Jun 02, 2021 Environmental Commission Meeting

[00:01:17]

WELL, IT'S SEVEN O'CLOCK I'M JOHN SARVER, LET ME CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER AND THE FIRST

[1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER]

[2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA]

WOULD ANYBODY LIKE TO ADD ANYTHING OR MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE AGENDA? OK, SEEING NONE.

CAN I GET A MOTION TO APPROVE THE AGENDA? OK, SEEING NED, SECOND BY KENDRA.

ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE AGENDA, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.

OK. NEXT, WE HAVE OUR MINUTES, ARE THERE ANY CHANGES OR ADDITIONS TO THE MINUTES FROM OUR

[3. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES]

OK, NED, GO AHEAD. THERE ARE A FEW TYPOS AND THINGS THAT I HAD QUESTIONS ABOUT, BUT THEY'RE ALL PRETTY MINOR AND MAYBE I'LL JUST SEND A MARKED UP VERSION TO LEROY.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.

YEAH, NO, I THINK THAT THAT SOUNDS GOOD.

THANK YOU. THANKS.

CAN I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING? OK, ANNA, CAN I HAVE A SECOND? DO I SEE A SECOND. OH, OK, LUCA.

THANK YOU.

AND ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING.

PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND. OK, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED AND WE'RE, OH, PUBLIC REMARKS. OK, WE'RE UP TO PUBLIC REMARKS AGAIN.

IT'S A GOOD THING I LOOKED. ARE THERE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT? OK, WE HAVE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY AT THE END OF THE MEETING FOR THE PUBLIC TO MAKE COMMENTS.

[5A. Welcome Tim Schmitt, Meridian’s new Director of Community Development and Planning]

TIM, WOULD YOU LIKE TO KIND OF INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND MAKE SOME COMMENTS? WE'RE GLAD TO SEE YOU IN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP.

THANKS, JOHN. IT'S GOOD TO BE HERE.

SO MY NAME IS TIM SCHMITT.

I'VE BEEN IN MID-MICHIGAN NOW A LITTLE OVER A DECADE I LIVE, I CAN SEE MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP FROM MY WINDOW HERE JUST OUTSIDE THE TOWNSHIP WE BOUGHT DURING THE INSANE HOUSING BUBBLE THAT WE ARE ENTERING NOW, BUT WE BOUGHT JUST BEFORE IT.

SO WE ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE A LITTLE BIT.

I HAVE HAD A BIT OF AN ENVIRONMENT.

I'M A PLANNER BY TRADE A BUILT ENVIRONMENT GUY.

I KNOW MY WAY AROUND THE BUILDING CODE AND THE ENGINEERING STUFF VERY WELL.

BUT I HAD ENVIRONMENTAL STREAK MY WHOLE CAREER.

I MINORED IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, ALMOST WENT TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ROUTE IN COLLEGE, STARTED OFF IN A COMMUNITY, HAD A EVEN STRONGER WETLANDS ORDINANCE, I WOULD ARGUE, THAN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP CAME TO EAST LANSING, GOT ON THE BOARD OF MICHIGAN ENERGY OPTIONS, THE OLDEST ENERGY NONPROFIT IN THE STATE.

AND STILL ON THAT, I'VE GOT ONE MORE YEAR IN MY TERM.

I DRIVE AN ELECTRIC CAR NOW.

I USED TO RIDE MY BIKE TO WORK WHEN I WAS IN EAST LANSING.

SO I HAVE TRIED TO LIVE AND BREATHE THIS STUFF MY ENTIRE CAREER.

AND SO I'M VERY EXCITED TO BE A PART OF THE MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP TEAM.

THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING AND A LOT OF GOOD THINGS THAT WE CAN KEEP

[00:05:01]

AND I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO FULFILL HIS SHOES.

I AM TRYING TO FIND MY OWN PATH.

SO I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH ALL THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.

BUT OBVIOUSLY ANY TIME LEROY CALLS ME ON THIS ONE, I WILL POP BACK OVER BECAUSE ENVIRONMENTAL STUFF DOES HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART.

AND ALTHOUGH I'D LOVE TO STAY AND JOIN YOU THIS EVENING, MY DAUGHTER WAS ASKING WHERE I WAS LAST NIGHT. FIRST TOWNSHIP BOARD MEETING AWAY FROM THE HOUSE IN A WHILE, SO I AM GOING TO JUMP OFF AND DO BEDTIME TONIGHT BUT WILL LOVE TO WORK WITH THIS GROUP IN THE FUTURE AND BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU GUYS MIGHT HAVE ABOUT ME.

THANK YOU, TIM. THANK YOU FOR THE INTRODUCTION.

WE'RE JUST, LIKE I SAID, GLAD THAT YOU JOINED THE MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP FAMILY HERE.

DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR TIM? WELL, I THINK WE'RE LETTING YOU OFF THE HOOK THIS TIME.

I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS RAISED. THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE.

THAT'S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE. I'M VERY EASY TO GET A HOLD OF.

IF YOU CAN'T GET ME, GET A HOLD OF LEROY AND HE WILL FIND ME.

I'M RIGHT DOWN THE HALLWAY.

SO. TRACK YOU DOWN.

GOOD. HEY, THANKS FOR JOINING US TONIGHT.

WELL, I'M SURE WE'LL BE SEEING YOU IN THE FUTURE.

ABSOLUTELY, JOHN. HAVE A GOOD EVENING.

TAKE CARE. AND NEXT ON THE AGENDA IS A DISCUSSION OF WETLAND PRESERVATION STEWARDSHIP,

[5B. Wetland Preservation & Stewardship Discussion]

KENDRA COULD YOU GET US STARTED.

SURE, I CAN GET US STARTED.

SO AS YOU KNOW, OVER TWENTY FIVE PERCENT OF OUR TOWNSHIP IS WETLANDS AND IT'S A VERY PRECIOUS ECOSYSTEM THAT WE HAVE HERE THAT WE NEED TO LOOK AT PROTECTING.

AND I'M QUITE FAMILIAR WITH THE WETLAND CODE AND ORDINANCES.

AND SO TRUSTEE WISINSKI AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER AND I MIGHT ASK COURTNEY TO STEP IN HERE AND MAYBE TAKE THE LEAD ON THIS DISCUSSION, PLEASE.

HI, EVERYBODY. YEAH, SORRY, I'M STRUGGLING WITH TECHNOLOGY TODAY, IT'S ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, I UNDERSTAND, BUT NONETHELESS, SO YEAH, I'M SUPER EXCITED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THIS. I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, I UNFORTUNATELY, HAD NOT BEEN VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE WETLAND ORDINANCE, BUT IN TALKING TO KENDRA AND OTHERS AND THEN ALSO WITH SOME OF THE DEVELOPERS COMING TO THE BOARD WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS [INAUDIBLE] LAND USE, I'VE BEEN LOOKING AND FAMILIARIZING MYSELF WITH THE ORDINANCE ITSELF.

I WAS REVIEWING THE ORDINANCE AND THEN I KNOW THAT SOME OF THE CONVERSATIONS I'VE HAD WITH RESIDENTS, AS WELL AS WITH SOME OF THE LAND USE DECISIONS THAT ARE COMING TO THE BOARD, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FANTASTIC FOR ME.

I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL WELL APPRIZED, BUT FANTASTIC FOR ME AND SOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS TO MAYBE LOOK AT THE ORDINANCE AND SEE WHAT IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION ARE AND THEN MAYBE DETERMINE.

I DID TALK WITH DIRECTOR KIESELBACH BEFORE HE LEFT ABOUT HOW THIS ORDINANCE IS BEING IMPLEMENTED. AND THERE MIGHT BE SOME GAPS IN THAT, SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN THINK ABOUT AS A COMMISSION ON HOW WE MAY IMPROVE THOSE GAPS.

BUT AS JIM MENTIONED, WE ARE TWENTY FIVE PERCENT WETLANDS.

AND I KNOW THE MORE WE DEVELOP, THE MORE I BECOME AWARE OF MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE PROTECTING THOSE WETLANDS.

LEROY AND I HAVE BEEN LOOKING INTO SOME OF THE WETLAND MAPS, TALKING WITH OUR GREAT FRIENDS AT EAGLE AND DETERMINING WHERE WE WERE AND WHERE WE ARE WHEN IT COMES TO THE WETLANDS THAT WERE IN MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP.

AND THEN AS WE DEVELOPED AND PROBABLY DEVELOPED RELATIVELY QUICKLY, HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ENSURING THAT THAT WETLAND PROTECTION ORDINANCES IS BEING FOLLOWED IN THAT UP FOR US AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION ARE MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE DOING ALL WE CAN TO PROTECT THOSE PRECIOUS LANDS.

SO I KIND OF JUST THAT'S KIND OF WHERE I WANTED TO BRING IT TO THE BOARD MORE FOR MY OWN INFORMATION, BUT ALSO TO LOOK TO SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING WE NEED TO DO DIFFERENT.

[00:10:01]

THE LAST ORDINANCE THAT WE HAD WAS IN NINETEEN.

IT WAS ADOPTED IN NINETEEN NINETY ONE, BUT I THINK IT HASN'T BEEN LOOKED AT SINCE 2010, SO IT'S BEEN A LITTLE WHILE.

YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT, AND WE WE HAD SOME SUGGESTED LEGAL CHANGES THAT WE HAD INTENDED TO RUN BY THE BOARD AT THE SAME TIME, SOME OF THE OTHER ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA FOR POLICY CHANGES, WE NEVER OFFICIALLY ADOPTED THOSE CHANGES.

SO WE AT THE LEAST, WE SHOULD KIND OF GO BACK AND BRING OURSELVES UP TO SPEED ON THAT.

YEAH, SO I PUT IN TO THE MEMO THAT I THINK INCLUDED IN THE PACKET, WHAT I GATHERED FROM THE ORDINANCE ITSELF, THAT OUR ROLE IS AS THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION AND I FEEL LIKE WE'VE DONE A PRETTY GOOD JOB, BUT I STILL FEEL LIKE WE'RE WE'RE LOSING WETLANDS AS WE GO.

AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ENSURING BOTH AT A RESIDENTIAL LEVEL AS WELL AS A DEVELOPER LEVEL, THAT WE'RE PROTECTING THESE WETLANDS AS MUCH AS WE SHOULD BE? AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S HELPFUL IF I WALK THROUGH THOSE OR I DON'T KNOW, JOHN, WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS? OR, YOU KNOW, IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL AT THIS POINT TO TO HIGHLIGHT MAYBE CERTAIN FUNCTIONS, CERTAIN RESPONSIBILITIES ALSO, YOU KNOW, IF FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE THERE SHOULD BE CERTAIN PRIORITIES THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO ONE OF THE THINGS, JUST FROM MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND THE COMMISSION IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE SINCE I'VE BEEN ON THE COMMISSION, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS COME IN FRONT OF US, WHICH WE'VE KIND OF DEALT WITH AND MADE RECOMMENDATIONS.

AND JUST VERY RECENTLY AT REALLY AT CANBERRA'S SUGGESTION, WE DID THE BROCHURE.

AND DID YOU KNOW, WHICH IS, I THINK, A GOOD EFFORT WITH RESPECT TO EDUCATION.

YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK AT THE RESPONSIBILITIES LAID OUT IN THE ORDINANCE, IT'S PRETTY BROAD AND EXTENSIVE.

BUT, YEAH, I WOULD APPRECIATE FROM HAVING JUST KIND OF LOOKED AT IT IF YOU'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT SOME THINGS.

AND ALSO THE ISSUE, TOO, FROM FROM YOUR PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU KNOW SHOULD BE A HIGH PRIORITY FOR US? OH, YEAH, ABSOLUTELY, SO I CAN GO THROUGH KIND OF WHAT IS WITHIN THE ORDINANCE THAT IS OUR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES, BUT I THINK IT KIND OF HIT ON IT, JOHN, THAT.

A LOT OF IT, I THINK, AND I'LL SAY IT PERSONALLY, NOT FROM A BOARD MEMBER OR FROM A RESIDENT, JUST THAT EDUCATION PIECE.

