Regular Council Meeting Minutes - Thursday, October 4, 2007

Meeting called to order by President Belanger at 7:00 PM

Roll Call: Baltazar, Belanger, Cantrell, Elliott, Kilgus, Pallin, Rank, Superintendent Moore, Treasurer Olney, Clerk Spencer, ZA Kinzel

Guests: 10

Pledge of Allegiance voiced by all.

Additions to the agenda:
1. Anne Damm - Presentation of Brownfield Assessment Project
2. Friends of the Betsie Trail - Ron Renner and Beverly Toomey - Rain Garden at Trailhead Building
3. A - Z status under Old Business
No conflict of interest voiced by any council members.

Call to approve the agenda: Motion by Rank, support by Baltazar - All Ayes - MOTION CARRIED

Approval of Meeting Minutes - September 6, 2007 - Motion by Rank, support by Kilgus - All Ayes - MOTION CARRIED

Approval of September/October bills - bills dated 9/6/07 already approved at September Meeting - Motion by Cantrell, support by Pallin to approve bills - Roll Call: AYES: Baltazar, Belanger, Elliott, Kilgus, Pallin, Rank, Cantrell - NAYES - NONE - MOTION CARRIED
No public comment on agenda items.

Communication to Council:

Katherine Ross - Benzie Planning Commission - Summit to be held at Best Western on November 13, 2007 from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. John Amrion will present objectives for planning and zoning - needs and things that can be done better in the county. Invitation will be sent in the mail (council has already received). Requests that council members consider attending.

Vicki Carpenter presented copy of the newsletter. It will be mailed out with the water bills in a week. Interviews with people have been positive. It is important to keep newsletter current. Question by Rank concerning pets on the trail - only service animals allowed. Signs are posted - believe only for soft surface section, will try to clarify. Kilgus suggest somehow place in newsletter encouraging business owner to attend council meetings to give input for change. Feedback from residents will be reported back to council. Thanks was given to Vicki.

Phil Downs - Passed out info for downtown upgrades received from Josh Mills. Included in the information: who to contact, types of funding, and grant process. Council needs to set plan for the future and progress from there. Discussion of bring the DDA back into existence. While working on the 2008 budget, it may be wise to include a contingency fund for future improvements.

Anne Damm - Presentation on Brownfield Assessment Project. Benzie county is looking for a grant and is requesting a partnership between Benzie county and Beulah . There is no financial obligation to the Village of Beulah. It would entail the Village of Beulah to help identify places in need. Agreement would be for the duration of the grant. Motion by Rank, support by Pallin to support memorandum - All Ayes - MOTION CARRIED

Ron Renner / Beverly Tooney - The Garden of Possibilities - small garden to be placed in front of the Trailhead Building. Plants have been selected that help purify the water system returning to the lake. The garden will be constructed and maintained by the Betsie Valley Trail - school children will be utilized in the project to help teach environmental factors. Letter of approval has already been received by the Council to support the project. Request of Council for co-operation on placement of considered irrigation system and co-ordinate with Gillison who has contributed their services for digging the flower bed. A split rail fence is planned for the North side of trail, a retaining wall is already in place. Plan for putting garden in place is May 2008. No lighting is planned - Elliott suggests we place lighting, Pallin agrees and suggests co-ordination with gardeners for placement. Belanger will check into placement for lighting and irrigation system.
Treasurer Olney: Treasurers report, Olney asked Council to accept report - Motion by Rank, support by Kilgus - All Ayes - MOTION CARRIED

One outstanding water bill - no building on property. Taxes have been turned over to the county, three delinquent taxes will be collected. Olney suggests the 2006 water report and water/sewer rates be placed on the web site, which was agreed upon.
ZA Kinzel: Sign ordinances have been checked in other counties - they are more restrictive than the Village of Beulah - recommend no changes be made at the present time. Motion by Elliott, support by Rank for no changes - All Ayes - MOTION CARRIED

