Council - Regular Meeting

We're going to call the meeting to order, and I want to welcome everybody here today. We had a great work session, very productive, and I want to thank everybody that participated in that. Now, if the clerk could go ahead and call for roll.

Estes? Here. Schroeder? Here. Pavick? Here. Koster? Here. Ziegler? Here. Scharf? Here. Rabideau? Here.

If we could all stand for the pledge, please.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Again, want to welcome everybody here tonight. We've got a pretty good size agenda, but hopefully everything will move forward well. I do want to open up right now to public comment and remind people hopefully to keep it. necessary to Spring Lake Township and to keep it to three minutes and we're going to open up public comment. Ms. Pavick, a 701. Thank you.

My name is Anna White. I'm actually a Park Township resident, but I was here several months back introducing myself as a candidate for judicial district court in Ottawa County. Since that time, the judge that was in that seat retired early, so I was actually appointed earlier this year and have been on the bench now for several months as your district court judge, one of them in Holland. So I just wanted to report back because you're going to still see me on the ballot this fall, but as an incumbent, I thought you might be confused if you thought, hey, she came here telling us she was running for judge and she already is. So That was the shift that happened there. So I'm running for that seat. There's also been another shift. So Judge Bocanegra is here. I'll let her introduce herself as well. She's the other judge here in Holland. So just a reminder of who I am. I've graduated from Hope, been living and working in Ottawa County for over 20 years now. My background is in public defense. Absolutely loved doing that work. That was the role I had before I was appointed. Really enjoyed representing people, representing and really protecting the constitutional rights that we all hold so dear. But also got a lot of experience of helping people learn how to take accountability for things. As you know, most cases end with a plea, and there's a lot that goes into that. And I think as judges and as a criminal justice system, sometimes we look at punishment and consequences, but we really all recognize, I think each of us recognize, We make changes better when we have some personal accountability and we want to make changes. So that experience, I think, has really informed how I want to really do work from the bench. Before that, I was in private practice, did a lot of work with civil work, mediation for family cases. And again, already in the last few months, really seeing the benefits of having done a lot of mediation. So really helping listening to parties well, making sure people feel heard. and helping people really come to fair outcomes. So really enjoying the time on the bench already. I know that when I was here last time, I handed out some information. I have some of my old information. Judge Bocanegra and I are working on some things that will be available later this week with both of our information on it. So I can always provide that for you, but I think most of you got it last time when I was here. So thanks for having me, and I'm happy to answer any questions if you have any.

Excellent. Thank you so much. Wonderful. Good to see you all again. Best of luck. Thank you.

My name is Juanita Bucanegra. I've been serving you as one of your 58th district court judges out in Holland. I'm from Holland Township for the last six years. I was trying to recognize the place when I was driving here and I realized that I did this meeting via Zoom six years ago because it was during COVID. So it's nice to be here with you in person. Background, who am I? I served you as an assistant prosecuting attorney here in Ottawa County for 10 years before taking the bench. Um, like Anna, I loved doing prosecution work. I honestly thought I was going to retire as an assistant prosecutor. Maybe the chief prosecutor at one point, if I ever wanted to run for anything, although that was at the very bottom of my list, I never wanted to run for an elected office. Um, I led the domestic violence unit and the prosecutor's office. Advocating for victims of domestic violence specifically, but I also had all kinds of cases from disturbing the peace to murder. Prior to that, I worked at Rhodes McKee, a law firm in Grand Rapids. I've been in Holland. I'm a little bit older than Anna, so I've been in Holland for almost 45 years. I'm a transplant, not originally from Holland, but my family came to Holland as migrant farm workers. fell in love with the place, decided to stay here, make it home, met my husband in Holland, married, raised both of our girls in Holland, and Holland is home. So I'd like to say I'm serving the community where I grew up in, the community that gave so much to me. And there's pros and cons to serving on the bench where you shop and where you see everyone. Sometimes I see people out at Meijer and they'll say, hey, judge, and that could be good or that could be bad, depending on what kind of sentence happened earlier that day. Two girls, 27 and 24. I was not planning on running. I knew I was going to be on the ballot. I was not planning on running a campaign this year. Nobody challenged me in April, so when the filing deadline passed, I thought, I'm safe, thank God, I'm good, don't have to do that again. And then, as Anna said, Judge Canole needed to retire sooner than planned, and that left an open seat. Governor made the appointment a couple months ago, and unbeknownst to any of the three candidates that were going to be on the ballot in different slots, the Bureau of Elections decided they were going to merge our seats because I was no longer on a separate non-incumbent seat. They were merging the incumbent and the non-incumbent seats together. So you will see our names on the ballot on the same line with a vote for no more than two with three names on the ballot. So that's what happened. Just learned about it about a week ago. Most unpleasant surprise I've had all year, but here we are. We will make the best of it. So any questions? There was an article in the Holland Sentinel that describes it pretty well, but I don't know if any of you read the Holland Sentinel. I know I've been asked a lot of questions in the last week or two. No? I don't have anything to hand out because... The stuff is getting printed later this week as I just learned what was happening about a week ago. But I'm happy to answer questions. I do have a website that's actually live, Juanitaforjudge.com. There's a Facebook page. There's all kinds of answers, articles from the last time I campaigned, my life story, anything that you might want to ask. And if you think of something that later you're like, I wonder what she thinks about this, feel free to reach out to me. My phone number is right on the website. Happy to talk to any of you. Thanks for your time. Good.