HOW CAN WE GET THIS INFORMATION OUT, NOT JUST TO RESIDENTS, WHICH I THINK ARE REALLY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHERE IT MIGHT BE MORE DIFFICULT TO TO ENFORCE, BUT ALSO FOR DEVELOPERS AND FOR STAFF THAT AT THE TOWNSHIP LEVEL AND JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT THE ORDINANCE IS, WHAT ARE WHAT IS EXPECTED, AND THEN WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE MIGHT NOTICE SOMETHING THAT COULD BE AFFECTING THE WETLANDS? AND HOW CAN WE WORK TOGETHER AS A TEAM, I GUESS.

AND AND I FEEL LIKE WE COULD BE SUCH A GOOD SOUNDING BOARD AND A SAFE PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO COME WHEN THERE MIGHT BE SOME CONCERNS AMONG THE COMMUNITY WITH THAT BEING SAID.

IT SAYS WITHIN THE ORDINANCE, IT SAYS THAT WE'VE GOT A RESPONSIBILITY TO ADVISE THE TOWNSHIP BOARD AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND THE DIRECTOR ON WHAT LAND USE PERMITS, APPEALS OF WHAT LEMIEUX'S PERMITS, MITIGATION PLANS.

SO I DO HAVE A QUESTION WITH THAT.

SO, JOHN, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU'VE SEEN QUITE A FEW THINGS COME THROUGH.

I'M SO VERY NEW.

HOW DOES THAT PROCESS WORK? I DID TALK TO DIRECTOR KIESELBACH ABOUT WHEN THOSE THINGS COME TO US AND THEN WHEN DO WE PROVIDE THAT ADVICE BACK TO WHETHER IT BE THE PLANNING COMMISSION OR THE BOARD TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS? AND HOW DOES THAT WORK IN THE PROCESS? WELL, YOU KNOW, FROM MY EXPERIENCE AND SOME OF YOU WHO'VE BEEN ON THE COMMISSION LONGER THAN I PROBABLY WANT TO ADD IN, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD SEE AN APPLICATION AND ALONG WITH THE

[00:15:02]

SO IT WAS KIND OF TO ME, A PRETTY GOOD PACKAGE OF WHAT WAS BEING REQUESTED.

AND YOU KNOW WHAT THE CONSULTANT THOUGHT.

THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSIONS AT DIFFERENT TIMES ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THE ALTERNATIVES HAD REALLY BEEN FULLY EXPLORED, BECAUSE THAT'S PART OF THE PROCESS, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, HAVE ALL THE VARIOUS ALTERNATIVES BEEN EXPLORED.

AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE'S THE WHOLE ISSUE OF WHAT'S IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST.

I MEAN, THAT CAME UP IN OUR DISCUSSIONS.

BUT, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD KIND OF REVIEW ALL THAT MATERIAL PRESENTED TO US.

A SITE VISIT WAS KIND OF ARRANGED, WHICH IS VERY HELPFUL TO GO OUT AND ACTUALLY IT LED BACK TO A DISCUSSION BY THE COMMISSION AND A RECOMMENDATION BY US.

I KNOW THERE WAS A DISCUSSION AT SOME POINT, TOO, BECAUSE SOME OF US WERE SURPRISED THAT NOT ALL DECISIONS KIND OF WENT THROUGH THAT PROCESS, SOME WERE JUST BASICALLY DECIDED BY THE PLANNING DIRECTOR AND UNDER CERTAIN SITUATIONS.

BUT YOU KNOW, NED AND BILL, I MEAN, YOU'VE BEEN AROUND LONGER THAN I HAVE.

I BET YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF INSIGHTS TO SHARE.

YEAH, I THINK THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT RECAP, JOHN, YOU HIT THE PROCESS AND SOME OF THE DISCUSSION POINTS THAT WE'VE HAD, AND THAT'S EXACTLY MY EXPERIENCE.

I THINK FROM A BUT THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE OF TIMES WHERE WE'VE INVITED THE TOWNSHIPS WETLAND CONSULTANT TO COME AND TALK ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF THE MITIGATION EFFORTS.

AND WHAT WE'VE HEARD FROM OUR CONSULTANT IS THAT THEY'VE NEVER HAD TO USE THE BOND TO REPAIR A PROBLEM WITH A WETLAND, THOSE WETLAND MITIGATION EFFORTS HAVE SUCCEEDED.

AND I WOULD ADD THAT MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE BOARD'S POSITION, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, HAS ESTABLISHED A POLICY GOAL OF NO NET LOSS.

AND IF ALL OF THE MITIGATION HAS EXCEEDED THE AREA THAT WAS IMPACTED AND HAS ALL SUCCEEDED, THEN BY THAT MEASURE IT SUGGESTS THAT WE'RE ACHIEVING THE BOARD'S POLICY GOAL.

HOWEVER, WE HAVE HAD DISCUSSIONS AND SORT OF DEBATES ABOUT HOW VALID, A WETLAND REPLACEMENT IS WHEN SOMEBODY SAYS, WELL, OK, WE'RE GOING TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF A GIVEN AREA OF DEVELOPMENT BY EXTENDING A WETLAND THAT'S ALREADY THERE, ET CETERA.

AND THE QUESTION IS WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO ESTABLISH AN EFFECTIVE WETLAND THAT DELIVERS THE SERVICES THAT YOU KNOW, THAT A NATURAL ONE DOES, OR AT LEAST THAT ONE THAT'S BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE DOES? AND THAT'S A REALLY HARD THING TO EVALUATE.

SO I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANY REAL ANSWERS.

BUT THE DIALOG HAS GONE ON FOR A LONG TIME.

THE OTHER THING IS THAT.

THERE IS A LIMIT ON THE SIZE, I MEAN, WHAT IS IT, A QUARTER ACRE, I GUESS, IS WHAT TRIGGERS AN ACTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM, SO IN PRINCIPLE, IF SOMEBODY IS JUST SHOVELING DIRT IN A LOW SPOT IN THEIR BACKYARD, THAT'S NOT KIND OF BIG ENOUGH TO CAUSE THE TOWNSHIP TO REVIEW IT, BUT IN GENERAL, WHAT MY EXPERIENCE ON THE COMMISSION HAS BEEN PRETTY MUCH THAT WE RELIED ON THE CONSULTANTS TO HAVE THE EXPERTISE TO ASSESS IN DETAIL WHAT THE ISSUES WERE.

AND THEN WHEN WE WALKED THE SITE WITH THE CONSULTANTS REPORT IN HAND, WE WOULD ASK VARIOUS ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.

AND AND GO FROM THERE.

AND THE OTHER THING IS, IN GENERAL, NOT ALWAYS, BUT IN GENERAL, THE BOARD PRETTY MUCH ACCEPTED WHATEVER OUR ADVICE WAS.

AND MY RECOLLECTION IS TOO WE PRETTY MUCH DIDN'T FIND ANY FAULT WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANT.

IT SEEMED AS AT LEAST MY RECOLLECTION THAT EVERYTHING SEEMED OK.

TRUE.

THE OTHER THING I SEEM TO RECALL, TOO, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IN SOME WAYS WHEN THESE

[00:20:03]

THE OTHER THING TOO SOME OF YOU MIGHT NOT BE AWARE, WE HAD ACTUALLY A FAIRLY LONG DISCUSSION OVER MANY MEETINGS ABOUT A WETLAND BANK BEING BASICALLY FOR KIND OF SMALLER PROJECTS THAT MAYBE WE COULD MAKE SOME IMPROVEMENTS TO THE NATURE PRESERVES AND ACTUALLY CONVERT THEM BACK TO THE WETLANDS OR MAKE THEM WETLANDS.

AND THAT THAT WOULD BE A WAY TO GENERATE SOME RESOURCES.

AND SO MAYBE A REAL SMALL KIND OF MARGINAL WETLAND PROJECT, RATHER THAN MAKE AN IMPROVEMENT OR MITIGATION, THEY WOULD ACTUALLY JUST KIND OF GET A CREDIT FROM THE KIND OF THE OTHER PROJECT THAT HAD ACTUALLY BEEN AN IMPROVEMENT TO LIKE ONE OF OUR NATURE PRESERVE. BUT LET ME OPEN IT UP TO ANNA GO AHEAD.

I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING YOU CORRECTLY.

SO YOU SAID THAT THE BOARD WANTS NO NET LOSS.

SO WE'RE SAYING THAT SINCE THE POLICY HAS BEEN IN PLACE, THERE HAS NOT BEEN A NET LOSS OF WETLANDS, BUT WE DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW ABOUT THE QUALITY OF WETLANDS.

WELL, I THINK, YOU KNOW, BY DEFINITION, YOU KNOW, IF A DEVELOPER COMES TO US, YOU KNOW, TO THE TOWNSHIP, OK, THEY HAVE TO THERE HAS TO BE NO NET LOSS.

AND SO I THINK THAT NOW THERE MAY BE THINGS HAPPENING OUT THERE, OF COURSE, THAT AREN'T KNOWN AND THAT AND AS NED POINTS OUT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT PROBABLY ARE WETLANDS THAT AREN'T ACTUALLY REGULATED BY THE TOWNSHIP.

SO WE COULD ACTUALLY BE HAVING A NET LOSS.

BUT CERTAINLY IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANY ACTIONS ON OUR PART, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST THE OFFICIAL PROCESS, AS FAR AS I KNOW, NEVER LEADS TO A NET LOSS.

OKAY.

AND TO ADD TO THAT ANNA FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND AND KENDRA'S CERTAINLY MUCH MORE WELL VERSED IN THE ORDINANCE. SO FOR MERIDIAN, WE HAVE EXTENDED CAN'T THINK OF THE BEST WORD BUT WE'VE MADE IT MORE RESTRICTIVE TO EGLE'S REGULATION OF A TWO ACRE WETLAND TO A POINT TWO FIVE ACRE WETLAND SO MERIDIAN HAS ADOPTED A MORE STRINGENT POLICY WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT IS CONSIDERED A REGULATED WETLAND.

AND WITH THAT, THE BOARD HAD ADOPTED THAT WHEN WE ARE MITIGATING THE WETLAND.

SO LET'S SAY WE DO HAVE A DEVELOPER THAT DOES HAVE TO IMPACT A WETLAND OF SOME SORT.

THE MITIGATION HAS TO BE AT A RATIO OF TWO TO ONE.

SO IF WE IMPACT ONE ACRE, THEN THAT DEVELOPER AND OR WHOMEVER IS IMPACTING THAT WETLAND HAS TO REESTABLISH TWO ACRES OF WETLAND.

AND SO THAT'S WHERE I THINK AS YOU MENTIONED IS THAT OR MAYBE, JOHN, WHERE THAT WETLAND BANK MIGHT BE MORE EFFECTIVE LONG TERM, WHERE WE WORK TO GET SOME OF THIS MITIGATION GOING TOWARDS A MORE A LARGER AND MAYBE A MORE EFFECTIVE WETLAND THAN JUST, YOU KNOW, CREATING A WETLAND THAT MAY TAKE SOME TIME AS WELL AS MAY NOT PROVIDE THOSE BENEFITS THAT A LARGER WETLAND WOULD PROVIDE.

THE OTHER ISSUE, I THINK THAT I HAVE NO FIRSTHAND KNOWLEDGE, BUT IT'S SAFE TO ASSUME THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE A BUNCH OF HOMEOWNERS WHO HAVE WETLANDS IN THEIR BACKYARD AND MAY NOT EVEN KNOW THEY ARE WETLANDS AND THEY DO FILLING AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE.

AND SO, YOU KNOW, I'D BE SURPRISED IF THERE HASN'T BEEN SOME LOSS OF WETLANDS EITHER BECAUSE PEOPLE DIDN'T KNOW OR PEOPLE DIDN'T CARE.

SO THAT SEEMS HOW MUCH LIKE THAT HAS HAPPENED, WHO KNOWS, RIGHT, BUT THAT SEEMS KIND OF REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME ACTIONS TAKEN BY HOMEOWNERS THAT WEREN'T APPROPRIATE. I SAW KENDRA'S HAND UP SEVERAL TIMES.

[00:25:04]

YES, JOHN, I WOULD AGREE WITH YOU THAT FOLKS MAY NOT KNOW THAT THEY ARE WETLANDS.

I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE EDUCATION PORTION IS REALLY IMPORTANT AND MAY BE CAUSING SOME DAMAGE THEY DON'T REALIZE AND SOME DON'T CARE.

AND THEN ALSO WHAT NED WAS SAYING, YOU KNOW, IF WE THINK ABOUT THE WETLANDS AS KIDNEYS AND THAT THEY FILTER THINGS THROUGH.

