VBT Environmental Commission approves proposed ordinances

The Van Buren Township Environmental Commission voted March 15 to recommend to the township board four proposed new ordinances it was told will help make VBT a premier community.
VBT Police Lt. Charles Bazzy was present to explain the ordinances he is proposing.
Lt. Bazzy said it has been more than 27 years since he started at the police department and he has watched VBT grow from a more rural to a suburban community.
Lt. Bazzy, who runs the ordinance department, said they have borrowed some quality of life ordinances from other communities and worked with a township attorney to adapt them to VBT.
He said when people come to him with problems with a neighbor’s diseased or dangerous trees, he has nothing to tell them because there is no ordinance in place. He said in Haggerty subdivision bushes are encroaching on sidewalks.
The commission discussed the following proposed ordinances:
• Diseased or Dangerous Trees, Plants and Shrubs;
• Animal Waste;
• Removal of Snow and Ice from Sidewalks, Walks and Ramps; and
• Trash Receptacles.
The ordinance on trash receptacles was the only one not getting a unanimous vote to recommend.
Commission newcomer Jeff Jahr, Jr., objected to homeowners having to hide their trash containers behind bushes or enclosures or in the garage.
He said Belle Pointe, which Bazzy pointed out is a subdivision where all the polycarts are stored in front in plain sight, has a community standard that this ordinance would negate.
Bazzy said Van Buren is all one community and shouldn’t have special exceptions for some.
“This is about everybody,” Bazzy said.
Also, the rule that garbage cans can’t be put out for pickup before 6 p.m. the day before pickup could be a problem for some.
Ernie Tozer said from the audience that he lives on Hannan Road near a corner and you can see all around his house. He said Waste Management’s new green containers stand out. There’s nowhere for him to put the trash unless he makes room in his garage.
“I don’t want to take up space in the garage for a waterproof container,” Tozer said.
Bazzy said the determination is whether, when you look at a house from the front, you can see the trash cans.
Tozer said Bazzy would get push-back from the community and Bazzy replied, “If we’re going to call ourselves a premier community … there’s some things we have to do.”
In other business at the March 15 meeting, the commission:
• Learned the updated coal tar ordinance had its first reading before the township board the previous week and has one more reading coming. He said the ordinance requires a $30 fee for one-year registration for those who do driveway sealings and they must sign a document saying they understand the ban of coal tar;
• Heard Matthew Best, deputy director of the planning and economic development department, announce that the Huron River Watershed Council is printing up brochures on coal tar specific to VBT and will use it as a model for other communities;
• Received an update on the Shoreline Ordinances. Best said after 20 years and seven attempts the ordinance was finally passed by the township board and will become effective March 23;
• Discussed the proposed Fifth Amendment to Waste Management’s Host Agreement for Woodland Meadows landfill;
• Heard Best announce postcards have gone out from the US Ecology hazardous landfill site announcing it is continuing to accept TNORM waste from construction demolitions and soils. The Army Corps of Engineers has approved the North I-94 Service Drive site to accept its waste. It will not be in large quantities and will be less than 10% of the waste, Best said;
• Heard Trustee Paul White, who sits on the Environmental Commission, ask for a field trip to the US Ecology transfer station in Romulus so commission members can see what he saw on a previous tour. Jahr said he would like to go. It also was announced the field trip to the US Ecology hazardous landfill will be rescheduled. It had been set for March 8, but had to be cancelled because of the windstorm; and
• Heard Best report that the electricity blew at the storm water facility on Hannan Road but because the facility has a huge capacity there was no problem. He also said he and Director Ron Akers went to French Landing Dam “during the hurricane” where the electricity also was out. He said water was being blown over the top and dam operator Joe Nehra, with a lot of effort, manually opened the gate.