By Bruce Rolfe
With one of three municipalities located in the Parker and Longley Drain Districts already passing a resolution to petition the Kalamazoo County Drain Commission for maintenance improvement and consolidation of the Parker and Longley Drains that allows the Drain Commissioner to move forward with the process, the Climax Township Board unanimously followed suit at its regular meeting April 8.
A majority of the two drains are located in Wakeshma and Brady Charter Township, however the Longley Drain feeds into a small portion of the southeast corner of Climax Township.
The County Drain Commission only needs one of the three municipalities to pass a resolution for the process to move forward, however Kalamazoo County Drain Commissioner Jason Wiersma said the Drain Commission likes to see each township involved, agree on what the Drain Commission proposes to do. Wakeshma Township approved the resolution April 7, and Brady Charter Township approved the same resolution April 9.
Randy Ramsey, of Civil Engineers Inc., and Wiersma updated the Climax Township Board about the petition and why the improvements and consolidation of drain districts is important.
The approved resolution allows the Drain Commissioner to consolidate the two drains, adjust the boundaries and perform some much needed maintenance and improvement work.
Wiersma said consolidating the two drains made sense because they both are connected and overlap each other.
Ramsey said in many cases the drains were created decades ago. He said the Longley Drain was created as a separate drain that flows into the Parker Drain.
Consolidating the two drains allows the Drain Commission office to spread the cost of any assessments over a larger area to reduce cost.
“You assess one sometimes and you assess the other one, sometimes parcels get hit twice. Keep it as one unit and everybody pays equally along the whole township,” said Wiersma.
Ramsey said currently all parcel owners on lands that contribute to the Parker Drain in the Drainage District help pay for any costs to maintain the drain. Meaning parcel holders in the Longley Drain District would get assessed for work performed in the
Parker Drain District because water flows from the Parker Drain towards the Longley Drain. However currently, when work is performed on the Longley Drain there is no shared cost.
“That makes a fairly small drainage district or assessment district so it’s very difficult to do work without it being quite a cost to those individual parcels. At the same time, if you’re in the Longley Drain District, you could end up getting an assessment for work that was done on the Longley and for work that was done on the Parker,” said Ramsey, explaining one benefit to consolidating the two drains.
Ramsey adds approximately 10 parcels in Climax Township are in the Longley Drain District and would be impacted by any potential assessments.
Wiersma said the next step in the process is to hold a Board of Determination. Letters are sent to parcel holders in the new consolidated district, informing parcel owners that could face assessment, the opportunity to discuss the proposed drain consolidation.
The Board of Determination, which typically includes three other township supervisors that have no interest or own property in the area, make a decision to consolidate the drains, confirm the district boundaries and review projects that need to be performed in the drain district.
Ramsey said the percentage of what each individual parcel owner would pay along with at large assessments, are also considered at the Board of Determination hearing.
The County Drain Commissioner said after the Board of Determination is completed, a Day of Review is scheduled when the Drain Commission office explains project costs and drain projects as well as allow the taxpayer to dispute an assessment cost.
Wiersma said at large assessments are issued to villages, townships, cities, the county, and even MDOT in some cases, who pay a portion of an assessment in a drain district.
He said on average, taxpayers typically pay about 65 percent of the overall cost.
Before an assessment roll is established, Wiersma visits with the township supervisor where a project and assessment will take place. The two will discuss the length of the assessment, and a fair assessment for each parcel.
Ramsey said with technology, the Drain Commissioner office can better define boundaries, making it fairer for residents in the drain district who have to pay an assessment. He adds currently, the assessments are based on the amount of land that contributes to the drain. Previously it was possible if half of the parcel flowed towards one drain and half flowed a different direction, the property lines were followed instead of just following water shed boundary lines, meaning the entire parcel could have been in the assessment district instead of just half.
Ramsey said the Drain Commissioner office would like to make changes he feels would be fairer when determining at large assessments. He said each township’s percentage for assessment should reflect how much of the drain district is in the township.
Wiersma adds because the Drain Commissioner office has restrictions on the amount of money that can be spent on maintenance and improvements within the department, the drain commissioner has to be petitioned for larger improvement projects including some improvement projects in the Parker-Longley Drain District.
Wiersma said the Drain Commissioner office has performed in house maintenance, clearing approximately 800 feet of debris and downed trees on the Parker Drain without assessing municipalities.
Climax Township Fire Department Report
Climax Township Fire Chief Scott Smith reports the local fire department had 24 calls for service for the month of March, including two structure fires (both mutual aid), three brush-grass fires, one mutual aid brush fire, one motor vehicle accident, two power line down calls, 10 medicals, one public service call, two dispatched and cancelled enroute, one smoke detector activation due to malfunction and one alarm system activation with no fire that was unintentional.
The fire department responded to 66 calls for service for the quarter, which Smith said is close to the number of calls for service the department responded to during the first quarter last year.
Property Combination, Boundary Adjustment, Land Division Application Fees Increased
The Township board unanimously approved an increase in three property application fees.
The property combination application fee was increased to $300 from $225; the boundary adjustment application fee was increased to $300 from $250; and the Land Division application fee was increased to $500 from $400.
In other items covered at the April 8 meeting:
Clerk Sarah DeBoer hopes to bring early voting back to the Climax Township precinct and will continue to research the cost to hold early voting in Climax Township as opposed to having township residents vote at one of the county’s early voting
locations.
Currently Climax Township is in an agreement with Kalamazoo County for early voting at one of the county’s early voting locations.
• The board unanimously approved a resolution that increases the Fire Department chief’s annual compensation from $5,600 to $6,100 per year.