OUR NATURAL KIDNEYS, LIKE IN OUR BODIES, OPERATE BETTER THAN ONE KIDNEY OR HAVING TO GET A TRANSPLANT FROM SOMEBODY ELSE.

AND SO THE WETLANDS THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE LEFT ARE FUNCTIONING ARE MORE STRESSED.

AND THIS IS REALLY AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUE.

AND THAT'S WHY WE HAVE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THIS AND WHY WE DO HAVE A STRONGER ORDINANCE HERE, NOT ONLY DOWN TO THE QUARTER ACRE, BUT ALSO THAT THE NATURAL VEGETATION BUFFER, THE 20 FOOT NATURAL VEGETATION BUFFER, BECAUSE THOSE DEEP ROOTED SYSTEMS HELP PROTECT THOSE WETLANDS THAT ARE WORKING HARDER.

SO IF YOU CAN ALMOST THINK ABOUT THOSE AS THE MEDICATION TO HELP THE THE WETLAND FUNCTION BETTER WITH [INAUDIBLE].

IS IF WE LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF WETLANDS THAT WE'VE LOST, IT HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT AND OVER, YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS OF YEARS HERE AND THEN HOW MUCH WE'VE HAD LOST OVER THE LAST DECADE, YOU KNOW, THAT'S KIND OF QUESTIONABLE BASED ON THE MAP.

SO THIS REALLY IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUE.

AND IF WE JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN MIDLAND, YOU KNOW, MIDLAND, PART OF THAT ISSUE WAS INFRASTRUCTURE. BUT IT WAS ALSO A LOSS OF WETLANDS.

AND IF WE'RE OVER 25 PERCENT WETLANDS HERE AND WE'VE HAD DRY SEASONS HERE THE LAST COUPLE OF SEASONS, CAN YOU IMAGINE IF WE HAD A LOT OF RAINS AND THE KIND OF FLOODING THAT WOULD HAPPEN AND THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF THINGS THAT COULD BE PROBLEMATIC FOR A NUMBER OF PEOPLE? YOU KNOW, ANY OTHER PEOPLE'S COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.

YOU KNOW, ONE THING, TOO, I THINK WE SHOULD ADDRESS TOO, YOU KNOW, IS WHAT ARE KIND OF THE NEXT STEPS? I MEAN, I THINK WE WOULD ALL RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE.

THERE'S PROBABLY SOME THINGS THAT COULD BE DONE BETTER.

CERTAINLY WE COULD DO MORE EDUCATION.

BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE ALMOST ALL THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES WE DEAL WITH.

THERE'S YOU KNOW, WHERE TO BEGIN.

BUT DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR FURTHER COMMENTS OR THOUGHTS ON NEXT STEPS? TOM.

YEAH, THANKS, JOHN.

ONE THING THAT I DID THIS AFTERNOON TO KIND OF PREPARE FOR THIS DISCUSSION WAS TO LOOK AT THE STATE REGULATIONS AND COMPARE THOSE WITH THE MERIDIAN ORDINANCE.

AND ONE THING THAT I DISCOVERED IS THAT ONE OF THE STATE REGULATIONS IS THAT THE DEFINITION OF WETLAND HAS TO BE THE SAME DEFINITION THAT THE STATE USES.

AND I ALSO DISCOVERED AND KIND OF WORKED ON THIS A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, THE STATE ACTUALLY CHANGED THE DEFINITION OF WETLAND BACK IN 2018, WHICH TOOK EFFECT IN MARCH OF 2019. SO TECHNICALLY, AND MAYBE THIS WAS ONE OF THE LEGAL ISSUES THAT LEROY WAS REFERRING TO EARLIER, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DO TO THE MERIDIAN ORDINANCE IS TO UPDATE THE DEFINITION OF WETLAND, TO MEET THE STATE DEFINITION.

UNFORTUNATELY, A COUPLE OF YEARS.

WELL, IN 2018, THEY I WOULD SAY LESSENED THE DEFINITION, IF YOU WILL, TO MAKE IT MORE CONDUCIVE FOR PASSIBLE DEVELOPMENT, BUT FROM A LEGAL ASPECT, I THINK WE DO NEED TO UPDATE THE MERIDIAN ORDINANCE TO EQUAL THAT DEFINITION OF WETLAND THAT THE STATE CURRENTLY HAS.

AND I DON'T EXACTLY KNOW WHY, YOU KNOW, WE SAW A SPECIFIC LANGUAGE THAT HAD BEEN PREPARED TO INCORPORATE THE STATE CHANGES, SO, YOU KNOW, IT WAS ALL KIND OF LAID OUT TO US.

HERE'S EXACTLY WHAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED FOR US TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE STATE NOW AND THOSE, YOU KNOW DIDN'T I GUESS OFFICIALLY GET ADOPTED.

[00:30:04]

WELL, PLANTS AND ANIMALS, AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT IF A PROPERTY HAS HISTORICALLY HAD ITS LAND COVER CHANGED FROM SOMETHING THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED A WETLAND SPECIES TO, SAY, A LAWN.

THEN AT THAT POINT, IT IS NO LONGER REGULATED BECAUSE THE PLANTS THAT ARE THERE ARE NO LONGER CONSIDERED WETLAND SPECIES, AND IT'S NOT A SIMPLE MATTER TO GO BACK IN TIME AND UNDERSTAND HOW LAND COVER CHANGED.

BUT THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES WHERE [INAUDIBLE] HAS BEEN APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FOR [INAUDIBLE] FLOOD PLAIN WOULD BE A WETLAND.

BUT IF THE FLOODPLAIN HAS BEEN CONVERTED TO SOMETHING MORE RESIDENTIAL THAN IT WOULD NO LONGER MEET THE CRITERIA FOR BEING A WETLAND BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE THE PRESENCE OF WETLAND SPECIES. HMM.

COURTNEY. THANKS, BILL AND TOM, SO I AGREE THAT WE PROBABLY HAVE TO I WOULD SUPPORT THAT LOOKING AT THE UPDATED DEFINITION OF A WETLAND.

HOWEVER, I WOULD ALSO SUPPORT THAT AS A TOWNSHIP, WE COULD BE MORE STRINGENT AS A STATE EMPLOYEE AS WELL. I WONDER HOW PROTECTIVE SOME OF THOSE REGULATIONS AND ORDINANCES ARE.

SO I CERTAINLY SUPPORT LOOKING AT THAT.

BUT I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY JUST BE, I GUESS, CONFORM TO THEIR DEFINITION, BUT AT LEAST LOOK AT THEIRS AND SEE WHERE WE ARE AS A COMMISSION AND HOW DO WE FEEL WHAT WE NEED TO BE IN THIS TOWNSHIP.

AND THEN SPEAKING TO NATURAL VEGETATION.

AND OVER TIME, I WONDER IF.

SO WE TALKED ABOUT EDUCATION AND THEN WE HAVEN'T REALLY TALKED ABOUT ENFORCEMENT YET, BUT IF WE HAVE EVEN JUST A HANDFUL OF RESIDENTS OR EVEN MORE THAT AREN'T UNDERSTANDING THE ORDINANCE AND ARE MAKING SOME OF THOSE SETBACKS INTO LAWN AND NOW THEY'RE NOT CONSISTING OF THOSE NATURAL VEGETATION.

HOW DO WE KEEP THAT FROM HAPPENING? RIGHT. SO WE'RE IN A POSITION WHERE IT DOES GET TRICKY.

LIKE YOU SAID, TOM AND BILL, THAT SO WE GO OUT THERE AND NOW THE NATURAL VEGETATION ISN'T THERE. BUT IT WAS AT ONE TIME, HOW DO WE STEP BACK AND MAKE SURE THAT THE WETLANDS WE HAVE NOW DON'T TURN INTO LAWN AND OR SOME OTHER THINGS JUST BASED ON THE FACT THAT ME MYSELF WASN'T FULLY EDUCATED ON WHAT A WETLAND WAS, WHAT A SETBACK WAS.

AND I FEEL LIKE I COULD DO A BETTER JOB OF EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ON THAT TO PREVENT THAT IN THE FUTURE, I SUPPOSE.

I WONDER, TOO, IS THERE AND PROBABLY I'M JUST ASKING THIS QUESTION, I WOULD GUESS AT NO POINT IN TIME HAVE PEOPLE ACTUALLY BEEN NOTIFIED THAT THEY HAD PROPERTY ON THE WETLAND, MAP, BECAUSE I'M ASSUMING IT WASN'T DONE JUST BECAUSE OF IT'D BE SUCH A BIG TASK, BUT I DON'T KNOW, DOES ANYBODY KNOW THAT? WAS THERE ANY EVER NOTIFICATION DONE OF THAT YOU'VE GOT A WETLAND? KENDRA.

YES, IT COMES WITH THE TAX BILL.

THERE'S A LITTLE NOTICE THAT COMES WITH THE TAX BILL ABOUT WHETHER YOU'RE ON A WETLAND OR NOT. I MEAN, YOU MOST CERTAINLY CAN TELL A WETLAND BY LOOKING AT IT IF YOU'RE EDUCATED ABOUT IT. MOST CERTAINLY. BUT THE TOWNSHIP HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO EDUCATE ITS RESIDENTS IN THAT TAX BILL.

AND THAT'S LITERALLY IN THE CODE.

IF YOU READ THROUGH THE CODE, IT'S LITERALLY IN THE CODE.

AND IT SAYS THAT.

AND TO BILL AND TOM'S POINT, I THINK ABOUT LIKE IF THINGS WERE CHANGED IN 2018 RELATED TO THE WETLANDS THAT THEY WERE FILLED IN.

WELL, MY GUESS IS AT SOME POINT IN TIME, LIKELY BEFORE 2018, THERE WAS A PRESENCE OF VEGETATION IN HABITAT THAT WAS WETLAND.

RIGHT. AND SO EVEN THOUGH THAT DEFINITION CHANGED SOMEHOW SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, DID

[00:35:03]

AND THAT'S WHERE I THINK IN INTENTIONALLY CHOOSING TO MAKE THAT INTO LAWN AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, BUT WHEN IT GETS A LOT OF RAIN AND I CAN TELL YOU AS A PERSON WHO LIVES ON THE WETLANDS IN A SPOT WHERE SOMEONE TURNS THAT INTO LAWN, LIKE IT'S GOING TO GET RIDICULOUSLY WET AND THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT FLOODING.

SO IT'S GOING TO STILL SHOW UP MAYBE IN A DIFFERENT KIND OF WAY.

AND THAT'S WHY SOME OF THOSE, YOU KNOW, THOSE WETLAND MAPS, THOSE AERIAL MAPS ARE SUPER IMPORTANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO IN THIS ENTIRE PROCESS.

AND I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT MAYBE PEOPLE HAD DIFFERENT VALUES WHEN MAYBE SOME OF THOSE CHANGES WERE MADE, MAYBE SOME OF LEADERSHIP AT THE STATE HAD SOME DIFFERENT VALUES RELATED TO THAT. BUT I CAN TELL YOU THE LEADERSHIP MAYBE NOW DOESN'T MAYBE HAVE THOSE SAME VALUES. AND MOST CERTAINLY ON A FEDERAL LEVEL AND ON A STATE LEVEL, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS A BIG DEAL.

AND IF WE HAVE ANY CHANCE OF ADDRESSING ISSUES RELATED TO ENVIRONMENT CLIMATE CHANGE, YOU KNOW, THE WETLANDS ARE SUPER IMPORTANT IN RELATIONSHIP TO THAT.

EARLIER TODAY, THERE WAS A QUESTION ABOUT LIKE, WHAT ARE SOME POSITIVE IMPACTS THAT WE CAN HAVE RELATED TO ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE? WELL, PROTECTING THE WETLANDS, THAT'S A BIG DEAL IN ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE.

SO I'M HOPING WE CAN LOOK AT THIS ISSUE FURTHER.

YEAH, YOU KNOW, I'M CURIOUS, TOO, AND MAYBE TOM YOU DON'T KNOW THIS, BUT I WOULD KIND OF ASSUME WHEN THE DEFINITION WAS CHANGED THAT MAYBE IT WAS JUST DONE IN THE REGULATIONS, OR IS IT YOUR UNDERSTANDING MAYBE THAT WAS DONE IN LAW? YEAH, UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS DONE IN STATUTE AND WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT THE EGLE WEBSITE TODAY, ONE OF THE STIPULATIONS THEY TALK ABOUT AS FAR AS LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT HAVING WETLAND ORDINANCES, ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS IS THAT THE DEFINITION OF A WETLAND DOES HAVE TO BE THE SAME DEFINITION THAT THE STATE USES.