Trillium Development has dropped litigation, a single dwelling will be constructed - a permit has been issued.
Water/Sewer - Chairman Rank: On October 10th a contractors meeting will be held for the sewer project. The loan and grant papers will be signed at 1:00 PM. Friday, October 12th there will be a ceremony for the grant presentation at the Village office - all are invited to attend. The administrative stay has been lifted on the water tower, presently we are looking at an in ground tank. Updated water and sewer rates have been passed out to council. Suggests assessing a fee for when Brian and Dave go to shut off water and customer gives them a check at that time. Council to consider.
Look into water usage at the trailer park - have been billed quarterly for ready to serve charge - need to assess amount of usage and bill accordingly.

Law/Finance - Chairman Elliott: Elliott and Olney are to work on 2008 budget this Friday. Received a bill from ATT for repairs on line, which was cut when placing a sign - Elliott is negotiating the bill with ATT. It is a must to call Miss Dig before digging. Have not looked into overtime as yet, in reference to keep third crewman. Look at contracting out some services when busy. Kilgus, Elliott, and Belanger will get together to discuss keeping a third person, decision will be made at the next meeting. Rank stated that the fringe benefits for adding another full time person are 37%.

Building/Grounds - Chairman Kilgus: New sign placed on the front of Village office trim will be added to prevent buckling. There is also a new sign at the Cold Creek. A door is being made for the opening between the offices for better climate control.

Parks/Rec - Chairperson Cantrell: Manager description for Trailer park 2008 distributed to council, dates need to be changed on form. Recommend Ray & Kathy Chiemlewski again as they have done a good job. There is a timer on the beach bathhouse now for opening and closing. Manager asked to inform clerk of replacement coverage if they are to be gone. Motion by Rank to approve manager, support by Elliott - All Ayes - MOTION CARRIED.

2008 Trailer Park Rules presented. Additions to the rules - only one vehicle allowed, no carpeting on grass. Rate schedule of amount due and when, will be added. It was determined to keep rental time frames the same at present. A report needs to be completed to show income from the trailer park before rate changes be made, a cost of living raise might be considered.

Cantrell wishes to delineate spots so trailers know where to park. Determine where and how to market trailer park for rental.

Equipment - Chairman Pallin: Trucks are being worked on to be prepared for winter.

Streets/Sidewalks - Chairman Baltazar: Several sidewalks to be replaced/repaired. Act 51 money - $4,135.00.

Funds from Major Street Fund - $10,000.00, Local Street Fund - $15,000.00. Work includes sidewalk in front of Hungry Tummy, construction of sidewalk to parking lot from Benzie, W. side Benzie Blvd. curb needs to be repaired, check on curb replacement. Total cost approximately $19,900.00. Motion by Rank, support by Pallin to proceed with repairs. Roll Call: AYES: Elliott, Cantrell, Pallin, Rank, Kilgus, Baltazar, Belanger - NAYES - NONE - MOTION CARRIED

Superintendent Moore: Sand to be ordered by Baltazar. Barricades for Fall Fest will taken care of by Dave. In the process of reading water meters. The trailer park has been closed and water shutoff. Tables have been stored, swim buoys pulled, part of the T dock has been pulled and stored, meters being pulled, skate park to be tarped, lift station on Center Street has been painted, two new trash barrels placed in town. Water mains will be flushed on Friday

Old Business:
A-Z status - have not heard if an agreement has been reached.

Public comment:
Al Brown asked if a financial agreement with Benzonia had been reached concerning North Street - affirmative.

Thanked council for attending meeting of Concerned Citizens. Sand is 85 cents a yard.
Diane Elliott commented that the leaf sweeper was a good investment for the Village, the park looked great.
Meeting adjourned at 9:10PM
Respectfully submitted,
Laura Spencer
Clerk

Reviewed by President Belanger
Subject to approval at the November 8, 2007 meeting