Village of Ortonville



Village of Ortonville

Brandon Township Hall

395 Mill Street

Ortonville Village Regular Council Meeting

November 24, 2014 – 7:00 P.M.

*Newly elected Trustee Tonja Brice, reelected Trustees Waters, Skornicka, and President Wills were sworn in prior to meeting.

President Wills welcomed new Trustee Tonja Brice and called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and Invocation.

Roll Call: Present: Skornicka, Baker, McClerren, Waters, Brice, Wills

Absent: Eschmann (Absent with notice)

Also Present: Village Manager – John Lyons; Village Clerk – Julie Knight; Reporter for The Citizen – Susan Bromley; VFW Post 582 Commander – Dennis Hoffman; Principal and Officer at Lewis & Knopf, CPAs, P.C. – Kim Lindsay

Approval of Agenda:

• Motion by Trustee McClerren, seconded by Trustee Baker, to approve the agenda as presented. All in favor, the Motion carried.

Approval of Meeting Minutes:

• Motion by Trustee Waters, seconded by Trustee Baker, to approve the minutes of the October 27, 2014 meeting as presented.

All in favor, the Motion carried.

Public Comments on Agenda: None

Acceptance Items

A. Treasurer’s Report – October 2014

Council Reviewed. Item Accepted.

Disbursements:

Clarification was sought for the following expenditure(s):

#16 – Grand Blanc Outdoors (Leaf Shredding Truck Loader) – $4,029.33: Trustee Skornicka inquired about whether the loader goes on DPW trucks. Manager Lyons confirmed this and said that this new piece of equipment saves time.

#26 – Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc. (Instrumentation Services) – $1,854.78: Council asked whether this was the final bill for the Ball Street Bridge. Manager Lyons stated that it would not be, but it may be the last bill from Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc.

#24 – ROWE, Inc. (Prepare Letter of Intent for Scrap Tire Grant) - $500.00: Council wondered what this was for, and Manager Lyons explained that it was to potentially receive funding for the Scrap Tire Cleanup Grant.

#1 and #2 – Bedrock Express, Ltd. (Limestone for DPW yard) – each $74.85: Council wondered if this was a duplicate, but it was clarified that these were two separate purchases of the same amount of limestone.

• Motion by Trustee Baker, seconded by Trustee Waters, to pay the bills in the amount of $30,692.75.

Roll Call:

Ayes: Skornicka, Baker, McClerren, Waters, Brice, Wills

Nays: None

Absent: Eschmann

All in favor, the Motion carried.

Public Hearing

President Wills opened a Public Hearing for the purpose of hearing comments regarding the CDBG 2015 program year fund allocation at 7:14 p.m.

No comments were received during the duration of the hearing.

The Public Hearing closed and the regular Village Council meeting resumed at 7:15 p.m.

A. 2015 CDBG Fund Allocation Approval

Council must choose a project for the CDBG 2015 Program Year. Ortonville is allowed one project.

Emergency Services is once again recommended.

• Motion by Trustee Waters, seconded by Trustee McClerren, to approve the Resolution allocating the 2015 CDBG funds as presented for Emergency Services.

Roll Call:

Ayes: Skornicka, Baker, McClerren, Waters, Brice, Wills

Nays: None

Absent: Eschmann

All in favor, the Motion carried.

New Business

A. 2013/2014 Fiscal Year Audit Findings

Kim Lindsay, Principal and Officer at Lewis & Knopf, CPAs, P.C., presented the audit report for the Village of Ortonville’s 2013/2014 fiscal year. He explained the revenues and expenditures and said that his team found the Village to be fiscally stable.

• Motion by Trustee McClerren, seconded by Trustee Skornicka, to approve the 2013/2014 Village of Ortonville Audit as presented. All in favor, the Motion carried.

B. OTV Cable Access Annual Budget

Manager John Lyons discovered a billing issue on the annual OTV Cable Access Budget and is looking into the matter with the Township. John invited OTV Coordinator Greg Normand to come and discuss the annual budget. Council asked questions and had concerns about errors in amounts and billing and decided to save the topic for next meeting, when some more information could be gained on the issues; however, Brandon Township Supervisor Kathy Thurman entered the meeting and spoke to try to clarify what the issue is. She stated that the Township and Village used to get Charter service for free, but that free service is no longer offered. Billing issues started cropping up recently. It shows the Village receiving service, when the Village only very recently signed up again for Charter service. Kathy will look into the issue at the Township. Greg stated that he would be interested in new equipment and wireless equipment in the more distant future. Signage is being discussed for the OTV building façade in the Village. Council would like to have follow up information on the issues discussed.

• Motion by Trustee Waters, seconded by Trustee McClerren, to approve the 2015 Cable Station Budget as presented.

