Board of Trustees - Regular Meeting

Good evening. It is 6:30. I will go ahead and call the meeting of the April 8th Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees meeting to order. And we will start with the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. May I please have a roll call? Supervisor Riley present. Cler Kaldi present. Treasure Epicanin present. Trusty Erda Thompson present. Trusty Jaffer present. Trusty Braybeck present. Trusty Mills present. Madam supervisor you have seven members present.

Very nice. Nice. We have a full house. Like to hear that. All right. I will go ahead and ask for a motion to approve our agenda. Madam Chair, move to approve the agenda of April 8th, 2026. Second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed.

All right. Motion passes and we have an approved agenda. Uh I will go ahead and open up for public comment one. I do want to say we did get a public comment submitted and everybody should have gotten that ahead of the meeting. Uh, I will say that the person who's submitted it um is it's about transit, but they are not actually in Pittsfield Township. So, we will um direct them to the right people. Um, but just just know that. Um, okay. And then I would go ahead. Any person who um may come forward at this time to address the board, anyone who wishes to speak is requested but not required to state his or her name for the record and address. Okay. Um, seeing none, I will go ahead and move on to the approval of the minutes.

Madam Chair, I move to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held on March 25th, 2026. Second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? I opposed. All right. The minutes are approved. Um, I don't think we have any communication. So, I will go ahead and ask for a motion for the consent agenda. Madam Chair, I move to approve the consent agenda 7.1 through 7.12. Second. Okay. Any discussion? All in favor?

I opposed. All right. Consent agenda is approved. Uh may I please have a motion? Oh, sorry. I wish going to our department reports. And our first report is for um 8.1, our non-discrimination ordinance presentation given by Deputy Almacker. Just to give a little background on this, um, Dep Alreer brought this to our attention. Um, that we do not have a non-discrimination ordinance here in Pittsfield Township. Uh I I believe that Ann Arbor City has one and this is sort of something that's um uh kind of being leaped from that and done for Pittsville Township, but Deputy Almacker has been hard at work and um you will go ahead and present to us.

Thanks, Supervisor Riley, and good evening everyone. Um thanks for the opportunity to briefly talk about the proposed non-discrimination ordinance that's in your packet tonight. Um just a couple of quick things before I start. Um, just as a reminder, the the ordinance that's in your packet is a draft and it's only being brought for discussion today. So, we're not asking you to vote on anything today. The plan is to bring that to first reading for you all on your next meeting on the 22nd. Um, it will have some minor revisions based on feedback I've already received from Clerk Analdi, which I appreciate very much. And then, um, I'll do my best to incorporate any feedback that we're able um, based on what I receive tonight as well. So, with that, we'll just start with a brief description of what an NDO, as I'll refer to it throughout much of the presentation, um, actually is. So, as the name would suggest, it is a set of local laws that protect residents, visitors, and employees of the township from discrimination. Fairly simple. Um, it's important to note, however, that NDOS's do not they are not intended to replace existing protections against discrimination that exist at the state or federal level. Rather, they supplement them and at times fill in gaps that exist in those laws that I'll talk a little bit more about on the the next slide. Um, the other thing I'd say here is that this is not a novel idea. As Supervisor Riley mentioned, um, the city of Ann Arbor maintains an NDO. Over 40 communities in the state have an NDO, as well as several states themselves. Obviously, not an ordinance, but a non-discrimination law. Um, and we have several other neighbors in the county who maintain an NDO as well. So, we're not trailblazing anything here necessarily. Um, the NDO that is before you in your packet, like most NDOS's in the community and across the state,

