All claims of Linda and Dave Frankling against Van Buren Township were settled with a $55,000 payment authorized on a 4-2 vote at the April 20 VBT board meeting.
This ended the seven years the Franklings spent trying to get VBT to follow its own ordinances.
Their attorney’s estimates of the Franklings’ legal fees and other expenses and claims over the years was set at $1.3 million.
The dispute focused on the oversize garage built next door to the Franklings, at 44305 Harmony Lane, that didn’t meet township ordinances.
The agreement is a contract that holds the township harmless and provides for the partial demolition and rebuilding of the garage according to plans approved by the township and the Franklings. A variance on the new garage’s roof pitch is being sought from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The township also is paying $17,000 towards the new garage.
Voting yes on the payment were Trustees Denise Partridge and Al Ostrowski, Clerk Leon Wright, and Supervisor Paul White.
Voting no were Trustee Phil Hart and Treasurer Sharry Budd, who explained her vote by saying she thought it would set a precedent. Hart had insisted there was no law suit to settle, but Frankling’s attorney John Day said there was a demand letter sent months ago to the township attorney indicating there would be a law suit.
Trustee Jeff Jahr abstained from the voting and the discussion at both the work study session and regular meeting because he is a member of the ZBA and and would be considering the roof variance.
At the end of the agenda, Treasurer Budd said there is not money in the budget for this payment, so she made a motion to take the $55,000 needed from the fund balance of the general fund and move it to the “township board, other” line item for payment.
Then, Budd voted against her own motion to allocate the money. Hart also voted no. Voting yes were Partridge, Ostrowski, Wright, and White.
Board discussion on the payment to Frankling was lengthy during the three-and-a-half hour workshop session on April 19, as well as the three-hour regular meeting the next day.
Since Jahr physically left both meetings during the discussions, Hart and Budd were the ones who pushed for giving nothing to the Franklings. They, along with Jahr, were on the board that time after time voted to spend township money to appeal court rulings finding in Franklings’ favor.
The issue was sent to the Michigan Supreme Court, where the court declined to hear it and sent it back to circuit court who made the township comply.
Partridge estimated VBT spent over $200,000 in attorney fees, to pay four different attorneys, in the fight against the Franklings all the while insisting they could win the case.
At the workshop session, Budd said, “Our attorney said the most should be $20,000 … he did not have anything to do with the agreement.”
Budd’s statement twisted the words of attorney Steve Hitchcock. At the workshop meeting Budd led Hitchcock into getting the answer she obviously wanted by asking him what a nuisance law suit should get and he answered $20,000. Then she asked if he considered the Frankling law suit a nuisance, and he said he did.
Budd misquoted Hitchcock entirely on whether he had anything to do with the agreement.
Hitchcock stated at the workshop session that he and Frankling’s attorney John Day negotiated the $55,000 settlement figure, noting both sides were unhappy with the figure, but both agreed to it.
Supervisor Paul White said the settlement was strictly a business decision, negotiated between the two attorneys. He said a law suit by Frankling, this time to get attorney fees reimbursed, would cost the township more than the settlement.
He said Frankling warned the township about the height, roof pitch, side setback, and foundation code violations, but was ignored.
“For seven years they’ve been trying to get the township to properly interpret its ordinance,” Partridge said, and made the motion to approve the settlement.
Clerk Wright said it was not the time to point fingers and “the township was given bad advice in the past.”
He also commented, “To spend this much time of a garage is ridiculous…
“It needs to be resolved and taken care of, so we can face other issues more important than a garage,” Wright said. “… It’s good common sense.”
Hart sniped that the board just settled one of its largest lawsuits because of the new board members. When Wright said it wasn’t the biggest lawsuit settlement, and Hart replied, “… the biggest suit you incited.”
Hart obviously referred to the $1.1 million law suit brought by fired Public Safety Director Jerry Champagne that was recently settled for much less.
The board split the same 4-3 on the vote to fire Champagne last May.
“We have to resolve something that has been lingering for seven years,” said Supervisor Paul White. “It’s time for us to resolve this issue and move on.”
Members of the audience who had been active in the recall attempt of the four board members, got up to speak against giving Frankling anything. Eric Feldcamp read his statement from a hand-held device, with the words obviously being sent to him by somebody else.
“It was the old board that screwed it up and tried to cover it up … nearly $200,000 in attorney fees,” said resident Pam Ruff. “Get it over with and let these poor people go. It think it’s better to get it over with.”
Her remarks were greeted by applause from the audience.
Attorney Day said the township is already on notice for a pending law suit, noting they did not ask for attorney fees in the suits they won because they were forced to prove the township’s failures first.
He said the Franklings could sue for civil rights violations, discriminations and a whole list of things that would cost more than $55,000 to settle.
He pointed out the Franklings own township refused to listen to them.
Day said the township had four attorneys on the case over the years and, “Every one told you you’d win and you haven’t won one.”
Day said he had a discussion with Bryce Kelley (the former director of building and planning) in the hallway outside the ZBA meeting that sent the issue into litigation. He said he asked Kelley why the township doesn’t just admit it made a mistake. He said Kelley said, “We can’t do that, John, because we don’t want to have to build them a new garage.”
Harmony Lane resident Charles Tackett said, “Bryce Kelley misled every one of us. Nothing was wrong with the drawings submitted. If he would have built what was in the drawings it would have been all right. But, it doesn’t look like the drawings.”
Joyce Rochowiak, whose husband had been on the former board, said her husband had work stopped several times as the garage was being built and the board was told it was in compliance.
She said the problem is, “Mr. Frankling wants to be exact – to a T,” and nobody builds things perfectly.
Rochowiak said bringing suit was what Frankling wanted to do and it caused problems between him and his wife.
Attorney Day maintained that this whole issue should have just cost 25 cents, the amount it cost for Frankling to pick up the phone and call his township to alert it that there was a problem.