At the November 15, 2022 Oakland Township Board meeting, Supervisor Dominic Abbate announced that he had submitted his resignation letter with an effective date of November 30th. Dominic gave personal reasons for his decision to resign. The Board had to vote on a motion to accept his resignation. The Board reluctantly approved the motion to accept his resignation.

The Board is now responsible for selecting the Township Supervisor. The process they will use is that any existing Board member can submit their name for consideration. They also indicated that they would consider any resident who was interested, once they filled out an application form that is available on the Townships’s website. The Board will select the Supervisor at a future Board meeting.

Here is a link to the form for applying for the Township Supervisor position. It is the same for other positions in the Township

https://cms4files1.revize.com/oakland/community_info/docs/BOARDS_AND_COMMISSION_APPLICATION.pdf

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO THE CITIZENS OF OAKLAND TOWNSHIP?

Dominic Abbate has been active in Oakland Township for almost 50 years. Dominic first got involved in the Township when Al Taylor was our Supervisor in the 70’s. Dominic has served as a Trustee, Planning Commission member, Board of Review member, and many other positions. He has played a major role in creating the wonderful Township called Oakland. His knowledge and thoughtful demeanor has made him a refreshing leader in our community. He has commanded the respect from all those who have worked with him. We are grateful for his dedicated service to our Township.

The Board now has the important task of selecting our Supervisor. He/she will hold that office until the election in November of 2024. As the Board considers the candidates, citizen input will be important in helping them make an informed decision that could have lasting impact on our Township.

Richard MIchalski

On Thursday November 10, the Oakland Township Board made a 4 to 3 decision to place the water storage facility for the Southwest water district of Oakland Township on Kern Road. This decision was made despite significant resident input to place it at the Adams Road and Gunn location.

The Oakland Township Board was fully present for this meeting. When the water storage location agenda item came up, Trustee Maybry made a motion to select the Adams Road location. The Board members then discussed the motion among themselves. Clerk Buxar went through a Powerpoint presentation where she attempted to answer many of the questions and comments residents had made during previous meetings. She went through it very quickly. The information had not been made available to the residents prior to the meeting, and was not included in the posted packet on the Township website. Many residents complained they could not read the information on the screens in the room. The Board opened it up for citizen comment. The input from the residents was mostly supportive of the motion. The Board then took a vote, and the motion failed. Those voting in favor of the Adams Road location included Supervisor Abbate and Trustees Maybry and Mangiapani. Clerk Buxar, Treasurer Giannangeli and Trustees Elder and Zale voted against the Adams Road location.

A motion to select the Kern Road location was then made by Trustee Zale. The Board continued discussion and then opened it up for citizen input. Once again, the citizens indicated that they preferred the Adams Road location. Trustee Buxar pointed out that her experience with controversial issues is that resident usually take the position “NOT IN MY BACKYARD”. After the Board approved the Kern Road location, one of the residents pointed out that the Board had the option to not place the storage facility in ANYONE’s backyard (the Adams Road location), but instead chose to place it in resident’s FRONT yard. Those voting for the Kern Road location included Clerk Buxar, Treasurer Giannangeli, Trustee’s Elder and Zale.

One thing that had not been made clear to the public in all the discussions on this topic is that the Township owns a parcel of land at the Adams Road and Buell Road intersection. The purpose for having purchased that land was to provide a possible location for a Fire and EMS facility to help cover the needs of the SW district of Oakland Township. The Buell Road location is only one mile north of the Adams and Gunn Road location. For some reason, the Board was not willing to accommodate the citizen’s desires to have the storage facility on Adams and Gunn, and still meet the fire and police protection needs of the Township by using both the Adams/Gunn Road location AND/OR the Adams/Buell Road location for the Fire/EMS and Police stations.

The Board Board members who supported the Kern Road location based their decision on that fact that they thought fewer people would be negatively impacted by the visual appearance of the facility at Kern, that the Adams Road location would cost slightly more, and that placing the storage facility on Adams would limit the possible use of the Adams Road location for new Fire, EMS and Police stations, even though the Adams/ Buell Road location could be used to help meet those needs. An attorney for the residents of The Crossings pointed out that the agenda was to consider the location of the water storage facility, NOT a fire or police station.

If you want to watch the Township Board meeting, you can click on the following link: https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/KGL-y_dHhCluQTy7c6YoVBzzQ5eHj7Lr/media/757760?autostart=true&showtabssearch=true

Why is this important to the Residents of Oakland Township?

We elect our officials to make decisions that are in our best interests. When our elected officials chose to neglect citizen input, without building a convincing case for why they made the decision they make, we may have elected the wrong individuals. The Board’s decision may result in higher legal fees if the resident of The Crossings, or even Orion Township decide to legally challenge this decision. Residents should keep the Board’s decision on this matter in mind when they consider who they vote for in 2024.