offers protection in three primary areas that are listed here in the middle of your page. The first one, housing. We're mostly talking about protections against discriminatory lending and leasing practices. There's also some language about um advertising housing availability that I encourage you all to take a look at when you get a second as well. Um the second category is this really broad broad category. It's places of public accommodation which encompasses a lot. It captures a ton. Essentially, if if you are a an establishment in the township where members of the public could reasonably be expected to gather or regularly access for services, you would be considered a place of public accommodation. The township is a place of of public accommodation. Financial institutions, businesses, social services organizations, nonprofits, if people are in there, you're probably and it's not a private residence, you're probably a place of public accommodation. Um, and I encourage you all to to take a look at the definition a little more closely for any feedback that you'd like on that. But essentially that section of the ordinance states that if you are owning or operating a place of public accommodation, you can't discriminate and making your services or premises available based on your membership of, you know, a certain class or protected status. Um, the third category here, a simple one, employment. We're talking about discriminatory practices or preventing discriminatory practices in hiring and and recruitment essentially. Um, moving on to the third group of bullets here at the bottom. Um, violations of an NDA are considered a civil infraction. So, as you all know, the township is extremely limited in in the types of penalties that we can apply for violations of our general code of which the NDO would become a part. Um, there's basically either misdemeanor or civil infractions. this this falls in the the civil infraction bucket. Um the other really important thing here that I

think gets misinterpreted sometimes is is that under an NDO, and this is the case in all communities of which I'm aware, um there's no proactive enforcement of the terms. So township staff or the or DPS are not out there looking for violations of of discrimination or of the NDO and they aren't, you know, enforcing the terms on a front-end basis. It is a entirely complaintdriven process. So we receive a complaint and then the action follows essentially. So in that way it does rely on some knowledge of the law and it's important that you know the township do its best to to make it widely known that we have this set of protections for people should the board adopt it. Um, and then the final note here, I I would just say um as a reminder um if you go and do your own research maybe sometime tonight or sometime in the c next couple weeks and you're looking at NDOS's and you notice that each community does it a little bit differently or it's it doesn't quite follow uh the enforcement process that is laid out in this draft, that is to be expected. Um, the city of Ann Arbor, for example, uh, they convened a a human rights commission back in the 70s when they originally passed their NDO, and it is primarily charged with administering this ordinance um, in conjunction with the city manager's office and the city attorney's office. It is a far more complex and robust process than what we are proposing here. Um, and that is primarily based on recognition that we are not as well resourced as the city of Ann Arbor. um we don't want to place a burden on our staff uh that would potentially outweigh our capacity to actually enforce the terms of the ordinance. So um and I'll talk quite a bit more about how we actually plan to enforce the ordinance here, not this slide, but the next one. So for this slide, I just want to answer the question why um what what benefit

would the township receive from adopting an NDO? And I have it broken down into three big categories here. The first one, filling in the gaps. I alluded to this in the first slide. Um I'll give you a couple of examples. The the big one, the one that you'll hear a lot, and actually the reason local communities started passing NDOS's in the in the 1970s is because there is no explicit codification. Um, there are no explicit codified protections against discrimination using sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for that discrimination in federal law. Um, so if you can believe it or not, there's nothing in federal law that prevents people from discriminating against others based on the fact that they're a member of the LGBTQ community. There are important caveats to that. Um, the most notable ones being that myriad times the Supreme Court and other federal courts have interpreted that the Civil Rights Act of 1965 does apply to members of the LGBTQ community and and therefore they are afforded protection under that act. However, as we've seen in recent years, even very high-profile Supreme Court decisions are subject to reinterpretation by future courts. Um and therefore, you know, for as long as there is no explicit codification um and and something in statute that lists sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression as a protected status, a protected identity, the state of protections for LGBTQ people in the context of federal law remains in this kind of precarious middle ground. Um and so the NDO at the local level sort of comes in and provides that backs stop for people. And we're lucky enough to live in a state where um in 2023 the state legislature took it upon themselves to do the same thing. They added sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under the

