The meeting was mostly casual & relaxed, but John Fairbanks did a great job of moderating the proceedings because the Supervisor, Douglas Mann, was out of town with a previous family commitment.
Highlights of the meeting:
Election workers approved for November 8th election:
Sharyn McGreehan, Republican
Pat Bishop-Democrat
Sharon Puff-No party affiliation
ORV Informational meeting turned over to Dave Kott-speakers included Mike Newmann, Staff Sergeant & Rec Enforcement of Lake County Sheriff Dept; Larry Collier, Lake County Board of Commissioners Chair; Bill Gillard, Sauble twp supervisor; and Charlie Young, Lake County Road Commission
Most of those in attendance were for the opening up of the roads in Elk Township, therefore...
J. Fairbanks-motion to insert a questionnaire in the outgoing winter tax statements to all taxpayers of Elk twp, simple & clear:
“Do you want to open county maintained roads in Elk Township…Yes, or No”
V. Gates seconded, all in favor, so a letter will be included in the winter tax statements going out the end of November
Next regularly scheduled meeting will be November 16th, so as not to coincide with the election or opening day of rifle season...
Happy Hunting & don't forget to Vote!
Below is a letter given to Vicki a few days after the last board meeting. I don't believe the voters of Elk Twp are fairly represented by a survey.
ReplyDeleteOctober 19, 2011
OPEN LETTER ELK TOWNSHIP BOARD
OPEN ROADS FOR ORV & ATV USE
This letter is written in response to the October 11, 2011 Board meeting wherein a group of supporters for opening all the roads of Elk Twp. to free ORV /ATV use, currently prohibited by State laws, were allowed to speak for an extended time. We were very surprised as this meeting had been billed to be an open discussion of issues however it was a stacked deck for all parties that own, operate or commercially might benefit for a change to our current laws. Recently, a down state lobby group has been successful at passing a State wide law allowing ORV use on public roads above a certain line in Northern Michigan if local governmental units approve.
At the end of the meeting the trustees of Elk Twp. voted to place a “survey” in each land owner’s winter tax bill for a simple “up or down vote” of this issue. We believe this is in fact just another effort to stack the deck in favor of usage. We believe this is an important issue to the permanent residences of our community and should not be decided by a “survey” of landowners or the Board. In short, a ballot determination is the only fair method to for residents most affected to agree on this matter. It is just as important an issue as improper utilization of Twp funds for a project which caused a special recall election this past summer.
Should the Board choose to place this survey in each winter tax bill, then with all respect we would ask they include this letter and positively answer the following points before approval of any use of our roads.
1.What legal ORV or ATV trails currently exist in Elk Twp that opening the roads would service? Looking at State ORV/ATV trail maps the nearest (approx. 10 miles) to the township is east of M-37 and 12 Mile. Note snowmobile trails generally are not open to ORV/ATV use and snowmobiles by State law are not ORVs. Without a reason for ORV access to legal trails there appears no logical reason for Twp. wide usage of roads.
2.What zoning or other local ordinances will protect the residents of Elk Twp. from the property damages that will occur from ORV / ATV use? The lack of proper zoning or other ordinances will increase the likelihood of disputes when use on adjacent private property occurs.
3.What percentage of current residences of Elk Twp. own ORVs or would benefit from this change? Seems pretty simple that there needs to be some actual verified practical or economic benefit (not just alleged as in the meeting) before a positive Board approval.
4.Identify specific funding available to Elk Twp for repair to roads and other adjacent private areas caused by increased ORV/ATV usage. Identify specific funds for increased enforcement needs from the increased potential for violations. Anyone that has spent a Spring season on our roads knows how vulnerable they are to excessive use and lack of local enforcement.
5.Identify via legal opinion responsibility for third party liability to injury or property damage from use of ORV on Elk Township roads. These are not usually “street legal” vehicles so there is an entire host of risk management problems both from a personal liability and or governmental stand point. We have written to the township on these issues without response.
So bottom line – if you have a survey to fill out from the Board on this issue consider at least the above points. We believe there are others but for the sake of a short review we are keeping this response to one page and the October 11th Board meeting.
Respectfully,
A forty year beneficiary of Elk Twp. out door life and a nine year resident.
About time the non residents that pay most of the taxes get a say so!!
ReplyDelete