PAGES

Local Government Meetings

New Buffalo Times

Democracy Requires Transparency

CITY OF NEW BUFFALO JOHN HUMPHREY, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL MARK ROBERTSON, ROGER LIJESKI, JOHN HUMPHREY, BRIAN FLANAGAN, VANCE PRICE City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30PM CITY OF NEW BUFFALO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS to be determined NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP BOARD PETE RAHM, MICHELLE HEIT, JUDY H. ZABICKI, PATTY IAZZETTO, JACK ROGERS Board meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7PM NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM

NEW BUFFALO AREA SCHOOLS BOARD FRANK MAGRO, LISA WERNER, HEATHER BLACK, DENISE CHURCHILL, BRADLEY BURNER, VANESSA THUN CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP BOARD DAVID BUNTE, PAULA DUDIAK, LIZ RETTIG, RICHARD SULLIVAN, BILL MARSKE Chikaming Board meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30PM CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:30PM THREE OAKS THREE OAKS TOWNSHIP BOARD Meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7PM VILLAGE OF THREE OAKS BOARD Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7PM GRAND BEACH Meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7PM MARY ROBERTSON, CLERK DEBORAH LINDLEY, BLAKE O’HALLORAN, JAMES BRACEWELL, PETER DOERR, PAUL LEONARD, JR. MICHIANA VILLAGE OF MICHIANA COUNCIL Meets on the 2nd Friday of each month at 1PM

Committee to explore future of Chikaming Township’s parks system

Considering a proposal for the dissolution of the current elected Chikaming Township Park Board was approved by voters during the Nov. 8 general election, members of the Chikaming Township Board of Trustees approved creating a committee to report back to the board with regards to ideas for how to move forward with the parks system at their Thursday, Nov. 10, meeting.

Chikaming Township Supervisor David Bunte said he’s spoken briefly on forming some type of transition advisory committee or some type of committee to “discuss the options that are available to see what fits best for the scale and scope of all our parks and beach access points for us.”

He’s reached out to people who’ve expressed interest in further researching options, including Fran Wersells, Deborah Hall-Kayler (a former park board chair) and Walt Knake, who was a previous parks board director for 11 years for Western Springs, Illinois.

Trustee Rich Sullivan also volunteered to be the board trustee on the committee.

Sullivan said it’s important to be “realistic about the size of what the township is” in terms of how they want the parks system to look.

“We need to really have people seriously look at what are the expectations for a township this size (roughly under 3,000 people) - what are the expectations that these people want and also are they willing to pay for it because down the line it may become a situation for you may have to have a special millage for park and recreation,” he said.

Bunte added that he also wanted to convey to the public that they can give their input on the matter, passing it onto Sullivan.

An overwhelming number of voters also approved the proposal with regards to the township levying .35 mills library millage for a period of six years, which will raise an estimated $250,000 in the first year the millage is levied, “of which equal portions will be distributed to Bridgman Library, New Buffalo Township Public Library and Three Oaks Township Library.”

The township has a contract with the three libraries that will expire June 2023, which requires it to continue to pay the $30,000 annual fee ($10,000 per library) as well as penal fines, which will be distributed equally among each library.

Bunte said they’ll still be required to distribute penal fines. The millage will be on the December 2023 tax roll.

Board members approved Bunte proceeding with a preliminary proposal from Enterprise on their open leasing program.

Chikaming Township Fire Chief Allen Weich said that two agencies in the area contract with Enterprise for a fleet services type program, during which they can get vehicles from different manufacturers.

It’s an open lease program, meaning the township is leasing the vehicles and not purchasing them.

Weich said the township can order vehicles for the public safety side and they will come equipped with items such as a siren and light bar packages when dropped off.

=BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

Enterprise recommends a five-year replacement program, and that the number of vehicles the township receive now can be swapped out in five years. The program will include newer vehicles and a less – or possibly no – maintenance cost on them, as well as the chance for the vehicles to increase in resale value every year.

In the first year, the township would look at getting nine vehicles entered into the program. The program requires the township to have 20 leased vehicles.

Chikaming Township Police Chief Todd Taylor said that the township doesn’t have to lease all 20 vehicles and that they just will have 20 vehicles “that need to be utilized by Chikaming Township.”

The first year would cost around $96,000, which also includes participation in the maintenance program.

