Bridgeport Township DDA Board Meeting February 24th, 2016

On the agenda:
Public Comments begin at 2:15
New Business -
- Beautification 2016 begins at 5:52
- Inspection of Bridge Maintenance begins at 8:08
- Saginaw Future begins at 10:37
Old Business -
- Great Lakes Discovery Center Update begins at 12:35
- North Gateway Update begins at 15:47
- Cass River Trail Head Update begins at 18:35
- a. Funding Update begins at 25:17
DDA Coordinator's Report begins at 27:05
© 2016 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

Mr. Larry Ford from the Birch Run/Bridgeport Chamber of Commerce spoke during the public comment period.  He gave a update on the success of the Chamber's "Best Of Awards" dinner and award ceremony.  It was a fantastic evening and Joel Fieck did a great job as the emcee for the awards ceremony.
The DDA Coordinator and others had lots of positive updates about things going on in Bridgeport right now.  2016 is looking to be a very beautiful and exciting year here in Bridgeport.
Mr. John Hoffman was recognized at the meeting.  He and his wife Betty were the winners of the Bridgeport "Citizen Of The Year" award.  There was a small luncheon after the meeting.  I want to mention the Chocolate Fudge cake they had from Kroger's here in Bridgeport.  For my fellow chocolate lovers - be sure to try it!
The DDA meeting was rescheduled from it's usual time earlier this month because DDA Coordinator Steve Dobis was in Florida for several weeks.  He just came back here to Michigan earlier this week I believe.  I think Mother Nature just wanted to remind Mr. Dobis of what Michigan can be like in the winter.  So if anyone is upset with this severe winter storm we are having right now, you can blame it on Mr. Dobis.  

Bridgeport Township School Board Meeting February 22nd, 2016

On the agenda:
- 2015-2016 Budget Amendments begin at 1:35
- Legal Council Discussion And Appointment begins at 10:00
- Board And Superintendent Comments begin at 16:20
There was no citizen participation at tonight's meeting. They were scheduled to have a closed session but that was canceled. Policy Committee Report and Recommended Actions were also canceled.
© 2016 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

It was a very short meeting.  Main business was the adjustments to the budget.

November 17th, 2015 Deer Season In Michigan

I never got around to sharing a photo of the buck I got this past season.  This is the second best buck I have ever taken.  The last few seasons have not been too good so I was very happy with this season.  I saw more deer and deer sign than I have seen in years and was looking forward to filling my tags and a few freezers with fresh venison but some family things came up so I wasn't able to finish the season.  This is the first buck I have taken in the morning hours.  He came in at about 7:20am.  50 yard shot took out one lung and his heart.  He only made it about 35 to 40 yards before falling over dead.
Yes I am a female and yes I do shoot and dress out my own deer.  The only thing I can't do is drag them out of the woods by myself.  I had help and it took us almost 2 hours to get him out.

 

Bridgeport School Board 2016 Meeting Schedule And Information

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT

2016 Board of Education
Patrick Nelson, President
Robert L. Lange, Vice President
Tedi Morris, Secretary
Larry Long, Treasurer
Dempsey Allen, Trustee
Jay A. Bruns, Trustee
Marti Sageman, Trustee 

2016 Committee Assignments
Buildings & Grounds/Finance      
Larry Long, Chair       
Jay Bruns          

Pat Nelson
Carol Selby, Pete Basile, Jeff Ladd, Ex-Officio Member

Curriculum
Tedi Morris, Chair
Pat Nelson           
Marti Sageman
Carol Selby, Ex-Officio

Personnel   
Dempsey Allen, Chair   
Robert Lange
Tedi Morris
Carol Selby, Ex-Officio

Policies
Robert Lange, Chair
Dempsey Allen
Pat Nelson
Robin Johnson, Ex-Officio  

Dempsey Allen
Trustee – Term Expires:  2016
989.777.0560 ~ allend@bscs.k12.mi.us 

Jay A. Bruns
Trustee – Term Expires:  2018
989.401.2262 ~ brunsj@bscs.k12.mi.us 

Robert L. Lange
Vice President – Term Expires:  2018
989.777.3524 ~ langer@bscs.k12.mi.us 

Larry Long
Treasurer – Term Expires:  2016
989.777.5085 ~ longla@bscs.k12.mi.us
 
Tedi Morris
Secretary – Term Expires:  2016
989.777.8564 ~ morriste@bscs.k12.mi.us 

Patrick Nelson
President – Term Expires:  2018
989.777.3319 ~ nelsonp@bscs.k12.mi.us  

Martha A. Sageman
Trustee – Term Expires:  2016
989.777.0637 ~ sagemanm@bscs.k12.mi.us 

Bridgeport School Board Meeting February 8th, 2016

On the agenda:
- They start the meeting by going into closed session at 0:52
- They have discussion to go into a second closed session at 3:15
- There was no public comment this meeting
- Agenda adjustments begin at 19:25
- School Board Recognition begins at 20:30
- Consent Agenda: Payment of Bills, Board Report, Minutes begins at 22:42
- Quarterly Report by Mrs. Duran begins at 25:18
- Treasury Department Update begins at 42:53
- Policy Committee Report and Approval begins at 49:34
- Curriculum Committee Report begins at 1:03:08
- Buildings & Grounds/Finance Committee Report and Approval begins at 1:06:33
- Board and Superintendent Comments begin at 1:16:05
© 2016 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

Bridgeport School Board Finance Committee Meeting February 4th, 2016

This was a meeting of the Building & Grounds and the Finance Committee. There are no microphones in these meetings so it can be hard to hear some of the members speak.