SO, YEAH, PLEASE DON'T GET ME WRONG.

I AM STRONGLY SUPPORTIVE OF PRESERVING WETLANDS.

BUT I THINK FOR OUR ORDINANCE TO BE ENFORCEABLE, WE DO NEED TO THE TOWNSHIP BOARD DOES NEED TO MAKE THAT CHANGE IN ORDER TO CONFORM WITH EXISTING REQUIREMENTS AND STATE LAW.

TOM AND, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY EVERYBODY WOULD UNDERSTAND THIS, YOU KNOW, WHEN A APPLICATION COMES IN, BASICALLY THEY'RE USING THE SAME FORMS TO SEND TO THE TOWNSHIP AS THEY ARE OF THE STATE. RIGHT.

AND THAT'S FOR OBVIOUS REASONS TO MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR EVERYBODY.

IF IT'S BIG ENOUGH TO BE STATE REGULATED.

OH, RIGHT. BUT DON'T THEY USE THE SAME FORM EITHER FOR A SMALL ONE THAT ISN'T STATE REGULATED OR MAYBE NOT? WE DON'T KNOW. I CAN'T REMEMBER.

WELL, ANYWAY, TOM, DO YOU KNOW, WAS THERE ANYTHING BESIDES THE DEFINITION THAT KIND OF CONSTRAINS THE TOWNSHIP FOR HOW WE DO THINGS? NO, NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THERE IS KIND OF SOME STIPULATIONS AS FAR AS REGULATING WETLANDS UNDER TWO ACRES IN SIZE, AND IT BASICALLY SAYS THAT A LOCAL UNIT OF GOVERNMENT CAN DO THAT IF THEY HAVE THE LOCAL ORDINANCE IN PLACE.

BUT IT DOES SAY IN STATE REGULATIONS THAT LET ME JUST READ IT HERE, IT SAYS IT MUST GRANT A PERMIT UNLESS IT IS DETERMINED THAT THE WETLAND IS ESSENTIAL TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE COMMUNITY'S NATURAL RESOURCES.

AND I THINK IT'S FAIRLY EASY TO DETERMINE THAT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO THE COMMUNITY'S NATURAL RESOURCES. AND THAT'S WHY MERIDIAN AND NUMEROUS OTHER COMMUNITIES AROUND THE STATE DO REGULATE SMALLER WETLANDS.

BUT AND I THINK THAT'S IN OUR ORDINANCE, TOO, THAT IT SPELLS OUT THAT ONE OF THE STIPULATIONS IS THAT IT'S ESSENTIAL TO THE PRESERVATION OF OF THE TOWNSHIPS NATURAL

[00:40:07]

THE ONLY THING. AGAIN, THE ONLY GLARING THING I SAW WAS JUST THE DEFINITION OF WETLAND NEEDED TO BE CONSISTENT WITH THE STATE DEFINITION.

SO, AGAIN, I THINK EVENTUALLY IT WOULD BE WISE TO MAKE THAT CHANGE.

AND THAT WAS WHEN WE DID HAVE THAT KIND OF UPDATED LANGUAGE PRESENTED TO US THAT WAS KIND OF HIGHLIGHTED. THAT'S THE DEFINITION HAD CHANGED.

BILL. I WAS JUST GOING TO UNDERLINE TOM'S COMMENT ABOUT THE ESSENTIALITY, DETERMINATION, AND IN MY EXPERIENCE, IT'S RARE THAT THE BOARD DECIDES THAT A WETLAND IS NOT ESSENTIAL AND TYPICALLY IS VERY SMALL AND DEGRADED AND IT'S A ROADSIDE DITCH, BUT FOR THE MOST PART, THAT PROCESS IS WELL ENSHRINED IN OUR PROCESS.

HI.

NOW, WAS THE DEFINITION WATERED DOWN? FROM THE STATE DEFINITION, THAT'S MY QUESTION.

WELL, GO AHEAD TOM.

WELL, YEAH, I WOULD SAY THAT THE INTENT OF THE CHANGE OF THE STATE CHANGE TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO WAS TO WATER DOWN THE DEFINITION SLIGHTLY.

I DON'T THINK IT'S DRASTICALLY WATERED DOWN, BUT I THINK THAT WAS THE BILL SPONSORS INTENT ORIGINALLY AND THEN THROUGH NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE VARIOUS INTEREST GROUPS, YOU KNOW, THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE WAS CHANGED.

BUT I THINK IT GOT TO A POINT WHERE MOST PEOPLE ACCEPTED IT.

I WOULD SAY IT'S STILL MAYBE SLIGHTLY WATERED DOWN FROM THE PREVIOUS DEFINITION.

AND OUR PREVIOUS DEFINITION IN THE MERIDIAN ORDINANCE, I NOTICED WAS IDENTICAL TO THE FORMER STATE DEFINITION.

SO. WELL, AND I'M GUESSING TOM I DON'T KNOW THIS, BUT THE CHANGES PROBABLY HAD A LOT TO DO WITH FARMERS WHO HAD MADE CHANGES TO THEIR LAND PROBABLY FOR A LONG TIME AGO.

AND THEY WANTED TO AVOID PROBLEMS WITH FARMERS, HAVING MADE IT CHANGES THAT IT WOULD BE HARD TO MAYBE REVERSE IS WHAT I'M GUESSING, BUT, YOU KNOW TTHAT WAS PROBABLY THE IMPETUS FOR THE CHANGE IN DEFINITION.

BUT, YOU KNOW, I'M SPECULATING, BUT IT KIND OF MAKES SENSE.

YOU KNOW, ONE THING THAT LET'S TALK A LITTLE ABOUT NEXT STEPS, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN ONGOING DISCUSSION.

I THINK ONE THAT SEEMS OBVIOUS TO ME IS THAT THE STATE CHANGES SHOULD BE INCORPORATED IN OUR ORDINANCE.

IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, YOU KNOW, THE LANGUAGE WAS KIND OF DONE BY SOMEBODY WHO KIND OF KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING, I THINK.

AND SO I PUT THAT ON OUR TO-DO LIST.

WHAT OTHER SUGGESTIONS DO PEOPLE HAVE FOR KIND OF NEXT IMMEDIATE STEPS? I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW WHAT OTHER I MEAN, EVEN TIM SCHMITT, WHEN HE WAS SPEAKING, SAID THAT HE COMES FROM A COMMUNITY, I BELIEVE HE SAID, WITH AN EVEN STRONGER WETLANDS ORDINANCE.

SO I GUESS I'D BE CURIOUS TO KNOW WHAT ARE THESE OTHER STRONGER WETLANDS ORDINANCES AND WHAT OPPORTUNITIES WE MAY HAVE TO BECOME STRONGER? YOU KNOW, MAYBE WE COULD HAVE TIM COME TO OUR NEXT MEETING, KIND OF GIVE US A LITTLE YOU KNOW, SHARE WITH US HIS PAST EXPERIENCE, I THINK THAT WOULD BE EXCELLENT.

OTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT STEPS.

BILL. ONE THING THAT I'VE BEEN THINKING MORE ABOUT IS THAT OUR DRAIN COMMISSIONER HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE INSISTENT ON DETENTION BASINS IN NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND REDEVELOPMENTS. AND FOR THE MOST PART, THOSE ARE REALLY MEANT TO CONTROL THE VOLUME OF STORMWATER AND NOT NECESSARILY AIMED AT FUNCTIONAL WETLANDS.

SO THAT MAY BE ANOTHER AREA WHERE WE MIGHT, IN ORDINANCE OR IN OTHER POLICY, ENCOURAGE THE CREATION OF THINGS THAT AT LEAST FUNCTION THE WAY WE WANT A WETLANDS TO FUNCTION, EVEN IF THEY'RE LARGELY ARTIFICIAL.

AND THERE'S A LOT OF THEM AROUND THERE BEING CONSTRUCTED EVERY DAY, EVEN OUT BY LAKE LANSING. SO THAT MAY BE ANOTHER AREA WHERE THE COMMISSION COULD KIND OF TRY TO HAVE SOME IMPACT ON WETLANDS.

[00:45:02]

RIGHT. WELL, THE DRAIN COMMISSION HAS A STRONG AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE CONDITIONS ON PROJECTS, BUT THEIR AUTHORITY IS MAINLY DIRECTED TOWARDS CONTROLLING FLOODING. BUT I BELIEVE THAT THE CURRENT DRAIN COMMISSIONERS ALSO VERY MUCH AMENABLE IF YOU LOOK AT TOWER GARDENS AND THE DRAIN PROJECT OUT IN FRANDOR THE MONTGOMERY DRAIN VERY MUCH AMENABLE TO NOT JUST LOOKING AT VOLUME, BUT ALSO LOOKING AT QUALITY.

SO THE PARTNERSHIP THERE WITH THE DRAIN COMMISSIONER, I THINK COULD BE VERY EFFECTIVE.

WELL, THAT KIND OF LEADS ME TO COURTNEY.

OH, DID YOU RAISE YOUR HAND.

YEAH, I WAS THANK YOU.

BILL, YOU MAKE A VERY GOOD POINT ABOUT THE DRAIN COMMISSIONER, AND I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT YOU JUST MADE WAS, OF COURSE, THAT WHOLE JOB IS RELATED TO FLOODING.

BUT IF WE CAN MAINTAIN OUR OVERALL VOLUME OF WETLANDS, THAT ITSELF CONTRIBUTES TO THAT RECHARGE. RIGHT. SO IF WE CAN MAINTAIN WHAT WE HAVE, I THINK THE DRAIN COMMISSIONER WOULD BE AMENABLE TO THAT.

AND WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, I SAY.

BUT I KNOW OUR DRAIN COMMISSIONER, LINDEMANN, HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ADVOCATE OF WETLANDS WITH GROESBECK AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

I'M WONDERING, I DON'T KNOW HOW THE COMMISSION FEELS ABOUT.

SO WE TALKED ABOUT THE CHANGES TO THE DEFINITION AND THEN ALSO BECOMING PARTNERS WITH THE DRAIN COMMISSIONER I THINK IS A FANTASTIC IDEA.

FOR MYSELF I'D LIKE TO EVEN BECOME MORE FAMILIAR WITH OUR EXISTING ORDINANCE AND THEN MAYBE COMPARE THAT.

AND I DON'T KNOW WHO MADE THE SUGGESTION AGAINST MR. DIRECTOR SCHMITT'S EXPERIENCE WITH HIS PREVIOUS OFFICE, BUT LOOKING AT MAYBE OTHER ORDINANCES AND WHERE WE STAND AND MAYBE THEN WE CAN REVIEW AND THEN I DON'T KNOW, AS A COMMISSION, WOULD THAT BE APPROPRIATE FOR US TO REVIEW AND THEN MAKE SUGGESTIONS TO EITHER AMENDING THE ORDINANCE AND OR AT LEAST LOOKING FOR GAPS IN WHERE WE MIGHT BE LACKING TO ENSURE THAT WE ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE ENTIRE WETLAND VOLUME, AS WELL AS WORKING WITH THE DRAIN COMMISSION, WHICH I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT.

AND THEN JOHN, WE DO HAVE OUR NEW WETLAND BROCHURE AND KENDRA, YOU MENTIONED THAT IT'S ON OUR SEWER BILL, THAT IT COMES ON THAT DESIGNATES WHETHER YOU'RE IN A NATURAL VEGETATION OR IN A WETLAND AREA.

IS IT POSSIBLE WE COULD GET THAT BROCHURE OUT WITH THAT BILL AS WELL? IN THAT WAY, THE FOLKS THAT ARE WITHIN THOSE AREAS CAN BECOME A LITTLE BIT MORE EDUCATED ON WHY IT'S IMPORTANT AND HOW YOU CAN ENJOY YOUR PROPERTY, BUT STILL MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR WETLANDS.

YES, THAT WOULD BE GREAT, I THINK.

I MEAN, EARLIER THIS YEAR WHEN THE TAX BILL WENT OUT, I THINK WE WERE ALL A TAD DISAPPOINTED THAT IT DIDN'T GO WITH IT OR SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT MORE SUBSTANTIAL, WENT OUT WITH IT AND JUST SAID THAT WHETHER YOU'RE ON A WETLAND OR NOT, OR YOU COULD BE OR YOU COULD LOOK AT THE MAP AT THE TOWNSHIP OFFICE.

