The Lowell Charter Township Board met for nearly two hours on Tuesday night to discuss a long agenda that included multiple budget items, two presentations, and several bids for work in the township. All board members were present for the meeting.
Museum and Invasive Plants Presentation
After approving the treasurer’s report and reviewing the accounts payable, board members heard two reports from area organizations.
Up first was Lisa Plank, executive director of the Lowell Area Historical Museum. She was at a Lowell City Council meeting earlier in the month and provided Lowell Township’s leaders with a similar update.
Plank noted that in addition to welcoming nearly 38,000 visitors through the museum’s doors, the non-profit had significantly increased its online presence last year. The number of people reading the museum’s e-newsletter increased from 17,144 in 2022 to 32,159 in 2023. The museum’s Facebook page reached 249,000, up from 204,680 in 2022, and YouTube visitors more than doubled, going from 1,260 to 3,487.
After Plank’s presentation, a representative of the Kent Conversation District spoke about invasive plants and the district’s efforts to eradicate them. Black Swallow-wort and Oriental Bittersweet are two of the most worrisome invasive plants found in the area.
It was also noted that Lowell Township owns property that includes an oak barrens prairie, which is a critically imperiled habitat. Fewer than 200 acres of this habitat are believed to remain in the state. The Kent Conservation District is hoping to help the township preserve and maintain the land.
Pickleball Tournament in April
During public comments, an individual who identified himself as Carter from Fusion Sports said he was hoping to put on a doubles pickleball tournament at the courts in the North Grand River Riverfront Park. The tentative date of the tournament is April 20 from 8am to 4pm.
Carter told the township board that he envisions having two divisions: one for participants with player ratings above 3.5 and the other for those with ratings below 3.5. All players would be guaranteed a minimum of four games during the event, and winners would receive a cash prize and trophy. All participants would be given a t-shirt and drawstring bag.
Fusion Sports is also looking into the possibility of hosting a league on the courts. Carter said the league might run for eight weeks and would be scheduled on weeknights from 5:30pm-8:30pm.
Board members seemed agreeable to the tournament, and it was noted that the rental cost for the courts is $15 per hour per court. However, there was a concern that allowing a league to rent the courts might make it difficult for local players to use them. There was also some discussion about whether a 6:30pm-9:30pm time would be better.
Trustee Mark Anderson asked Carter what his business could do to help raise money for the pickleball courts. He noted that the courts would be expensive to replace someday, and the Parks Committee was always looking for ways to cover costs.
Carter said he would be happy to have information about donating to the parks at his registration table. He also offered to help, free-of-charge, with a pickleball tournament the township is tentatively planning as part of an Aug. 10 event.
Concern About Development at I-96
The second person to address the board during public comments was only identified by the name Dave and said he had questions about a development being planned near the I-96 interchange. He mentioned that he attended an open house about the project but did not feel as though his questions were answered.
“As a resident of this community, how does this benefit me?” he said was his main question. However, he also passed out a sheet to board members with other questions he felt were unanswered. Dave mentioned that he wasn’t opposed to developing land and that he wasn’t looking for answers that night. However, he hoped more information would be forthcoming.
“We do need to talk as things progress,” Supervisor Jerry Hale agreed. Trustee Bill Thompson added that he thought Dave’s questions would provide a good outline for the information that needed to be disseminated to the community.
At the end of the meeting, Treasurer Ronda Benedict read a statement expressing her concerns about the project as well. “These are just things that are on my heart,” she said.
Among Benedict’s concerns were how much money the township had spent in support of the project, whether the wells to be dug on the property would become a liability for the township, and how an increase of traffic on Alden Nash would be handled.
“Residents need to understand what a 425 (agreement with the city) entails,” she added before noting that she would be absent in March and asked that any decisions on the development wait until all board members are present.
Trustee Andy Vander Ziel also said that he had heard from residents who were concerned about a lack of information. He thought perhaps putting a Q&A on the township website might be helpful, and he added that the township should be as transparent as possible.
“Most people are not dead set against it,” Vander Ziel said. “It’s (that they have) more questions than answers.”
2024-25 Budgets Passed
The township board unanimously passed a number of items on the agenda that related to the 2024-25 budget. These included a 3.2% cost-of-living increase in wages for officers and hourly workers as well as the following salaries:
- Supervisor: $40,593.79
- Clerk: $41,625.79
- Treasurer: $41,625.79
A public hearing was also held for both the general fund budget and the fire fund budget. Clerk Monica Burtt clarified that the fire fund budget is not the same as the budget for the Lowell Area Fire Department. Instead, it is the budget for how to spend the funds raised by the township’s public safety millage.
The millage is expected to raise $307,000 in revenue for the upcoming year, but the Lowell Township portion of the Lowell Area Fire Department is expected to be $370,000.
“I looked at what we paid four years ago and what we pay now, and that’s a steep jump,” Burtt said. In addition to the funds that must be paid to the Lowell Area Fire Department, the township pays the Bowne Township Fire Department $52,000 to cover 12 sections of the southern portion of the township. The Lowell Area Fire Department provides service to the other 21 sections of the township.
No public comments were received on either budget. Before passing the budget, the board agreed to Trustee Carlton Blough’s suggestion that the township increase its annual contribution to the Lowell Area Historical Museum from $2,500 to $3,000. In total, the general fund budget for the township is almost exactly $1 million.
Both the general fund and the fire fund budgets were approved unanimously.
Other Meeting Business
Other action taken by the Lowell Township Board during Tuesday’s meeting included the following:
- Approval of replacement fire hydrants in the Eastgate Neighborhood
- Appointment of Hannah Wright as Deputy Clerk
- Approval of Angie Wilcox as the township minutes secretary
- Reduction of expected road work on Barnsley as a result of higher than anticipated quotes
- Approval of Denny’s Excavating for work related to the forthcoming splash pad
- Approval of a memorandum of understanding in support of the creation of the Lower Grand River Water Trail
All votes were unanimous.
The meeting adjourned at 8:56pm, and the next regular meeting of the Lowell Township Board will be on Monday, March 18, at 7pm in Lowell Township Hall.
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