Thank you very much and best of luck.

Thank you.

Any other public comment this evening?

Good evening. My name is Mike Johnson, 16162 Coventry Lane. I just wanted to comment just a minute on the e-bike discussion. Chris, you alluded to it. There were other comments. Kathy, you talked about it too, which is the whole idea of a hodgepodge of different rules and regulations. Though you may have already planned to do this, Lucas, with your layout and your structure of what you were thinking about. I do know that that's one of the things that comes up most often, what Kathy's comment is, which is that you end up kind of a hodgepodge of different rules of kind of the local community areas around us, right? Whether that's Grand Haven or FRUIT PORT OR OTHERS. AND I THINK THAT IT BEHOOVES US PROBABLY AS YOU GO THROUGH THE PROCESS, PROBABLY JUST TO BE ABLE TO SHARE AND THEN GATHER FROM THEM WHAT IT IS THAT THEY'RE PLANNING TO DO, IF ANYTHING AT ALL. BECAUSE I THINK AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN MAKE IT TO WHAT'S ALREADY THERE, IT'S GOING TO BE MUCH, MUCH MORE VALUABLE. AND THEN EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO TALK ABOUT WHEN YOU DO HAVE THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. That was my only comment. So thank you guys. Thanks for what you're doing. Thank you.

Any other public comment?

Hi, good evening. Carrie Youthy, 18153 Newgate Lane. First want to say, wowza. I wasn't even expecting to see a new website and bam, I'm out there to get the agenda. Nice work. I was really impressed. You know, I've been here about a long time talking about different things and your comment to transparency. Very nice. So thank you. So I wanted to throw it out there and then the C click it. Um, I just want to let you know, I know Muskegon County, quite a few different towns within that also use it. And so it's kind of nice that during pothole season, other types of season, it's pretty cool thing. Uh, I just wanna let you know, the wireless connected with the FCC is going well. People are making comments. The FCC has been reporting back to the residents. They're just letting me know. And the FCC is encouraging people to send them the information when they're having problems because the more people who send in the information, it will help. It's not that FCC can change anything, but they have the regulatory body. They also have regulatory funds that might be able to assist. Now, I did see AT&T out today down in our area, but I think they're laying down fiber lines. I am not sure. But anywho, people are starting to see and feel encouraged that this is helping. Verizon has been kind of digging their heels in a little bit. AT&T has been open a little more. Spectrum has been as well. But I did learn that Verizon has asked for another 14-day extension. I guess that's good news that people are putting pressure on, because I have to tell you, it's a dangerous thing not to have connection to 911. Had more than one situation already, unfortunately. I WANTED TO SAY I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE WORK GROUP STILL GO LIVE. I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE RESISTANT ABOUT THAT, BUT YOU HAVE SO MUCH GOOD INFORMATION AND NOBODY EVER SAYS ANYTHING THAT WOULD NOT BE APPROPRIATE TO BE PUTTING OUT THERE. I FEEL LIKE THE PRESENTATIONS THAT WERE MADE WOULD REALLY HELP THE COMMUNITY TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OR WHY YOU MAKE YOUR DECISIONS AND HOW YOU DO. SO I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE THAT AS WELL. And Harbor Transit is the chair of the LAC. We still have one seat open. We've been able to fill two seats. And we have one for Grand Haven Township. So if anybody knows anybody in Grand Haven Township that would like to sit on the LAC, it's four times a year. It's a great group of folks that really help out a really great organization to get people around. And I see a lot of improvements. I did talk with the director, Scott Borg, this morning and He gave me some updates on the operations center, and I'll hand those to you guys. I do have a timeline if anybody has any information they want, they can just send me a note. But it's pretty impressive in how it's coming along. So I wanted to share that as well as kind of there. But kudos on what you guys are doing. So thank you.

Thanks, Carrie. While Carrie is passing those out, do we have any other? Mr. Curris.

I am Michael Kurose, 18246 Lost Creek Lane. I wasn't planning on saying anything today, but I do want to follow up on what Mike Johnson started to talk about, and that's the contemplated e-bike ordinance or the trail ordinance update. I want to make two points because you're attaching a lot of urgency to this. is it make sure you include along with the schools, et cetera, you reach out to the bike shops in the area and the various bike clubs, friends of the Berry Junction Trail, et cetera. Tap them for their thoughts on your draft skeleton. They're an important... The other one has to do with your first draft, and I agree with Jerry. It should be very thin when you get done, but there is one important thing that I think should be included in the first iteration, maybe not the second iteration of the ordinance, and that is that all safety-related incidents on the trails must be reported to the township. Now, will they all be reported? No. Will more than are currently being reported to the township? Yes. What we don't have is a good body of knowledge of understanding what is happening on our trails in this transitionary period. So I think it's important that the ordinance state that all safety-related incidents must be reported to the township. it can disappear in the second iteration but right now information is extremely important we don't have a lot that suggestion any other public comments at this time mister nash drive i know you're all surprised to see what i'm here to say but anyway

