Meeting Minutes: Township Board Dissolves Court Relocation Negotiations

It's a glorious 70 degrees outside and the agenda has only a dozen items.

7 p.m. – Supervisor Mark Grabow calls the meeting to order.

7:03 p.m. – The consent agenda has been approved, which includes a request for family medical leave from the Water & Sewer Department and repairs to the town hall and Fire Station No. 3 antenna.

7:04 p.m. – The request to adopt a probationary employee performance appraisal has been tabled indefinitely.

7:08 p.m. – The Building Department is requesting to purchase a pickup truck. This issue was tabled on April 27, because it had been mistakenly placed on the consent agenda. These sorts of purchases must be presented to the board to maintain "transparency," said Trustee Dino Bucci. A GMC truck will be purchased through the Oakland County bid program for $16,855. The current vehicle will be placed on the Mitten program to allow other government units to bid on it.

7:23 p.m. – The Water and Sewer Department is seeking to replace the main driveway and connect the Water/Sewer building as well as the wash bay to the sanitary sewer system. The second improvement must be made in order to bring the township's facilities up to current storm water regulations. The board approved the department to move forward with design, permits and solicitation of bids with the goal of completing these projects in 2011.

Reminder: From 9 a.m.-5 p.m., homeowners can use a water hose or oscillating system on their property, however, the remains in affect.

7:27 p.m. – The board approved a series of amendments to the Macomb Township Code of Ordinances to bring it up to date with current state codes. These amendments will affect the construction and property maintenance sections of the code.

7:40 p.m. – The board tabled a more than $150,000 proposal to upgrade the township wide video recording system. The system, through D/A Central, Inc. provides surveillance for the township's buildings. The upgrade would allow the system to be modified to support additional video systems being installed in the Parks and Recreation Department and other township buildings.

Supervisor's Comments

Telephone Service: As of May 6, the township lost its entire telephone system. The system continues to operate "in a diminished capacity," according to the townshp website.

"We are attempting a true diagnosis of what really caused the program," Grabow said.

Diagnosis repairs were done on May 7, and a second diagnosis and repair with emergency systems on May 9. Grabow said he would like the board to approve a $6,200 bill for the emergency temporary phone service.

Roads: The Macomb County Department of Roads is reviewing Romeo Plank and 22 Mile Road for a four-level left turn signal. The field work will be done in the first part of 2012. This move was made based on numerous complaints, but Grabow said it is not tied to the recent .

Clerk's Comments

Budget: The fiscal year ends June 30. The first public hearing on the township budget will be held on May 25. A second meeting will be held June 8. The final approval will be put on the agenda for June 22. Preliminary budgets are available through the clerk's office.

Pedestrian-Friendly Neighborhood: The University of Michigan is proposing assigning some of its master students to a study of the township's sidewalks.

41-A District Court Relocation: No resolution of support has been received from Shelby Township and the township is insisting on negotiating for legacy costs (benefits for retirement healthcare). Clerk Michael Koehs has asked that until Macomb is given some reassurance from Shelby that Macomb won't be held liable for those costs, the board close the project and dissolve all committes involved in the court relocation project.

8:06 p.m. – The board moved into executive session.

9:15 p.m. – Meeting is adjourned.