BY DON SCHELSKE
Clarkston News Staff Writer
The Springfield Township Board on Feb. 10 appointed their newly-established second representatives to three local lake improvement boards.
All are current township board members, which satisfies those who continued to argue for that requirement. None are guaranteed to be long-term appointments, however, giving comfort to the rest.
In light of a new state law, which goes into effect March 1, trustees have been under pressure to make the appointments to lake boards for Big Lake, Susin Lake and Dixie Lake. (Waumegah Lake, which overlaps the Springfield-Independence border, will continue to have one representative from each township.)
Supervisor Collin Walls said there was even more urgency for Dixie Lake, since that lake board’s riparian representative recently resigned and the lake board has had trouble generating a quorum.
The new state law requires township government to take a more active role in record keeping for lake boards, and replaces a seat previously held by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality with the new township representative. Lake improvement boards have five seats, but officials said the DEQ rep rarely attended lake board meetings.
The Springfield Township Board has debated new guidelines for the township representative since learning of the pending state revision late last year. They have also disagreed as to whether the seat should be held by a township board member. The debate continued at the Feb. 10 meeting.
‘It should be a board representative because it’s more important now than in the past because of the administrative responsibilities the township now has,? Clerk Nancy Strole said.
Trustees Dennis Vallad and David Hopper agreed.
‘The law has changed,? Vallad said. ‘Circumstances have changed. The philosophy behind we who appoint and how we appoint them has to be changed because of those circumstances.?
Trustee Roger Lamont, although not opposed to having a township board member hold the seat, did oppose making it a requirement.
‘I’ve never lived on a lake,? Vallad said. ‘There are probably township residents who could serve in an effective manner.?
‘A board member, even if he doesn’t have the lake experience, can look at the broad picture,? Hopper said. ‘A lake board and what they do on the lake has more effect than just on the [lakefront] property owners. It has an effect on the entire community.?
Trustee Marc Cooper noted successful efforts to recruit citizens to bodies such as the planning commission and zoning board of appeals.
‘We’re looking at more people to get more involved in the community,? Cooper said.
‘I don’t think we’re necessarily going to get any better representation from a [township] board member than we would from a non-[township] board member,? Walls said.
In the course of the debate, Walls asked which trustees would be willing to take a lake board rep position. Vallad and Hopper said yes, with Lamont and Cooper saying time constraints would not allow them to take an additional position.
Treasurer Jamie Dubris said she would take a temporary appointment with the Big Lake board, but she did not volunteer for the long term.
‘Big Lake is a large lake with a lot of resident involvement,? she said. ‘I cannot believe there wouldn’t be one other person on that lake who would be a fine candidate.?
The eventual motion took Dubris up on her offer, with Vallad named to the Susin Lake board and Hopper to Dixie Lake. The motion also included action to seek resumes for long-term appointments to the three lake boards.
A May 1 deadline was set for the applications, and the board clarified that no appointments are assured and that no other qualifications would be added other than being a township resident.
Yet to be finalized are the exact term of office for township representatives to lake improvement boards.
At first, Walls said those details could be worked out over time, but Vallad argued for faster action.
‘These people are going to want to know what they’re signing up for,? Vallad said.
Walls agreed to have the issue on the township board’s March agenda.