Thursday, September 9, 2021

Bridgeport Township DDA Meeting September 8th, 2021

On the Agenda:
Approval of Agenda begins at 1:02
Approval of Minutes - August 11, 2021 begins at 1:24
New Business:
1. Beautification Sub-Committee Report begins at 2:08
2. Equipment Discussion begins at 4:05
Old Business:
1. RRC/MEDC Update - CEDAM Fellowship begins at 24:30
2. Land at Dixie & Wigen and 6227 Dixie (Former Hillier Studio Property) begins at 25:35
They go into a Closed Session at 28:07
DDA Coordinator's Report begins at 30:00
DDA Member Comments begin at 32:52
© 2021 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved



They didn't use the microphones very often during this meeting and some of the people speak very softly so sorry if you can't hear everything.  I couldn't hear everything even while standing in the same room with them.

From the Beautification Sub-Committee - The flower pots will be coming back again next year.  You could argue the pro's and con's about that, like it is a lot of money and that money could be spent elsewhere in our community; and on the pro side - I Love The Flower Pots!!  End of discussion!

Next from the sub-committee was talk about looking into the Asphalt Art Initiative, and they are looking at possible grant money for that. They are thinking about it in the Dixie/ Bearcat Blvd. area, the Dixie/State St. are and possibly around the bridge area I think.  I like this idea!  I am assuming this is the program they are looking at: Asphalt Art Initiative
You can see the photo at the top of their page is from right here in Saginaw County at Ojibway Island.

They are also talking about having a Fall cleanup on October 15th at 1pm. I will post more when it is available.  This is another nice idea I like!

Next up was the equipment purchase discussion. My understanding of the discussion is they will be purchasing a piece of equipment that they will use for snow removal on some sidewalk areas and places like the bridge and trail.  I'm not clear if this equipment will also be used for other things.  It sounds like the DDA and the township will be splitting the cost.  I think this also has to go to the regular town board for approval?  They do have a long and informative discussion about this subject during the meeting that you can watch here in the video.
This is another subject you could argue the pro's and con's on. First it is again a lot of money, and money that could and probably should be spent elsewhere and on more important things in our community. I argued against this when it was proposed several years ago.  On the pro side:  At this point in my life I am just damned tired of seeing the mess our sidewalks are every winter.  We have so many walkers that try to walk year round in the downtown area, kids from the schools walking, but sadly in the winter time many of these sidewalks are not safe to walk on. I'm not sure which sidewalk areas would be cleared by the township, I doubt it would be in all the neighborhoods.  That is a nice dream though!  Some of you have probably seen me out trying to snow blow off some of the sidewalks in the downtown area over the years.  I tried to keep the ones going to the post office clear for all the neighbors that walked there, especially our elderly residents.  I am not physically able to do that very often anymore, so yes, at this time, I would like to see these sidewalks kept clear by whatever means is available.  Buy the equipment!!

During the board member comment section Jeff McNally mentioned that their business, McNally-Nimergood Cranes will be having an open house to show their new facilities on October 1st.  Not sure if it is open to the general public,

Bridgeport Township Board Meeting September 7th, 2021

On the agenda:
Adoption of Agenda begins as 1:37
Approval of Minutes - August 3rd, 2021 begins at 2:08
Special Orders:
1. Public Hearing for Truth in Taxation begins at 2:47
Unfinished Business:
1. R21-10 Truth in taxation begins at 7:16
New Business:
1. Board Resignation begins at 8:51
2. Conflict of Interest Policy begins at 10:37
3. Planning Commission Appointment begins at 12:18
Accounts Payable Checks 68507 through 68638 $316,681.01 begins at 13:26
Police Department Report begins at 14:06
Fire Department Report begins at 17:30
Manager's Report begins at 18:50
Board Member Comments begin at 24:33
Public Comment begins at 27:45
© 2021 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved



First I should note that they did attempt to improve the sound system and you can hear them better than usual and I Thank them for that!   If everyone would speak up loudly and clearly then we would really be in business.

They did hold the public hearing for the Truth in Taxation and there were no members of the public that came to hear it or speak up for or against it.

