VBT board votes to stay in zoom meetings until at least Nov. 2 meeting

After a discussion on COVID, the Van Buren Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously at its Sept. 21 meeting to continue to hold meetings virtually until the first meeting in November, when it will reconsider going back to in-person meetings.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara was not present for the meeting and his absence was not explained until resident John Delaney said he was at Mackinac Island for the Detroit Chamber Policy Conference.
Treasurer Sharry Budd presided at the board meeting in Supervisor McNamara’s absence. She said Wayne County has extended until the end of the year the right to hold virtual meetings.
Clerk Leon Wright said starting in November there are only four meetings left until the end of the year and they could reconsider in-person meetings during the first meeting in November.
He said he wants to do what the CDC and MIOSHA think is best. He said he considers himself a leader and he is looking out for the safety of the community.
Trustee Reggie Miller said she was not opposed to waiting until November to decide. She said she is available to residents, denying Delaney’s claim earlier in the meeting that the board members were unavailable to the public when there were only virtual meetings. She said her phone number is 734-883-9650 and she gets texts all the time. She said her email is on the website.
“I have people coming to my house,” she said, adding she is willing to be open to the public.
Treasurer Budd said she was in the office all that day at a zoom meeting with municipal treasurers, but she was available to step away from the meeting if something important came up.
In other business at the one-hour-and-10-minute meeting on Sept. 21, the board:
• Accepted the resignation of former Supervisor Helen Foster from the Downtown Development Authority because of “family demands” and approved the supervisor’s appointment of Velon Willis to fill the vacancy with a term to expire March 9, 2022. Willis’ business, Willis Insurance Agency, is located within the DDA district. She also is a former member of the Van Buren Civic Fund board;
• Approved the 2022 Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) contract and authorized the supervisor and clerk to execute the agreement. The township will get a total of $28,348 for recreation transporation and senior transportation and a local match of $34,500 is met by the township general fund and in-kind services (drivers’ wages and volunteers);
• Approved, without discussion, the Mallinckrodt PLC Bankruptcy Plan as it pertains to ongoing opioid litigation;
• Viewed the 11-minute State of the Township video prepared by communications specialists Ryan Nichols and Alysha Albrecht for McNamara’s recent address at a Chamber of Commerce event;
• Approved the second (final) reading of an ordinance amendment that provides for township police to not enforce drug paraphernalia restrictions when the individual has a card from SOOAR, at the officer’s discretion. SOOAR, with its office in Belleville, is intended to prevent the spread of infectious disease and provide assistance for drug treatment;
• Approved the second (final) reading of a state ordinance regarding animal cruelty making it into a local ordinance that allows handling of cases at 34th District Court instead of at a downtown court;
• Heard Delaney comment on several issues at the beginning of the meeting, including no one being available earlier that day when he came to township hall to talk to elected officials, that the board would continue virtual meetings when the school board meetings have been in person for months, that constituents haven’t been properly served for 18 months when officials haven’t been available face to face, and thanked the officers and staff who helped the LDFA put together the 911 memorial at Grace Lake;
• Heard Trustee Donald Boynton interrupt Delaney’s remarks to disagree, saying his phone number is on the website and a number of residents called him;
• Heard Trisha Duckworth support the SOOAR program that helps those suffering from addiction and ask for using federal funds for increased broadband connection, and possible federal monies to update structures in Parkwood that are in disrepair and have mold. She said maybe Parkwood should be torn down. Treasurer Budd said someone will contact her; and
• Heard Clerk Wright thank Delaney for his work to set up the 911 memorial program but disagreed with Delaney when Delaney called “fake news” figures cited by Wright on how many people got COVID compared to how many got the Spanish Flu. “The media is not fake,” Wright said. “They gave us a total number. They don’t lie.” Wright said, “The virus is real. Like they say on TV if you’re hit with it you’re gone.” He said 675,000-plus people were killed and people shouldn’t act foolishly.