Raisin Township Board votes no to appoint members to planning commission

After two candidates were nominated for the Raisin Township planning commission back in February, the Raisin Township Board of Trustees finally voted no on both at the Monday, May 11, meeting. The board voted 5-1 against the appointments, with treasurer and trustee Kami Johnson absent from the meeting.In February, Raisin Township Supervisor Jay Cavanaugh recommended Edward Montalvo and Brad Bear for the planning commission, replacing Dale Witt and Jimmy Colburn, whose terms ran from 2013 to the end of 2016 and 2014 to the end of 2017, respectively. No motions by the board were made in regards to Cavanaugh’s appointments.When appointing members to the planning commission the board must approve the supervisor appointments. In January it was brought to the board’s attention that four members of the planning commission would need to be reappointed or replaced, with a fifth member being replaced completely, which became vacant when Raisin Township Supt. Jim Palmer was appointed to his current superintendent position because he can no longer serve on the planning commission.According to the Planning Enabling Act, when positions are not reappointed the current members continue serving until they are either reappointed or replaced, though terms are continuous.After failing to get a vote from the board in February, Cavanaugh brought the appointments back to trustees again in March and in April with no action taken. At the May 11 meeting, township clerk and trustee Betty Holdridge attempted an up/down vote, which attending attorney Phillip A. Schaedler said she could not do. “The last time I checked, the supervisor has the authority to make appointments,” Cavanaugh stated.“There is no reason to replace them [Colburn and Witt],” said trustee Debra Brousseau.Trustee Larry Crittenden said both Colburn and Witt were “top-notch people on the planning commission” and praised them both for their work. Both Brousseau and Holdridge stated they didn’t want to vote against Montalvo and Bear, but instead vote in favor of Colburn and Witt, which Cavanaugh said overrides the office of the supervisor to make appointments. Trustee Tom Hawkins agreed with Cavanaugh and said the supervisor has the authority to recommend appointments and the board has the authority to approve or reject them.Several board members have repeatedly said the planning commission has been operating well for a long time and saw no need to make changes to who was on the commission. In January, Thomas VanSickle was appointed to the planning commission position vacated by Palmer. The terms of Cheryl Benham and Robert Utter were extended in March. Benham’s term expired at the end of 2013 and she will now serve until December 31, 2015 while Utter’s term expired at the end of 2014 and he will now serve until December 31, 2016.

Tecumseh Herald

 

110 E. Logan St.
P.O. Box 218
Tecumseh, MI 49286
517-423-2174
800-832-6443

Email Us

FacebookTwitter

Latest articles

Please Login for Premium Content