City Council

Watson Township Board Meeting 1895 118th Ave. Allegan, MI 49010 October 5, 2023 Call to Order: 7:00 P.M. Present: Kevin Travis, Tera Davis, Michelle Harris, John Caras and Kelli Morris. Absent: None. Agenda: Trustee Harris made a motion to approve the agenda, Trustee Caras supported, all in favor, motion carried. Minutes: Trustee Caras made a motion to approve the minutes from September as amended, Treasurer Davis supported, all in favor, motion carried. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Davis gave the Treasurer’s report of account balances. Trustee Harris made a motion to approve the report as given, Clerk Morris supported, all in favor, motion carried. Bills: Treasurer Davis made a motion to pay the bills in the amount of $17,617.00, Trustee Harris supported, all in favor, motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENT: Open- 7:03 P.M. 1. County Clerk Bob Genetski gave his annual report to the board, including information on property fraud and veteran ID. 2. Chris Machiela from the Allegan County Drain Commission office introduced himself and let the board and audience know about his plan to run for Allegan County Drain Commissioner. 3. Travis Long addressed the board concerning a violation of “Junk Car/Blight” citation he received and would like to speak with code enforcement officer Davis about the subject matter tomorrow. 4. Jason VanHouten addressed the board and his interest in becoming more involved in township business, now his professional career would not be a conflict of interest with township matters. Closed 7:21 P.M. REPORTS: A. County Commissioner Report: Gale Dugan gave the board a report from the County Commissioner’s that included the annual County Treasurer’s report, the final version of the county’s annual budget, and the approval of a resolution that would keep the control of local government at the local level and not the state legislature. He reported that a new industrial washer and dryer has been purchased for the Wishbone Animal Shelter, also as of 2024, the county will take over running the shelter, and Wishbone will no longer be running the shelter. Mr. Dugan also let the board know that at the recent MAC Conference, Commissioner Jim Storey was elected as president. B. Planning Commission: Trustee Caras gave the board a report on the park, including that the Martin Cross Country team will begin using the trails for training. He also reported on the “Old Dump” site in the township. C. Martin Fire Department: Chief Knight attended the meeting and gave the board an oral and written report of fire/ emergency calls over the past month, as well as totals for the year. He mentioned that they will be running an event for Halloween on Tuesday October 31st. The department also reported that they have received grants from Michigan gas for a new gas meter and the Gun Lake Casino to purchase pressure fans. pumps. D. Hopkins Fire Department: None. E. Libraries: Reports were emailed. F. WAEMS:    Trustee Harris gave a report on the Wayland Ambulance meeting she attended. This was the first meeting since Bob Hess had retired. G. Sexton: Mark Simpson was absent. The board sends its thoughts to him and is hopeful that his mother’s health improves very soon. H. Code Enforcement: Ordinance Code Enforcement Officer Jim Davis gave the board a written and oral report of current cases in the township. The report included five open cases, some of which are clean up cases. I. Supervisor: Supervisor Travis gave a quarterly report. Old Business: A. Burn Ordinance: Supervisor Travis read Ordinance # 10052023-1 to regulate Outdoor Burning in the township. Trustee Harris made a motion to adopt Ordinance #10052023-1 Outdoor Burning Ordinance, Trustee Caras supported, roll call vote: Harris-yes; Caras-yes; Morris-yes; Davis-yes; and Travis-yes. The ordinance passed by a vote of 5-yes and 0-no votes. B. Camera System Failure: Trustee Caras made a motion to approve up to $300.00 for camera replacement, Trustee Harris supported, all in favor, motion carried. C. TV Installation Status: Trustee Caras reported the Television is in and will be installed soon. D. Hall Vestibule Doors/Window Replacement: Reurink Construction will begin around Oct. 20th. E. VOIP Cutover Status: Trustee Caras reported that the VOIP phone service is now in service and working well. F. AT&T Equipment: Trustee Caras reported that the equipment for AT&T internet has been returned. G. Ordinance Re-Publication: Trustee Caras went over both cloud ordinance options. Trustee Caras made a motion to accept the investment proposal from CivicPlus to migrate all township ordinances to the cloud for a yearly subscription of $1,200.00, Treasurer Davis supported, all in favor, motion carried. H. BS & A Migration and Cloud Status: There will be an initial meeting to set up training and following that the data extraction process will begin. New Business: A. Copier Discussion: The board discussed the replacement of the copier in the township office. Trustee Caras made a motion to table the discussion until next month, Trustee Harris supported, all in favor, motion carried. Adjourn: Supervisor Travis made a motion to adjourn, Trustee Harris supported, all in favor, motion carried. Adjourn: 8:34 PM ___________________________________________________ Kelli Morris