There are no plans now for any kind of revenue raising for Leighton Township roads in the wake of the failure Nov. 3 of the one-mill request.Citizens’ Road Committee Chairman Steve Shoemaker T hursday evening in a virtual meeting presented some statistics about the proposal for increased funding for road improvements.
“The millage request failed by 195 votes,” Shoemaker said. “By contrast, the same millage request failed by 94 votes in 2018. The failure during recent voting appears to suggest that the measure of failure was twice that of 2018, however, the number of ballots cast was also twice that of 2018, resulting in the same failure rate – 5.5% – in both elections.
Leighton Township has been plagued by road troubles in recent years, especially with its explosive growth.
Township Steve Deer indicated that the new master plan adopted Thursday has budgeted $100,000 per year for road improvements, but many believe that isn’t enough to handle the township’s needs.
The supervisor suggested the 20-year plan for the township budgeted for fire department trucks should change to reflect $200,000 because of age existing equipment and growth of the township.
The meeting was supposed to be the last for outgoing Supervisor Deer and outgoing Clerk Mary Lou Nieuwenhuis. The latter was unable to get in on the meeting, along with Trustee Brian Bonnema.
The new township board members and officers were scheduled to take office Nov. 20, but Supervisor-elect Steve Wolbrink has indicated he has been suffering from flu-like symptoms, so Deer is continuing as deputy supervisor until Wolbrink is ready to take over.
Rachael Fennema is set to assume duties as clerk to succeed Nieuwenhuis.
In other business at Thursday night’s virtual meeting, the board:
• Learned from Fire Chief Matt Weston that all training events have been postponed until January because of the risk of Coronavirus exposure. The chief also said the department has received notice of approval of a $23,000 grant to help with costs of firefighting during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Weston said the number of medical calls comprised the bulk by far of the month’s calls, which fell just one call short of tying a monthly record.
• Was told the number of building permits issued in October was eight, with a total value of $1.8 million. For the year to date, the value is estimated at $8.6 million.
Adopted the township’s master plan, which had been in development for nearly two years, after being recommended by the Planning Commission recommended adoption of the Plan.
• Learned from Deer he has been approached about purchasing additional property adjacent to the township cemetery as the number of remaining plots is decreasing. No decision was made about inquiring of neighboring property owners.
• Approved the appointments of Harry DeHaan to the Planning Commission, Dave Gould Zoning Board of Appeals, Rod Alderrink alternate on Zoning Board of Appeals.
There was some discussion about Planning Commission appointments because a couple of openings may arise in the near future. Shoemaker expressed an interest in filling one.
Zoning Board of Appeals Chairman Ron Schrotenboer indicated recently that it would be beneficial if a ZBA member was on the Planning Commission as well. None of the other ZBA Members has expressed any interest in doing so.
• Was informed by Deer that he was approached by someone offering to sell some nearly-new equipment, including an 11KW generator, which might be suitable to power the office, should a power interruption occur. The discussion centered around the practicality of purchasing the generator, and other items included in a package deal. Because the generator was solely a gasoline-powered unit, and not equipped to be powered by any other fuel source, board members declined to pursue the purchase.
• Learned that Deer and air park business partner Clark Galloway, and unnamed others were in discussions about hosting a hot-air balloon event at Galloway Landings sometime in early fall of 2021. Proceeds of the event would benefit a township organization.
— The editor of Townbroadcast was unable to log in to the meeting, but citizen Steve Shoemaker provided most the information for this article.