday (Nov. 8), if approved. “I’m here to make sure the township keeps moving forward.” The salary for this position was posted as $85,000 in the new budget;
• Approved the 2021 Amended and 2022 Proposed general fund budget and the 2022 salary schedule and, in another motion, the 2021 Amended and 2022 Proposed Water and Sewer Fund Budget. The public hearings on the funds were held at the last meeting on Oct. 19. At the Nov. 2 meeting, revisions to the 2022 salary schedule were: Residential Appraiser raised from $56,000 to $60,000; Public Safety Administrative Assistant from $56,444 to $60,000; and Planning & Economic Development Director from $80,000 to $85,000;
• Approved the 2021 Amended and 2022 Proposed Special Revenue Fund Budgets, including Downtown Development Authority, Local Development Finance Authority Fund, Landfill Fund, Belleville Area Museum, E-911 Service Fund, Federal Forfeiture Fund, State Forfeiture Fund, Long-Term Debt Fund, and Capital Improvement Fund. The public hearings on the funds were held at the last meeting on Oct. 19;
• Approved a special land use request and related site improvements by General Development Company LLC, on behalf of Belleville North Marsh Ventures LLC, to construct a 59,820-square-foot facility for Kenworth Trucks on 20 acres on the North I-94 Service Drive between Dewitt and Morton Taylor roads between Camping World and National RV. Treasurer Sharry Budd asked for and was granted the right to be recused from the discussion and the vote on the property because the Budd farm rents some of the acreage involved for its farming. After the vote, Treasurer Budd returned to the meeting and said the farm will be losing 10 acres for planting corn and soybeans and this will not affect the produce stand;
• Discussed whether to start meeting in person again, instead of by zoom. Board members did not vote on this, but informally agreed to continue with the previous decision to meet by zoom until the end of the year. Trustee Miller said, “I agree. Wait until after January to see how everything works out.” Supervisor McNamara said they had to cancel the senior volunteer event because of COVID going through the senior citizens. He said, again, he would really rather be meeting in person, but he agrees with his board to wait;
• Was informed Ryan Nichols, the cinematographer who worked in the communications department, is leaving to take another position. He was thanked and wished well in his new job;
• Heard Supervisor McNamara announce that the Michigan Senate is making a decision on short-term rentals, such as for Airbnbs, that would allow the township to have no oversight in the matter. He suggested the residents call their senators with their opinions;
• Learned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sent a letter to the township saying the result of the recent dam safety inspection found nothing needed immediate attention and French Landing Dam passed the inspection;
• Heard Supervisor McNamara tell of a letter he got from a resident who took his kids trick or treating in Haggerty Sub and his son took a hard fall. He said some of the sidewalks there are like walking up steps. McNamara said the township is coming next summer to work on sidewalks there;
• Heard Clerk Wright announce the administrative offices will be closed Nov. 11 for Veterans Day. He also thanked Bob and Marie Krouse for putting flags on veterans’ graves in the township again, which they have been doing for 20 years. Also, he said, the township is working with redistricting to redo the precincts. He said no precinct can have more than 3,000 voters and they will be sending out mailings to every voter in the township and their precincts may change. He said Haggerty School is closing and that is where Precinct 8 had voted. He said that precinct will be changed to Edgemont Elementary School; and
• Was reminded the last week this year to get yard waste out for pickup is the week of Nov. 22.
Closed-door session
On Nov. 1 at 4 p.m., the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees held a work-study session to hold a closed-door session via zoom to discuss the strategy and negotiations of the POLC (Police Officers Labor Council) collective bargaining agreement.