The Austin Township Board Meeting was called to order on May 12, 2009 by Supervisor Kenneth Vredenburg at the Township Hall at 14132 Pierce Rd, Stanwood, MI, 49346.

Present were Kenneth Vredenburg, Elizabeth Carr, Carolyn Towsley, John Brockway, and John Conforte. There were four guests.

Public Comment: None.

Moved by John Brockway, supported by Carolyn Towsley to accept the minutes with correction. Motion carried.

Moved by John Conforte, supported by John Brockway to approve the Treasurer’s Report, subject to audit. Motion carried.

Moved by John Conforte, supported by Carolyn Towsley to approve for payment: Austin Township-checks 7012-7033, Mecosta Austin Fire Department-checks 4133-4140, Mecosta Austin First Responders-checks 1041-1054, and Cemetery-1358-1360. Motion carried.

Assessor’s and Supervisor’s Report: The address changes are all finished. June 1, 2009 is the deadline. The Cemetery was raked and cleaned by the Senor Class. We will be ordering markers for the new part of the cemetery. Ron Jensen will continue his contract to mow the cemetery.

County Road Commission-The consultant we asked to double check the size of the culvert on the 180^th road project agreed with the DEQ that we needed bigger culverts, but not as big as the DEQ had said. This will save us approximately $5,000.00 dollars. The County Rd. Commission has signified they will be able to finish the project this year.  

 The County Road Commission has received a grant from the American Recovery Act. This is a matching fund grant. It will enable them to also finish the 1 ½ inch overlay of Pierce Rd. They can’t do more than 11/2 miles at a time because of the limit of their funds. It would cost us $48,000.00 to match the grant funds to finish Pierce Rd from 140^th.-120^th. Moved by Carolyn Towsley, supported by John Conforte to go ahead with the Pierce Road improvements up to $50,000.00. Motion carried. Carolyn-do I put the First Bank CD #7610202398 expiring on 5-23 in the General Fund for this project? Yes.

Treasurer’s Report: The new CD is at First Bank #2610115533 at 2.23% for $91,126.02 and will expire on May 15, 2010.                                                 

Expiring CD’s-Independent Bank CD-#3290021045 for $38,461.55 will expire on 6-10-09, First Bank CD #7610202398 for $69,294.54 will expire on 5-23-09, and Chemical Bank CD #6422130648 for $90,306.78 will expire on 7-2-09.  The board will need to decide what they want me to do with the First Bank CD that is coming due on May 23, 2009. I am receiving a lot of phone calls because the County Treasurer’s Office sent out the delinquent tax notices. People want to know whether they are paid up to date on their taxes. I am referring them back to the County Treasurer’s Office. What do you want in the next newsletter to go out with the summer tax notices? I have included a statement on the taxes, Township hours, a picture of the Township Hall and the Fire Hall, information about the website, the hazardous waste collection date and location, and our contact information.

Clerk’s Report: The School election on May 5, 2009 went well. The school millage renewal passed for their operating budget. I will be having the F-65 audit with Doug Wohlberg on Friday, May 29, 2009. We received a Thank You letter from the Morton Township Library for our contribution. The next Fire Board Meeting will be Wednesday, May 20, 2009.  We received a letter from the Mecosta Conservation District about the Hazardous Waste Collection on October 10, 2009. Their price for the collection has gone up from $.96 to $1.07 per pound. They are inquiring about continued contributions on our part. In the past we contributed $300.00. Moved by John Brockway, supported by Carolyn Towsley to increase our contribution from $300.00 to $400.00.  Motion carried. Do we want to have our own trash collection day like some of the surrounding townships? No, it is not a cost effective way to serve our township at this time.

The next Blood Drive will be June 5, 2009.

Kenn will solicit bids to seal coat the Township Hall parking lot.

Verizon has renewed their building permits for the proposed tower, but they have not renewed their special use permit.

Meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.

Elizabeth G. Carr

Austin Township Clerk