VILLAGE OF HONOR     Regular Council Meeting Minutes

January 9, 2023   Meeting Called to Order by President Pro Tem Ward at 6:00pm.

Pledge of Allegiance: Recited.

Roll Call:        Council- Denoyer, Sternburgh, Ward; Present. Sandman, Smith; Absent.

Staff- Goodman, Reed, Sessions; Present. Leone; Absent.

Comments on Agenda: Add h. under New Business-Audit.

Approval of Agenda: Motion by Sternburgh/Denoyer to approve amended agenda; all ayes, motion passed.

 Approval of Minutes: Motion by Denoyer/Sternburgh to approve December 12, 2022 Regular Council Meeting minutes as presented; all ayes; motion passed.

Motion by Denoyer/Sternburgh to approve December 12, 2022 Budget Meeting minutes as presented; all ayes; motion passed.

 Guests/Presentations: None.

Zoning Administrator: Rosemary Naulty reported she amended a permit for the dog grooming business to include their sign.

Planning Commission: Rosemary Naulty reported the completion of rewriting P/C by-laws (under NB for adoption). P/C is continuing progress on Master Plan rewrite and will begin working on Short Term Rental Ordinance.

 County Commissioner/Fire Chief: Tim Markey reported things are quiet at the County. The Commissioners held their organizational meeting; they have one new commissioner. County discussed possible changes in virtual meeting attendance, and noted the State may be handing down changes to the Open Meetings Act. Commissioner Markey asked ZA for an update on the True North project and was informed the project was delayed, but is now moving forward and construction is expected to begin in April.  Homestead Fire Department logged 352 runs during 2022.  The majority of these runs were medical in nature, due to the aging population of our area. Other main cause was calls due to storm damages.

Treasurer’s Report: Village financial reports for year-end submitted by treasurer.

Motion by Denoyer/Sternburgh accept financial reports.  Roll Call: Ayes; Sternburgh, Ward, Denoyer. Nays; none. Absent: Sandman, Smith. Motion passed.

 Submission of Bills/Checks: Presented by Deb Reed. Motion by Denoyer/Ward to approve bills as presented. Roll Call: Ayes; Sternburgh, Ward, Denoyer. Nays; none. Absent: Sandman, Smith. Motion passed.

 Correspondence:

Incoming:

1. Rebecca Hubers request to be on February agenda to report on Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan.
2. Jessica Carland request to be on February agenda to present Benzie Bus’s Annual report.

Outgoing: None.

 Old Business:

1. None.

 New Business:

1. Motion to authorize President to sign WWTP draw #7 made by Ward/Sternburgh. Roll Call: Ayes; Ward, Denoyer, Sternburgh. Nays; none. Absent; Smith, Sandman. Motion passed.
2. Clerk proposed Village hire someone to clean hall. After brief council discussion, motion by Ward/Sternburgh to approve $12.50 per hour for three hours every two weeks for cleaning. Clerk will look into hiring local. Roll Call: Ayes; Denoyer, Sternburgh, Ward. Nays; none. Absent; Smith, Sandman. Motion passed.
3. Clerk presented wage information for Clerk and Treasurer. After some council discussion, a motion was made by Ward/Sternburgh to increase the Clerk and Treasurer yearly salary by $1,200 each. Roll Call: Ayes; Denoyer, Sternburgh, Ward. Nays; none. Absent; Smith, Sandman. Motion passed.
4. Planning Commission By-laws. Naulty explained there are no fundamental changes, they just need to be adopted into a by-laws format for our RRC designation. Motion by Ward/Sternburgh to approve by-laws; all ayes, motion passed.
5. ZBA meeting. Ward explained the Village Council is also the Village Zoning Board of Appeals. They are required to meet a minimum of once per year. Since there have been no ZBA hearings of late, it was agreed to hold a ZBA meeting at 5:30 February 13^th, prior to the next regular council meeting. Naulty encouraged the ZBA to take the online Citizen Planner Course offered through MSU.
6. Parking Ordinance. Ward would like the Village to look into a parking ordinance, to possibly limit on street parking, etc. Tabled for additional discussion next month.
7. Noise Ordinance. Ward suggests the Village look into updating our Village Ordinance #10 dealing with noise. Homestead Township has one we would fall under, but council feels we should look into having our own in place. Tabled for further discussion next month.
8. Audit. Council discussed possible change in audit firms, and decided to stay with Gabridge & Co. Motion by Ward/Sternburgh to contract with Gabridge & Co for 2022 audit. Roll Call: Ayes; Denoyer, Sternburgh, Ward. Nays; none. Absent: Sandman, Smith. Motion passed.

Reports:

1. Maintenance Report – Durkee, written report submitted. Sewer system is running smoothly, construction is moving along. Ford pickup sustained frame damage, and was promptly repaired. Holiday decorations and Christmas tree have been taken down. Again, our thanks to Bill and Kathy for their work.
2. Street Administrator – Durkee, written report submitted. All is quiet for now. Moved the radar sign to Deadstream Road.
3. Ordinance Officer – None.
4. Park Committee – Reed, no report.
5. Sewer Committee – Ward, no report.
6. Budget Committee – Sandman, no report.

General Discussion: none.

 Public Input: none.

Announcements: Advocates for Benzie County will be meeting at the Gathering Place for a spaghetti dinner January 10 at 6:00, and meeting to be at 7:00.

Groups interested in using the former Platte River School with be meeting with the BCRC Thursday, January 12 at 11:00am.

Adjournment: Motion by Denoyer/Sternburgh to adjourn meeting at 7:07pm.  All ayes; motion carried.

Respectfully Submitted by:

Reed/Goodman

January 10, 2023