BUT I MEAN, I THINK THAT MOST CERTAINLY, WHETHER IT GOES OUT WITH EVERY TAX BILL OR JUST THE TAX BILL OF PROPERTIES CONNECTED TO WETLANDS, THAT MOST CERTAINLY WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL BECAUSE RESIDENTS BEING EDUCATED, STAFF BEING EDUCATED ON WHAT THE ORDINANCE IS AND MIND YOU RIGHT LIKE WE JUST SENT YOU 20 PAGES OF THE ORDINANCE AND THAT'S NOT ALL OF IT. RIGHT. RELATED TO THE WETLANDS, BECAUSE THERE'S ANOTHER ONE RELATED TO THE NATURAL VEGETATION BUFFER, WHICH IS ACTUALLY UNDERWATER FEATURES.

SO THAT'S IN A DIFFERENT AREA AND ACTUALLY PROBABLY SHOULD BE PUT IN WITH THE WETLANDS.

SO IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO FIND AND I THINK THAT'S 47261 IF I THINK I KNOW IT BY HEART MOST OF THE ONES I DO. UNFORTUNATELY, I KNOW THE WETLAND CODE BY HEART.

SO I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, EDUCATING EVERYBODY AND I THINK THAT EDUCATING THE STAFF IN WITH THE INTENT THAT WE HAVE A DIRECTOR SCHMITT WHO'S NEW NUMBER ONE BUT TO THE STAFF THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN THERE, I MEAN, I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW MANY PAGES THE CODE OF ORDINANCES ARE.

RIGHT. AND HOW DOES SOMEONE REMEMBER ALL OF THAT? RIGHT. AND I KNOW THAT I THINK LEROY WAS WORKING ON SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, FOR THE CODE

[00:50:02]

AND THEN YOU KNOW, EDUCATING EVERYBODY AND THEN ENFORCING WE HAVE TO ENFORCE WE'RE HAVING A PROBLEM WITH ENFORCEMENT, MOST CERTAINLY.

OTHER THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS.

TOM, YEAH, JUST LASTLY, I KNOW A COUPLE OF PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED COMPARING THE MERIDIAN ORDINANCE WITH SOME OTHER LOCAL ORDINANCES, THERE IS A LIST OF OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE LOCAL ORDINANCE, WETLAND ORDINANCES IN PLACE ON THE EGLE WEBSITE.

SURPRISINGLY, THERE'S ONLY FORTY FOUR LOCAL UNITS OF GOVERNMENT STATEWIDE THAT HAVE THEIR OWN WETLAND ORDINANCE.

BUT FOUR OF THEM ARE RIGHT HERE IN INGHAM COUNTY, ACTUALLY.

OBVIOUSLY, MERIDIAN, DELHI, THE CITY OF EAST LANSING AND WILLIAMSTON TOWNSHIP, ALL HAVE WETLAND ORDINANCES.

AND THEN THERE'S NUMEROUS COMMUNITIES IN BOTH OAKLAND COUNTY AND WASHTENAW COUNTY THAT HAVE THEIR OWN LOCAL ORDINANCE.

SO THERE'S CERTAINLY PLENTY TO COMPARE OURS WITH.

BUT FRANKLY, I THINK OURS IS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE.

BUT IT CERTAINLY NEVER HURTS TO COMPARE WITH OTHER COMMUNITIES TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY GAPS THAT WE MIGHT NEED TO FILL.

WELL, LIKE THE SEMCOG YOU KNOW PRESENTATION WE HAD, WHAT, TWO MONTHS AGO TALKED ABOUT THAT, HOW THEY HAVE THE ONE WATER CAMPAIGN DOWN THERE.

AND I THINK THAT'S WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THIS, YOU KNOW THE WETLANDS HELP KEEP OUR WATER CLEAN. AND SO AND I THINK WE ALL CAN AGREE THAT WE WANT CLEAN WATER.

WHAT DO WE ALL AGREE ON? WE WANT CLEAN WATER. WE WANT CLEAN AIR.

IT DOES BOTH.

RIGHT. IT PREVENTS FLOODING.

SO I THINK EDUCATING AND I THINK WE'VE ALSO TALKED ABOUT HAVING A REGIONAL I MEAN, THAT'S WHAT THEY DO AT SEMCOG RIGHT? THEY HAVE A REGIONAL. THEY WORK TOGETHER.

AND I THINK WE'VE I REMEMBER TALKING WITH CLIFF AND LAUREN ABOUT, YOU KNOW, AT A REGIONAL LEVEL WORKING TOGETHER ON THIS.

RIGHT. SO THAT IT'S CONSISTENT ACROSS THE REGIONS.

AND THEN THAT WAY WE'RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER TO ADDRESS WETLAND LOSS AND ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE. ANY OTHER THOUGHTS, YOUR COMMENTS.

ANNA.

YES, KENDRA YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT WE ALSO HAVE AN ENFORCEMENT PROBLEM, SO I'M CURIOUS IF YOU HAVE THOUGHTS ON NEXT STEPS IN TERMS OF ADDRESSING ANY ENFORCEMENT PROBLEMS WE MAY BE HAVING. WELL, I THINK THE FIRST STEP IS EDUCATION, SO EDUCATING EVERYONE AND THEN BUYING IN, AND IT HAS TO COME FROM LEADERSHIP.

AND THAT'S WHY I SPENT, YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE TRUSTEE, WISINSKI SPENDING TIME WITH ME TO HEAR ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT HAS TO COME FROM LEADERSHIP ON DOWN, LIKE SEMCOG SAID.

RIGHT. TO MAKE THIS TO BE AN IMPORTANT AREA TO ADDRESS.

LEROY.

JUST BERNADETTE, HAS MENTIONED, AN INTEREST IN WATER CONSERVATION.

WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, THREE STUDENTS AT OUR MEETING, WHICH IS PRETTY REMARKABLE.

I THINK WE HAD NO FOUR WITH AUDREY.

AND IT CAN COME FROM THE TOP, BUT IT CAN ALSO NOT TO SAY THAT THE STUDENTS ARE AT THE BOTTOM, BUT THEY'RE THE FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITY AND MAYBE GETTING SOME INPUT FROM THE EARTH CLUB AND THE STUDENTS WILL BE A PIECE TO THIS.

THE OTHER ASPECT IS JUST TO THINK ABOUT WETLANDS ARE A PART OF OUR GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AS OUR COMMUNITY GARDENS AND OUR NATURE PRESERVES AND OUR PARKS AND OUR LAWNS.

AND WE'VE GOT A NICE LIST OF IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR CODES THAT CLIFF ON TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING PUT TOGETHER, THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE REVISING OUR CODE OF ORDINANCES.

WE MIGHT WANT TO JUST CONSIDER HAVING THAT IN TANDEM.

BUT I'M CURIOUS WHAT YOU GUYS THINK ABOUT BOTH OF THESE IDEAS.

INVOLVING STUDENTS AND, YOU KNOW, INCLUDING OF THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE AUDIT RESULTS AS

[00:55:03]

YEAH, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, ALL THE STUDENTS OR SOME OF THE STUDENTS COULD RESPOND, YOU KNOW, ONE THING THAT YOU COULD GIVE SOME THOUGHT TO TOO IS, YOU KNOW, HOW DO SCHOOLS HELP US IN OUR EDUCATION EFFORTS? BECAUSE THE EDUCATION OF THE COMMUNITY IS A BIG TASK.

AND, YOU KNOW, YOU MAY HAVE SOME IDEAS ALONG THOSE LINES TOO.

DO ANY OF THE STUDENTS ATTENDING HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR THOUGHTS? LUCA, GO AHEAD. I JUST WANT TO MENTION, I KNOW THAT EDUCATION REALLY STARTS WITH THE KIDS AND SCHOOLING AND WHATNOT.

AND SO I KNOW I'VE NOTICED IN THE PAST OR HAVE ATTENDED CLASSES IN OKEMOS SPECIFICALLY THAT ARE BASED AROUND LIKE OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES AND EXPLORING THE OUTDOORS.

AND I THINK WE'VE GOT A REALLY GOOD BASELINE OF GETTING KIDS OUTDOORS AND SHOWING THEM OUR WETLANDS AND SHOWING THEM HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE OUTSIDE.

BUT I THINK THERE IS MORE THAT WE COULD BE DOING THROUGH SPECIFICALLY THE HIGH SCHOOL, THE LOWER LEVELS DO A REALLY GOOD JOB OF IT.

BUT I DON'T KNOW.

I FEEL LIKE WE COULD GET THE EARTH CLUB OR SOMETHING INVOLVED IN TRYING TO GET A CLASS TOGETHER THAT TEACHES MORE ABOUT THE OUTSIDE.

YEAH NED, GO AHEAD.

I JUST WANTED TO ASK, BECAUSE IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE BEEN IN HIGH SCHOOL, THAT I MEAN, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MY PERCEPTION IS, IS THAT THERE'S REASONABLY GOOD TEACHING ABOUT SORT OF ECOLOGY AND THE SYSTEMS THAT NATURE EMPLOYS TO CLEAN WATER AND SO FORTH, THE FILTRATION AND, YOU KNOW, HOW WILDLIFE GETS BORN IN WETLANDS AND SO FORTH, BUT PERHAPS NOT AS MUCH ON THE INTERFACE BETWEEN HUMAN INFRASTRUCTURE AND THINGS LIKE WETLANDS. IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DO OUR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS, OUR WATER DELIVERY SYSTEMS OR THE FACT THAT WE SALT THE ROADS, ALL THESE DIFFERENT PRACTICES THAT ARE PART OF EXISTING OF A HUMAN COMMUNITY BEING OVER [INAUDIBLE] ON THE LAND.

I'M JUST WONDERING HOW MUCH IS THAT OTHER THAN SORT OF HANDWRINGING, HOW MUCH OF THAT IS SORT OF FORMALLY DISCUSSED? LOOKS LIKE JOELL HAS AN ANSWER.

I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER, BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE LAWNS USE MORE CHEMICALS THAN COMMERCIAL FARMING AND OKEMOS, IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY BUSINESS AROUND THE LAWN COMPANY IS SYNONYMOUS WITH POISONING THE EARTH IN THE AIR, AND I DON'T THINK PEOPLE HAVE A CLUE IT ENDS UP IN OUR GROUND, IN OUR DRINKING WATER.

YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT GIVES PEOPLE THE RIGHT TO POISON EVERYTHING.

AND, YOU KNOW, GOING BACK TO THE DEFINITION BEING WATERED DOWN.

THE TOWNSHIP VOTED TO PASS SOMETHING THAT THE RECOMMENDATION COMMITTEE ALL VOTED NO FOR, SO IT'S KIND OF LIKE THEY'RE GOING TO DO WHAT THEY WANT, YOU KNOW, FOLLOW THE DOLLAR OR SOMETHING. SO I AM NOT IMPRESSED WITH THEM, THE INTEGRITY, BUT THE POISONING OF THE EARTH IS A BIG NUISANCE FOR ME BECAUSE I WALK MY DOGS AND THERE'S.

YOU KNOW, PELLET FERTILIZER AND.

YOU KNOW, CHEMICAL PESTICIDE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO KILL [LAUGHTER].

ANYWAY THAT'S ALL I GOT.

ANNAKA. GO AHEAD ANNAKA.

SO BACK ON THE SUBJECT OF WHAT SCHOOL EDUCATION AND ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND STUFF.

SO IN AP ENVIRONMENT THAT'S LIKE THE ONLY CLASS WHERE WE GO THROUGH ALL THE CYCLES, BUT THEY MAINLY FOCUS ON COMMERCIAL STUFF, NOT AS JOELL WAS SAYING LIKE HOME PESTICIDES AND THAT KIND OF THING. AND SO WE DO HAVE AN AP ENVIRONMENTAL COURSE THAT'S ONLINE.

SO I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE HOW EFFECTIVE THAT IT WOULD BE YET.

THANK YOU. THANKS. AUDREY.

SO WHEN WHOEVER WAS TALKING ABOUT THE FOR LIKE EDUCATION, ABOUT SYSTEMS, I ACTUALLY FOR EARTH CLUB LIKE I'VE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH ON KIND OF THE SYSTEMS OF LIKE HOW STORMWATER LIKE WORKS.

