Manchester Township January 10, 2023, board meeting report

Manchester Township Hall

by Sybil Kolon

All board members except John Seefeld and Mike Fusilier were present at the January 10 township board meeting. Also present was assistant fire chief Mike Kouba and a few other members of the public.

Kouba provided the monthly fire department report for December. There were 49 calls for service during the month. There were 611 total calls for 2022, an 12% increase from 2021 and the highest ever. 90% of calls were EMS responses, although there have been two major structure fires in the past two weeks. Kouba suggested the township consider hiring two full-time firefighters to work during the day, since most volunteer firefighters are working outside of town. This has been discussed before. The board agreed and a committee will be established.

Supervisor Ron Milkey indicated there was no zoning activity in December. Milkey referred the board to the draft planning commission minutes for information on the last meeting.

The board approved the purchase of a decibel meter to be used to monitor noise levels to determine compliance with the zoning ordinance. Two potential uses are related to the servicing of the recycle bins and during construction of the solar power–generating facility.

The board discussed the request to help fund senior citizen meals. The township has been a regular contributor, as well as the other three townships and the village. There is a line item of $3,000 in the township budget and this was authorized by the board.

Pat Vailliencourt, Manchester village president, informed the board there had been a temporary suspension of use of the senior citizen bus for the delivery of the senior meals, as the insurance cost had skyrocketed. A more affordable policy is being obtained. In the meantime, private citizens have been doing the deliveries. There was strong support for keeping these efforts going.

There was discussion of the recycling bins in the new location behind the township hall. There have been complaints from a few neighbors about the noise during servicing and people making noise at night. The glass bins are particularly noisy when glass is thrown in. The township has not yet found a better location. One other location was suggested and will be investigated. The township board acknowledged the need for the WWRA to service the bins after 7am, as required by the village ordinance. There have been a few occasions when they came earlier. The township will do further investigation to determine if hours of use need to be limited and if a better location can be found. If not, the township will take measures to upgrade the recycling bin area with fencing, using materials to reduce noise.

The board discussed the ongoing blight issue on Lakeview Drive. There has been no real improvement over many years. The board will direct the zoning administrator to begin the process to bring the property into compliance. This would start with issuing a citation to the property owner, which can be followed up with fines and court action.

Vailliencourt informed the board that the village has created two slots on its Parks Commission to be filled by non-village residents. Anyone interested can fill out the application form available on the village website.

Editor’s note: This article originally stated “661 total calls for 2022” and “11% increase from 2021” and was updated shortly after publishing.

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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.