Freedom Township backtracks on Safety plan

Freedom Township Hall

While we reported after the December Township meeting that the board was looking at establishing a Capital Improvement Plan to among other things, possibly fund an emergency warning siren to be located in the township, the board seems to have reconsidered their support of the warning system and possibly the safety plan in general sometime between that meeting and the January meeting.

December’s virtual meeting of the Freedom Township board of trustees started off with a new look as incoming Supervisor Larry Lindemann took the reins after Dale Weidmayer had served for more than 40 years on the board, the past 13 as Supervisor. Lindemann himself has served the township for many years as the chair of its Planning Commission.

Lindemann’s successor to the Planning position, Matt Little, has been working with a safety committee for nearly two years on a Continuity and Emergency Preparedness Plan, which was to be presented at the January 12 meeting for review and discussion. However, while the plan may have been presented to the board, no members of the public appeared to have had access to the finalized plan and no discussion was held at last Tuesday night’s meeting. The board merely voted on a voice vote to accept the plan and indicated it would be sent to David Halteman, Emergency Services Director for the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office.

Does the safety plan include a warning siren? As it wasn’t made public, it is unclear. It was also unclear what would be done with the plan or how it might be implemented in the township in the future. It was announced at the meeting that Little, with his increasing responsibilities, would no longer be serving on the Safety Committee.

A caller to the meeting asked, “We have seven pipelines and big ones like the ET Rover located near Consumers Energy gas pumping station located here in Freedom Township and the county has identified this area (among) the most dangerous in the county. More than 150 residents have signed a letter to you asking for you to do something about adding a warning system and this is a very important thing to do.”

The caller continued, “The Board was elected to serve all of the residents in the township and safety should be one of the most important topics for you to focus on as we are in the populated part of the township and need to have a real warning system.”

Speaking with Halteman in November, he shared that he would definitely support efforts to secure a siren warning system in Freedom Township, although he believes the WCSO’s Everbridge system to be adequate for most purposes.

“However, at some point, there are limitations on what we can do,” he added. “There are many different approaches.”

Currently, 80% of the county is covered by outdoor warning sirens; although the one located in the Village of Manchester is the closest to Freedom Township, with a two-mile radius, it doesn’t reach far enough to alert most Freedom residents. Halteman added that locations are coordinated for maximum effectiveness, and the smaller population in rural townships makes these systems somewhat “less effective.” But he acknowledges that they can be an important component for safety.

It was mentioned that Sen. Gary Peters had committed to working with the township to secure grant funding for a warning siren system that could help, but that would mean getting solid support from the board, which appears to be lacking at this time, and the continuation of the Safety Committee’s efforts.

Asked how receptive the board might be to the possibility of grant funding, Clerk Valisa Bristle said, “The board is supportive of receiving grant funding but at this time we have not received a cost plan for sirens or placement within the township. I will be working with Dave Halteman to gather some of this information to bring back to the board at our next meeting.”

In December the Supervisor shared that he would like to see a capital improvement fund set up to help budget for such projects like road culverts, fire/police protection and possibly the warning siren. At the January meeting, when the potential capital improvement fund was mentioned, only road culverts and fire/police protection were suggested uses.

It was also asked at the December meeting that the treasurer share the township’s new level of new tax benefits from the pipelines and Consumer Energy, which might also support these proposed capital improvement expenses. The information was provided to the board, but again, was not clearly visible to all on the Zoom call and no copies were provided before the meeting or online.

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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.