VBT board agrees to add extra paid vacation day: Juneteenth

Clerk Leon Wright and Trustee Kevin Martin introduced an agenda item at the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees’ regular meeting on June 20 that would give employees an extra paid day off with pay.
After lengthy discussion, and a vote to call the motion, the board unanimously added Juneteenth on June 19 every year, as the 12th paid holiday.
At first the motion was to just recognize the holiday, which now is a federal and state holiday, but then it turned into a push to make it a paid holiday.
Trustee Martin explained the history of the holiday, starting with late August, 1619, before the Mayflower, when the first slaves were brought to America. He said for 246 years Africans were enslaved and Juneteenth came two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued when on June 19, 1865 freedom for slaves in Texas was ordered.
Clerk Wright said it was on the negotiation table and AFSCME turned it down. He spoke of the horrific treatment endured by his ancestors. Wright said the holiday is observed by the State of Michigan, Wayne County, Canton, Ann Arbor, Romulus, Lansing, Howell, Pontiac … and many more places. He said 25% of private companies have it as a paid holiday.
Wright said to be a premier community, “We not only talk the talk, but also have to walk the walk.”
He said unions don’t run the township, “We do.”
Wright said he wanted the board to shut down any regularly scheduled workday for the holiday. He said this would cost $22,400 a year for public safety.
Supervisor Kevin McNamara said Wright has changed the motion. It was put on the agenda as recognizing the holiday, he said.
Trustee Don Boynton said the board could act to celebrate the holiday and then decide how to recognize it.
“It’s already recognized by the federal government and the state,” Martin said.
Supervisor McNamara said the motion needed to be amended and Martin said he changed his mind and amended the motion, asking for Juneteenth to be a paid day off. Boynton seconded the amendment.
Treasurer Sharry Budd said AFSCME always negotiated the set holidays and the rest went along with that. The union gave up Columbia Day for Martin Luther King Day.
She said it could be recognized as a holiday, but not a day off. She said AFSCME didn’t agree to this as a paid holiday and this sets a whole different process.
“We are the managers,” Martin said, referring to the board members. “You wanted them to give up a day for this.”
“If you tell the union they have another paid day off, they’ll take it,” McNamara said, adding Wright did not add in the fringe costs of about 30%. He said those in the fire, water and sewer, and public services departments will have to work and they will be paid time and a half and double time. He said it’s a $40,000 expense for the township.
“It’s an admirable holiday,” McNamara said. “It should be celebrated. I’m against the way it was handled. They already have an abundance of holidays, along with a four-day work week.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” Martin said.
“They already have a lot of days off,” McNamara said, suggesting the board tell him to go back to the union and negotiate.
Trustee Bryon Kelley suggested it could be a floating holiday to save overtime and there are a couple of ways to work it out, rather than discussing it in an open meeting.
“It’s a federal holiday that happened in 2021,” said Trustee Sherry Frazier. “It’s a valid holiday. A major milestone in American history, regretfully.”
“We have a year to decide,” McNamara said.
“What’s the big deal?” Trustee Frazier asked.
Resident John Delaney called out comments from the audience and was called out of order.
“I know one township that doesn’t close and gave everyone a floating holiday,” said Treasurer Budd. “Just a thought.”
Wright said he wants the township to recognize it as a holiday and something has to be done significantly.
“Something that’s showing we recognize what may be more significant to me and others … It’s something I need to cheer … It shows I can change the course of the future.”
McNamara said he could negotiate with the union and Wright replied, “I don’t need to negotiate. I’m not negotiating anything!”
Martin said his motion stands.
Frazier added, “It’s a federal holiday. Come on, get with it.”
Martin said he thinks it should be on June 19 because otherwise it detracts from the day.
“I’m not against June 19,” McNamara said, adding, “We’re saying, here take another day off. The cost to taxpayers is $40,000 and we’ve got a community center to staff.”
Wright said the township just approved a four-year contract with AFSCME.
“I don’t want to negotiate at the table,” McNamara said noting the motion was “Day off with pay on June 19.”
Martin called the question and there was a roll-call vote on whether to vote on the question. It passed 6-1, with McNamara voting no.
Then they voted on recognizing June 19 as an official township holiday with a paid day off for employees.
“I am not against the holiday,” McNamara said. “I’m appalled at how it’s being done. I don’t know how anyone can vote no now.”
The motion passed unanimously.
“We have many, many issues with the union,” McNamara said.
“I don’t have a problem with the union,” Wright said.
McNamara said he didn’t have a problem with the union, but the township does.
