Sharon Township approves ballot tracking system and election assistants
Sharon Township Hall
By Claire Pajka
The Sharon Township board meeting was held on September 3 with all members of the board, and three members of the public, in attendance.
Board Supervisor Peter Psarouthakis explained the highlights of the Southwest Washtenaw Council of Governments meeting that happened last week. This meeting included representatives from all the townships, and the village, plus the County Road Commission, the new superintendent of Manchester Community Schools, and Senator Lana Theis. The two main discussion points were a school update, as well as a conversation on the lack of meat processing centers in Southeast Michigan and its associated problems. Psarouthakis said that businessperson Damian Rivera and MSU’s Local Foods Coordinator Jae Gerhart gave interesting presentations, and that the conversation is important to have in rural communities. The next SWWCOG meeting will be held at Bridgewater Township Hall on December at 7 pm.
Senator Lana Theis, who was present at the meeting, will be holding a coffee hour open to the public at the Sharon Township Hall on September 25 from 11 am to 12 noon.
As for crime, Psarouthakis stated that the normally quiet township had one hit and run incident during the month of August. A young man on a dirt bike was hit by an unknown person driving a red Chevrolet pickup, who fled the scene. Luckily, though he suffered a broken collar bone, the young man who was struck by the vehicle will be all right. This incident was handled by state police.
Brian Brickley gave the financial report and emphasized that summer taxes are due by September 14. In order to serve the community to the best of his ability, Brickley stated that he has signed up for tax class webinars.
Zoning administrator Dave Wilson gave the report from the zoning commission, and reported three pieces of zoning business for the month of August, including a pole barn.
Trudi Cooper gave the report from the planning commission. She stated that the next meeting will be held at the Sharon Township hall on September 8 at 7 pm, and they will be discussing the tower ordinance. Cooper also briefly mentioned that the master plan has received very little feedback from the public.
The majority of the meeting was spent discussing the proposed ballot tracking system from KCI, a company based in Grand Rapids. This system with individual stickers for each person allows for both Clerk Kimberley Potocki and the public to track incoming and outgoing ballots, and would help avoid the loss of ballots in transit. The cost to the board is a $250 annual subscription – though the board can opt in or out on a yearly basis – and 15 cents per ballot. The board spoke highly of this system, explaining that with the November election especially, it is important to give voters the power and peace of mind of seeing that their ballot gets where it needs to be. Potocki explained that she couldn’t see a negative to opting into the system, as it keeps a clear line of communication between voters the mailing system, and board member Bob Guysky supported the transparency of the system. The board voted to approve the system. To learn more about the KCI TrackMIBallot, click here.
With the increased volume of absentee ballots that the board will be receiving this election, the board discussed using election assistants. These assistants will help Potocki in duties that are able to be performed without compromising the integrity of the ballot, such as picking up stamps, or running sealed ballot envelopes to the post office. The board voted to approve the list of potential election assistants.
The meeting adjourned at 7:40 pm.
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