Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance
Supervisor Meg Vivian called the meeting to order at 6:05 pm, and led in the pledge of allegiance.
Roll Call
Present were Supervisor Meg Vivian, Treasurer Karen Karl, Clerk Kelly Coltas, and Trustee Gary Barker. Trustee Roxann Smith was absent.
§ Motion to adopt Agenda put forth by Coltas/Karl, all were in favor 4-0, motion carried.
§ Motion to approve Minutes of Regular Board Meeting of 12/13/05 Karl/Barker. All were in favor 4-0, motion carried.
§ Motion to approve Minutes of Special Meeting of 12/08/05 for the Lac La Belle Fire Truck Coltas/Barker. All were in favor 4-0, motion carried
Supervisor’s Remarks and Correspondence
§ Remarks
Supervisor’s Council: A meeting for all the Township Supervisors in the County is scheduled for 1/11/06. The purpose is to increase cooperation and communication between the townships.
The Keweenaw Ridge Trail Grant that was submitted by
Eagle
Harbor
did not make the cut, but came out with high marks. The plan now is to start a committee to try to move forward with this and improve on the concept.
§ Correspondence
Joe Caron sent the township a letter expressing his gratitude for helping with tuition cost for his EMT training. We feel it is money well spent; this type of training will help them be better first responders. Joe Caron Came himself to the meeting as well, to thank the board and let us know he had logged over 140 of clinical hrs in and feel that this has been an invaluable experience and will help his volunteer work.
§ Guests
Pat Coleman from U.P. Engineering was present to do a presentation on the Hunter’s Point Park Project and the Hunters Point Grant Application.
Ed Kisel the Supervisor of Eagle Harbor was also present and wanted to make himself available to anyone who has questions or would like to participate in the project (The Keweenaw Ridge Trail). This project would also fit in nicely with the national Byways as well.
Monthly Department Reports
Treasurer’s Report
§ Motion to accept Treasurer’s report put forth by Coltas / Barker, all were in favor 4-0, motion carried
Utility Board
Dick Supina of Traverse Engineering came as guest to speak on the Lodges Water Expansion plans. They Pass a motion to purchased the new billing software as long as is it was compatible with the printer, if they could get the extra Ram needed for the computer and if Jackie Aalto was comfortable with the new format. All things did fall into place and the software will be purchased. The test well is looking perfect and is producing better than all our existing wells.
DDA
Had two meetings back to back to make up for the missed meeting. They discussed membership and budget reviews.
Public Safety
CH Fire Dept.
CH will now have two meetings a month, the 1st Wednesday and 3rd Wednesday of every month. The 1st meeting will deal with training and perhaps a meal, with the second meeting dealing with training and reviewing the DVD’s that have being purchased. Greg has started his training.
There were no call outs but two assist with 1st Responders. The Radios are up and working but not complete yet.
LLB Fire Dept.
Had regular meeting on January 3rd, went over business and are waiting anxiously for the new truck. No call outs or assists.
1st Responders
Two call outs.
911
No Meeting.
Old Business
Hunter’s Point Update: Pat Coleman presented the grant proposal. The proposal has a handicap accessible parking and walkway to a boardwalk to a viewing area. There are also plans for a unisex handicap bathroom but have maintenance issues at this time. There would be a kiosk for interpretative information and a place for a poem to be placed either on a kiosk or out at the point. The poem was a requirement of one of the large donors for Hunter’s Point. Signage Kiosk allowance of $3000. With Toilet facilities the project comes out to $73,368.94. Funding Scenarios are 26% for the Township allots us 10 points toward the grant application. 36% would give us 20 points. If we remove the bathrooms from the scenarios it would reduce the cost some $18,000, which would reduce our share. The Grants are submitted once a year and must be done in April. Trustee Barker was having a problem with jumping into this with such short notice and would like more time to examine possibilities for the next years grant cycle. We have to let the Engineers know one way or the other by next meeting. Mr. Powers spoke to the Board that he was disappointed that the Board did not want to pursue this right away. Clerk Coltas explained that the Township did have some obligations for road improvement in the Lac La Belle area that is in need of being completed and the Commitment from the Road Commission was still not forth coming and until we had firm numbers on road improvement that it was difficult to see if we could come up with the necessary match for the Hunter’s Point project. The Board is in favor of the project but would like to proceed cautiously. Pat Coleman said that he would put together the numbers on the project with out the bathrooms for next month meeting. Mr. Powers then spoke on the commitment for the memorial plaque and the poem even if we don’t go through with the rest of the Park Plans this year. We also need to permanently address the DNR plaque. He would like to set the Dedication to Hunter’s Point for August 12th 2006.
§ Motion to approve the dedication of Hunter’s Point for August 12th 2006 put forth by Coltas/Barker, all were in favor motion carried 4-0.
§ Motion for approval of update of Hunters Point Website for approximately 4 hours of Pasty.com’s time, put forth by Coltas/Barker, all were in favor, motion carried 4-0.
Supervisor Vivian needs to address the Special Use Permit from the Zoning Board and set up and the ordinance for a park. The Hunter’s Point Committee will work on the wording for the ordinance for the Park.
Road Maintenance: No estimates are prepared yet from the Road Commission. This has put us in an awkward position in terms of budgeting for the road improvements in Lac La Belle and the Hunter’s Point project.
The Job for snow removal at the Lac La Belle dumpster is still open as no one has responded to request.
New Business
§ Motion to Recommend Resolution #1-2006, for the approval the transfer of the Mariner liquor License from Shirley Kauppi; Willard Kauppi Estate to Shirley Kauppi, personal representative. This was put forth by Kelly Coltas and supported by Karen Karl, all were in favor, motion carried 4-0 one absent.
The Keweenaw County Commissioner, Don Keith spoke to the board about the Townships receiving a letter from the county, that if we have any road signs stolen, that the townships will have to bear the cost of replacing the said signs. He also was pleased with the new Supervisor’s Council, felt it will improve communications and help everyone be on the same page. Mr. Keith then went on about the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge has been notified that they received the Grant that they had applied for, the grant being $1,756,000.00 he is very pleased about this. Then he spoke on the Mount Horace Greenly Contract for the testing of the wind generators. He is concerned about the existing contract, and weather it is a benefit to the county as written. At this point Eagle Harbor Supervisor Ed Kisiel spoke saying he had just received the contract and with what he had read so far was not happy with it at all. The consensus was that they wished to avoid a situation at Mount Horace Greenly like the last one that the County entered in on. The contract should be equitable to all partners and more care should go into the drafting of said contract. Grant Township Supervisor Meg Vivian also echoed these same sentiments that the County needs to be very careful of any agreement that could bind them for years to come.
Public Comment
No comment
§ Motion to pay audit bills and adjourn Coltas/Karl 5-0 Meeting Adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
Meg Vivian Kelly Coltas
Grant
Township
Supervisor
Grant
Township
Clerk
