VILLAGE of MECOSTA
115 W. Main St. P.O. Box 387 Mecosta, MI 49332 231-972-7614 ofc
PROPOSED Minutes of Regular Meeting on Feb 7, 2022 in office
Present: Ann Wrobbel, Colleen Beemer, Alice Ray, Katherine Snider, Kim Wernette, Joy Moorman, Melissa Moorman, Kevin Stevens, Guests:Mark Baumann, Pat Sundquist, Gerry Wallace, Steve Norton, Kat & Melissa from Barryton council.
Meeting called to order by President Ann Wrobbel at 6:00 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance recited. Minutes of Regular Meeting of 1.3.22 read. Change the word ‘supervisor’ to ‘president’. Motion by Ann to approve minutes with word change. Seconded by Katherine. Motion carried.
Public Comments: *Mark requested a sponsorship for Music on the River. 2021 average attendance was 135. 7/1/22 start date. Motion by Kim to use $500 of our community promotion funds from the airport lease to sponsor Music on the River this summer. Katherine seconded. Motion carried. *Patty presented a letter she wrote to formally ask the Council for her last paycheck now rather than in April. Motion by Alice to pay Patty now. Seconded by Katherine. Motion carried.
President’s Report: *Pine Tree park Banner advertising contract presented. Clarification was given as follows: a. Volunteers to remove from & put back on the fence the banners, thus no additional cost to the Village. b. The $10 cost for this service, paid by the banner advertiser to be placed into the Pine Tree park budget. c. There is wording in the contract detailing that the Village will not be liable for any lost or damaged banners. *Trustee reduction from 6 to 4 persons. This is a months-long process, which includes drafting an Ordinance by our attorney. It was suggested also that we invite our attorney, Mr. Eric Williams, to a meeting or workshop to discuss pertinent issues, like Bylaws and Ordinances. We will need to budget accordingly. Motion by Ann to look into the reduction of the number of trustees from 6 to 4. Seconded by Kim. Ann to contact Mr. Williams regarding Trustee term rotation. Note: Kim suggested this be done in full by email, with the entire Council included therein {Clerk would like a small change added that Clerk and Treasurer be included as well.}; Ann said she would call Eric in the morning. Motion carried. *Vacant Village property behind Coffee and Cream: It was suggested at last month’s meeting that the coffee shop owners check first with Morton Township. Ann has since received a letter from the Morton Township Zoning Dept. detailing that the first actions are to be done by The Village of Mecosta. We can gift or sell this property. Note: At the last meeting, the coffee shop was granted the use of said vacant property at zero cost. Marcos, the coffee shop owner, would like to legally own said property. Marcos’ lawyer is Steve Lobert in Big Rapids. Motion by Ann to pass Resolution 2022-001 to let the Owner’s of Coffee and Cream, in Mecosta, proceed with the legal process to acquire/own the vacant land, currently owned by the Village of Mecosta, behind their coffee shop in Mecosta, detailed by the property description listed in said Resolution. Note: the families of Prill and Voss, have previously gone through the legal process to own individual pieces of land adjacent to the land detailed in the above Resolution. Seconded by Kim. Roll Call vote: 5 Yeas. 0 Nays. Motion carried.
*Sealed bids for purchase of Village Owned ‘old’ ‘big’ Kubota tractor, L2650.. 3 received – 2 certified, 1 not certified. Bids were required to be sent by certified mail, thus the uncertified bid was left unopened, unaccepted. Certified: 1. Greg Phillips: $1155.00 2. Kevin Stevens: $1500.00. Motion by Ann to accept Kevin Stevens’ bid of $1500 for the purchase of the bigger, used, Model # L2650, Kubota tractor. Seconded by Alice. Roll Call vote: 5 Yeas, 0 Nays. Motion carried. This money is to be deposited into the Asset Fund.
Treasurer’s report: Printouts of reconciliations of all 6 accounts were dispersed to council detailing debits/credits and current balances. We have received an additional $95.41 from the State because funds were disbursed by Municipalities opting out of accepting the ARPA funds.
