The final regular meeting for three Climax Village Council members November 19 included normal business that needed to be approved, however one unexpected issue was revealed.
Village Council Interim President David Miller said he received a letter of resignation from Bauckham, Thall, Seeber, Kaufman, & Koches, P.C., the village’s ordinance enforcement attorney and limited general counsel attorney, effective November 20, 2024.
The two paragraph letter thanks the Village of Climax for the opportunity to work with the law firm, but also notes, “while it has been our pleasure serving you and the Village, the changing of the composition of the Village Council means that our effectiveness will be greatly reduced. We cannot, therefore, in good conscience remain as Village attorneys.”
Village Council President-elect Bill Lewis, and newly elected trustees Benjerman Moore and Denise Munoz Pyle were sworn into office after the meeting.
Miller, who started on the council as the ordinance chairman as a trustee before being appointed interim president, has been eager since he started, to enforce village ordinances, and used the law firm often as part of the process.
He said overall, the experience has been rewarding and he’s been pleased with the work the Council has done in his 5 1/2 years on the Council
“We’ve had a lot of progress in kind of changing the mindset of the community. Apparently we did not make enough progress because a lot people did not like code enforcement,” said Miller.
“I enjoyed all of it. Like any endeavor, there’s some turbulence here and there. I thought it was pretty rewarding. I had never done anything like that before,” adds the departing interim village council president.
With well over $250,000 in one FDIC insured institution, Miller said the Council authorized Village Clerk Linda Coburn to look further into Michigan Cooperative Liquid Assets Securities System (MiClass) to determine if the Village could move some funds into the investment option designed for Michigan Public Agencies.
The Michigan Class website notes Michigan CLASS provides public agencies of all types the opportunity to pool their funds together with the goal of collectively earning interest on investments.
The new Council will also have to address a lease agreement that ends December 31, 2024 with the Lawrence Memorial District Library Board for the library building the Village owns.
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