At Times Meetings Can Be Long And Contentious

     The January 8, 2018, Town Board meeting was a very
long and at times contentious meeting with an unusual amount
of  unsubstantiated information, presented by a handful of citizens,
and a very disrespectful Supervisor, as relevant issues in the Township
were discussed. Supervisor Hansen threw out his occasional
"you'd better be careful what you say" when he preferred not
to LIKE certain factual comments made.
                                 
     During the Public Comment period, Alan Novacek stated that
"to remove Citizen Business, from the Town Board Agenda to save
money (due to lengthy meetings lasting from 7:00 until midnight or
later at times) implies that rules (are) being made to make it convenient
for the rulers at the expense of the ruled to
 not allow someone to come up and express a
concern unless on the agenda, is a slippery
way to do business. He does not believe there 
is a person in the Township who cares if the
Board is here until 3:00 in the
morning, as they are paid for this job. You are
supposed to worry about us, we are not supposed to worry about 
you.  This is a reality you have to live by!"  

What Kingdom is he living in????????   Supervisors
are paid $80 per evening to sit for many hours. The Township also
pays the Township attorney to attend. The rate paid the attorney
can vary depending on the length of the meeting. Later in the
meeting, Supervisor Hansen suggested they move on as He was
not willing to sit there until 3:00 or 11:00 o'clock. The Board does
allow for Public Comment at the beginning of each meeting and will 
also allow for citizen input during the meeting if the conversation is
pertinent to the issues being discussed at the Board's business meeting.

      Current information regarding the selection of a Township
Building Inspector will be discussed at a future Town Board
meeting and on the blog.

     Airlake Airport update:  Supervisor Hansen stated Mira had
forwarded information to Sherri Buss at TKDA (Township
engineering firm) and Sherri had not responded. He found it
necessary to call her. He also stated, "Say Goodbye to the 
Airport!" He commented that there was a missed window of
opportunity and the Board should step back and take a look at it.
He felt that there is nothing the Township can do to salvage an
agreement between the Township and Lakeville regarding
annexation of the airport property. Supervisor Hansen stated that
Lakeville would continue to annex portions of the property
until the entire airport would be the property of Lakeville.

     Supervisor Jennings clarified that Sherri Buss only received
Supervisor Hansen's application to be submitted to the MET
Council on January 2, which happened to be the date of the
Public Hearing in Lakeville on the annexation by ordinance.
Sherri had responded as soon as possible, Supervisor Jennings
pointed out. Sherri had engaged in a conversation with the MET
Council that day and had asked if such a Township application
would be accepted. She sent emails to the Board documenting
again what the Council would require. An email copy was in
every Supervisor's packet for review before the meeting.

     Supervisor Hansen agreed with Supervisor Jennings when
she reiterated what Sherri Buss had stated. Since it
is a long process, such a request should have been started
several years ago, Sherri said. It is not only a long process,
but very detailed and expensive and requires planning
and engineering studies addressing potential service connections.
Note to reader: This whole process was laid out before
the Township in March of the meeting with Patrick Boylan
and Kyle Colvin (see previous blog posts,)  This is nothing new!
Again, all the planning and money would be up-front with
NO assurance that the MET Council would even accept it.
Remember that the Council sees Eureka as Ag until 2040.
The MET Council does not plan on the possibility of sewer
service out this far until 2040 at the earliest. These points
have been made repeatedly.


     Orderly Annexation was discussed. By this process,
Eureka could agree to allow Lakeville to annex the entire
airport at one time with an arrangement that the Township
would receive some kind of (limited) compensation
in return. This happened with the Launch Park property in
2007. If such an agreement is not reached, MAC can just
repeat its request for annexation by ordinance, 120 acres
at a time. until all the airport is in Lakeville, and the Township
would not receive anything. Whether Lakeville and the MAC
are willing to enter into such an agreement is not known.

     Supervisor Jennings stated that she attended the meeting
in Lakeville as well and that the staged annexation of the
airport until totally within Lakeville was not discussed at
that proceeding. Lakeville and MAC (Metropolitan Airport
Commission) will finalize the intent at their January 26
meeting.

     As discussed with the attorney, an Orderly Annexation
would give the Township an opportunity to negotiate benefits
to the Township such as a possible paved road and tax benefits.

     It was agreed that the attorney will draft a letter of intent
regarding an Orderly Annexation which will be reviewed
by Supervisor Hansen and Chair Barfknecht. The letter
of intent will then be forwarded to MAC with a copy sent
to Lakeville.

STAY TUNED!!!            

Information taken from the CD recording of the meeting!
The history of the annexation issue regarding the 
Airlake Airport can be obtained from previous minutes
or blogs.