1. Regular meeting of the Holton Township Board was called to order by Supervisor Jager at Holton Township Hall at 7:03 pm.
2. Pledge of Allegiance given by all present.
3. Roll Call of Board Members: Trustee Schroder, Absent; Supervisor Jager, Trustee Jager, Treasurer Halbower, Clerk Hippler all present.
4. Agenda set as presented.
5. Approval of Minutes
a. 020119 Trustee Jager made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 8, 2019 Regular meeting as presented. Second from Supervisor Jager. CARRIED.
6. Payment of the Bills
a. 020219 Trustee Jager made a motion to approve the payment of the bills as presented. Second from Treasurer Halbower. CARRIED.
7. Business from the Floor
a. Mike Hiles, 7350 Holton Duck Lake, concerned over sex offender status of a member of the Holton Fire Department. Disappointed with Board’s lack of action and hopes to see situation resolved.
b. David McCastle, 6361 3rd Street, shared concern over lack of action concerning Fire Department employee discussed by Mr. Hiles.
c. Commissioner Gary Foster, county wide proposal regarding 911 millage will be on the May ballot. Renewal of Veterans Millage will most likely be on a September Ballot. Tire Pick-Up program will take place with Cedar Creek again this year.
d. Amy Brookhouse, 10549 Holton Duck Lake, appreciated Facebook discussion with Central Dispatch representative regarding 911 proposal.
e. Malinda Pego, 6262 3rd Street, wanted to know how other counties managed their dispatch and 911 systems.
f. Deb Knop, 8966 Holton Duck Lake, concerned over speed of a township vehicle speeding through a 25-mph zone as well as other cars not following the speed limit from the railroad track to Syers Road.
g. Adam Cowley on behalf of Mr. Procter, 7296 Skeels Road. Concerned over slow response to a medical call. Call was outside of Holton jurisdiction.
8. Treasurer’s Report
a. 020319 Trustee Jager made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report as presented. Second from Clerk Hippler. CARRIED.
9. Department Reports
a. Library: Julie Vanderboegh reported the library will be hosting a movie and lunch event to celebrate Black History month on February 18th, individuals are encouraged to RSVP for the event as food will be served. March 12 there will be a Super Heroes program. April 16th there will be an Advance Care Planning program. Ms. Vanderboegh appreciates the hard work of DPW Supervisor Kevin Elliott at the library.
b. Permits and Zoning: 4 permits from Zoning Administrator, 16 other permits with fees totaling $2163.00.
c. Fire Department: 95 paid hours, 70 volunteer hours, 165 total hours. 16 runs for Holton Township, 4 runs for Cedar Creek.
10. Correspondence: None
11. Unfinished Business: None
12. New Business
a. Resolution to close roads for Holton Days festivities July 26-28, 2019.
i. 020419 Treasurer Halbower made a motion to approve the resolution to close roads for Holton Days July 26-28, 2019. Second by Trustee Jager. Roll call vote: Supervisor Jager: Yes, Trustee Schroder: Absent, Trustee Jager: Yes, Clerk Hippler: Yes, Treasurer Halbower: Yes. CARRIED.
b. Resolution to finance the purchase of a new fire truck.
i. $100,000 payment will be made with current funds. $288,605 will be financed through Choice One bank at a rate of 4.35% for 5 years with the option to pay off early.
1. 020519 Treasurer Halbower made a motion to approve the resolution to finance the purchase of a new fire truck. Second from Trustee Jager. Roll call vote: Trustee Jager: Yes, Treasurer Halbower: Yes, Trustee Schroeder: Absent, Clerk Hippler: Yes, Supervisor Jager: Yes. CARRIED.
c. 020619 Trustee Jager made the motion to appoint Ron Slater, Jr to the Construction Board of Appeals for a 2-year term. Second from Treasurer Halbower. CARRIED.
d. Ballot language regarding the Zoning referendum for the May 2019 election was changed through administrative action to make “Section 9.0”, “Section 9.02b”. Board action was not required.
i. 020719 Treasurer Halbower made a motion to approve, as a Board, the corrections made to the ballot language. Second from Trustee Jager. CARRIED.
e. Township mower needs repair or replacement. Replacement cost could be around $11000. Supervisor Jager would like to have the mower examined to see if repairs can be made at a reasonable cost to extend the life of the mower.
i. 020819 Trustee Jager made the motion to approve up to $2000 towards the repair of the mower. Second from Treasurer Halbower. CARRIED.
f. David McCastle has recruited several Fire Professionals willing to serve on the interview committee for Fire Chief.
i. 020919 Treasure Halbower made the motion to approve the addition of two Fire Professionals to the interview board for Fire Chief. Second from Trustee Jager. CARRIED.
g. Township received an additional application for Fire Chief after the original deadline had passed. Amy Brookhouse, Holton resident, asked if all applications turned in have been accepted by the township. Supervisor Jager affirmed that they have been.
i. 021019 Treasurer Halbower made the motion to accept applications turned in after the deadline. Second from Supervisor Jager. CARRIED.
h. Fire Department Purchases.
i. Laptop recently purchased needs software. Microsoft Office 2019 costs $194.99. It is possible Central Dispatch may have software available. Tabled.
ii. ID Maker needed to make ID cards for accountability. It is possible that Norton Shores or the County may be able to make ID Cards to save the department money. Tabled.
iii. Department would like to purchase AC Voltage Detector “Hotstick” to help responders assess downed powerlines for $299. Board is concerned about liability and risk involved with downed lines and would prefer to leave it in the hands of Consumer’s Energy. Tabled.
iv. 021119 Trustee Jager made the motion to approve the purchase of two red LED safety batons for $26. Second from Treasurer Halbower. CARRIED.
13. Future Business
a. DNR stated fencing around transfer station is not required given the geography of the property. To run fence along one side would be approximately $400. Treasurer Halbower and Clerk Hippler stated the fencing may reduce trash blowing out of the station.
i. 021219 Treasurer Halbower made the motion to approve $400 for fencing along one side of the transfer station to be installed as time and labor permits. Second from Clerk Hippler. CARRIED.
b. Insurance for Inspector- No action needed.
c. Hiring of Relatives Policy- Clerk Hippler has been working on an updated employee policy. Copies were made available to board members and community for review and input. Review and action on the policy is desired at the next Board meeting.
d. Hiring of new Fire Chief- A date for interviews will be determined after consulting schedules of five members of the interview committee. Supervisor Jager would like to have a decision made by the end of March.
14. Adjournment
a. 021319 Trustee Jager made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:02 pm. Second from Treasurer Halbower. CARRIED.