I'm here to talk about roundabouts on M 104. Why do I talk so much about him? Because. In the county in the state and the United States and in the world, they've proven to improve safety. That's easily enough for me. And that's compared to. Traditional. Inner. Intersections. So what happens? And of course the big one starts out is what about death and? With roundabouts. The amount of deaths. At roundabouts compared intersection is reduced by 90%. Then you go on to. Accidents with injuries. That's 75%. And again, all this is compared to traditional intersections. And then the last one on roundabouts, the number of vehicle damage is 47% compared. So where are the roundabouts? There's 13,000, come here people, in the United States. There are 180 in the state of Michigan. Interestingly, those have all been built After 1996 and by the way, all these statistics I got out of Google, so anybody that would like to follow up and see if they're accurate or if there there's more information, please do that. Anne. In the last year. We've added three roundabouts in Ottawa County. Again. And I guess the one thing I hear once in a while is, oh, they had a lot of them in Europe. And that's not at all my experience. And according to Google again, 50,000 of them in France. In fact, it's interesting. In Europe now, they have two level roundabouts, which is You know you go over and you go under and you're going around but and I think unfortunately the nearest one to us is the one in Coopersville and it admittedly by MDOT. That was really poorly thought out and it has caused some problems, but at any rate. The issue is safety. I'm very happy to hear that this board. The Ottawa County Road Commission and M dot are all very serious looking at some roundabouts on M104 and like you've heard me say. Many times I hope they come in before we have a serious accident. Thank you for your time.

Thank you John. Any other public comment at this time? Okay, let's go ahead and close public comment at 7.17. We're gonna move forward to approving tonight's agenda. Any changes or modifications or are we moving forward as stated?

Need a motion? Motion to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Second.

Any further questions or concerns?

Is this for consent agenda or just normal agenda?

This is the approved tonight's agenda. I'm so sorry. I move to approve the agenda as presented. Yeah, there we go.

Second.

Okay, we have a first and a second for the approval of tonight's agenda. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed the same. Now we'll move on to the approval of the consent agenda, which is approve the August 10, 2026 minutes, approve the payment of all fund bills, and to receive the August 26 financials.

I move to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Second, Schroeder.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Oppose the same. And it passes. All right, we're going to move on to the DNR, the MNRTF resolution with the Prelowitz property acquisition. If you've got this, Mr. Gallagher.

Yes, so we did receive a grant from the trust fund to acquire the Prelowitz property. That was up to $800,000 towards that purchase and, I'm sorry, $840,000 or up to 70% of the appraised value. The next step in this process is a resolution to approve the grant and project agreement. Resolution has been presented and put into your board packet. This needs to be sent in to the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund by September 22nd. This is not final closing of the property. We hope to have action for your next meeting, October or November at the latest. Now that the funding has been put in place, we've been having conversations with the property owner and I think the board has previously given us some parameters to work through and we hope to have action the next steps at our next meeting.

Let's open it up to some questions for Mr. Gallagher from the board. Anybody got any questions, concerns?

My only question was, does this lock us into buying it, or can we still return it if something were to happen?

It does not, but I also want to be careful as we continue to move through this process. The trust fund appreciates communities that when they get a grant, they follow through on it. And also we have put in a development grant application and the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund invited Spring Lake Township to make a presentation about that grant application. So there is a lot of opportunity Having said that, I think the board can decide not to do this still. At the next step will be kind of the final go, no go on the acquisition. That was a long answer to saying no.

Well, and I think what Gordon would further say is, but I'll just say it, it's kind of the kiss of death to get something and reject it for any future applications.

Do we have any other questions or concerns or do we have a motion?

Just a question, Gordon. Does the 70, 30, the 70%, 30% split stay the same regardless of what the total project price becomes?

So the 70, 30 is up to a maximum of the appraised value. So we had an appraisal completed and it came in at about a million dollars. The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund will also do an appraisal. And so that will be the 70% is up to 70% of the appraised value. So if we pay more than that, that would have to be additional local share. Is that right?

Thank you.

Final questions? I'm going to need a motion.

I'd like the motion to approve the MNRTF resolution as presented.

Support. Okay, we have a motion in support. Any other final? Okay, call for the vote if you would, please.

Estes?

Yes.

Schroeder?

Yes.

Pavik, yes. Koster? Yes. Ziegler? Yes. Schroeder? Yes. Ravage?

Yes. Uh, Mr. Gallagher, are we gonna have an actual vote on this as well, or is this just going to be a?

So that was the resolution to approve the project agreement.

No, no, I'm sorry, on number seven.

Oh, no, I think this, I mean, in my mind, this is an opportunity for you to make a positive announcement on behalf of the community.

I don't know. I kind of want to. You could make a vote.

I kind of want to vote on this one. Maybe it'll be four, three, or, okay.

I think we should have a vote on this. Okay. It better be unanimous.

So if you don't mind, Supervisor Avedu, just a reminder to maybe use the microphone so the people who are on live stream can hear you even though you have a booming voice. Or pull the mic off.

Okay. Well, as many of you know, One of the objectives of myself and I think currently the entire board in my four years of serving as a supervisor has been to improve community engagement, to improve our transparency and certainly to improve communication. And it's always a moving target and we're always working uh... hard to be able to to do that and i think it's important for you know our community to have engagement on important matters and i think that uh... we're really seeing some fruits of our labor of getting to that point one of the things that we've installed as a board uh... kind of piggybacks a little bit of our vision force which really became known as now uh... community ambassadors and so we've had some people that have really rolled up their sleeves And really got to work working for the community not in their interests working for the community this person truly does care about what we have as a culture what we have had in the past as a culture what we are looking forward for as a culture and this individual really really represents uh... a great vision and she's been a leader uh... as part of our community ambassador so we've been working with mister gallagher to come up with some kind of a recognition now this is a recognition, but her community engagement, her volunteering, her participation, her wealth of knowledge, that is more than what this certificate is. So this may be a piece of paper, but your participation and everything that you have done, the 2026 Community Ambassador of the Year goes to Joanne Johnson.

as township local. Joanne, Gordon and I are sorry for lying to you about not knowing what time it was.

