Manchester Township holds two virtual meetings in one week

Manchester Township Hall

submitted by Sybil Kolon, Community Reporter Corps

The April 14 township board meeting was held by telephone conference call. All board members participated, including Mike Fusilier, who had been appointed in March to fill the remainder of the term of Carl Macomber, who had resigned. Bill Scully, fire chief, also participated, as well as two members of the public. Macomber is still the zoning administrator, but he was not on the line and there was no zoning report.

The board adopted an electronic meeting policy, consistent with the executive order by Governor Whitmer, that allows municipalities to hold public meetings by telephone conference call during the Covid-19 pandemic shut down.

Public comment included a question from Mike Meranuck about if the township had taken a position on whether lawn mowing business is an essential service, relative to the current Stay Home order. The board voted to set a special meeting for April 18 to discuss that and any other issues.

Chief Scully reported 41 fire calls for the month of March, 119 for the year. For the year, only 8% of calls are for fires. EMS, car crashes and other public assistance make up 75% of calls for the year.

The board authorized the expenditure of $25,292 for the county road commission to do three applications of dust control this year on all gravel roads in the township. The board expects to set its annual meeting with the road commission soon, to discuss the township’s needs.

A representative from the Huron Valley Night Hawks informed DeRossett that they had canceled their April race due to the Covid-19 shut down and would like to do a make-up race in May. The board took no action due to concern that the stay at home order would be extended into May.

Treasurer Carey indicated that state shared revenue is expected to decrease significantly due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and budget adjustments will likely be needed before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The board held a special meeting on Saturday, April 18 at 10 am, the purpose of which was to discuss the governor’s Executive Order 2020-42 which restricts activities across Michigan due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All board members participated; there was no public participation. The draft minutes of the meeting state that: “After much discussion and research of this order the board chose to fully align with the governor in general, and as it pertains to lawn and landscaping.”

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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.