I know that I am late in sharing all of the meetings from February here on the blog. Remember that I always put the videos on YouTube first and then share them on the blog when I have the time or energy. I am trying to make it to most of the meetings for the township government and the school board.
Here is the link to my YouTube channel -- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9CDuA3sJJPg8uWmmwZHLKA/feed
I have missed so many of the township and school board meetings over the past 9 months or so and I think it is the DDA meetings I have missed attending the most. I did also miss attending the Township Trustee meetings. Maybe because there are always so many good and positive things going on in this township and they are just a fun bunch of people.
First I would like to say Congratulations to Roberta Placher, Jim Baker and Jeff McNalley on your election!
Now on to one of the good exciting things going on in our township. The Dixie Highway Road Project. I am going to love this after it is done!! This is a project that has been in the works for quite awhile now. I see that the Township Trustee board approved a resolution back in December 2016 in support of the project. I found some DDA Board meeting minutes from September 2017 where they gave an update on this project. I will include some screen shots from the minutes. I don't know who originally started this plan, but Hats Off to you and everyone else that has been involved in all the planning and hard work put into it!! I plan on attending all the future Trustee and DDA meetings so will keep posting updates for this. Just click on the photos to see the larger version --
This is also a good time to remind Bridgeport residents that you can go to the Township Government website and find meeting agendas and minutes, news updates etc... You can also sign up for the "constant contact" email and you will receive all the meeting agendas, news etc... right to your email inbox. https://www.bridgeportmi.org/
Next they talked about the property that has been donated by John & Betty Hoffman on Dixie Highway out by Junction Rd. John Hoffman has done so much for this community, his is a legacy that will live on for a long time. This property is in the Rolling Hills business area and will hopefully be used in the future for a community sports complex. Good plans for the future of our community.
Another project I am excited about is the restoration of the old Bridgeport Oil & Gas Station located in front of the Historic Bridge. It is called the Cass River Trail Head project and will include the restored station and a park area. You can follow updates on the station restoration and some history of the station on this Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SaveBridgeportOilandGas/
There are more updates in this meeting and in the DDA Coordinators report.
The audio for this meeting is better than for the Finance Committee meeting, but you will still have to turn your volume way up.
I would like to say Congratulations to the board members on your election to the various posts. I thought that Pat Nelson would have been the perfect fit for the Treasurer position. I have seen over the last 4 years that I have been attending township board meetings his dedication and hard work that he has done for the township. He is a very detailed person, very knowledgeable, very hard working, very dedicated.
There are many informative updates in this meeting that are worth listening to. It sounds like I missed a good Curriculum Committee meeting. I wanted to attend but didn't have the time. Hopefully I will be able to make it to one in the future.
They passed a board resolution in Opposition To Senate Bills 584-589 and 366. It is in opposition to several bills currently in the Michigan Legislature that involve allowing guns in schools basically. This is a hotly debated issue right now, but I am not going to get into that on this blog. Robin Johnson does read the resolution out loud in this meeting and I do have a copy of the resolution if there is anyone that would like to read it.
Of interest to current and former employees is the update that Acting Superintendent Melissa Cabine gives concerning the refund of health care costs from the State of Michigan.
Sadly I will start off 2018 with again having to apologize for the poor sound quality of the school board meetings. When you are standing in the room and cannot even hear all the conversation, there is almost no chance you will be able to pick it up on the video. I uploaded this once to YouTube but you could not hear it. I did spend hours and hours redoing the video and made some improvement to the sound quality. This is the best I can do since they will not use microphones and a speaker.
I did also have to "alter" this video by cutting out the last two minutes. I am not sure when the meeting was officially adjourned because other people started entering the room and so all you can hear is a variety of voices and the camera had gotten bumped and was not focused on the board members any longer.
I feel the most important part of this meeting was the meeting with Chip Hendrick and the discussion for plans for the repair work that needs to be done in our school district. I was shocked in November 2017 when the sinking fund passed by only 4 votes. I am still irritated at the result, but very thankful to all the residents that voted yes for our students! I hope every Bridgeport resident will take the time and listen to this discussion about the plans for the sinking fund and all the needs that our schools have. I believe it was back in 2013 that Mr. Hendrick said he had prepared an estimate for the needed repairs and it far exceeded the possible 8 million dollars that the sinking fund will bring in over the next 10 years. Some of those repairs have possibly been done since 2013, but I imagine there are new repairs that are needed now and I imagine that those costs have also risen since 2013.
They do talk about the search for a new School Superintendent since Mrs. Carol Selby will be retiring after the end of this school year.
On a mischievous note: I should remind Robert Lange and John Rhines that notes passed between board members are FOIAable. :-)
Welcome to the newest member of Bridgeport Township's Police Department, officer Raymond Karpuk!!
I hope that all our Bridgeport residents had a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I think that 2018 will be a great year for Bridgeport. 2017 saw many good things happening here in Bridgeport. The canoe launch in Davis Park is one and the second canoe launch that will be going in along the Cass River out on Dixie Hwy. by Riverview will be fantastic! The newly remodeled Speedway looks great! The work is progressing on the restoration of the old Hamann Gas Station / Bridgeport Oil & Gas, next to the Historic Bridge. That is going to really be nice when it is finished. John and Betty Hoffman have donated land to Bridgeport and there is talk / dreams of it someday becoming a sports center. And I just want to say how much I love our Christmas lights here in Bridgeport!!
There was only 1 sad thing that I can think of from 2017 and that is the closing of the Gobeyn Marathon Station here in downtown Bridgeport. That gas station has been here, under various owners, all of my life. I can remember going in there as a small child with my father, back in the days when they pumped your gas and gave out those stamps and other items like glasses etc... Stations like the old Hamann station and Gobeyn's, they weren't just a place to get gas and repairs, they were the local community meeting centers.
Lets hope that 2018 brings much prosperity to our community, to our residents, and many fond memories for the future!!