Well, now on to the harder parts. Congratulations, Joanne. You are well, well deserving of that recognition. Okay, moving on to the 2026 Spring Lake Township Business of the Year. We can announce tonight that we're going to recognize Vanderwall Brothers Block up on the corner of Old Grand Haven and Wilson or 174th and Wilson. If you look them up in their website and Google them, I mean, they've morphed into a massive cement block making, decorative block making. They are a fairly large employer. They're very much in fabric business. and tied into our community. I know that the family no longer owns it and I know it has changed hands. And Jim helped with this selection this year, but we'd like to recognize Vander Waal Brother Block, Vander Waal Brothers Block on Old Grand Haven Road. And I'm hoping that the rest of the board is all in tune to where they're at. So we would like to... Recommend them and we will need a motion in support to do so I'll make a motion to name Vander wall concrete as the Spring Lake Township business of the year support The final comments or suggestions good all those in favor say aye aye those opposed the same I Good, and welcome to VanderWaal Brothers Block for being our Spring Lake Business of the Year for 2026.

And there will be a luncheon at the Chamber of Commerce in October where they'll get some official recognition.

I can't remember what date you were given. Okay, we're going to move on to a Wetland Review Board appointment. We had a position that was opened up. and we went into our applications that we have had on file. This person actually came highly recommended from Margaret, who has done a lot of work with this individual. This individual put on his application to be a trustee in any other board position. His name is Brayton Ardell. So he would be my recommendation to appoint on to the Wetland Review Board.

I make a motion to appoint Brayton Ardell to the Wetland Review Board with the term expiring 3-31-28. Second.

Questions, concerns? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, the same. Welcome, Brayton. Moving on to the internal borrowing resolution that's probably gonna be dealing with Bizaki, I'm assuming.

Yes, so by previous action, the township board has decided to purchase 46 acres on M104, on the north side of M104, more commonly known as the Bizaki property. It's across the street from Bizaki Auto Parts. In order to accomplish the acquisition, we have determined that the next step would be to do some internal borrowing so that after we develop and resell the industrial sites, these dollars will be paid back. But we wanted to make sure that we did that on a more official basis with specific terms. And so those terms have been put together in a resolution. It was reviewed by our township attorney and ready for your action this evening.

So I'll open it up to concerns, questions, comments, suggestions.

One question I have is, IN KIND OF THE MANAGER HIGHLIGHT PIECE, YOU SAID PROBABLY BE REPAID IN FOUR YEARS. IN THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT, WE GIVE OURSELVES UP TO 15 YEARS. BUT THE LINE I'M STRUGGLING WITH IS WE HAVE TO MAKE A PAYMENT OF AT LEAST ONE-FIFTEENTH OF THE PRINCIPAL PAYMENT AMOUNT OWED BY THE TOWNSHIP TO THAT RESPECTIVE FUND. if we just pay 1 15th, you could have a balance at the end of that 15 years if you're just paying off the principal. So I know we're not planning to go that, but.

So that is a challenge that I think our treasurer has brought up as well. I think that the issue is that We are looking to resell these parcels once the infrastructure is in. So again, the agenda report talked about we expect to pay this back within four years. Our concern is, well, what happens if the economy isn't what we had hoped and then it takes five or six years? So the resolution does two things. It gives us a 15-year period if we need it but also it reduces the payments in years one, two, and three. The whole idea being that it may take a year or two to make sure that we have the sales to make those payments, but we anticipate the entire 2.5 million plus interest to be completed within the first four years.

Yeah, I think it's just the language of it, that if we just did 1 15th, you might have... of the principle that's not, it's the same as buying your car over 10 years, and if I make a payment of 10 grand every 10 years, and then it's 1 10th of that payment and it's 90K, it's less than that.

Paragraph five says 1 15th plus applicable interest.

But that's not covering, it's not, you're not dividing those payments up equally. You're saying that it's 1 15th plus interest, like, of the base amount, the interest may be less than that. So take the interest out of the equation. See what I'm saying?

Sure, so what you're saying is the amortization in your mind should be a flat payment rather than a flat amount of principal payment.

Committing to 15 payments, it should be an equal payment plus the interest every year. But if you're taking 1 15th of year five,

that is less than the original 1 15th of the payment understood so so there are uh in my mind there are two ways of handling that to uh either have a flat payment amount or a flat principal amount which would mean that the payment which is principal and interest would be declining i don't know that there's a a perfect solution because i think either of those would be fine yeah i just don't want

a balance at the end of 15 years. Again, I don't think we're going to get there, but the way I read this is there could potentially be a balance if you're reducing the payment.

Yeah, and my reading, and I'll lean towards Attorney Bolchi, is that the PAYMENTS, THE 115TH IS WE'RE PAYING THE PRINCIPLE, ACCORDING TO THE RESOLUTION, WE'RE PAYING THE PRINCIPLE BACK IN EQUAL INSTALLMENTS.

