The Shelby Village Council met Monday, Sept. 9, a number of business items on its agenda.
Village Administrator Phil Morse informed council the quote from Appetegy, an online platform for an updated website and citizen notification system, that was tabled in August, may be on permanent hold. A local citizen reached out to Morse following the Aug. 26 meeting to say they are in the same line of work and can do what the village is wanting for a lower price. This person told Morse they will be providing a quote before the next regularly scheduled council meeting.
Two resolutions were voted on and approved. Council gave their approval for a tree trimming proposal from A Cut Above of Hart, Mich. for $5,000 which will include the cutting down, chipping and removing of debris/wood for two pine trees at Barnett Station, three old maples across from Wesco and the pruning/removing of large tree branches on Sixth Street near the cemetery that are obstructing driver’s views, as well as an old maple laying in the woods. Councilor Mike Termer wondered if another quote had been sought. According to Morse, two other contractors were contacted but had not responded.
By a vote of five to one, the council also approved the 294-page document “Codified Ordinances of the Village of Shelby” with the additional language regarding sidewalk maintenance and the Snowmobile Ordinance, originally adopted in October 2015. Councilors Curt Trott, Damien Omness, John Sutton, Dan Zaverl and Village President Paul Inglis voted in favor, while Councilor Steve Crothers voted in opposition. Councilor Termer was absent for this portion of the meeting. Crothers had concerns about the sidewalk maintenance ordinance and what it could mean for people with large portions of sidewalk and the inability to have them cleared per village ordinance. The approved document is the result of months of work going over every village ordinance word by word and updating where needed and appropriate. For $900 a year, the ordinance document will be available online and searchable using keywords. No public hearing is needed for the adoption of this updated document. It will go into effect on Oct. 24, 2024, 45 days from its Sept. 9 adoption. A separate, yet related, Fee Schedule will be approved at a later date.
Council discussed a possible IGA (Intergovernmental Agreement) between the township and the village for the sharing of certain equipment. The village and township already do some equipment sharing; an IGA would formalize that sharing to protect both entities. Nearly every council member weighed in with their questions and concerns, including what equipment an IGA would cover and what would be the procedure, so the village would have access and working equipment when it was needed. Inglis noted he thought the proposed draft was very detailed. Sutton added that the village shares equipment with Hart and New Era already.
Also discussed was whether or not to keep a crossing guard at the State Street and Fifth Street crosswalk. With the construction of the new elementary school further north, use of the crosswalk has declined. Police Chief Dean Roesler asked if a crossing guard was needed and if the village might be able to get by using signage and technology, commenting, “I’d like to give this more thought, map out what is in place, what’s coming and what we could do. The demographics have shifted. Perhaps we need to move the crossing area to where kids are actually going.” In the meantime, Roesler and his department are covering crossing guard duty at the aforementioned crosswalk.
The Shelby Benona Fire Department requested closure of Industrial Drive from Sixth Street to approximately 150 feet northwest of the fire barn from 4-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8 for their open house. Council wanted to make sure people coming from 72nd Avenue would know the road would be blocked by the fire department and that there were plans for parking. Council gave permission to work out the details with the police department and the DPW.
Finally, Morse was pleased to announce that with the help of many volunteers, the playground surface at Getty Park had been installed; there have been several applications for the parks maintenance position with interviews to have been conducted in the two weeks following the Sept. 9 meeting; a traffic survey, sponsored by the county REACH team, was planned for Friday, Sept. 27 during both the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times at school; the Shelby Homecoming Parade will be October 4 from 4:30-5:30 through downtown.
Since the Sept. 9 Shelby Village Council meeting, Morse is pleased to announce the hiring of Owen Peterson of Montague to fill the Parks Maintenance position that was recently posted. He is set to begin his duties on Monday, September 30.