Board members approved Taylor applying for a grant through the Par Plan Grant Risk Reduction Grant Program to replace the police department’s body worn cameras.

Board members approved Bunte submitting three grants through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ $65 million Michigan Sparks Grant program.

No match is required, and individual grant amounts range from a minimum of $100,000 to a maximum of $1 million.

The township can submit up to three grant applications for projects related to parks and recreation. The first one would be for the Sawyer Square, which is a proposed gathering

space on the former fire station property in downtown Sawyer. The second one would be for the improvements in the redesign and landscape of Lakeside Park on Red Arrow Highway, which would potentially be renamed Veterans Memorial Park and have an exit and entrance that would come off the linear park. The third application would be for the next phase of improvements to Harbert Community Park, which could involve the installation of a restroom facility that could serve also serve as the trailhead of the linear park as well as pickleball courts.

Board members adopted a resolution opposing House Bill 4722 and Senate Bill 446, which will restrict local restriction on short term rentals.

Bunte said the bills are going into lame duck session and it’s expected the Michigan Legislature will try to pass some legislation on limited control of short-term rentals.

Board members approved allowing Bunte proceeding with a letter of intent for bidding for auditors, as their one-year agreement with their current one has expired.

Board members approved the fire department’s request to replace its Emergency Reporting and Active Alert software with First Due.

Weich said that First Due has an all-in-one program, which means it can replace Active Alert as well as the department’s reporting software and is the new NEMSIS compliance standard.

More refining for marijuana sales proposal

BY STAN MADDUX

New Buffalo officials are trying to work out the final kinks of an ordinance that would allow for the retail whether the 1,000 foot restriction should remain or be reduced. Planning Commission member Debbie Schmidt said she was concerned about people who sale of marijuana in the city.

The New Buffalo Planning Commission voted to allow John Weiss, an attorney from Chicago, to amend the language in the proposal Tuesday, Nov. 15.

The planning commission previously gave a favorable recommendation to the proposal, which was later rejected by the city council and sent back to the planning commission for revision.

Mayor John Humphrey said he felt the wording in the document was “very good” but not tight enough to guarantee the measure holding up in court should it be adopted by the city council and legally challenged.

“It’s not comprehensive enough for what we need for something of this magnitude,” he said.

The heart of the issue seems to involve a proposed requirement that no marijuana shop can be closer than 1,000 feet from a school, church or the city’s commercial district.

The planning commission voted unanimously to have the distance measured from property lines instead of the front doors of buildings.

That procedure will be among the changes reflected in the revised ordinance expected to be presented at the next planning commission meeting, perhaps, in January.

Eligible parcels outside the required boundaries will also be identified in writing at the recommendation of New Buffalo City Manager Darwin Watson.

“Then it’ll be one package to give to you,” he said.

There seems to some dispute on bought property for opening a marijuana shop but their parcels do not meet the proposed distance requirement. However, Planning Commissioner member Paul Billingsley said those people should have waited until after restrictions governing such operations were finalized. “Buying property when nothing has been approved is a dice roll,” he said. Billingsley also pointed out support of the measure by the planning commission hinged on the 1,000 foot restriction to keep it away from the immediate presence of children and other people who might be offended by such an establishment.

He also noted the proposed radius is common statewide for establishments selling other things such as liquor.

Humphrey estimated there are just a handful of parcels that would be eligible to house a marijuana retail operation under the current proposal.

“With this language in here, I would be surprised if there’s more than three or four that meet the criteria,” he said.

When final consideration will be taken by the city council is not clear.

Billingsley advised all of the time necessary be taken to make sure the proposal is to everybody’s liking since there are no deadlines to meet for taking action.

OPINIONS

GLOBAL OPINIONS On Fear

OPINION BY DINO N. FATOUROS

How fleeting can Fear become from not wanting anything that’s not truly valuable?

It seems, my opinion on what’s valuable and what’s not valuable significantly weighs on how I feel, on my opinion, where a life time is utilized?

How much more likely am I to live Happily practicing contentness, not wanting or desiring things outside of Nature and outside my control? Like you, somewhere along the way, I was influenced to believe things valuable that after a long enough time line view, turned out to be more like slavery.

Now what?

Consider know what’s valuable according to Nature and know what’s not valuable according to Nature? Cheers