the Elliot Larson Civil Rights Act. So we have the state doing this work as well, but it's always good to have at the local level. Um, and then the second example in this filling in the gaps category is is really a hyper local example. Um, pertains to the county ID card program for for those of you that aren't familiar with it. Um, the ID card program is implemented by the county 15ish years ago. um primarily as a a sort of low barrier way for people who who might have trouble accessing certain forms of federal or state identification to get an official government issued identification card. So, if you're experiencing homelessness and you you might not have access to the documents you need to get a driver's license or state ID, you can go to the county and it's an easier, cheaper process to get an official government ID card. And so under the terms of this ordinance, we would prevent um places of public accommodation from discriminating against those for the fact that you know their only identification is is a county ID card. So if you wanted to go to the bank and all you had was a county ID card in Pittsfield Township, the bank could not deny you the ability to create that bank account or something like that. Um, there are obviously exceptions to that, like if you're if you were applying for a passport in the township. Obviously, the federal government isn't going to accept a government or a county issued ID card as as proof of your ID. And so, you would need to be um you would need to present a higher form of identification. So, there are exemptions in and situations like that. Um, moving on to the second category here, accessibility. And by that, I really mean accessibility to the process. Um, I think everyone in this room probably has had trouble navigating the state or federal bureaucracy at some point or another, right? Um, even for those of us that work in government, it can be a really overwhelming thing. And so, um, bringing this set of laws down to the

local level where, you know, if you're submitting a complaint, you're pretty much guaranteed to talk to a staff member, you're probably going to speak with Supervisor Riley, you're probably going to speak to the township attorney, you get a human one-on-one interaction. It's a far more simple and navigable process. Um less intimidating for people and um I think it's really an important consideration. It's it's just easier than maybe submitting this complaint to the state attorney general's office or or the department of justice who who might not be able to provide that sort of personal touch for one reason or another. Um the third bucket here and pro probably the most obvious um benefit is just that an NDO provides this board with the opportunity to make a statement about the community's values. Basically it signals to people that we are a welcoming and and inclusive place. Um, I was reading one study published by Michigan's Fair Housing Center that was looking at NDOS's across the state and they describe non-discrimination ordinances as a welcome mant for marginalized communities. And I think that's a nice simple way to look at this. All right, moving on to our last slide here. Just talking more nitty-gritty administration. Um, it's a little bit more of a, as you'll see in the ordinance, there's there's more detail to it than than what is indicated on this slide, but I think this provides a nice simple overview for how the enforcement process will actually work. Um, so we start off complaints will be submitted to the supervisor's office. They have to be submitted within 180 days of the violations occurrence or the alleged violations occurrence. Um, so we're not going to be relitigating things that, you know, occurred years and years in the past. It has to be relatively recent. Um, the supervisor then forwards that complaint to the township attorney who will begin their investigation of the complaint within 30 days of its receipt. Throughout the course of the investigation, the

attorney might find that a violation of state or federal law has occurred and um, therefore the township is not the proper enforcing agency. um the complainant would then be referred to the proper enforcing agency at the state or federal level. If that is not the case though, if a violation of the local ordinance occurred, um the investigation has to be complete within 90 days and the attorney will then forward the results to both the complainant and the alleged violator. Um and obviously if if no violation occurred, the matters dropped by the township. But if a violation did occur then the the decision falls to the supervisor as to how how to proceed and we really have two options laid out in the ordinance as it's currently written and um really actually all ordinances all they only have these two options. So um we can either move forward with the prosecution process which is you know standard um or we can pursue what's called a consiliation agreement which is sort of like this contractual mediation process whereby both the complainant and the violator will need to come to a mutual agreement to both redress past harm that has occurred as a result of discrimination and prevent future discriminatory harm. Um and so the consiliation agreement at that point would be designed by the attorney with the input of both parties. Um it would be you know executed signed by each party and by the township supervisor and the complaint is then closed out. Um and the the final box here we have is um the reporting requirement. The supervisor will report to this body at least once annually on the uh enforcement actions taken and complaints received. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.

Are there any questions? I'd like to just first say that, you know, um Almacker makes us all a better person. Um bringing this I think is um is wonderful and I think it's long overdue and I think that the even though the values may have always been here, I think like it says it it it it kind of enforces the fact to other people to know that's who we are. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, like Deputy Omicer said, that'll be coming back for first reading at the next meeting.