THE ORIGINAL PRINCIPLE OR THE REMAINING PRINCIPLE? THE ORIGINAL PRINCIPLE. OKAY. I THINK WE JUST NEED TO BE CLEAR ABOUT THAT.

OKAY. AND THE PRIOR PARAGRAPH, LIKEWISE, SAYS THAT ALL APPLICABLE LOANS ARE FULLY REPAYED BY THE END OF THE 14 additional annual payments, the original plus the 14. So they have to be fully paid after those 15 payments.

Then I think it's just saying in paragraph six of the original principle.

Well, I think paragraph five, I think paragraph six also talks about interest, but paragraph five says full payment after the 15 payments.

but then it's contradictory in six. I know it's like ticky tacky, but like, I don't wanna leave us open to 15 years from now, a board interprets this differently of like, we said the principal and we're saying the annual, which one proceeds? Jim, if you highlighted this.

No, I'm listening and I've had a chance to go over this with Mr. Gallagher. So I really want the board to really chime in on all of this and get as much possibly. but I know that Mr. Koster has worked tirelessly. Well, I've got a really good finance person. That really is, well, I was going to say Amy has worked on this, and fitting in with them, I think the confidence is there for where we need to go with the structure that they've

And if there's a suggestion on how to make that clearer, absolutely, we'd be open.

Is this something that is going to alter this evening?

So we are looking at closing prior to the next meeting. Correct. So we would like to get this resolved this evening. Yeah, I mean, I think in my mind, clarity is, or you can In my mind, you can clarify the resolution or you could, in the motion, clarify as the motion to approve.

And maybe Mr. Balci could help us clarify that motion to- I'd like Andy to tell me what he wanted to say.

For ease of it, I'll add to the motion, just add a payment schedule like you would with any loan that you have over 15 years.

I have a question not related to that. What happens if we're taking like half or more than half of each of these funds? Is there something astronomical that could happen where we run out of money with the sewer and water fund?

So we have a capital improvements plan that goes out six years. And we invest those dollars currently in Michigan Class, which is an investment pool. So essentially, we're using those capital investments in a way that gets interest and so we're paying ourself an interest rate that's comparable is i i think if i understand your question is right if we have a north bank trail kind of project you know where something happens i wouldn't want to say that that's never a possibility but but with our planning and our capital improvement schedule, we would expect that this is essentially just an investment for the township.

Okay.

So,

What I heard was potentially a motion to approve the resolution with the expectation that an amortization schedule will be added to it.

I'd be interested in other board members' comments or... I support the amendment. Yeah, I think that's fine. That makes sense.

I would just say that paragraph six will add per the amortization schedule attached as exhibit A. Yep.

I'll make a motion to approve the internal borrowing resolution with an amendment with an amortization schedule.

Okay, do we have any final comments, suggestions, or questions before we call for the vote? Okay, clerk, call for the vote, please.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. So the internal borrowing resolution passes. Okay, the work order tracking software for Public Works.

Yep, so as you heard this evening, we've launched a new product, C-Click Fix. One of the concerns is to make sure that we get the fix part correct. And... One of the things that we've been talking about with our Public Works Department is a work order tracking software. We use a suite of programs from Civic Plus. So Civic Plus is handling our website. They're handling C-Click Fix. They also handle our municipal code system. and keep that updated. So anytime we pass a new ordinance, we send that to them. They they keep all of that on online and an online presence. And so what we're asking is to authorize the purchase of a work order tracking software. So conceptually, it's not just to track work, but to better manage resources, demonstrate accountability on the part of the Public Works Department, because then it will help Kyle to put together reports These are the projects that we did and also look at reliable information for infrastructure decisions. So one of the things we've been doing with our public works department is we're sharing the public works department with the village of Spring Lake. So the $25,000 cost annually, we would look at splitting 50-50 with the village. So that reduces our annual cost. It is still, Not a cheap piece of software. Kyle is here too, if you have questions. We've been working very closely with not only Kyle, but his leadership team, with some coaching, with the retired facilities director of the Grand Haven schools and he's also recommended that we have a better work order tracking system than we have currently that that will help the team to prioritize the work that that we have so that's a long way of describing the proposal so questions and

One question I have is, is the Civic Plus like a product of C-ClickFix or whatever?

It goes the other way around. C-ClickFix is a product of Civic Plus. Okay. So Civic Plus has, over the last five years, Civic Plus has been adding modules, much like our finance software is BSNA. And so our... BSNA has been adding modules. They now have a payroll module. They have an accounts payable module. They have a building and zoning module. They have an assessing module. So that's the BSNA piece. Civic Plus has been doing the same thing only with more of the notification kind of tools. So Civic Plus is the broad organization. They purchased SeeClickFix. They've purchased a work order system. They have several other, the notification tool. We will likely be coming back to you for another tool that Civic Plus has. They just have a nice suite of products.

My question was just, you know, if one outgrows the other, but it sounds like that's, you know, they're going to grow together.

I think there, in my experience, there is a concern about that. And again, the example I used was BS&A. Probably 15 years ago, BS&A was a very small company and a company called Fund Balance had the marketplace and they really stopped. They started raising their price and giving poor support and municipalities started moving away into BSNA. There's that concern with any of these kinds of suites that profit, they're private companies that if at some point we find five years from now that We're not getting the kind of service. We're not seeing the kind of support. I think we would look towards making a change at that time. But Civic Plus is certainly one of the leaders in the marketplace at this time.

