VBT Board approves definitive agreement for DUWA ownership

The Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve a resolution accepting the definitive transfer agreement on the Downriver Utility Wastewater Authority (DUWA) and to authorize its representative to vote in favor of it when it comes before the DUWA board.
This was at the regular township board meeting on April 3. The DUWA board is expected to vote on the agreement on May 10.
Thirteen communities, including Van Buren Township and the city of Belleville, are a part of the DUWA group that wants to acquire the Downriver Sanitary Disposal System from Wayne County.
Trustee Sherry Frazier, who is the township board’s liaison to the Water and Sewer Commission, made the motion to approve the resolution.
She said Wayne County borrowed $9 million from the assets of the downriver sanitary system and, after an audit identified the action, paid back the amount with interest.
She said the county first wanted $120 million and now will take $57 million for the system, but there will be no increase in costs to residents.
Trustee Frazier said DUWA will get $38 million that’s in the system’s reserves. The pension and health care stay with Wayne County. She said all of the 13 communities involved have a weighted percentage of the costs.
Water Department Director James Taylor said if VBT approves the transfer agreement it will be sixth of the 13 communities approving. The city of Belleville voted to approve on April 2.
Taylor said at its first meeting in May, DUWA will take a vote and then it will be on to the Wayne County Commission for a vote. After that they can go out for bonds and its should be wrapped up by September or October.
Besides VBT and Belleville, other members of DUWA are the cities of Ecorse, Lincoln Park, River Rouge, Southgate, Wyandotte, Allen Park, Taylor, Dearborn Heights, Romulus, Riverview, and the Charter Township of Brownstown.
Based on Federal Judge Feikens’ 1994 financial order, Belleville has 1.236% of ownership for capital improvements to the system and VBT has 2.295%.
At the March 19 work study session of the township board, Supervisor Kevin McNamara said he wanted the board to study the agreement in detail because, “It locks us in in perpetuity — It’s a lot of money.”
Attorneys from DUWA were present along with Vito Kaunelis, who administers DUWA. Kaunelis said they are talking about a 30-acre treatment facility in Wyandotte that has 63 miles of collecting system, including a tunnel system, meters, pumps, and rain gauges.
Five percent of the system has been studied and it is in good shape for the age of the facility, which was built in 1938.
Treasurer Sharry Budd said she wants Wayne County to fix the pipes from the 1930s that need fixing before the communities take it over.
Supervisor McNamara said there is only one-fourth to one-half mile of interceptor sewer in VBT. He said he wanted to know who pays if it breaks in Romulus or Taylor.
Kaunelis said DUWA — everybody — pays.
He said Wayne County wants to stop providing sewage treatment and wants to sell the system.
Bill Bricke of Plante Moran gave details of the purchase of the system from the county.
“If DUWA owns it, you make the decisions,” Bricke said, “and it will be rate neutral.”
It was noted there are six or seven lawsuits against the system because of basement flooding and it is doubtful they will be resolved by the time DUWA takes over.
Trustee Paul White said an advantage is that the communities will get to “drive the bus and DUWA will decide on capital improvements.”
Supervisor McNamara said the township has three options: accept its role as one of the owners of DUWA, say no and become a customer of DUWA, or opt out of the system and go elsewhere.
It was pointed out VBT already entered into the service agreement. VBT attorney Patrick McCauley said they can’t change the governing articles of the group, which already have been approved.
Trustee White said the goal is to close in August or September. “It’s our own destiny. Better than what you have now.”
In other business at the one-hour-35-minute meeting on April 3, the board.
• Approved, on a 4-3 vote (ayes from McNamara, Budd, Wright, and Martin; nays from White, Frazier, and Miller), amending the future land use map for 75 acres of the Smith farm at 50015 Michigan Avenue, changing it from Low Density Single Family Residential B to Light Industrial. A motion by Trustee White, seconded by Trustee Reggie Miller to remove it from that evening’s agenda was defeated on the same 4-3 vote;
• Approved the first reading of Ordinance 04-03-18 to modify certain accessory building regulations and setbacks to the zoning ordinance. The second reading and approval is expected at the next regular meeting;
• Approved the prepaid voucher list of March 22. Trustee Frazier had asked for the prepaid list to be removed from the consent agenda so it could be discussed. She said $342.60 was paid for airfare for Clerk Wright’s trip to his Virginia conference May 20-23 and that was in addition to his $600 in conference fees. She said he has gone to Montreal, Kansas and now Virginia. She questioned if this was a necessary expense. “This has already been discussed and approved,” Clerk Wright said;
• Witnessed the Van Buren Civic Fund present a check for $5,763 to the Belleville Area Museum for new exhibit panels and a check for $7,182.22 to the VBT Public Safety Department for gas detection monitors for the fire department;
• Heard McNamara say there were two vacancies on the Local Development Finance Authority Board and he would like volunteers to apply. Treasurer Budd said there was a vacancy coming to the Water and Sewer Commission because longtime member Dr. Gerald Graf was retiring. Residents were encouraged to apply;
• Heard resident John Delaney say there was a big disconnect between the four trustees and the planning department. He said the three full-time elected officials in the “hallowed halls” do not tell the trustees what is happening. “There needs to be better information,” he said. ‘They are treated like stepchildren.” He also said he felt the township offices should be open to 5 p.m. for the convenience of the residents. He said some fees in the planning department have been upped 300 to 600%, but “the township is not getting services as a premier community”;
• Heard Clerk Wright ask for a moment of silence in memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Then he read his thoughts in Dr. King’s memory. Trustee White also told of his experiences of the Civil Rights movement and how Dr. King said everyone should be judged by their character not the color of their skin;
• Heard Trustee White rebut what he called errors of fact in a recent letter to the editor of the Independent from CeJay Marshall concerning costs of Michigan Township Association meetings in Jackson and Lansing. He said it was dishonorable writing; and
• Heard Frazier say that Treasurer Budd has breakfast with CeJay Marshall at 9 a.m. every Thursday at Leo’s and Marshall knows more about the working of the township than the trustees do. Treasurer Budd said there are five to ten of them that have been meeting for breakfast for years and, “We don’t go there to talk township business.”