So, we're not done discussing it, but yep, I'm glad you guys all were, um, able to get that presentation. All right. Uh, moving on to 8.2. Um, as I mentioned in the last meeting, uh, we're going to go ahead and take these next few minutes meetings to get sort of department reports. A lot of times we have things in front of us from utilities or from the building department or from community development that are just, you know, requests for for money or what have you. And here gives us a little background on what what's actually happening behind the scenes and some high level things. And um yeah, I'm going to pass it over to our director of utilities.

Great. Well, thank you and uh thank you for the opportunity to give the the 2026 utilities, I guess, spring update. And thanks, Supervisor Riley, for allowing us this uh this opportunity to just share I'm going to share like a brief overall of the the system of the water system in specific and go over some how the water rates and where we stand with other communities and uh and a couple of projects that are approved that are slated for uh for this year. So want to begin with an overall of the water supply, you know, where your water's sourced from in in our distribution system. So, a water source from the Detroit River, Great Lakes Water Authority treats that water, transmits it to YCUA via large diameter pipes and pump stations. Uh, YCA then pumps it, pumps the water to us through various locations on our eastern border. So, Pittsfield, GLWA and YCA share responsibility to deliver safe and reliable drinking water to the residents and the businesses of of Pittsfield Township. So within the township, we maintain a system of approximately 2,300 hydrants, 2,800 valves, and 185 miles of of water man. They vary in sizes from 6 in all the way up to 30 in. And the township staff maintains all that system. So the township water pressure is maintained by three distinct pressure districts. District one, which is our easterly border. Um it's uh it's it receives it pressure directly from YCOA. So this is uh this comes through 11 meter sites on the eastern side of the township from Clark Road all the way to Beis Road. District 2 is our largest district which is the middle portion of the township basically from Plat Road all the way to the westerly border. Uh district two includes a water tower, a 5 million gallon storage tank, uh two booster stations, one for redundancy, the other one is our main pressure and

this feeds pressure all the way to our Wesley border. As I said, District 3 is our northwest corner of the township. If you take Inner Sling Road and it's that kind of triangle piece all the way up to the ice cube, that's serviced by one dedicated booster station, our district 3 booster station. Uh and that feeds the north northwest corner of the township. So shifting gears into into water and sewer rates. Like most municipalities, we've been impacted by rising cost in energy, materials, and construction. So despite these pressures, our rates have remained competitively competitive in the region. So Pittsfield's combined rate is $1247 for a unit of water and sewer. Uh uh so we have still m we maintain below our neighboring communities such as Scio Township which is at $19.88 and Arbor Township of 1919 1908 and the city of Selen at $15.34. So we'll continue to balance infrastructure needs with careful budgeting and maintaining reliable services to maintain minimum rate the rate burden on the our residents. So, advancing to our our capital projects. Um, and per usual, I speed through these. So, if you have questions at the end, I'll be happy to expand and even come back in the fall with uh, you know, something for the the sewer system or whatever we may do. But, so, uh, the projects we have for this year, the first first one is the Michigan Avenue and Plat Road lift station improvements. So, this is funded through the 2025 capital improvement bond, which totals 6.5 million for the two stations. It's two sanitary lift station replacements and upgrades. So the lift station just just for you guys your own piece of mind on what it actually is. If you think of in your house if you think of your stone pump takes water from the lowest point in the in the in the house and raises it up and out so it drains away. With sanitary station is essentially the same thing. It's just on a much larger scale

