One small step toward cityhood

This slide from a presentation by the Michigan Municipal League defines the difference between a Village and a City.

There is still a very long road ahead, and many things could change the course of events along the way. But the initial step toward Manchester becoming a city, independent from Manchester Township, has been completed.

A survey, completed in less than two weeks by Paul Schwimmer of Arbor Land Contracting, was delivered to the office of the state boundary commission in Lansing on Friday, October 4 by Village Manager Jeff Wallace and Village President Pat Vailliencourt.

“They will review this survey to see if it’s correct according to their records,” Wallace reported to Village Council at its October 7 meeting. “Because this is not a common occurrence, and not part of the office’s regular duties, they could not give us an exact time frame as to when that would be completed. But it is in their hands now, and we will see where that leads.”

Following their visit to the state offices, Wallace and Vailliencourt headed to the Michigan Municipal League offices across from the state capitol, and attended a seminar on the impact of transitioning from a village to a city.

“There were more than 40 people in attendance,” Wallace noted, “including a representative from attorney’s office Fahey Schultz Burzych Rhodes, PLC.” William K. Fahey is the attorney currently representing Manchester Township.

Currently, Michigan has 280 cities, 253 villages, and 1,240 townships. Wallace said among the take-aways from the seminar was the knowledge that most cities have governmental structures similar to what we currently have in Manchester. They also heard about the potential benefits and disadvantages of making the transition to a city.

Vailliencourt questioned William Mathewson, Municipal Consultant, about how the division of assets between village and township is determined. She was told that this process has specific steps laid out, with state-provided formulas to divide the assets and liabilities in fair proportions based on the assessed property valuations of each entity. However, he added, the divisions are negotiable between the township and new city.

Vailliencourt asked if he had ever heard of advising a township to “spend down” to avoid having assets to divide and was told that would be considered highly unethical, and could be cause for an injunction to be filed to prevent it from happening. “At that point,” said Mathewson, “the only winners are the attorneys.”

The next Village Council meeting will be held on at 7 pm on Monday, October 21 in the Village Council chambers on the lower level at 912 City Road. Village President Pat Vailliencourt will be present one-half hour prior to the meeting to answer questions from citizens. Public input is welcomed at meetings.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.