Clerk’s Report: Melissa had handed out reports for review detailing income & expenses for park budgets and other misc. line items. Other reports on the budget will be available at the office. *Fax cost=$25/month. We have only received a few faxes in the last year and about half were junk mail. The Council and Clerk and Treasurer all have Village emails, which can be easily found on our website. Is the fax necessary at all? *Clerk requested the Council to consider raises for the Treasurer and the Clerk; this can be discussed further at the budget meeting. *Can the Council payment method be changed from annual to bi-annual as mentioned to the clerk recently? Motion by Katherine to discontinue the fax. Seconded by Colleen. Roll Call vote: 5 Yeas, 0 Nays. Motion carried. Worksop would be welcomed to discuss the expenditure of the Covid (ARPA) funds.
Cemetery: One of the roads was plowed by somebody and it is currently being used.
It was requested by a Trustee to consider a Trustee raise; this can be discussed at a future meeting. President suggested that all raises should be comparable to similar village rates of pay. It may be necessary to adopt an ordinance or a resolution.
Pine Tree Park: Horseshoe tourney: 7/9/22, date locked in for use. It was brought up that on Ann’s personal facebook page, a vendor show may be pursued. Council must be contacted and approval received regarding any such vendor show to be held on Village property. *Clerk was given two separate $15 checks to reserve the pavilion for the two horseshoe tournaments currently scheduled. This money should be returned as this is not required for any tournament reservation that has been approved by the Council. The pavilion Agreement and The Liability Waiver will both be required to be completely filled out and returned to the Village office; however, there will be NO charge. Sidenote: Moving forward, the Liability Waiver will be required, in addition to Usage Agreement, for any and all Pavilion Usage. Motion made by Kim to waive Pavilion Usage fees for all Council approved horseshoe tournaments. Seconded by Katherine. Roll call vote: 5 Yeas; 0 Nays. Motion Carries.
Bromley Park: *The Christmas ornaments still need to be taken down from the pavilion and the tree. *Kim suggested that the Council needs to define payment terms regarding installation and removal of all Holiday decorations – will it be hourly or a set fee? In November, Kevin D. Stevens & Steve Norton were each paid 6 hours at $20 and $15, respectively, to install; this month, Ann, who drove Steve’s truck, Kevin D. and Steve have each requested a set fee of $75. The install was lengthy due to a bracket issue. It was suggested that this job should be offered to Village employees. This will be discussed at a future meeting. *Another item to consider is the liability of employees using personal vehicles. *Discussion ensued regarding the issue that at this time Kevin T. Stevens and Steve Norton are both employed as Maintenance Workers.
Pocket Park: Alice presented 3 quotes on a flagpole for pocket park, commercial grade, tapered aluminum, 20’, satin finished, including all necessary hardware – differing wind speed ratings. higher wind speed: $746.30 + $247 s/h, one piece pole; lower wind speed: $627.80 + $247 s/h; other comparable pole: $967 + free s/h. Alice & Kim to look into buying local. Alice stated that since this money has been allotted for this pole, it needs to be purchased prior to March 31. Many years ago, there was money budgeted for this. Discussion ensued on the actual amount that was budgeted; this needs to be addressed. Motion by Kim to purchase a flagpole for Pocket Park with a cost not to exceed $1500. Seconded by Colleen. Roll call vote: 4 Yeas; 1 Nay (Ann.) Motion carried.
Ordinances: *One violation has been turned in and acted upon by Village – building next to John’s bookstore. *A prior violation (on a resident on Cherry & Washington) has previously been turned over to the township. Since Morton has their own Zoning Department, no violations are sent to the county and are acted upon at the township level. Ann will check in this week with the Zoning Administrator at Morton Township. *Also, at some point the Village needs to address, seriously, the boats sitting in the parking lot of the building next door to the Village office, previously used as a restaurant. This is a safety issue as they are blocking line of sight in the roadway. *Additionally, we need to address the encroachment of boats by Lakeside Motor Sports on our property adjacent to the land they lease. This is also a safety issue as that business is blocking some or all of the public access to the airport for emergency use. This area was not and is not included in the Airport Lease.