AND THAT WAS KIND OF OR BERNADETTE AND I WERE ALSO TAKING THAT AP ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE COURSE THAT ANNAKA MENTIONED.

AND THERE IS ALSO AN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE CLASS AT OUR SCHOOL, BUT IT'S NOT LIKE A

[01:00:04]

MY NINTH GRADE PHYSICAL SCIENCE TEACHER, MR. CHAPMAN, WAS LIKE MORE FOCUSED ON LIKE CLIMATE CHANGE, AND I DON'T THINK THAT AND I ACTUALLY DIDN'T GET A FULL YEAR OF BIOLOGY BECAUSE THAT WAS MY SOPHOMORE YEAR THAT WAS ENDED EARLIER. AND SO WHEN I WAS DOING RESEARCH ABOUT WETLANDS, I THINK.

THERE ARE THINGS THAT I GENERALLY KNEW, LIKE I KNOW WETLANDS ARE GOOD, BUT I DIDN'T ACTUALLY REALLY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OR EXACTLY THE CHEMICAL PROCESSES ANYWAYS OF HOW THAT WORKS. AND I ALSO DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THE LIKE THE COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS AND THE COMMUNITY LIKE.

THE CITY PLANNING ASPECTS OF THOSE THINGS EITHER AND I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THAT THROUGH MY AP ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE COURSE, BUT THEN MOSTLY GETTING INTERESTED FROM THAT COURSE TO DO MY OWN RESEARCH.

AND NOW IT'S KIND OF HARD FOR ME TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN WHAT I LEARNED IN SCHOOL AND WHAT I'VE LOOKED UP ON MY OWN.

BUT I THINK THAT AT THE VERY LEAST, SCHOOLS COULD PROBABLY DO MORE TO GET THEIR STUDENTS INTERESTED IN RESEARCHING ON THEIR OWN, BUT MORE LIKE GETTING THE TOOLS TO DO GOOD RESEARCH ON THEIR OWN, BECAUSE I THINK I'VE LEARNED SOME THINGS ABOUT DOING RESEARCH FROM DOING RESEARCH, THAT'S NOT VERY HELPFUL, BUT I THINK THERE'S DEFINITELY MORE THINGS THAT THE SCHOOLS COULD BE DOING. I GUESS.

BERNADETTE. I AGREE WITH WHAT EVERYONE HAS SAID SO FAR, BECAUSE I DIDN'T LIKE LEARN ABOUT WETLANDS AND EVERYTHING, LIKE UNTIL I DID MORE RESEARCH ON MY OWN, JUS LIKE WHAT AUDREY SAID. LIKE, LIKE A REQUIRED CLASS AT THE HIGH SCHOOLS FOR LIKE ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE BECAUSE APPARENTLY IT'S JUST LIKE OPTIONAL.

LIKE YOU CAN TAKE IT IF YOU HAVE TIME IN YOUR SCHEDULE.

BUT I FEEL LIKE IT SHOULD BE REQUIRED BECAUSE STUDENTS NEED TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD AROUND THEM.

LUCA. I PERSONALLY AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN SAID BEFORE, AND THEN I THINK THAT PERSONALLY, BEING A SOPHOMORE RIGHT NOW AND I KNOW AUDREY DIDN'T FINISH HER BIO, BUT I'M CURRENTLY I'M IN THE END OF THE BIO, SO I'M STARTING TO MAYBE GET SOME OF THAT.

BUT WE'RE LEARNING ABOUT ECOLOGY RIGHT NOW.

AND SO BUT WE'RE NOT LEARNING ABOUT AREA SPECIFIC ECOLOGY.

SO IT'S MORE OF ECOLOGY, MAYBE ON [INAUDIBLE] OR SOMEWHERE THAT'S KIND OF GEOLOGICALLY ISOLATED. AND SO I WISH WE WOULD LEARN MORE ABOUT LIKE OUR AREA'S ECOLOGY AND MORE ABOUT OUR WETLANDS. AND I KNOW WE DID SOMETHING IN EIGHTH GRADE OR SEVENTH GRADE WHERE WE LEARNED SPECIFICALLY ABOUT OUR WETLANDS AND HOW TO PRESERVE THEM AND WHAT'S IN THEM AND OUR OWN LIKE OUR OWN ECOLOGY.

BUT I PERSONALLY WISH WE HAD MORE BASED ON OUR AREA RATHER THAN OTHER PLACES.

JOELL DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT YOU WANTED TO MAKE.

I'M SORRY, WHAT'S THE QUESTION? WELL, I THOUGHT YOU RAISED YOUR HAND, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT YOU WANTED TO MAKE? NO I'M JUST SITTING HERE.

SO OKAY. BERNADETTE.

KIND OF GOING OFF, WHAT LUCA SAID I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING LOCALLY THROUGH LIKE THE MERIDIAN CONSERVATION.

ONCE I JOIN THAT AND I THINK IT WOULD BE KIND OF COOL SOMEHOW, LIKE THE DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOLS AROUND HERE, NED. SO I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH THAT, AND ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE UNBELIEVABLY GOOD ASSET WE HAVE IN HAVING EMMA BE PART OF OUR COMMUNITY, WE ARE IN UNBELIEVABLY LUCKY, YOU KNOW, PLACE TO LIVE JUST BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, WELL, THAT'S JUST ONE PERSON.

BUT SHE'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PERSON.

BUT THE OTHER THING I WAS GOING TO SAY IS THAT I TEACH A GREEN CHEMISTRY CLASS TO FRESHMEN AT MSU.

AND PART OF THE REASON THAT I ASKED THE QUESTION ABOUT SORT OF INFRASTRUCTURE IS THAT I HAVE TAKEN THESE KIDS, THESE STUDENTS TO THINGS LIKE THE SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT OR THE WATER PLANT AND THINGS LIKE THAT, AND IT'S JUST SORT OF STRUCK ME HOW EYE-OPENING THOSE EXPERIENCES SEEMED TO BE FOR THEM.

AND I'M NOT TRYING TO TAKE CREDIT FOR IT.

I'M JUST TRYING TO SAY. IT'S REALLY EASY TO LIVE IN THIS WORLD AND NOT KNOW WHERE THE

[01:05:04]

WHAT ARE ALL THOSE THINGS THAT ARE UNDER OUR STREETS THAT OCCASIONALLY YOU SEE THE ORANGE TRUCKS, YOU KNOW, WORKING AROUND, ET CETERA, ET CETERA, AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS ACTUALLY SIGNIFICANTLY INTERSECT WITH AND MODERATE, YOU KNOW, THE NATURAL PROCESSES THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT HERE, ABOUT WETLANDS DELIVERING AND VARIOUS OTHER THINGS, TOO.

AND SO I SORT OF WISH THAT THERE WERE MUCH MORE INTEGRATED EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES GOING ON THAT TALK ABOUT HOW THESE THINGS FIT TOGETHER.

AUDREY. WHAT YOU JUST SAID NED REMINDED ME THAT MR. CHAPMAN FROM THAT PHYSICAL SCIENCE TEACHER ALSO HAD A FIELD TRIP THAT SEEMED TO GO ON THAT I WENT ON AND HE TOOK US TO I FORGOT WHERE IT WAS, BUT HE TOOK US TO THE BIG WATER TREATMENT PLANT IN MICHIGAN.

YEAH. YEAH, I THINK YEAH, YEAH, AROUND MUSKEGON AND LIKE WE LIKE TOURED IT AND THEN WENT ON A SUBMARINE THAT WAS DIFFERENT.

OH [INAUDIBLE] WENT ON LIKE NO WE WENT ON A WHATEVER, BUT WE LIKE IT WAS A WHOLE FIELD TRIP BASED ON LIKE WE LEARNED ABOUT LIKE EUTROPHICATION IN LAKE MICHIGAN, AND IT WAS REALLY COOL AND REALLY INTERESTING, BUT LIKE YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO ON THE FIELD TRIP AND IT WASN'T THAT BIG OF A FIELD TRIP.

IT WAS JUST LIKE THREE PARENTS DROVE LIKE THERE WERE THREE CARS THAT WERE GOING AND LIKE 20 KIDS. AND WE'RE JUST LIKE, OR OBVIOUSLY NOT 20 KIDS, BUT WE JUST WENT AND LIKE, I LEARNED A LOT. AND IT WAS JUST MORE LIKE AN EXPERIENCE APART FROM SCHOOL.

BUT THAT WAS REALLY INTERESTING.

AND THERE ARE LOTS OF VERY ENGAGING TEACHERS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL AND ALL OVER [INAUDIBLE].

I APPRECIATE THAT. THAT'S FANTASTIC.

DID YOU GET TO SLEEP ON THE SUBMARINE.

THE CUB SCOUTS DID THAT.

COURTNEY GO AHEAD. OH, THIS IS FANTASTIC.

SO I FEEL THE ENERGY FROM OUR STUDENTS AS WELL AS OUR PROFESSORS CLEARLY.

AND I WANT TO GO BACK TO FRESHMAN YEAR AT COLLEGE OF AG.

BUT I'M WONDERING, JOHN, IF I COULDN'T CHALLENGE OUR STUDENTS TO MAYBE WORK WITH KENDRA AND I ON MAYBE AN ACTION PLAN FOR OUR NEXT STEPS IN WETLANDS.

AND WHAT I HEARD WAS SEVERAL GREAT IDEAS WAS REVIEWING THE ORDINANCE ITSELF, LOOKING AT THE DEFINITION OF WETLANDS WITH RESPECT TO THE STATE REGS, AND THEN MAYBE MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS ON ANY CHANGES AND OR WHAT THE BOARD COULD DO TO HELP.

SO I FEEL THAT AND I HATE TO THROW KENDRA ON THAT BANDWAGON, BUT I THINK THAT MAYBE WE COULD AT AN EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, WE COULD DO THIS MAYBE AS A RESIDENTIAL LEVEL.

BUT I THINK THE STUDENTS ARE RIGHT.

WE NEED TO START YOUNGER, TOO.

AND WE'VE GOT YOU KNOW, TEACHERS IN THE CROWD.

SO I WOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE THAT ON TO MAYBE HELP FACILITATE.

SO JUST WANT TO THROW THAT OUT THERE.

EXCELLENT. COURTNEY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I THINK THAT'S A LOGICAL NEXT STEP FOR KIND OF DEALING WITH A NUMBER OF THE DIFFERENT ISSUES. THE OTHER THING I WOULD SUGGEST IS THAT LEROY YOU APPROACH TIM AND ASK HIM TO JOIN US MAYBE AT THE NEXT MEETING TO TALK ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER [INAUDIBLE] WITH RESPECT TO WETLAND ORDINANCES.

AND ALSO, I'D LIKE YOU TO ASK TIM TOO IF HE HAS ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT EDUCATION OF STAFF WITH RESPECT TO THESE ISSUES, BECAUSE THAT'S BEEN BROUGHT UP A NUMBER OF TIMES.

AND IT SOUNDS LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GOING TO BE EDUCATING STAFF, PROBABLY THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT IS A GOOD PLACE TO AT LEAST DISCUSS THAT ISSUE.

I SEE SOMEBODY. BILL, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP OR NED.

I'M GOOD, THANKS. OK.

ANYTHING. YEAH, I THINK WE HAVE A COUPLE NEXT LOGICAL STEPS AND, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN ONGOING DISCUSSION.

WELL, WE'LL PUT IT ON THE AGENDA FOR OUR NEXT MEETING, TOO, AND PROBABLY FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE.

I THINK THERE'S A LOT THAT WE NEED TO DO, BUT WE'VE GOT SOME PEOPLE WORKING ON IT BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT MEETING.

AND I WONDER, TOO, IF THERE'S ANYBODY AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD WANT TO DO THIS, BILL, BUT IT WOULD PROBABLY WOULDN'T HURT FOR SOMEBODY TO APPROACH THE DRAIN COMMISSION

[01:10:04]

I BELIEVE THAT TIM SCHMITT PROBABLY KNOWS ALL THOSE FOLKS.

BUT IF YOU'D LIKE SOME CONTACT INFO ON THAT I'M HAPPY TO HELP.

OK, AND THAT'S OK.

LEROY, WHY DON'T YOU MENTION THAT TO TIM, TOO, THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOME DIALOG WITH THE DRAIN COMMISSION ABOUT THESE KIND OF ISSUES, BASICALLY BILL BROUGHT UP.

