Since the Van Buren School District will be closing Haggerty Elementary School in June, Van Buren Township will move voting Precinct #8 from Haggerty to Savage Elementary School, a short distance away.
Savage already is the location for Precinct #9, so the two will be at the same school, but in different parts of the building.
At the April 3 meeting of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, Clerk Leon Wright explained the situation. He said there is precedent, since the township currently has more than one precinct at the township hall and in the past had two polling places at Belleville High School.
Clerk Wright said the two schools are in the same area of the township and Savage, at 42975 Savage Road, has a very large parking area.
Wright said currently Precinct #8 had 2,392 registered voters and Precinct #9 had 1,729 registered voters. Savage Elementary will be closed to students for both the August Primary and General Election, he said.
Wright said he worked with School Supt. Michael Van Tassel and Building and Grounds Director James Williams in determing the best site for the precinct.
The board unanimously approved Wright’s recommendation.
At the workshop session on April 2 when the item was discussed, Trustee Jeff Jahr said he lives in the area of Precinct #8 that is north of the lake. He said he would have liked to have a polling place north of the lake, closer to his home.
Wright said his next step will be to notify the Wayne County Clerk of the polling place change, update the Qualified Voter File, post signs at the current Haggerty Elementary School location, update the township website with updated maps and precinct polling location list, and mail out updated voter registration cards to the affected voters.
Wright also explained that due to state redistricting all registered voters in VBT will receive a new voter identification card with updated information for the changes to the following districts: U.S. Congressional, State Senate, State Representative, and for those voters in Precinct #8, a new polling place.
The voter identification card is for the voter to use to identify districts along with precinct number and location, Wright said.
In other business at the April 3 meeting, the board:
• Approved the second reading and enactment of a new Cemetery Ordinance for the operation of Denton, Soop, Otisville, and Tyler cemeteries. Board members thanked Clerk Wright and his office for their work, along with township historian Cathy Horste and the Cemetery Advisory Committee;
• Approved the proposal by Wade Trim engineers for field engineering (oversight and inspection) on the 2011-12 Water Project at a cost not to exceed $15,500. The project scheduled for this summer will take 4-6 weeks and will be done by directional drilling, which will be less disruptive than open trenches. DVM contractors will connect the Country Walk dead-end water line to Lenmoore’s dead-end line, close gaps and correct dead-ends on Bemis near Rawsonville, and make connections on Haggerty under Riggs Creek, aka Woods Creek;
• Heard Treasurer Sharry Budd cast the lone nay vote against approving the voucher list (to pay township bills) because she didn’t want to pay for Supervisor Paul White’s cable box in his office, which is $2.16 a month. She said the police department should be the only one with more than basic cable. “It’s for extra stations,” Budd said. “I get basic.” Budd also voted against the voucher list at the previous meeting because she disapproved of White having a township-paid leased vehicle for work (as did the previous supervisor);
• Heard Trustee Phil Hart ask if the board will hear presentations from Nixle and other companies, similar to the Code Red presentation on April 2. White said he would like to see presentations to the Public Safety Committee and Environmental Commission and he is open to suggestions about other presenters. Trustee Jeff Jahr said he was impressed with the Code Red presentation, but he would like the Public Safety Committee and Environmental Commission to decide what the township wants and then try to buy the best product. “We’re not buying anything now,” White replied. “We’re just looking at what’s available”;
• Heard White announce that people are enjoying Van Buren Park now and entry is free until the first of May;
• Heard Adam Byrd, who identified himself as president of Mission Pointe Homeowners Association, say his subdivision is putting together welcome packets for Mission Pointe and the township should put together such packets, too. He said while the Chamber of Commerce has items to welcome new residents, he said he wanted to emphasize VBT, not the area;
• Heard Linda Stevenson, VBT Executive Assistant / Assessment Coordinator, explain that when new residents file their homestead affidavits, she gives them information and local maps and takes extra time if it is a resident new to the area. She said she explains to them the difference between Belleville, Van Buren Township, and Sumpter Township;
• Heard Larry Fix announce that while he was out walking he discovered metal covers missing from drains at the Cobblestone development. He also asked for the attorney’s opinion on White’s email investigation, noted the break-ins in the township haven’t stopped, the former Track-Pac party store had graffiti on the wall, and asked if the patrol units have to write a certain number of tickets each month;
• Heard Gordon Joe Komarmi warn about Smart meters because of privacy issues and the hazards of microwaves. He said he wanted to give the board a heads up because of the possible future installation of those meters;
• Heard Pauline and John Holeton of Shelby Township warn about Smart meters. The Smart electric meters are being put in communities by DTE and the state is studying their use after several communities petitioned the state;
• Heard Byrd (who is also a VBT police officer) ask Public Safety Director Carl McClanahan if there are a certain number of traffic tickets patrol officers must write. McClanahan replied, “There is no quota in the Police Department.” Byrd stated that the passage of the public safety millage last November shows the “public is very happy with the police department”;
• Heard Hart announce that he and Trustees Al Ostrowski and Jahr will be looking into the details of hiring additional police officers; and
• Heard Victor Franzoi ask White if he got an opinion from the attorney on the emails and if he would make it public. White said it was up to the board whether the attorney’s opinion would be made public.
The township board went into a closed-door session after the 4 p.m. workshop session on April 2 to discuss AFSCME contract negotiations.