Okay.

If we're going to add more modules, does it make sense to try to do that now to get bundling pricing versus doing one-offs? Because the 5% increase in year one, after year one, if that continues, then you're

Yeah, Kyle, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that they gave us bundle price for this. And I think... So I think we would continue to see bundle pricing, even if we added another module.

And I think just when we renew it, it would be good for Kyle to come back, show us what difference it's made, utilization, efficiencies you guys have gotten, because if you guys aren't using it, then we can figure out something else.

Yeah, so I teased another module. We've been using a reservation system for parks, shelter reservations, and that software has kind of run its course and our license is up as of the end of the year. And we think so far staff is looking at recommending a Civic Plus product for parks reservations moving into 2027.

We use the community center for that too?

And we do expect to have the community center on that as well.

Yeah, and I think moving in this direction is going to give us very valuable data, right? That's what we're really aiming for is that data. So that data can then really drive not only your operational costs, but your CapEx costs in managing those expenses in the long term from an asset management standpoint.

I just need a computer program to keep up with Michael Kuros and his C-Click fix. Sorry, Michael.

And Gordon, correct me, that's at first year's $24,175, is that correct? That's correct.

And then I believe it's $20,500 annually after that.

With the village?

Correct.

I have one question for you, Kyle. Do we have iPads or computers in our trucks now? Okay, will you be able to put something in there as a work order and have it go out to the trucks that day?

And I'm sorry to do this so that folks at home. Yeah, you might want to step up to them.

Yeah, so actually they'll be able to look at the work order on their phone, fill it out, submit it to us, and then we'll be able to see the work completed. Relators will be able to assign the groups to individuals. Plus, as part of this, we get an inventory program which is big on the asset management, our tracking, reports. It also ties into our ESRI GIS that we already have. So that's all encompassing as well. So things we do in ESRI, things we do in the asset management, all will tie back and forth together too. And they'll talk, see, click, fix. We'll talk to the asset management. We'll produce a work order without even us doing it. So it'll be an automatic.

Thanks.

I was kind of hoping that they'd be able to see that out in the field. of it or new ones that got added in. If they're, oh, I'm right here, I can fix, I can do that one while I'm here, that type of thing, so.

Yep, and they'll be able to add work orders to themselves if they see something they'll be able to edit. If they can't do it right now, then it'll go into the system and pop up as somebody added a work order. Well, with our integrated technology at the garage, the calendar and schedule will be up on that going. It'll be a rolling work schedule, so.

Good, thank you. Final comments and questions? We're gonna need a motion.

So just to clarify, what amount are we approving? Because the motion says annual cost, but then we have the initial term, which is 2417504, and then that's annual recurring. So what do you want a motion for?

I think we would prefer a motion for both.

Okay.

That made it more confusing.

All right, I'll make a motion to approve the purchase of the work order tracking software with an initial term cost of $24,175.04 and an annual fee of $20,500.04 with the cost to be shared with the Village of Spring Lake.

Support. Okay, call for the vote please.

Havoc, yes. Koster? Yes. Ziegler? Yes. Scherff?

Yes.

Estes?

Yes.

Schroeder? Yes. Rabideau? Yes.

So the motion carries, and good luck with your work order.

Take more than just luck. We expect a lot of work out of their team.

Well, I think it's going to really help in the long run because it's an organizational tool, right? Calendar. So over the calendar, you can look back in January, February, March, what's going on and have some reoccurring work orders that, you know, that has to get done every year, right? So... Okay, good. Let's move on to the industrial park engineering, and this is new business, so I'm going to let you take that, Mr. Gallagher.

Again, to the M-104 property, we had Prina Newhoff take a look at the Cleveland Street property, the Bizaki property, and asked them to look at putting together a plan for doing a topographical design, looking at the soils underneath, traffic impact statement, doing essentially a 30% civil engineering so that we can get through and take this to our own planning commission for review and make sure that the design is what our planning commission and the township board would like to see at that site. And they've put together a cost estimate that's, they would bill hourly, but at a not to exceed cost of $95,900. They also provided a timeline which is in the six to eight week range. This is brought to you as new business. We certainly can do some more investigation or wait until next month. I just know that sometimes I hear from the board, why do things take the time that they do? But we are very open. We've had a long-term relationship with Prina Newhoff. and the fact that they've done two things that they've said they would do it on an hourly basis, but they provided a not to exceed number as well. We have, as part of the grant that we got from the Ottawa County Brownfield Authority, we already have had a wetland delineation done. We've had a phase one environmental, a phase two environmental. Both of those have come back with no recommendations for any remediation. We don't have the final document yet, but we will wait until we have that to close. But we're working on title work and hoping to close within the next few weeks. But we could, you know, if you want, whatever you'd like to do with this, it's a new business item.

Didn't I see that they can't do it with snow on the ground and it takes six to eight weeks or something like that? Can I read that somewhere?