SO BEFORE WE MOVE ON THE AGENDA, ANY FURTHER THOUGHTS OR COMMENTS.

NED DID YOU JUST A REMARK ABOUT THE DRAIN COMMISSION? I MEAN, I WOULD SAY ON AVERAGE, MAYBE ONCE EVERY TWO YEARS OR SOMETHING, WE WOULD HAVE SOME KIND OF DIRECT INTERACTION WITH WHETHER THERE WAS A DRAIN COMMISSIONER COMING IN, MAKING A PRESENTATION OR CARLA CLOS PARTICIPATING IN A MEETING OR WHATEVER FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS WHEN I FIRST GOT ON THE COMMISSION.

CARLA CLOS, YOU KNOW, WHO'S THE DEPUTY, I THINK DEPUTY IS HER TITLE DRAIN COMMISSIONER WAS ACTUALLY A MEMBER OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION, SO I THINK THEY'RE VERY OPEN TO AND INTERESTED IN INTERACTING WITH ALL OF THESE ISSUES.

ESPECIALLY IN AN AGE OF ZOOM, WHERE THEY DON'T HAVE TO GET IN THEIR CAR AND DRIVE.

[LAUGHTER] YEAH, RIGHT.

RIGHT. YEAH. IT DOES SOUND THAT MAYBE TIM SHOULD MAKE THE INQUIRY.

PROBABLY CARLA IS A GOOD PLACE TO START WITH THE CONTACT AND DISCUSSION.

THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. YEAH.

I MEAN, BOTH SHE AND PAT ARE PRETTY PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO IN MY EXPERIENCE.

SO YEAH.

ARE THERE ANY FURTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE MOVE ALONG, OK? OK, AGAIN, LET'S PUT THIS ON THE AGENDA FOR THE NEXT MEETING AND OH, LEROY, DID YOU HAVE

[5C. New Application – Jean McDonald]

SO I JUST WANTED TO I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE ELSE KNOWS JEAN MCDONALD, BUT WANTED TO ENCOURAGE HER PARTICIPATION.

IF YOU THINK THAT SHE WOULD BE A GOOD MEMBER OF ONE OF THE COMMISSION IN THE FUTURE, JUST ATTENDING MEETINGS, WE DON'T HAVE ANY OPENINGS RIGHT NOW, BUT OR ON ONE OF OUR SUBCOMMITTEES, SUCH AS OUR TREE TEAM.

SO I THINK YOU SHOULD GO AHEAD AND INVITE HER TO JOIN THE TREE TEAM IT WOULD SEEM TO MAKE A LOT OF SENSE. AND SHE SPECIFICALLY MENTIONED THAT IN HER APPLICATION.

WE'LL DO. AND I GUESS OK, MOVING ON TO GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS FOR SCHOOLS, LEROY.

[6A. Green Infrastructure Grants for Schools]

SHE WASN'T ABLE TO BE WITH US TONIGHT.

BUT DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO REPORT LEROY.

DO YOU MIND IF I SHARE MY SCREEN REAL QUICK? GO AHEAD. OK, ROSE REPORTS THAT THERE'S SOME ACTIVITY GOING ON WITH STUDENTS AT THE RADMOOR MONTESSORI GREENHOUSE, AND SHE SHARED SOME PICTURES.

I ALSO GOT AN UPDATE TODAY FROM HASLETT MIDDLE SCHOOL.

THEY SENT ME A QUICK UPDATE.

AND I DON'T WANT TO STEAL THEIR THUNDER, BUT THEY'VE GOT A STRONG TEAM AND HAVE MADE SOME PROGRESS CLEANING UP THIS COURTYARD AND STARTING JUST BEGINNING TO BRAINSTORM POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS. AND THEY ARE ALSO POTENTIALLY AVAILABLE TO PRESENT AT A FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION MEETING, MAYBE AT A GREEN DIALOG OR AT A BOARD MEETING.

SO I'LL LET THEM GIVE THE FULL REPORT NEXT TIME.

LEROY YOU KNOW, JUST FOR PRACTICE PURPOSES, BUT ALSO FOR THE GREEN DIALOG PARTICIPANTS, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO INVITE THEM TO A GREEN DIALOG AS THE NEXT LOGICAL STEP IN HAVING THEM REPORT TO US TOO AND THE BOARD WOULD BE GREAT, TOO.

BUT MAYBE A GOOD START IS JUST A SHORT PRESENTATION TO THE GREEN DIALOG GROUP.

BE HAPPY TO. YEAH.

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GREEN GRANTS TO SCHOOLS? OK, LET'S SEE.

WELL, I DON'T THINK WE DON'T HAVE A TREE TEAM UPDATE, RIGHT, LEROY BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE

[9J. Tree Team]

RIGHT. THE ONLY THING THAT I WOULD ADD IS THAT WE WE DID END UP DISTRIBUTING ALL OF THE TREES THANKS TO SOME OF OUR VOLUNTEERS.

[01:15:02]

WE HAVE AN ENGINEER INTERN THAT HELPED.

AND SEVERAL OF OUR MEMBERS OF OUR GREEN TEAM WERE AT THE MARKET DISTRIBUTING TREES.

SO I WOULD SAY THAT THAT WAS SUCCESSFUL.

ALSO, WE WE OWE SOME OF THE CREDIT TO PAST MEMBERS OF OUR ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION FOR LINING UP THE DONATION FROM MSU'S TREE RESEARCH TEAM.

SO, [INAUDIBLE] I'M SURE SOME OF YOU WERE INVOLVED WITH THAT, THAT I'M MISSING, BUT, YEAH, THAT'S THE BRIEF UPDATE.

AND I DON'T HAVE A CHAIR'S REPORT, SO WE'RE BACK TO YOU LEROY.

[8. STAFF REPORT]

A BRIEF ONE HERE.

LET ME SEE IF I CAN SHARE MY SCREEN AGAIN.

OKAY. HERE'S THE GREEN RESOURCES TABLE THAT WE'VE STAFFED AT THE MARKET THE LAST DURING MAY, AND HERE'S A COUPLE OF OUR VOLUNTEERS. YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE ONE OF THEM.

I'M NOT SEEING THAT CONTENT.

WE'RE SEEING HASLETT MIDDLE SCHOOL.

ARE YOU? HUH, INTERESTING.

OK. LET ME TRY AGAIN.

IS IT SHOWING UP NOW? YES. THAT'S GREAT. OK, THIS IS MADISON, AN ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER INTERN, AND BERNADETTE . APPARENTLY AT OUR NEXT FARMER'S MARKET, WE'RE NOT REQUIRED TO WEAR MASKS IF YOU'VE BEEN VACCINATED. SO THAT'S KIND OF EXCITING OR WE WILL BE MEETING WITH THE GREEN TEAM TO TALK ABOUT FUTURE GREEN RESOURCES STAFFING.

IF ANY OF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE AT THE TABLE.

IT'S KIND OF A FUN OPPORTUNITY TO CHECK OUT THE 50 VENDORS THAT ARE THERE AND, YOU KNOW, SEE NEIGHBORS AND TALK ABOUT THE STUFF.

YOU MIGHT NOTICE THE WETLANDS BROCHURE IN THERE SOMEWHERE.

AND WE'VE ALSO GOT SOME POLLUTION PREVENTION BROCHURES.

THIS IS THE BIKE RECYCLING DAY THAT WE DID A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO.

THERE'S SOME RAIN BARRELS AVAILABLE FROM OUR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT IF ANYBODY IS INTERESTED, AS WELL AS A FACT SHEET ON HOW TO INSTALL A RAIN BARREL IT'S JUST ONE WAY TO KIND OF FURTHER EDUCATION ABOUT WATER RESOURCES, ABOUT STORMWATER AND USE WATER MORE EFFICIENTLY. WE TRY AND GIVE AWAY 30 OR 40 OF THESE A YEAR SO.

JUST THIS IS SORT OF JUST SOMETHING I WANTED TO MENTION HERE AND IF ANYONE ELSE IS LISTENING. THERE'S ALSO A SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE GOING ON RIGHT NOW, AND I'M TUNING INTO A FEW OF THESE.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO REGISTER AND IT'S ONLINE.

IT'S ONLY THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS.

THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION BEING GIVEN OUT AND AND THERE ARE SOME RECORDINGS BEING MADE, TOO. SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ANY OF THE THREE DOZEN PRESENTATIONS, I'LL TRY AND HOPEFULLY HAVE ACCESS TO THAT.

WE'RE ALSO GOING TO DO ANOTHER WORKDAY AT THE RAIN GARDEN ON FRIDAY AT THE ROUNDABOUT AT PARK LAKE AND BURCHAM. THIS IS SHOTS FROM LAST FRIDAY WHEN EMMA AND SARAH AND A COUPLE OF OTHER RESIDENTS FROM THE AREA SHOWED UP WITH WEAPONS AND REMOVED WEEDS.

WE ALSO LEARNED ABOUT SOME OF THE DIFFERENT PLANTS IN THE ROUNDABOUT, THANKS TO HELP FROM EMMA. AND THEN COMMUNITY WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY GARDEN TO INSTALL SOME RAIN, NOT RAIN, SOME WATER BARRELS, THIS COMMUNITY GARDEN AT BRIARWOOD HAS NEVER HAD REAL ACCESS TO CONVENIENT WATER. SO THEY'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THESE RAIN BARRELS.

AND OUR PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT IS GOING TO FILL THESE HOPEFULLY IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.

AND THEN I TRY AND PUT A LOT OF THIS STUFF IN THE GREEN GAZETTE, WHICH SOME OF YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE ACCESS TO, BUT IF YOU DON'T, THIS LINK WILL TAKE YOU TO A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN SIGN UP, AS WELL AS SEVERAL OF THE PAST ISSUES OF THAT IF YOU WANT TO SORT OF CATCH UP. IT'S JUST ONE OF THE ONGOING RESOURCES THAT THEY HAVE ACCESS TO.

I WON'T TALK ABOUT THIS OTHER STUFF, BUT I'LL SHARE THESE LINKS LATER IF YOU'D LIKE TO KIND OF EXPLORE FURTHER.

ANY QUESTIONS? LEROY, I THINK THE GREEN GAZETTE IS EXCELLENT, SO I ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING IT AND I THINK YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB KIND OF GETTING INFORMATION OUT THERE.

[01:20:03]

I WANTED TO INVITE LEROY TO SHARE SOME OF THE DISCUSSION AND IT'S HAPPENED RECENTLY AROUND THE NATIVE PLANTINGS IN THE ROUNDABOUT THAT WE WERE HEARING ABOUT AND KIND OF THE RECOGNITION OF THE LEVEL OF MAINTENANCE THAT IS SOMETIMES PART OF A BIG PART OF A PROJECT LIKE THAT. AND I CAN'T THINK OF A HARDER PLACE TO DO IT THAN IN THE MIDDLE OF A ROUNDABOUT [INAUDIBLE].

AND IF YOU'RE GOING TO TRY TO CREATE A NATURAL AREA, THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST UNNATURAL PLACES TO DO IT. BUT SORT OF ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THERE ARE CHALLENGES TO REPRODUCING WHAT WE THINK OF AS A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

YEAH, IT WAS KIND OF HEART WARMING TO SEE THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS THAT CAME OUT IN SUPPORT OF THE ROUNDABOUT THROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD NEXT DOOR, I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT A WEEK AFTER THE CONVERSATION HAD STARTED AND I WAS DELIGHTED TO SEE THAT PEOPLE HAD COME FORTH IN ITS DEFENSE. I MEAN, THE ROUNDABOUT IN MAY DIDN'T LOOK THAT PRETTY.

AND A LOT OF THE NATIVE LANDSCAPES DON'T LOOK THAT PRETTY IN MAY AND THINGS ARE CHANGING PRETTY RAPIDLY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE RECENT RAIN.

BUT IT WAS NICE TO SEE, NICE TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE SOME OF THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ROUNDABOUT.

AND I THINK IT ALSO HELPED ENGAGE SOME VOLUNTEERS WHO WERE INTERESTED IN ASSISTING.

THERE IS A FACT SHEET ON THE ROUNDABOUT AND THERE'S JUST BEEN A LOT THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL DOZEN PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN PART OF THAT.