Roll Call:

Ayes: Skornicka, Baker, McClerren, Waters, Brice, Wills

Nays: None

Absent: Eschmann

All in favor, the Motion carried.

C. Parks and Recreation Master Plan

The Township and Village’s Planning Commissions had a joint public input meeting regarding the Parks & Recreation Master Plan on October 30th. John discussed the plan and how he and the Township Supervisor solicited bids to have the plan written professionally to combine the Township and Village in the same document, which would have a significant cost savings for both entities. Three proposals were obtained between $5,650.00 and $9,000.00. The lowest bid was received by Carlisle/Wortman Associates, Inc. The proposal of $5,975 included a public meeting, but since the entities held their own, that is deducted from the price, making it $5,650. This cost would be split equally between the Village and Township for the writing of the plan.

• Motion by Trustee Baker, seconded by Trustee McClerren, to approve the writing of a joint Parks & Recreation Master Plan with the Township of Brandon and Village of Ortonville and accept the proposal from Carlisle/Wortman at a cost of $5,650 and to pay $2,825 for the Village of Ortonville’s portion of the cost.

Roll Call:

Ayes: Skornicka, Baker, McClerren, Waters, Brice, Wills

Nays: None

Absent: Eschmann

All in favor, the Motion carried.

D. 2015 Village Council Meeting Dates

The schedule for next year’s Council meeting dates and Village Office closing dates was discussed and it was decided that the Village Office would be closed on July 3, 2015, due to Independence Day being on the Saturday following.

• Motion made by Trustee McClerren, seconded by Trustee Waters, to accept the meeting dates for the Village of Ortonville Board of Trustees as presented and Office closings as amended.

All in favor, the Motion carried.

E. Appointment of New Building Official

The Village’s Building Official Mike Darling has been having some health issues and has been on and off for the past several months and some building issues have arisen. Bill Dinnan, Brandon Township’s building official, has been spoken to and has shown interest in stepping into the position at the Village as well. His requested pay and inspection rate is $10 higher than the current rate in the Village. This appointment would take effect on December 1, 2014.

• Motion made by Trustee McClerren, seconded by Trustee Baker, to appoint Mr. William Dinnan as the Village of Ortonville Building Official and Inspector as of December 1, 2014.

Roll Call:

Ayes: Skornicka, Baker, McClerren, Waters, Brice, Wills

Nays: None

Absent: Eschmann

All in favor, the Motion carried.

F. Website Redesign Proposal by Revize

The Village has been in contact with Revize, a Troy-based web design company. Julie has worked with them before, as have many local municipalities, and their products tend to be user friendly and easier to edit/update than what the Village currently uses. Revize presented us with four premade, "ready to use" templates that are customizable to the Village’s colors, images and toolbar needs. The cost of the project is $2,000 (for the customization of the template, set up, and transferring content from the current site to the new one, etc. See attached Sales Agreement for more detail), and the annual cost of the site is $920 (the current site is about $420 annually, but the site is not very user friendly). Should the plan be approved, after the first check is received, the new website could be up and running in roughly 4-6 weeks.

The Council felt that more bids were needed and that the price could not yet be justified, and so the issue was tabled. Julie will look into more companies and get more quotes.

Public Comments:

Dennis Hoffman, VFW 582 Commander: Mentioned his coming to another meeting earlier in the year (June 23) and asked about the tree replacement, as the tree replacement was in honor of Don Kengerski, who will be 90 soon. Village will look into the progress. Dennis also mentioned that he was interested in purchasing fiberglass tables for the Old Town Hall where VFW meetings are held, and he wasn’t sure if he needed Council approval. President Wayne Wills accepted the donation and Manager John Lyons mentioned that other groups could use them too.

Items from the Manager: The Oakland County Treasurer has informed the Village that the property at the end of Cedar Lake Ln. has been seized for back taxes. The Village will be deeded this property unless we notify them in writing by December 30, 2014. Manager Lyons believes the Village could use this property for a park in the future and is checking with Oakland Treasury for further information. While the property is overrun with invasive phragmites, John would like to look into trying to get a grant to help fight the phragmites. McClerren suggested finding the property lines and President Wills explained a bit about phragmites. John explained that the acquisition should cost the Village nothing.

Items from Trustees:

Waters: Inquired about the Cowles account and Council explained that it was taken care of. Mentioned that the Fire Department will be hiring a new administrative assistant.

Skornicka: Suggested that John and Molly make a presentation about DDA progress and just to update the Council.

McClerren: Asked about when Council members will be placed into subcommittees. It was clarified that this would happen in either December or in January.

Baker: Mentioned the upcoming Christmas in the Village and explained events.

• Motion by Trustee McClerren, seconded by Trustee Skornicka, to adjourn the regular Village Council meeting. All in favor, the Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Julie Knight – Village Clerk

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