It's actually in this proposal that, yeah, they can do with one exception that snow would slow it down. Which could be... exactly six weeks from now it could be yeah and that was actually molly i agree with you i mean we had talked about the time is of essence here yeah um if we really want to keep moving this forward and i think that was the discussion is we don't want to take our you know we need to keep this moving then time is critical that was going to

be, those are going to be my words, is if we want to try and get this thing flipping within the next year, we really got to kind of push forward. And remember, we're really trying to provide shovel-ready sites, which are highly desirable for industries that are ready to put a shovel in the ground. So in preparation for our own planning commission, because we're going to follow just like anybody else that would have to do this process we're following our own process as a township board to make sure that when it gets in front of the planning commission that they understand the direction that this is going to be going and i think it gives us the actual cost right like we've been making educated guesses but this is you know real numbers to digest

and we'll have updated infrastructure costs for the actual construction. Because the wetland could be bigger than we think it is and that would could impact site so it's a lot of information that we can make a decision but I think you're asking you don't want to be locked into still having to buy and develop if it comes back we can only do half of this.

Okay, so do we want to table this or should we be moving forward with this? Okay, so I'm hearing we're gonna go ahead and get a motion here, Mr. Gallagher. So our motion is presented in your report.

I'll make a motion to approve the proposal by Prana Newhoff for Civil Engineering and Design Services. for our new industrial park project at 14717 Cleveland Street, not to exceed 95,900. Support.

Okay. Okay, I'm gonna ask again any final comments or questions that somebody may have before we call for the vote. All right. Clerk, can we call for the vote, please?

Costa? Yes. Ziegler? Yes. Scherff? Yes. Estes? Yes. Schroeder? Yes. Pavic? Yes. Rabideau?

Yes. So we're moving forward. Good. That's good news. All right. Let's move on to board reports. We'll start at either end. If Chris or Andy wants to begin, who wants to start?

We didn't have PC in August, did we?

I was just looking, yeah, we did.

No agenda, there was no minute recap on the site, so.

No, basically, yeah, sorry. Basically, the Planning Commission is, they moved to hold a public hearing on some text amendments that would include the accessory buildings and fences in the mobile home park district, and also on the waterfront decks, allowances. And so there's also an initial discussion about signage, commercial signage, with the interest of the Corridor Improvement Authority and I think the important topic is really the digital signage that we've been hearing. But overall, really just getting the Planning Commission familiar with that language again before the door opens and that discussion is going to be led through some of the input from the corridor improvement plan that's underway as well. And maybe not just business owners that are chiming in on that. Maybe not.

I think Wednesday we're talking about a special land use for private drive for the Brill property. So we're seeing some quick movement since we've settled that deal. So it'll be interesting to see the plans for that.

Well, do you have anything from Recreation?

I'll borrow Lucas for that as well.

Yeah, absolutely. So in that meeting we did discuss the Bike path the the framework we're looking at here for the bike path non motorized bike path laws talked about the community engagement through the culture of kindness as well. There is also. it's a new plan for Risinga Park, but it's an asset management plan for Risinga Park that Pam Blau put together. So that first draft has been distributed to the rec committee for review. So there's a brief look at that, but that'll eventually end up before you guys as well for review and your blessing, but kind of a light agenda for them. So, yeah. Mr. Koster, anything from Ambulance?

Not really. I didn't see a numbers report come back yet, but I have heard nothing but good from the Ottawa County area, and I was able to make contact with the Muskegon area, which just started, and they're absolutely ecstatic about it, about being with Life Ambulance.

Kathy, you want to share anything on elections?

No, Carrie, I know, mentioned a few elections. Both, or Harvard. Yeah, Carrie mentioned a few things on Harvard Transit earlier. They do have a meeting next Wednesday. And yes, we are ramping up for the elections, which are coming very, very quickly, early voting as well as Election Day. So stay tuned for more to come on that next month.

Awesome. ZBA? I need to borrow Lucas. I was in Atlanta. Lucas, you're a busy man.

No problem. Last month, there was a waterfront setback determination on Leonard Road that was reviewed by the Zoning Board of Appeals and approved as presented. And this coming month, next week, Thursday, there is a waterfront setback determination on Vinecrest, on Lloyd's Bayou, that'll be under consideration. And there's a a variance request up on Hickory or in the northwest part of the township for an accessory building in a front yard. And that one, it's a very unique property where it's fairly large, but the house was constructed way towards the rear property line, and that's where they put their septic. swimming pool and all these other things but they don't have room for the the accessory building that they want so they want to put that in the front yard now so that's that would require variance in this circumstance so those are the two applications on deck

I'm going to make a comment. But it sounds like in living in the Spring Lake Village in the township area, we have a lot of individuals that want to do a lot of things that are creative with decks and accessory buildings. And it must be pretty challenging for your department to have to navigate all of those and keep them

It's really the Zoning Board of Appeals, they are a workhorse. They have long meetings that are challenging, and there's a lot of, just a different dynamic there, and creativity from the applicants who are trying to basically get what they want, and so hats off to the ZVA. Lots of heavy lifting. Definitely, yes.

Jerry, why do you think he quit?

Wow.

Let's move on to the Lake Board. Lake Board did not meet last month. Our next meeting is a week from Wednesday.

Okay, good. Mr. Balci, you want to share any report from the attorney side this evening or should we go right to Mr. Gallagher and have him do his manager report?

I'd hate to keep Mr. Gallagher waiting. Oh my goodness.

So again, kind of first want to welcome Nick Maldonado. I won't make him give any long speeches. He comes to us from the suburbs of Chicago as our new planning assistant. So people will see Nick working in the office and we're excited to have him as part of our staff. For those of you who recognize today, September 14th, is a very special day because tax bills were due. And it's not everybody's favorite day, but a reminder that about 90% of the taxes people pay, they write their check to Spring Lake Township, but we pass those dollars on to other taxing units. But today, our front desk received and posted over $2.5 million in tax payments. So they had a busy day.

