The meeting was called to order at 10:15 am. All Board members, the Clerk, Chief Schultz, and Scott Henderson of Anderson Brothers were in attendance.
Road construction bids were opened as follows:
- Anderson Brothers for $108,499.19. Responsible Bidder Verification and Bid Bond were included as required.
- Tri-City Paving for $115,589.00. Responsible Bidder Verification and Bid Bond were included as required.
Motion by Peterson, second by Bilek to award the 2017 Road Construction contract to Anderson Brothers. Johnson commented to affirm that Anderson Brothers had provided good service in the past. Motion carried unanimous.
Peterson asked Henderson whether there would be any advantage of coordinating road construction projects with the county. He responded that the county would provide additional monitoring which may be helpful with complex projects, but the benefit to simple projects like most of the Township’s probably would not outweigh the 8% project fee that the county charges. Township staff are available and experienced to provide the monitoring for most Township projects.
A brief discussion of the construction schedule took place. Will coordinate with the Anderson Brothers crew in order to provide residents with reasonable notice of the construction schedule.
A discussion of the previous years’ budget/levy versus actual took place. Overall 2016 was over budget, mostly due to carry-over expenses in road construction and capital projects. Specific items that occurred in 2016 were noted - including additional road construction, the outdoor warning sirens, and the new fire truck payment – that added to the deficit.
Each fund was discussed with regard to plans for 2017 & 2018.
In road construction 2016, the plan is for resurfacing Strawberry Lake Rd & North Clamshell Lane and patching on Old Whiskey Road along with some sealcoating. Expect that 2018 construction plans to be similar in scope. In Parks & Recreation for 2017, there may be some costs for moving the Community Garden idea forward. In Capital Projects, a salt/sand shed, and the Town Hall generator were discussed for 2017.
A preliminary budget for 2018 was considered as follows:
General Fund $175,000 (same as 2017)
Road & Bridge $200,000 (same as 2017)
Road Construction $255,000 (increased $15k)
Fire Department $225,000 (increased $10k)
Parks & Rec $5,000 (same as 2017)
Recycling $5,000 (same as 2017)
Capital Projects $110,000 (decreased $10k)
Transfer Station $12,000 (increased $10k)
Total $987,000 (increased $25k)
This proposed 2018 budget amount would be a 2.6% increase of levy over 2017. The proposed budget will be finalized at the February Board meeting.
There being no further business to conduct, the meeting adjourned at 11:30 am.
John Plein
Ideal Township Clerk
February 10th, 2017