With one of three municipalities located in the Parker and Longley Drain Districts already passing a resolution to petition the Kalamazoo County Drain Commission for maintenance improvement and consolidation of the Parker and Longley Drains that allows the Drain Commissioner to move forward with the process, the Climax Township Board unanimously followed suit at its regular meeting April 8.
A majority of the two drains are located in Wakeshma and Brady Charter Township, however the Longley Drain feeds into a small portion of the southeast corner of Climax Township.
The County Drain Commission only needs one of the three municipalities to pass a resolution for the process to move forward, however Kalamazoo County Drain Commissioner Jason Wiersma said the Drain Commission likes to see each township involved, agree on what the Drain Commission proposes to do. Wakeshma Township approved the resolution April 7, and Brady Charter Township approved the same resolution April 9.
Randy Ramsey, of Civil Engineers Inc., and Wiersma updated the Climax Township Board about the petition and why the improvements and consolidation of drain districts is important.
The approved resolution allows the Drain Commissioner to consolidate the two drains, adjust the boundaries and perform some much needed maintenance and improvement work.
Wiersma said consolidating the two drains made sense because they both are connected and overlap each other.
Ramsey said in many cases the drains were created decades ago. He said the Longley Drain was created as a separate drain that flows into the Parker Drain.
Consolidating the two drains allows the Drain Commission office to spread the cost of any assessments over a larger area to reduce cost.
“You assess one sometimes and you assess the other one, sometimes parcels get hit twice. Keep it as one unit and everybody pays equally along the whole township,” said Wiersma.
Ramsey said currently all parcel owners on lands that contribute to the Parker Drain in the Drainage District help pay for any costs to maintain the drain. Meaning parcel holders in the Longley Drain District would get assessed for work performed in the
Parker Drain District because water flows from the Parker Drain towards the Longley Drain. However currently, when work is performed on the Longley Drain there is no shared cost.
“That makes a fairly small drainage district or assessment district so it’s very difficult to do work without it being quite a cost to those individual parcels. At the same time, if you’re in the Longley Drain District, you could end up getting an assessment for work that was done on the Longley and for work that was done on the Parker,” said Ramsey, explaining one benefit to consolidating the two drains.
Ramsey adds approximately 10 parcels in Climax Township are in the Longley Drain District and would be impacted by any potential assessments.
Wiersma said the next step in the process is to hold a Board of Determination. Letters are sent to parcel holders in the new consolidated district, informing parcel owners that could face assessment, the opportunity to discuss the proposed drain consolidation.
The Board of Determination, which typically includes three other township supervisors that have no interest or own property in the area, make a decision to consolidate the drains, confirm the district boundaries and review projects that need to be performed in the drain district.
Ramsey said the percentage of what each individual parcel owner would pay along with at large assessments, are also considered at the Board of Determination hearing.
The County Drain Commissioner said after the Board of Determination is completed, a Day of Review is scheduled when the Drain Commission office explains project costs and drain projects as well as allow the taxpayer to dispute an assessment cost.
Wiersma said at large assessments are issued to villages, townships, cities, the county, and even MDOT in some cases, who pay a portion of an assessment in a drain district.
He said on average, taxpayers typically pay about 65 percent of the overall cost.
Before an assessment roll is established, Wiersma visits with the township supervisor where a project and assessment will take place. The two will discuss the length of the assessment, and a fair assessment for each parcel.
Ramsey said with technology, the Drain Commissioner office can better define boundaries, making it fairer for residents in the drain district who have to pay an assessment. He adds currently, the assessments are based on the amount of land that contributes to the drain. Previously it was possible if half of the parcel flowed towards one drain and half flowed a different direction, the property lines were followed instead of just following water shed boundary lines, meaning the entire parcel could have been in the assessment district instead of just half.
Ramsey said the Drain Commissioner office would like to make changes he feels would be fairer when determining at large assessments. He said each township’s percentage for assessment should reflect how much of the drain district is in the township.
Wiersma adds because the Drain Commissioner office has restrictions on the amount of money that can be spent on maintenance and improvements within the department, the drain commissioner has to be petitioned for larger improvement projects including some improvement projects in the Parker-Longley Drain District.
Wiersma said the Drain Commissioner office has performed in house maintenance, clearing approximately 800 feet of debris and downed trees on the Parker Drain without assessing municipalities.
Climax Township Fire Department Report
Climax Township Fire Chief Scott Smith reports the local fire department had 24 calls for service for the month of March, including two structure fires (both mutual aid), three brush-grass fires, one mutual aid brush fire, one motor vehicle accident, two power line down calls, 10 medicals, one public service call, two dispatched and cancelled enroute, one smoke detector activation due to malfunction and one alarm system activation with no fire that was unintentional.
The fire department responded to 66 calls for service for the quarter, which Smith said is close to the number of calls for service the department responded to during the first quarter last year.
Property Combination, Boundary Adjustment, Land Division Application Fees Increased
The Township board unanimously approved an increase in three property application fees.
The property combination application fee was increased to $300 from $225; the boundary adjustment application fee was increased to $300 from $250; and the Land Division application fee was increased to $500 from $400.
In other items covered at the April 8 meeting:
Clerk Sarah DeBoer hopes to bring early voting back to the Climax Township precinct and will continue to research the cost to hold early voting in Climax Township as opposed to having township residents vote at one of the county’s early voting
locations.
Currently Climax Township is in an agreement with Kalamazoo County for early voting at one of the county’s early voting locations.
• The board unanimously approved a resolution that increases the Fire Department chief’s annual compensation from $5,600 to $6,100 per year.
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