in a much more corrosive environment. Um so work at Michigan Avenue will begin which is at Whoity Way. It's at the cornity in Michigan Avenue and it handles most of the westside sewer. Uh that that'll begin April 20th. So in a week or two that'll begin and it's scheduled to be completed in August. Uh excuse me. The work includes excavation, pump and electronic replacements, a new wet well, and site restoration. The Plat Road, which is part of this one, is a Plat Road lift station which sits right across the road over here. Uh that's from July 16th through October 15th. So the site includes a wet well reconditioning, valve vault upgrades, pump and electronics. Uh and the upgrades will significantly extend the life cycle for both reliability of both assets. Uh the second project we have scheduled is the is the Michigan Avenue sanitary sewer rehabilitation project. So that's for Carpenter Michigan Avenue, Carpenter Road to Munger Road, the sanitary sewer there. The project is a rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure with no excavation technique called cure in place pipe or CIP. A CIP uses existing infrastructure as a mold for the new structural liner uh to be installed and then cured in place. So if you essentially how it works is they will enter from a manhole. This works from manhole to manhole. So 300 feet to 400 ft. They clean it and measure it and then they'll install what's called a structural liner. So, it's comes out and almost looks like a sock. Has a resin with a with a fiberglass uh fiberglass linen that is inserted in the pipe. They then have two couplers on the end of it and they cycle water through it. It pressurizes and and molds to that existing sewer. They then boil that water for about four to six hours and

then they bring it back down to ambient temperature. And when it cures, it cures as a new pipe. So it molds to to the old host pipe and and now it's a new pipe that has a 50 to 75 year life lifespan. And it's a resin pipe. So if you think about a bowling ball, that's that's resin. So that's that's what that technique is. So construction is scheduled between May 4th and October 27th. Again, it's a no dig technique. So you'll just maybe see some traffic congestion. uh they'll maybe have some shoulder closures, but that's that's really the only impact we'll have. Um but it's May 4th, October se October 27th. Uh funding total is $1.5 million. Um which 9 972,000 comes from the existing or the remaining ARPA funds that the utilities department has and the remaining 527 is from the utilities fund balance. So overall, department remains focused on maintaining system reliability, strengthening aging infrastructure, and planning responsibility for long-term needs. We appreciate the board's continued support, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

I I would just like to mention that, you know, uh water and sewer are one of the most underrated and most important jobs that we have here at the township at the same time. So, um, I know you've been with the township for a very long time and we appreciate all that you do, Billy. Thank you. And we, we like to say that if you're talking about water and stewards, typically not in a good fashion. So, I was just going to say try to bring these out when we I meet with the director at least once obviously as needed, but once a month and he goes through everything. He says, "You just need to not know I'm even here, right?" You know, exactly. And then I think we all know from the Maslo's hierarchy of needs. So, water, you know, that's that's pretty high up here. So without you, we're nothing important too.

Yeah. What's that? Sewer is pretty important too. Let's not forget that. Does anybody have any questions? I mean, I know we talked about water rates and obviously, you know, water in our community, but if anybody has any questions while we have the director, supervisor. Yep. Of course. So, I have a one just general thematic question. You know, thank you for the detail for all the capital projects and things of that nature. Y um I'm assuming that that all the fund all the expenditures that come out of your fund balance, things of that nature, are these all within the guard rails of the uh the budgets that we reviewed earlier this year? Yes. So if you look at the utilities budget that was approved for 2025, we did show a 1.5 million shortfall

in in the budget and that was due to capital planning. So we we had one project. So we're actually going to be a shortfall of less than that about 900,000. I'm sorry. About 900,000 of it's going to shift to 26.

I'm sorry, 27. We have a a project that uh the Westside sewer that we will probably present to you maybe in June. It's close to being ready. Uh we were trying to push that through to 26, but talking to contractors and everything else going along 27 is a better year for that. It'll it'll cost us less money. The system can hold up for that long. Um but yes, so we'll show a shortfall, but we are well within our fund balance. We have I think approximately just under 15 million in capital funds. Um and we like to maintain a minimum of of four to six months operating budget. It's kind of what the state governs for for water and sewer systems. Make sure you have four to six months of of fund balance for your operating cost. And

those are dedicated funds. Dedicated funds. Yes. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. Moving on um to unfinished business. May I have a motion for 10.1? Madam Chair, I move to adopt at second reading ordinance number 343 to amend the Pittsfield Charter Township Historic Code by revising article 1, Chapter 5, Historic District Ordinance. Okay. Any discussion on this one? All right. If not, I will ask for a roll call. Supervisor Riley, yes. Clerk Anzaldi, yes.

