Parkman Zoning Summit is A Go, Trustee Announces
May 14, 2015 by Diane Ryder

A joint meeting between Parkman Township Trustees, township Zoning Commission members and members of the Board of Zoning Appeals will take place as scheduled on…

A joint meeting between Parkman Township Trustees, township Zoning Commission members and members of the Board of Zoning Appeals will take place as scheduled on May 26, Trustee Jon Ferguson said May 5.

Last month, Ferguson announced the meeting might be cancelled because the zoning groups had not indicated to him they had any topics to place on the agenda. He said that, with nothing to discuss, there was no point in holding the meeting, but added if the groups came forward with issues to address, it would go forward.

Trustees held what they called their first annual joint summit meeting last year, to acquaint the three boards with each other and to discuss zoning issues from each group’s perspective. That meeting had been well attended, with many from the township’s large Amish community in the audience.

Last Tuesday, Ferguson said he had heard from zoning officials, who had several topics for the proposed meeting’s agenda.

“The zoning commission had three or four topics, and so did we,” Ferguson said. “Looks like we’ll have a good agenda. The joint zoning meeting is on.”

The summit will be held at 7 p.m. May 26 in the dining room of the Parkman Community House.

“That was a good set-up last year, with all the board members and the crowd,” Ferguson said.

In other discussion, Ferguson said he would like to begin a dialogue with neighboring Troy Township to encourage closer cooperation between both townships and their departments, particularly the fire departments.

“We’ve been fooling with this idea for four or five years,” the trustee said. “(Troy Trustee) Jerry Mitchell called me up late last week and said they are willing to get together and talk about our fire departments. I’d like to expand this to other resources we may be able to share to offset our costs.”

Ferguson proposed holding a joint meeting with both trustee boards and department heads.

Trustee Roger Anderson asked whether it would be a public meeting and what would be the best location.

“Could it be held in the daytime maybe?” Anderson asked.

“Pick a couple of dates. I’ll get hold of Jerry,” Ferguson said.

Trustee Dennis Ikeler said with plans for the upcoming Memorial Day celebration underway and the May 26 zoning summit, he would prefer holding the joint trustees’ meeting in June at the earliest.

Ferguson said he would contact Mitchell and find a mutually acceptable date in June or July.

Trustees also discussed “soft billing” of residents’ insurance companies for rescue runs, a practice most other townships have had in place for some time.

Ferguson said the fire department has a “solid” 10-year plan to keep the department financially solvent for the next decade. The township recently approved expanding the department to allow the fire station to be manned during the day, beginning June 1.

“The fire plan is good; soft billing will make it better,” Ferguson said, adding he has been pushing the idea for several years.

“It’s free money for us,” he said.

The trustee added he had checked with the Amish community, which has their own system of insurance.

“Their insurance process is similar to ours,” Ferguson said. “The participant is responsible for the first $500. Their insurance will pay over that. The resident will not be billed.”

During discussion about the township’s gravel roads, trustees agreed to purchase up to $20,000 worth of calcium chloride for dust control, perform crack sealing where necessary, and try to save as much as possible in the road fund to begin converting some gravel roads to chip and seal.

“I really think that once we get chip and seal down, we’re gonna save money in maintenance,” Ferguson said. “We spend more and more in gravel every year, and we spend more than it costs for chip and seal in the long run.”

Trustees agreed to discuss the issue further at their next meeting.