Richard Michalski

The Oakland Township Board has scheduled a SPECIAL MEETING for November 10th at 7 PM at the Township Hall to presumably make a decision on the location of the mandated water storage facility for the Southwest Water District of Oakland Township. Hopefully this time all of the Board members will show up for this critical decision.

Here is a copy of the agenda for this meeting:

As a reminder, the State of Michigan has mandated that the Township provide a 1 million gallon water storage facility for the residents located in the Southwest water district of our Township. Here is a map showing the various water districts in our Township. The residents directly affected live in the yellow area. They use the water mains shown with the green lines on the map.

The Township Board has settled in on two possible locations for the storage facility. One is in The Crossings subdivision off Kern Road. The other is on near the corner of Adams and Gunn Road. Here are the two locations shown on an arial view map.

Here are closer arial shots of the Kern Road proposed location, as well as a view from the cul-de-sac of those most impacted by selecting this location.

The Adams Road/Gunn Road location is a parcel that has the potential of being donated to the Township as part of the PUD agreement a developer has made with the Township. The approval was contingent upon a water tower location being selected (the deadline for that agreement has passed, but apparently the offer is still on the table). The Township is considering using that location for a Firehouse, and a possible Police substation. A question was raised by Trustee Elder as to whether the 5.7 acre parcel could also accommodate the water storage facility. A DRAFT plan was developed that show how such a plan could be accomplished. It also shows the water storage facility in Commerce Township as well as some architectural ideas on how the site could be made more appealing by taking on a farming community theme. Here is a copy of that plan:

Here are sight lines from the road showing how berm and tree plantings could be used to block the view from the road.

The agenda also has an item that appears to be aimed at trying to deflect criticism for why 4 of the Board members did not show up for the Special Meeting that was scheduled and posted for last week.

Why is this important to the citizens of Oakland Township?

The decision the Board will presumably make will have an impact on the Township for many years. Once the storage location is chosen, it will probably never be moved. The Board has delayed making this decision for years. Those delays have resulted in the cost for this facility being much higher than it could have been a few years ago.

The residents in The Crossings have made their preference for the Adams Road location known to the Board. The purpose of the meeting on Thursday is to make a decision. Your input could influence where it goes. Each of the Board members should make the rationale for their decision very clear. Our next election for the Township Officers and the Trustees will be in 2024. Many citizens will look back on this decision when they make THEIR decision in 2024.

Richard Michalski

There was suppose to be an Oakland Township Board meeting on Tuesday November 1 at 2 PM to continue the discussion and make a decision on the Water Storage Location facility for the Southwest Water Region of Oakland Township. The meeting was posted and presumably had agreement from enough members of the Board to form a quorum prior to the meeting notice being posted. Unfortunately only 3 Board members showed up for the meeting. It takes 4 to form a quorum. There were about 25 residents present for the meeting. Since there was no quorum, it was not an official meeting, and hence no decision. Supervisor Abbate allowed the residents present to comment on the topic. The unofficial meeting was televised and is recorded.

After the meeting, Supervisor Abbate commented to the author that, earlier that morning, he had received messages from three of the four Board members who were not present, that they were not able to attend the meeting. All three messages came to him within about a three minute window.

Is it coincidence that all three determined that they could not attend the meeting at about the same time that morning? Is there collusion among the three that they would all not show up? Is there corruption in their motives to further delay this critical decision? OR is it just politics?

At the October 25th Board meeting, the Board was deadlocked in a 3 to 3 split on where to locate the storage facility. The November 1 meeting was scheduled in order to make a decision on the matter.

The timing for the meeting was critical because the parcel for one of the locations was part of a potential donation to the Township. That donation had a deadline for making a water storage facility location decision. That deadline has already passed, and a further delay could further jeopardize the donation of the parcel.

As a personal note, one of the Board members stopped by my house with his child during “Trick or Treat” the night before the scheduled meeting. He asked me if I was going to attend. He asked for my opinion on the issue, and I shared it with him. He gave no indication that he was not going to attend. He left me with the impression that he was planning on attending the meeting.

Yes, things happen that can force planned participation to change, but all three Board members making a decision within a few minutes of one another???

Why is this important to the Residents of Oakland Township?

This decision has already been delayed for too long. Holding Elected Official responsible for making INFORMED TIMELY decisions is OUR responsibility. It is THEIR responsibility to make those decisions. RUNNING AWAY from making the decisions demonstrates a lack of leadership. They are suppose to be our leaders. We need to hold them accountable. Our next election for Board positions is in 2024. Those who did not show up at the November 1 meeting are : Clerk Buxar, Treasurer Giannangeli, Trustees Zale and Elder.

Richard Michalski