Treasure Epicanin, yes. Trusty Erda Thompson, yes. Trusty Jaffer, yes. Trusty Braybeck, yes. Trusty Mills. Yes, madam supervisor, you have seven. Okay, thank you. Um, that is adopted then. All right, moving on to liaison trustee reports. Does anyone have a report?

No. Okay, I actually will have a couple different things that I want to kind of go over. Um, first I want to thank the historical society. Uh, they have worked with us to do a member of a memo of understanding between the township and the society for the archives. uh moving forward retention uh items versus the items that are going to the Bentley Museum at um the U of M. So to thank them for um working with us on that and that's pretty much coming to a wrap. did want to mention that the building next door u the first phase will be completed on April 22nd and that's when the police officers law enforcement will be moving over to the parks and recck building and the director of public safety has invited us all on uh April 13th which is a Monday at 3:30 that same day as the state of the county um if you'd like to come and do a little tour of the the new building. So, I'm putting that out there now. Um, just let me know if you're able to make that um to be able to see phase one. I also wanted to say that um on Saturday, May 2nd from 9 to 1, Southernland Wilson Farmstead will be having their annual cleanup day and I know um Trustee Thompson and I went it last year and we invite you all to kind of come out and help us vacuum and dust and keep the the museum clean with the historical society and district. On May 7th, uh farmers market will be opening for its open air season uh again here at the township between 2 and 6. So you're able to make that. We're going to start getting that out and advertising that that big uh event every year. And lastly, I'd like to offer our condolences to Lodai Township for their loss of their supervisor, Jen Dod uh Dodak. Um she was very well respected. Um passed away last week and I know that um people worked with her and uh really respected her very much. We want to make sure we offer her our her condolences. I think that's everything I have for my report. And if there are no others, I

will go ahead and open it up for public comment too. Any person may come forward at this time to address the board. Anyone wishes to speak is requested but not required to state his or her name and address for the record.

Christina Luronus, 151 East Textile Road. And I'm very happy to see the non-discrimination ordinance moving forward. I think that that's just going to be a wonderful addition. As you may recall, um, when Supervisor James Walter was took office, he changed the township's slogan to a diverse and welcoming community. And we had that posted everywhere, a diverse and welcoming community. It was extremely important to us to set that tone. And I think that this ordinance will help also to set that tone. It was a very sad day when that slogan was abolished. And I think that we've struggled since then. During the greywall years, the um we had the largest settlement for religious discrimination related to the Muslim Academy and there's been some difficult times. I think that we need to reestablish ourselves as as a welcoming and diverse community. And I think it would actually be wise to return to that slogan. I think it spoke volumes and really presented us in a good light um and the way that we really see ourselves in this township. Um and I did want to just ask uh deputy I don't never knew his last name. I'm sorry Bryce. Uh it this does include religion as well. Is that

that it must?

Yes. Okay. Good. And of course he's absolutely right that the one big gap has to do with gender and and sexual identity. And so I'm I'm very very happy to see that covered. So um just just a really good thing and I'm glad to see that. And also it brought to mind when you were uh wishing you know expressing condolences for the loss of Jang Godc. did want to point out that our long-erving planning commissioner Roland Kibler has passed away and um he had been absent for quite a while um with a a long illness and and trustee J Jeff Jaffer is aware of that and he he brought a lot to the commission and he was a staunch advocate for electric chargers there those were always he always added those in EV charging but he also brought a very um extensive engineering background He he he talked about regional geothermal areas uh geo you know so so that we could set up geothermal heating um and on a large scale and he brought a lot to the commission and he's very much missed he's um of course we've got he's was stepped down when he was no longer able to fulfill his duties but I did just see his obituary and that he has passed away so thank you

thank thank you for bringing that up thank you okay is there anybody else who'd like to address the board. Okay. All right. I'm sorry. Did anybody want to respond? Okay. All right. Um All right. Well, thank you. Um I will go ahead and ask for a motion to adjurnn. Second. Okay. All in favor? I All right. Uh meeting is adjourned at 703.