COVER PHOTO: This wall TV was added to the township hall meeting room, as board members projected agenda items onto the device, purchased with federal ARPA funds, and were able to share what they were working on with audience members.
Watson Township officials sincerely believe state government will give them a better revenue sharing package next year if they spend all of the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds before the end of 2023.
So they were at it again Thursday night at their meeting, taking some more money from the $46,606 they had left in their coffers. This time it will cover purchases of $5,293 from Applied Innovations for a new copier, a yet to be determined amount for new chairs and tables for meetings, and $4,064.46 for three new security cameras from Simply Scalable Security.
Furthermore, the board authorized up to $1,000 to buy two new ceiling fans inside the township hall.
In other business at the meeting Thursday night, the board:
- Learned from Allegan County Commissioner Gale Dugan that the county is transitioning away from its agreement with Wishbone Rescue to operate the animal shelter. The county wants to be able to change the current “no-kill” policy to accommodate euthanizing up to 10 percent of the animals considered dangerous.
- Learned from Supervisor Kevin Travis that the Allegan County Road Commission will pave 124th Avenue next year in the township.
- Also was told by Dugan that the county will receive a state grant of $28.4 million to put the finishing touches on the rural high-speed Internet access project, which is expected to be completed by spring 2025.
- Was told by Trustee and Planning Commissioner John Caras that the commission on Oct. 25 went into closed session to discuss the looming gravel mining lawsuit by North Star Aggregates.