RECENTLY, I THINK I SHARED THE IDEA THAT MAYBE A MINI GRANT PROGRAM TO HELP OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS DO GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS OR NEIGHBORHOOD CLEANUPS, ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT WE COULD BUDGET FOR.

I KNOW THE TOWNSHIP BOARD IS INTERESTED IN MORE TREE PLANTING, BUT THERE MAY BE SOME WAYS THAT WE CAN CAN SUPPORT SOME OF THESE SMALLER SCALE OR LARGER SCALE PROJECTS THAT COME UP THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOODS AND THEN ALSO HELP EDUCATE RESIDENTS ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN AND KIND OF KEEP THEM GOING BECAUSE THEY DON'T JUST MAGICALLY HAPPEN WITH A GRANT? SO I'M NOT SURE THAT'S WHAT YOU WANTED BILL, BUT THANKS FOR ASKING.

THAT'S EXACTLY IT. OK.

I THINK THAT'S.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OK, TO THE VARIOUS LIAISON AND TEAM REPORTS, AND I THINK, COURTNEY, YOU'RE UP FIRST.

[9A. Board of Trustees]

[LAUGHTER] GOOD.

THERE'S NOT TOO MUCH TO REPORT OTHER THAN THERE WAS ONE THING I DID WANT TO MENTION, AND I'M TAKING NOTES AND I'M EMAILING PHIL RIGHT NOW ABOUT THE TAX BILL AND HOW DO WE GET THE BROCHURE IN THERE. BUT I'LL SAY SO THERE IS SOME NEW DEVELOPMENTS COMING IN FRONT OF US AND OF THOSE PROPOSED NEW DEVELOPMENTS, THERE IS AND THIS IS WHAT PROVOKED SOME OF MY INTEREST WAS THERE IS SOME WETLANDS THAT COULD BE AND OR ON THE PROPOSED PROPERTY.

SO, AGAIN, JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE ORDINANCE MORE AND HOW WE FACILITATE THAT.

WE DO HAVE WE'RE WORKING ON A COMMUNITY SURVEY, SO ANNUALLY WE DO A COMMUNITY SURVEY TO GATHER INPUT ON ISSUES THAT RELATE AROUND THE COMMUNITY AND THEN HOW CAN WE AS A BOARD AND AS OUR LEADERSHIP, ADDRESS MAYBE SOME CONCERNS AND OR WHAT ARE WE DOING WELL, WHAT CAN WE ADD TO OUR GOALS AND OUR AGENDA SO THAT SURVEY HAS BEEN ALLOCATED TO A FIRM THAT'S HELPING US TO DEVELOP THAT SURVEY.

SO IT'S NOT COMING IN-HOUSE.

AND SO WE'RE KIND OF WORKING AS A BOARD TO DETERMINE THE QUESTIONS, THE TOPICS THAT WILL BE THERE. AND I THINK I POSED THIS A LONG TIME AGO.

BUT IF THERE IF WE STILL HAVE TIME AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION TO ADD SPECIFIC QUESTIONS, OR I CAN AT LEAST PROPOSE THOSE QUESTIONS TO THE COMMITTEE TO SAY, HERE'S SOME

[01:25:04]

AND I DID HAVE SOME SPECIFIC THINGS.

BUT IF THERE'S ANYTHING REGARDING AND I KNOW WE HAVE OUR OWN RECYCLING SURVEY OR ANYTHING THAT YOU GUYS THINK THAT YOU WANT THE COMMUNITY INPUT ON.

I CAN CERTAINLY PROPOSE THAT TO THE BOARD.

AND WE STILL HAVE TIME.

I SAY THAT PROBABLY WITHIN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS.

SO IF YOU THINK OF SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT AND OR THINGS THAT WE CAN IMPROVE ON OR THINGS THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON, CERTAINLY LET ME KNOW AND I WILL WORK ON THAT. THAT'S ONE THING WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON QUITE A BIT.

I THINK RIGHT NOW THAT'S PRETTY MUCH MY REPORT.

THANK YOU. MOVING ON TO BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT, NED, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT?

[9B. Brownfield Redevelopment Authority]

OKAY SHORT REPORT. [LAUGHTER] I LIKE IT.

GOOD.

BUT WE DID ALSO HAVE A CELEBRATION TO SAY GOODBYE TO MARK.

SO THAT WAS ACTUALLY MARK WAS GOING TO RUN THAT MEETING BECAUSE PETER MENSER HAD ALREADY MOVED TO EAST LANSING.

AND SO THEN I THINK MARK FIGURED, YOU KNOW, HE WAS SO CLOSE TO HIS RETIREMENT PARTY THAT MAYBE THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN ALL RIGHT NEXT WEEK OR NEXT MONTH.

I MEAN, AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHO'S GOING TO STAFF US, BUT THAT'S A WHOLE OTHER SUBJECT.

YOU'LL FIND OUT AT THE NEXT MEETING.

PROBABLY, YEAH.

THE ENERGY TEAM MET.

[9C. Energy Team]

AND WE DECIDED THAT WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO CITIZENS AS THEY KIND OF LOOK INTO KIND OF DIFFERENT ELECTRIC ALTERNATIVES.

AND SO WE'RE YOU KNOW, WE'RE HOPEFULLY GOING TO IDENTIFY SOME GOOD INFORMATION, FURTHER INFORMATION THAT ALREADY EXISTS.

THE OTHER THING WE TALKED ABOUT WAS THAT THE ENERGY TEAM IS GOING TO MAKE A PRESENTATION AT THE GREEN DIALOG THE SECOND WEDNESDAY, WHICH I THINK IS JUNE 9TH AT EIGHT O'CLOCK.

SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A SHORT PRESENTATION.

YOU KNOW, LEROY FOR THE GREEN DIALOGS HAS BEEN ARRANGING SHORT PRESENTATIONS, USUALLY ABOUT ONE A MONTH.

SO THE ENERGY TEAM IS GOING TO DO THE NEXT ONE ON JUNE 9TH.

AND THAT'S IT FOR THE ENERGY TEAM.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE.

[9D. Environmental Justice]

I SPOKE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND HOW THE WETLANDS ARE RELATED TO THAT, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S THE MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE.

I THINK IT WAS TWO WEEKS AGO.

IT WAS ON LINE.

AND ROSE AND I ATTENDED A BUNCH OF THOSE SESSIONS AND MAYBE OTHER FOLKS DID AS WELL.

BUT I THINK ROSE POSTED THAT LINK.

I THINK IT'S AN EXCELLENT START.

AND THERE'S A WHOLE GROUP OF FOLKS AT THE STATE OF MICHIGAN WHO ARE COMMITTED TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE. AND IT'S VERY, VERY EXCITING TIME.

THANK YOU.

LET US SEE ANYTHING MORE ON THE GREEN TEAM LEROY.

[9E. Green Team]

I THINK YOU'VE COVERED IT, LEROY.

THE ONLY OTHER THING I WOULD ADD IF WE HAVEN'T SAID THIS YET IS WE ARE PLANNING TO MEET TOMORROW EVENING.

IT'LL BE OUR FIRST IN-PERSON MEETING IN QUITE SOME TIME.

SO I THINK PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT.

BUT THEY'VE BEEN PRETTY ACTIVE WITH THE TREE DISTRIBUTION AND THE BIKE RECYCLING EFFORT.

AND WE'RE AGAIN MEETING TOMORROW TO PLAN FUTURE ACTIVITIES FOR THE SUMMER.

THANK YOU, TOM. IF YOU'D LIKE TO JOIN US WE WILL BE THERE AT FIVE O'CLOCK AT THE PAVILION. IT'S OPEN TO ANYBODY WHO'S INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH THAT.

KENDRA. WE'RE ONTO THE LAND PRESERVATION ADVISORY BOARD.

[9F. Land Preservation Advisory Board]

[9G. Planning Commission]

IF YOU THINK ABOUT WHERE THE MERIDIAN COMPANY IS LOCATED, THAT AREA IS KIND OF DESIGNATED

[01:30:04]

BUT THEY'RE LOOKING TO CHANGE THAT ZONING CATEGORY AND STILL WORKING ON A MIXED USE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ORDINANCE THAT IT TRIES TO ENCOURAGE MIXED USES ON A GIVEN PROPERTY. THAT'S WHAT THE PLANNING COMMISSION IS UP TO.

THANK YOU. NEXT ON THE LIST, THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, I ASSUME THAT HAS TO BE LIKE THE STATE

[9H. State of Michigan]

YEAH, BUT REALLY NOTHING FROM MY PERSPECTIVE TO REPORT UNDER THAT AT THIS POINT.

I WILL SAY NOT SO MUCH ENVIRONMENTAL RELATED, BUT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE FACED WITH ATTACKS ON LOCAL CONTROL ISSUES WITH THE STATE LEGISLATURE RIGHT NOW.

SO TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF THAT, IN PARTICULAR, LOCAL REGULATION OF SAND AND GRAVEL MINING IS UNDER ATTACK, AS WELL AS VACATION RENTALS AND KIND OF TAKING AWAY CONTROL FROM LOCALS IN REGULATING THOSE AS WELL.

SO JUST BE ON GUARD, I GUESS, FOR SOME OF THOSE LOCAL PREEMPTIONS TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION.

[9I. Transportation Commission]

THANK YOU. YEAH, TO TOM'S POINT ABOUT RENTAL RESTRICTIONS, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IT HAS LARGELY TO DO WITH THIS SORT OF ON DEMAND KIND OF AIRBNB TYPE STUFF.

AND FOR MOST OF THE TOWNSHIP, THAT'S NOT REALLY A BIG DEAL.

BUT FOR THOSE PARTS OF THE TOWNSHIP CLOSER TO MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, THAT IS A HUGE DEAL AND CONSUMES A FAIR AMOUNT OF THE CODE ENFORCEMENT ENERGY.

AND I WOULD NOTE THAT OUR SORT OF MORE [INAUDIBLE] ONE OF OUR CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IS MOVING INTO THAT KIND OF RENTAL AREA.

SO THERE SEEMS TO BE SOME REALLOCATION OF RESOURCES THERE, WHICH COULD REALLY MAKE SENSE.

TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION HAS BEEN MAINLY FOCUSED ON BOTH THE PATHWAYS AND THE ROAD IMPROVEMENTS THAT ARE GOING ON IN THE TOWNSHIP THIS YEAR, AND I HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN PLENTY OF NOTICES GOING OUT FOR WORK THAT'S GOING ON IN MY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD.

SO I AM ENCOURAGED THAT THAT INFORMATION IS MAKING IT OUT ALSO TO ALL THE OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE ROAD IMPROVEMENTS ARE AND PATHWAY IMPROVEMENTS ARE BEING PLANNED FOR THIS YEAR. AND FINALLY, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION I WASN'T ABLE TO ATTEND THE LAST MEETING, BUT IS CONSIDERING THE ISSUE OF QUIET.

I'VE GOT THE NAME WRONG, BUT QUIET ZONES FOR RAILROADS ARE BASICALLY LESSENING THE AMOUNT OF TIMES THEY [INAUDIBLE].

PERSONALLY, I WANT THEM TO BLOW THE HORN, BUT I DON'T LIVE THERE, SO.

YEAH. THANK YOU, BILL, AND LET'S SEE, WELL, THE TREE TEAM, WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THAT, SO WE'RE ON TO A FURTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT FROM AND OR IF THERE'S ANY OTHER FURTHER COMMENTS FROM ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS OR ANYBODY PARTICIPATING HERE, DOES ANYBODY WANT TO HAVE SOME FURTHER COMMENTS OR.

OK, I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS UP.

OK, WELL, I GUESS THEN I'M GOING TO ASK FOR A MOTION TO ADJOURN.

ANYBODY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THAT MOTION.

THANK YOU. SECOND, KENDRA I THINK I SAW YOUR HAND UP, COURTNEY THIRD'S IT, OK.

ALL IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNING.

I THINK THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT DISCUSSION, BUT ALL IN FAVOR RAISE YOUR HAND.

GREAT DISCUSSION. AND I THINK WE'VE MADE A GOOD BEGINNING ON THE WETLANDS DISCUSSION.

AND OBVIOUSLY THERE'S A LOT MORE TO TALK ABOUT, A LOT MORE TO DO.

SO, HEY, THANK YOU, EVERYBODY, AND TAKE CARE.

THANK YOU. THANKS, JOHN.

HAVE A GOOD EVENING, MR. HARVEY.

* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.