And chime in just to share that we've gone over the $1 billion evaluation in Spring Lake Township.

That's correct. So our overall value is over a billion dollars in taxable value, which is a a fairly small club in the state of Michigan, especially for townships. I had passed out the chamber is having a forum on housing. It's next Tuesday from 8.45 to 10.30. We are hosting it at the Spring Lake Community Center, so if you're interested in attending the forum, it is put on by the chamber, so it certainly has a good they will be presenting and there is a breakfast included. So please let me know. Summer hours at the Township and Village Hall, I'd like to thank the Township Board for letting us test that this summer. On behalf of the staff, they greatly appreciated that. If you're aware, we were closed on Friday afternoons, so staff had the option of working four nine hour days and a half day Friday, We're working there regular five, eight-hour days. That worked out for some that have childcare issues, so they would still work on Friday afternoons. The staff appreciated the flexibility. It was good for morale. I think I'd like board members to reach out to the public and get a sense from the public how it impacted service delivery, because we certainly, it's not always about what's best for staff. It's really always about what's best for the public. But I think it worked. and we'd be interested in getting some feedback to talk about whether we should consider that again next summer. I mentioned that we have a property owner on 152nd Avenue who had a complaint about a broken water service line. This was on the private side, but it's also where we put in a new bike path. So it is the first house north of the dip on 152nd Avenue. There was a retaining wall put in. That work was done in 2025. This water leak happened in 2026. It was also the blue plastic pipe which you may recall back from 2007, I believe till 2009, the township replaced all of the blue pipe between the water main and the curb shut off because of its propensity to get brittle and break. But I wanted you to be aware that that may turn into a liability because she felt that that was the township's responsibility. And so I did ask Brian Newhoff to do a review and they've done a report, at least indicating from our perspective that they weren't related, but that doesn't preclude somebody from making a claim. And I just wanted you to be aware that that's a possibility. We did have, unfortunately, we had an accident with one of our pickup trucks on Wednesday, September 9th. One of our public works team members had an at-fault accident, was looking at the sub-construction that was going on on the side of the road and didn't pay attention to the truck in front of them that stopped. Unfortunately, that pickup truck will likely be a totaled accident. It is insured. We're a no-fault state, so we do have insurance for that. And we have also gone through the protocol to have our driver do drug and alcohol testing immediately following that. So we followed those protocols. And again, this is one of those things that we don't like to have to report, but I think it's important that you as a board are aware when those things happen.

It wasn't our new truck, was it?

Actually, it was a truck that has over 100,000 miles on it. And it's about 10 years old. So the good news is it wasn't a new truck. But it's still not what we would like to see happen.

Well, accidents happen, unfortunately.

There is a rededication coming up of Tanglefoot Park with a plaque dedicated to Christine Burns. That's been rescheduled to September 27th, which is the anniversary of her passing. That will be at 10 a.m. at Tanglefoot Park. I'm sure that you're all welcome to attend. And then we received a report about Stahl Bayou. We'll put that on our community engagement page, but it's an interesting read about, I believe it was presented to the Spring Lake Lake Board, and about some of the actions that have been taken to try to improve that bayou. And then last thing, one of the favorite events of the year is coming up September 24th, the Spring Lake Fire Department open house. And it's always a great opportunity to interact with our individual fire department staff. not only our full-time, but our paid on call. We have an amazing department. You've probably heard us sing the praises of our leadership team at the fire department. So Thursday, September 24th, There will be activities, there will be tours of Fire Station 1. It's at the corner of M104 and Fruitport Road. We'll use the community center parking lot so people will have parking, overflow parking over at Orchard Market. And yeah, it'll be a great, great opportunity. We also, one more fire department item. Unfortunately, we're losing one of our firefighters, his wife. has a great job opportunity in New Mexico. So they decided to relocate. It wasn't an issue of culture or wages or benefits or anything like that. It was just a family opportunity. So we'll be starting a process for, actually have already started the process for hiring a new full-time firefighter. I believe we'll include one of the board members. as part of an interview team. We've, I think Chief Stahlzer has done that the last couple of times and it's been a, so that's the extent of my report.

Good report, good reports everybody. So I've provided you guys a supervisor's report over the summer. Feel free to, you know, share or use that. I want to share that I've probably spent on average over the summer a little over 20 hours a week in the office this entire summer. Some weeks were a little bit heavier, others were not. It's been very fruitful, especially engaging in the institutional knowledge and getting to know a lot of the staff members and just being available has been very, very helpful and fruitful for both Lucas and Gordon navigating things and of course seeing Jim periodically, well, he's in there quite a bit, but He's upstairs, and so we don't get the chance to cross paths. But a lot of good things, a lot of positive things came out of there. And then as far as just being available really, I think, made a big difference. I'll add, this is probably my third association meeting that I'll be going to with North Holiday Hills this coming Saturday at 9. Feel free, if any of you board members want to join up at Fire Station number 2. Those association meetings are very, very interesting. People of our community are very passionate about their neighborhoods and very passionate about what's going on them and passionate about the community. So it's been engaging. And so if you get a chance and you want to join in on some donuts and coffee on a Saturday morning, come up to fire station number two. Other than that, we need a motion to adjourn.

I move to adjourn.

Second? Second. And we are adjourned. Thanks.