Cityhood Committee hears more questions than comments, prepares for upcoming meeting with Township(s)
Last Tuesday at 7 pm, the Village’s Citizens Advisory Committee investigating cityhood held a public hearing to gather comments and hear attendees’ feelings on the Village of Manchester potentially becoming a city. Gathering public input is one of the committee’s directives and something which will feature in their eventual recommendation to the Village Council whether or not to proceed with pursuing cityhood.
The meeting started with committee member Herb Mahony explaining that the meeting was set up to hear input from the public, but not to answer questions. However, this did not work out as planned–as attendees, for the most part, only asked questions.
Village residents as well as residents of Sharon Township and Manchester Township (some of whom own property in the Village) spoke. Questions asked included how the Fire Department issue be addressed? How will resources be divvied up? Who would control fire department? What is the back ground on looking into becoming a city? What is the purpose of becoming a city? How long will the process take? What are the actual advantages of being a city? Is the village afraid of being steamrolled by the township? And, why were some people getting feedback from the committee on their questions while others weren’t.
Some attendees were referred to the FAQ the committee released last week. Read FAQ HERE.
One topic that came up multiple times was concern that the village currently has a 8.5-mill limit and that cities have a 23-mill limit and that this could result in taxes being raising significantly. This is a misunderstanding as according to the Michigan Municipal League Handbook for General Law Village Officials, villages, including the Village of Manchester, have a 21.5 mill limit.
Laurie Carey, a Village resident who also serves as the treasurer for Manchester Township, stated that the Village should have sent out the FAQs in a mailing to all in the township(s) as well as the village. This touches on the concern non-Village residents have on the potential effects that cityhood would have on Manchester Township and could in theory have on Sharon Township, which borders the Village. In fact, the next Citizens Advisory Committee is scheduled for June 4th at 7 pm in Village Council chambers, and will be focused on these topics.
The Manchester Township board is preparing for this meeting and would like to hear input from all Township residents. Manchester Township board member Lisa Moutinho stated, “We are working together as a board and assessing information, as we receive it. Effective Saturday, June 1, and the first Saturday of each month thereafter, beginning at 9 am, we are holding public board workshop meetings, so our board may convene and discuss specific issues that are of importance to the township as a whole. In anticipation of our invitation to speak at the Village to City committee meeting on June 4, we’ve allocated the time on June 1 to discuss the implications of city hood to the Township, and would welcome any feedback our residents would like to provide.”
Sharon Township has been communicating its concern to its residents and encouraging them to stay up to date on the cityhood issue and attend the committee meetings.
Because of the additional questions raised at the most recent meeting and the need to clarify one of the previous FAQs, the Committee will be releasing an updated FAQ. The meeting was adjourned at 7:37 pm.
For more information visit the Manchester Village’s website HERE and read our previous coverage of the cityhood process HERE.
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