VBT accepts gift of 12.5 acres between Parkwood and Kirkridge apts.

The 12.5 acres of wooded, unleveled property between the residential developments of Kirkridge and Parkwood were offered as a gift to Van Buren Township from a family that had owned the property for 60 years.
At the Oct. 18 meeting of the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, Supervisor Kevin McNamara said it could possibly be developed into a lovely neighborhood park in the future.
The $1 charge to the township for the property, RM Multiple, was offered by Mark and Jonathan LoPatin of Southfield.
The VBT website shows the property was recently transferred from the Trust of Rev. Florence LoPatin to them with an estimated land value of $576,600.
Jonathan LoPatin told the board that a large amount of property between Tyler and Ecorse was purchased by his grandfather 60 years ago because he wanted to develop a racetrack. He said he did develop the Michigan International Speedway elsewhere and the Van Buren Township property was developed over the years.
He said his grandfather passed away in 1993 and it made sense to pass the property on to the township since there was no use for them.
The board accepted the land donation and Trustee Sherry Frazier called it “a generous donation.”
In other business at the 57-minute meeting, the board:
• Watched a brief State of the Township address videotaped by Michael Japowicz of the Communications Department for the Homeowners Associations in the township and then used as the report at the recent Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Tri-Community State of the Community breakfast at the BYC. In the report it noted, “The museum was on its last legs,” but didn’t follow that with any other information on the museum, which has been closed for more than two years;
• Held a public hearing, during which there was no comment, on the 2022 Amended and 2023 Proposed General Fund Annual Budget and the Water & Sewer Fund Annual Budget. Approval of the budgets will be considered at an upcoming meeting;
• Approved the purchase of two Dell Servers, at a total cost of $26,415.48, and one Disk Storage Array Unit, at $29,218.46, to replace the township’s current main servers that are reaching their end-of-life cycle;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointments of Norm Debuck and Tony Gibson to the Environmental Commission with terms to expire Oct. 1, 2025;
• Approved the personal service agreement for Blake Worthy as a desktop support technician. He graduated from Baker College with an Associate’s degree in Applied Science/Information Technology. He began in Ecorse as an intern to their now I.T. specialist, who said he was a “very astute employee … but a little quiet.” He is certified in LEIN and LASO. He graduated from Ecorse High School in 2016 and was in the top-ten graduates;
• Approved the title change and job description change of Casey Schmidtke from Public Safety Administrative Assistant to Public Safety Administrator. Police Chief Jason Wright said she is the “gatekeeper of public safety,” an office manager “who handles everything for us.” He said the title change is to match her actual duties. Clerk Leon Wright said her reporting figures correctly helped the township get a higher MMRMA insurance refund;
• Approved the first reading of an ordinance to rezone 1166 Sumpter Rd. from C-Local Business District to Sumpter Road Mixed-Use District. This is the first rezoning under the newly adopted 2022 Sumpter Road Corridor Plan. The building was built in 1930, according to records, and has been zoned commercial for as long as the township has records;
• Approved the purchase of a F-150 for the Water & Sewer Department Fleet for $39,265 from Atchinson Ford. This originally was in the 2023 budget, but it was available now so they wanted to get it now. The last similar truck was first $45,000 and then lowered by Atchinson to $40,500, Supervisor McNamara said;
• Heard Clerk Leon Wright announce the township will be closed for Election Day on Nov. 8 and there will be no township meeting that day;
• Heard Supervisor McNamara say the township received three letters concerning people grateful for police officers’ training in dealing with mental disabilities. One letter said, it “changed my own outlook of police” and another said police intervention, “calmed the scene down.” A letter from a Monroe resident who had a problem on Belleville Road praised the officers. McNamara said Police Chief Jason Wright and Deputy Chief Josh Monte embraced the special training for officers;
• Had held a closed-door session at 5 p.m. before the regular meeting to discuss the strategy and negotiations of the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters (MAFF) collective bargaining agreement and the Police Officers Labor Council (POLC) Command collective bargaining agreement. The approval of the 2022-25 MAFF contract that was on the agenda for action was stricken from the agenda and not discussed in open session; and
• Heard resident Reg Ion say the situation at Willow Run Airport is no better and the water being used to reduce the dust is not working. He said it looks like they are just moving the dirt back and forth. He requested an air-quality check, noting, “I’m ready to call the EPA.” He also told Clerk Wright that a premiere community has flags at its polls and he will be checking on Election Day to make sure every polling location has a flag. “You’ll have flags everywhere,” Clerk Wright promised.