- Meeting starts out with discussion of the budget and the changes due to the Michigan Treasury Department taking over monitoring of the school district.
- Discussion of the bids taken for custodial and transportation starts at 16:43
- Discussion of the possible closure of Thomas White School begins at 31:00
- Discussion of the Moss and Mercury Projects ( upgrading of the technology ) begins at 51:30
- Bridge Fest discussion begins at 55:54
- Discussion of the sale of the shop items begins at 1:12:35
- More discussion on custodial and transportation issues begins at 1:27:05 ( there is a break in the video at about 1:32:32 because I had to change the camera battery )
- Funny little news bit about a car chase that ended on school property begins at 1:39:40
- Discussion of a meeting to be held to update employees begins at 1:41:17
© 2016 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

Bridgeport Township Board Meeting February 2nd, 2016

On the agenda:
Public Comment begins at 3:06
New Business -
- Law Enforcement Ordinances begins at 7:39
- St. Matthews - Taking Steps Against Hunger Event begins at 14:26
- DDA Meeting Date Change begins at 21:05
- Clerk Dispatcher - Police - Job Description begins at 21:52
- Fire Chief Nelson - Fire Department Updates begins at 24:18
Board Member Comments begin at 29:45
© 2016 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved

During the public comment period Mr. Larry Ford from the Birch Run/Bridgeport Chamber spoke about the upcoming "Best Of" Awards dinner to be held on February 17th.  He spoke about some of the gifts that will be in the silent auction including two vacations in Myrtle Beach. They are still taking donations for the silent auction.  It is a very nice event, the food is excellent, good company.
You can get information about the event and tickets on their event page:
Best Of Awards And Dinner Event Page 

There was a discussion about Law Enforcement Ordinances.  I am not quite clear at this time exactly what all this action will entail. They will only involve misdemeanors, not felonies.  Now ordinances can be a good thing, often they are useful to take the place of common sense that seems to be lacking in modern society....  But what the Libertarian side of me hears in this discussion is the phrase "circumvent the prosecutor's office" and "the citation will work as the warrant".  I am a big believer in the system of Checks and Balances.  Don't even get me started about the lack of proper checks and balances in our federal and state level governments.  To me it seems like taking a complaint to the prosecutors office first is a part of that checks and balances process.  If they can take these complaints now directly to the courts, then it would seem that the only checks and balances will be at the court level.  I had the experience once of sitting on a jury and after that I have very little faith in our court system and non what so ever in our jury system.  My advice since that experience to anyone is to never have a trial by jury!
I understand what the township and the police department hope to achieve with this and am not really criticizing them for it.  I can definitely see the need for more timely results/actions on cases!  That Libertarian in me though just automatically bristles at the thought of any thing that could possibly take away a safe guard from abuse of power at any level of government.  So the administration will work on this and then there will be a public notification about the matter and then there will be a public meeting held.  Hopefully there will be some Bridgeport residents actually show up and give some feedback on the matter.

Jean Schluckebier from St. Matthew's Lutheran Church also spoke about the "Taking Steps Against Hunger" event that they held last year, which was a success.  They will be holding the event again this year on Sunday September 25th, 2016.  I am sure they can use community support like volunteers and donations.  St. Matthew's Lutheran Church has a Facebook page and a website where they posted information about last years event and you can check there for updates when they post them for this years event.
St. Matthew's Lutheran Church - Facebook Page

St. Matthew's Lutheran Church - Website

The DDA Board meeting has been rescheduled for February 24th at 12 Noon at the Governmental Center.
They updated the job description for the police dispatcher position.  The current dispatcher will be retiring this spring after 30 years.
Fire Chief Nelson also gave a update on the fire department and the new fire engine.  I haven't seen the new truck in person yet but hope to have some time soon to check it out.  They have some photos of the new truck on their Facebook page.
Bridgeport Fire Department - Facebook

And once again I will add that it is worth the time to listen to the board member comments at the end of the meeting!

"Best Of" Awards And Dinner Coming Up February 17th

The awards ceremony hosted by the Birch Run/Bridgeport Chamber Of Commerce will be held on February 17th at the Candlelite Banquet Center in Bridgeport.   A fun event with silent auction, dinner, awards ceremony.

Click here for all information:

Best Of Awards Information On Birch Run/Bridgeport Chamber Website

February Meetings In Bridgeport Township

The DDA Board meeting for February has been rescheduled to February 24th at 12 Noon at the Governmental Center.  The DDA Board Meetings are usually scheduled for the 2nd Wednesday of the month.

The Bridgeport School Board has not posted a schedule for 2016 yet, but the meetings are usually held on the 2nd Monday of the month.  The next meeting should be held on February 8th at 6pm at the Bridgeport High School.  Some months they have two meetings but I don't know yet when or if they will be held.

The Bridgeport Trustee Meetings are held on the 1st Tuesday of the month.  The February meeting will be held this evening at 6pm at the Governmental Center.  Here is a schedule for 2016 of the Trustee meetings and the township holidays.