Community Activities: Council as a whole to accept responsibility for this committee.
Research & Information: Re: website Joy & Kim to coordinate to upload all the minutes from Jan 2021 to date.
Street Commissioner: Fuel pump purchased for diesel fuel for our tractors. Kevin was previously given a 55 gal fuel barrel; he has cleaned it and is offering it for purchase by the Council at $450. Request made to have the Village purchase a battery charger for use with Village equipment, Schumacher, mechanical dial control, $350 digital type is about $100 more. Request made to have the Village purchase an air compressor for use with Village equipment, about $350, including hose and air chucks. *The new snowblower runs great. Guides were installed on the clear plastic windshield. Motion by Alice to allow Kevin to purchase, at the best value comparing cost and durability and Village needs, one battery charger and one air compressor, not to exceed $400 Each to come out of the Asset Fund, which currently requires a minimum purchase price of $250. Seconded by Kim. Roll Call vote: 5 Yeas, 0 Nays. Motion carried. *After tractor was received, Kevin contacted Burnips to order for us an extra set of filters, blades & belt for the mower deck, guides & cutting edge for the snowblower. Burnips agreed to not only place the order but to also cover all of the costs, i.e. no additional cost to the Village; value = approximately $2000. Additionally, they did not charge us for the delivery. Thank you Burnips! *Kevin has for sale a used pickup truck: 1988 K2500, $4500, new tires, new brakes, new exhaust, ¾ T, 4 wheel drive, 140,000 miles approximately, rust on box and cab corner. Would the Village be interested in purchasing this truck to haul equipment and use for park maintenance? Trustee would like to table; this could be a conflict of interest & we require three bids & we should look into all available options besides a truck purchase.
Current bills reviewed. Pre-approval by Council of all bills over $100 is required, with no exceptions. Question addressed to Street Administrator regarding training both Kevie and Steve on the new tractor. Training on all new equipment should be encouraged to prevent any issues; both guys were trained so that when one is off work, the other can correctly operate equipment. Motion by Kim to approve bills. Seconded by Alice. Roll Call vote: 5 Yeas, 0 Nays. Motion carried.
New Business: *Patty spoke of the upcoming egg hunt. April 17th is Easter. We could hold it on April 9th with a rain date of April 16th. March 27th could be a workshop. Last year: $234.92 spent. Motion by Kim to approve up to $300 for the 2022 Easter Egg Hunt to come out of the Community Promo line item which comes from the $5000 money received from the Airport Lease. Seconded by Alice. Roll Call vote: 5 Yeas, 0 Nays. Motion carried. *Katherine and Colleen brought up the icy roads which can be a severe safety hazard and should be salted/sanded, keeping in mind the limitations of these substances. Brine has different limitations. The Village will address these concerns this week. *Port a johns: Kim would like us to get quotes for upcoming season; Joy will call around. *Kevin was asked to measure street banners. *Road signs recently purchased are plastic and cannot be used on the roads, but they can be used in the parks. Also, they didn’t come with posts. Ann will check with the county on posts. Ann suggested using an MDOT approved street sign catalog. *Pat wondered if the picnic tables had been started, to be composed of the wood from the trees cut at Pine Tree park. Kevin responded not yet due to cold weather and that we may be able to build 10 – 15 tables. (Note that Trustee Snider had to leave at this point (8:15) due to her early morning work schedule.) *Ann is looking at installing electricity on the poles west of the bridge (6?), which could possibly qualify as an expenditure under the new Covid funds. *Ann is waiting for the weather to break to get bids on road paving. *Ann was approached on having a children’s carnival at one of the parks. *Linda Howard brought to the council’s attention that her son, Ryan, has purchased the youth community building on 15 acres. It will probably used as a viable business, rather than a non-profit. Alice inquired on that property reverting back to village property should there ever be a default. This was just a rumor, incorrect information. The deed is clean and has no such exceptions or wording. There was also discussion on the allowable property and building uses, pertaining to Village use laws and/or resolutions.
Public Comments: None
Motion to adjourn at 8:23 by Ann. Seconded by Alice. Motion CARRIED.
Village of Mecosta 