Boynton said he would volunteer his time to work on this and McNamara replied, “It’s done. It’s done.”
In other business at the two-hour-31-minute meeting on June 20, the board:
• Heard a report on the 2022 annual audit on all township funds from Dave Helisek and Katie Alestra of Plante Moran and then approved the audit. Helisek said the township received an unmodified opinion, the highest level of assurance. McNamara said the township has a double-A rating like Livonia and Canton, which impacts the interest rate. “You’ve got a terrific team,” Helisek said.
• Held a one-minute public hearing at which nobody spoke to comment on the Homestead Condominium Special Assessment District and then approved the assessment role for the SAD. Homestead is borrowing $1,686,710 to improve its roads. There are 637 properties and each will pay a total of $6,701.31 each over five years with 2% interest to repay the township;
• Approved use of a pump station to route wastewater from the proposed 44-acre, 132-unit Brookwood Multifamily Independent Senior Housing Project south across Tyler Road to the existing sanitary main. The development is near the northeast corner of Morton Taylor and Tyler roads. The pump is needed because of the wetlands at the north end of the property. The company will pay for everything and there will be capital charges set aside for maintenance of the pump station in the future. McNamara asked if the Water and Sewer Commission looked at the proposal and was told they hadn’t. He asked Water and Sewer Director Kevin Lawrence to speak with him about it in the morning;
• Approved a variance from the Van Buren Township Engineering Standards Manual to allow construction of stormwater detention ponds that will have a permanent pool of stormwater less than four feet deep for Brookwood. The board asked the planning commission to look at fences for safety and mosquito prevention;
• Approved an agreement with the City of Romulus to provide water service to 13560 Hannan Rd.;
• Approved buying all new metal voting booths at a cost of $48,335 from Election Source. This is to replace the more than 10-year-old plastic voting booths that have deteriorated and are hard to handle. The new booths will be easier for staff to set up, since the school district has stopped putting up the booths for elections and has required the booths to be both set up and removed on election day. In the past the school district allowed the township to set up the day before and take down the day after. Clerk Wright said the Michigan Municipal Risk Management Authority (MMRMA) balance will pay for the purchase;
• Approved a five-year Collection and Management Contract with Waste Management for residential trash, yard waste, and recyclables which begins July 1. The cost will increase about 5% per year;
• Approved a special land use request from the Belleville Yacht Club for a Marina at 831 E. Huron River Dr. The board voted 4-1, with Frazier voting no, to recuse Councilman Kelley and Supervisor McNamara from the vote because they are members of BYC. Both left the board table and the room until that agenda item was over. The dock plans now go to be reviewed by the Michigan Department of Energy, Great Lakes, and Environment (EGLE) and then the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) before any construction can be recommensed. Dock expansion stopped in 2021 after a VBT stop-work order;
• Viewed two, 30-second videos that were made by the township’s Communications Department to play on a simulcast of the American Power Boat Association races at Belleville’s Lakefest;
• Heard resident John Delaney speak both before the agenda and at the end. He addressed an additional holiday, repurposing the old voting booths for another community, BYC members on the board, restructuring of the agenda to allow comments by the public throughout the meeting after board discussion, and the poor condition of the roads when water ponds and large vegetation along the sides keeps the water from going into the ditches;
• Heard resident Reg Ion tell about the dead dear on Tyler Road just 100 yards from township hall. He said board members wear fancy shirts and ties and talk about how much they love this township, but let the dead deer lie there. He said it is on a Wayne County road but it’s the township’s deer and should be picked up. He said on election day he picked up a dead faun and had to bring it himself to the police department, where he was finally allowed to put it in their dumpster. Later, Ion said he put a balloon on the deer that was on Tyler Road and somebody took off the balloon, but didn’t move the deer. Then, he said, somebody else put four balloons on the deer and they were removed. After talking with Larry Luckett at the meeting, the deer was picked up by morning; and
• Heard Trustee Martin request that the township formulate a letter to the county requesting a left-turn traffic signal at Tyler and Belleville roads and have it signed by all the board members. He said the county did a traffic study, but he didn’t see it. McNamara said there is a definitive plan for Belleville Road and money set aside for that. Akers said it is scheduled for 2025 and McNamara said the county has to agree. Martin said 2025 was too far away and he wanted the letter sent and then if there is no response, another letter signed and sent, to do it again and again. “I’ll do whatever you want,” McNamara said. He said he tried to get it done twice, but failed. “I don’t care how you do it,” Martin said. “It’s a dangerous intersection.” Wright said he had an accident there and Martin said he had two.