They announced the resignation of board member Heather Wilson due to the conflict with her job that requires her to travel out of town often.  I am sad to see Heather leave but wish her well in life!
They claim to have 30 days to fill her position and plan on having it filled by the next board meeting on October 5th, 2021.  I wonder if they will be posting notices for the opening, will they have public interviews in a board meeting if there are any applicants?  Guess we will find out on October 5th.
Any township resident that is not in default to the township and is a registered elector can apply for the open board seat.  Information can be found on this link:  Employment Opportunities

For townships to receive money from the ?? fund they have to have conflict of interest policies in place.  Bridgeport updated theirs to also include board members.

Mark Schluckbier has been appointed to the planning commission.

During the Managers Report segment she talked about updates on the Dixie Hwy project and  mentioned that Tri Valley was one business that was involved with bringing top soil for the project.  If this is Tri Valley Landscaping & Tri Valley Construction companies run by members of the Gilbert family, maybe Bridgeport needs to vet the companies they do business with better in my opinion.

There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Dixie Hwy project with  Senator Horn on Monday September 20th at 9am in the parking lot at the governmental center.

The CEDAM Fellowship position has been filled by Michelle McGregor, a resident from Saginaw Township.  Welcome to Ms. McGregor!

She also gives updates about grants and funding.  Updates on community outreach like her Coffee with the Township Manager at Big Boy on September 9th and the 23rd at 9am.  They may also be hosting two  open houses for the temporary governmental center, one on Wednesday, September 15th, and another for Tuesday, October 19th.  No other information on those events yet.

During the board member comments something was brought up by Augie Tausend that is somewhat of a controversial issue across the country right now.  He talked about the moratorium on rent/evictions that has now been ended. He said there is talk about possibly extending that at the state or county levels, and if that does come about then maybe there is something that the board will look at.

** I almost forgot to add that there was a Bridgeport resident that spoke at the end of the meeting.  Because of the severe weather we were having at the time of the meeting, the residents were late getting to the meeting and missed the public comment period.  The resident is a member of a Neighborhood Watch group from the Studor Rd. area.  I am always glad to see residents speak up at meetings and glad to know there are still active & concerned residents involved that care about our community.

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

August 2021 Bridgeport Township Check Register

Thanks to one of my favorite township employees I do now have all 6 pages of the August check register.

Click on each image to see larger version.

Page 1


Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6














Bridgeport Township Board Meeting August 3rd, 2021

 On the agenda:
Adoption of Agenda begins at 0:47
Approval of Minutes - July 13, 2021 begins at 1:22
Special Orders:
1.  Set Public Hearing for Truth and Taxation begins at 2:25
New Business:
1.  2665 Tatham Property #09-11-5-05-1013-000 begins at 4:44
2.  Firearm Disposal begins at 7:02
Presentation: From State Representative Amos O'Neal representing the 95th House District begins at 8:48
Back To New Business:
3.  Township Board Meeting Schedule change begins at 12:06
4.  Resolution R21-9,  Intent to apply for United States Economic Development Administration grant begins at 12:50
Accounts Payable checks 68386 through 68506   $342,922.87 begins at 16:50
Police Department Report begins at 17:28
Fire Department Report begins at 18:13
Managers Report begins at 20:04
Board Member comments begin at 22:38
© 2021 Carla Citizen All Rights Reserved



Sorry I am so late posting this to the blog.  



Friday, September 3, 2021

Bridgeport Township Board Opening

The meeting agenda has been posted for the upcoming September 7th, 2021 meeting of the Bridgeport Township Board.  There will be a board resignation of a trustee member.  Sadly it won't be any of the members I would like to see resign.  So it appears there will be an opening for a new trustee for the board.



I checked the August 25th and September 1st editions of the Birch Run/Bridgeport Herald and saw no notice in there for the board opening.  I checked the Bridgeport Township Facebook page and the website, no mention on either of those sites about the board opening.  Hopefully they will be posting it somewhere so members of the township can apply for the position, unlike how they handled it when the township clerk position opened up.  Sometimes this township will post openings and interview candidates, and sometimes they just appoint them,  On the township website they have the requirements posted for board members and also a link to apply online.  It is under "Employment Opportunities".




I am hoping that there are members of our community that would like to step up and serve as a trustee on the board, and hoping that they will not just be appointing another "buddy",  but rather giving members of the community the chance to serve.  If they do just "appoint" one of their buddies to the position, hopefully it won't be another previously recalled board member!  Hopefully they aren't hoping to get the old band back together 😏



And hoping I won't have to be writing another post like this one:

Search For A New Township Clerk And How It Came To Be... Or How It Should Have Been