VBT board approves dissolution of blended rate without comment

The Van Buren Township Board of Trustees unanimously voted to dissolve the blended rate program that had been in place since 2003 without comment at its regular meeting on Jan. 18.
Trustee Sherry Frazier was absent and excused.
The item was placed on the Consent Agenda, which usually contains actions that need no discussion.
The agenda item asked to consider dissolution of the blended rate program “per the Closed Session discussion of Dec. 21, 2021.”
The budget implication notation said that $408,000 would come from the Fiscal Year 2022 budget and $408,000 from the Fiscal Year 2023 budget from Fire Wages – On Call (101-336-706-000).
In a news release sent to the Independent a day before the Jan. 19 action, Supervisor Kevin McNamara was quoted as saying that the blended rate program cost the township $300,000 a year and the ending of the program would allow the township to hire three, full-time fire fighters.
Deputy Supervisor Dan Selman said there are six employees now in the blended-rate program.
In other business at the Jan. 18 meeting, the board:
• Held a public hearing, during which no members of the public spoke, on the 2022-26 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and then unanimously approved the five-year plan. The approval must be done by Feb. 1 for the township to qualify for parks and recreation grants from the state and federal governments. Supervisor McNamara said the township is working on an immense amount of grants. Community Services Director Elizabeth Renaud said Phase I of the Iron Belle Trail is $5.5 million and they are short $1.85 million. McNamara said work on the Denton Road Bridge is not included. He said the museum is in the Parks and Rec. Plan. Director Renaud said the township is partnering with a firm with 30 years in the design field, working with the Detroit Historical Museum and others, and the township will have an open meeting in March or April about the museum. “We’re taking our time to make sure we are doing this right,” Renaud said. Trustee Reggie Miller asked when the museum will reopen and Renaud said, “We have to be cognizant of COVID”;
• Approved the personal services agreement for Fire Marshal Andrew Lengahan to also serve as Deputy Fire Chief, effective Jan. 1 with a salary of $82,000. Lenaghan has more than 33 years of experience in municipal and federal fire protection. In 2012 he was appointed by Governor Snyder to the State of Michigan Bureau of Fire Services Fire Safety Board where he served for seven years. He has an associate’s degree in fire science from Henry Ford Community College and he is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force;
• Approved the purchase of three 2002 Ford Police Interceptors for the patrol fleet that is in the 2022 police budget. Cost is state-bid pricing of $38,900 per vehicle for three vehicles, with a total of $116,700. Vendor is Atchinson Ford. This item was moved from the Consent Agenda to New Business because a member of the audience wanted discussion on it;
• Approved the supervisor’s appointment of Kimika Garrett, of Sadie Lane, to the planning commission with a term to expire Oct. 1, 2022. On her application for an appointment, Garrett said she is consulting manager for Accenture Consulting;
• Approved the supervisor’s appointment of William Osier to the Construction Code of Appeals Board with a term to expire Feb. 28, 2025;
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointments of Daniel Belanger, Charles Coleman, Kimberly Nofz, Todd O’Neil, Denise Willoughby, and Tammy Wall to the Recreation Committee with terms to expire Feb. 1, 2023. The Recreation Committee gets appointed every year;
• Approved Resolution 2022-01, Van Buren Township Poverty Exemption guidelines. This information guides the Board of Review in granting exemptions. It is less restrictive than the recommended federal poverty standards;
• Approved the fireworks display permit application by the Michigan Fireworks Club for a display from a barge in Belleville Lake near the Belleville Yacht Club on Saturday, July 2, with a rain date of Sunday, July 3. McNamara said the launch location is the same that was approved for the last three years;
• Approved the personal services agreement with Tammy Dohring as the Executive Assistant to Community Services Director Elizabeth Renaud. McNamara said this is just a change in title and it will go into effect Jan. 1 and was approved as part of the 2022 budget. Her salary is $60,000;
• Received the Planning Commission Annual Report for 2021, as compiled by Dan Power, director of planning and economic development, as required by the Michigan Planning Enabling Act;
• Heard Clerk Leon Wright say he would like to see the township put together a presentation for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which occurred the day before the township board meeting. He said he would put something together and Supervisor McNamara said, “Sure,” adding that King reminded us that all people are created equal. Clerk Wright said President Biden said George Floyd was more important that Martin Luther King and that is not corrct. “I disagree,” Wright said. “He kind of misspoke on that”;
• Heard McNamara offer congratulations to Bryce Underwood, the 14-year-old Belleville High School football quarterback who was named National Freshman Player of the Year. McNamara said the teen is 6’3” and 190 pounds and you wonder how much bigger he can grow;
• Heard McNamara announce residents can order free at-home COVID test kits and receive four per household by mail by going to covidtest.gov and fill out the form;
• Heard John Delaney, second vice president of the VBT Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) say that the purchase of three police vehicles should have been on the new business part of that afternoon’s agenda rather than on the Consent Agenda, which is a rubber stamp for housekeeping items. Expensive items should be discussed, he said. While the cars may have been discussed during budget talks last fall, they haven’t been discussed since then and residents may not have been able to get to the budget talks that were during business hours. “We don’t know how we’re spending our money all the time … It’s not fair to the public… In the future it shouldn’t be on the consent agenda,” he said. “I agree,” said Trustee Reggie Miller. McNamara said, “We used to just buy them … We buy three every year”;
• Heard Delaney also say the acrylic protection for the clerk and treasurer protecting them from Armaggedon is interfering with the HVAC system and an air balance test should be done, studying the clean air being kept out and the dirty air being kept in. He said the treasurer and clerk are protected, but not the planning department or the trash permit area. He also said the museum needs to be open and it could be funded by Henry Ford and Greenfield Village because Van Buren Park is where Ford, Firestone, and Edison met together. Also there was gas lighting there in the 1800s to 1930s and those posts have disappeared;
• Heard Clerk Wright suggest the American Rescue Plan Act Fund could be used toward building of the community center. There was $1.45 million sent and another $1.45 million is coming later. He said while the township is seeking many grants, grants are not a sure thing. Trustee Miller said that money can be used for the community center under the law. She said she attended a Michigan Townships Association meeting that said that. McNamara said the money was set up at first to help where you had loss because of COVID and now you can use it for just about anything. Miller said you can only keep it three years without spending. After much discussion, McNamara said, “When we need monies, I will come to the board and tell you what I want to do”; and
• Heard Wright say 12 employees have to take COVID tests weekly and the township has set up a company that will come in starting at noon in the township and the results will return by 6 p.m. “The virus is still out there and still killing people,” Wright said.