Consent Agreement?

I understand that the first meeting with the new (and improved) board lasted almost four hours. The bulk of the meeting was taken up by, once again, talk of reaching a consent agreement with Bisco's. Our supervisor (Dave Rushing) and the Riley Township attorney claimed to be pushing for this settlement for the good of the Township. After much talking, his base argument was that we can’t afford to continue. Now, I may not understand all of the financials of our township, but I do know that the residents have spoken several times and stated loudly and clearly that we do not want a consent agreement that will give away our rural character! We do want representative government and have voted our preference in Linda Belesky for Trustee to help us gain that. We do not want to settle when the court date is only two days away with a man who has not lived up to his obligations under previous agreements. Mr. Birkenshaw has shown that he cannot be trusted to do what he promises, following the ordinances of Riley.

It was interesting that even while our board was in executive session, Mr. Birkenshaw told his lawyer that he wanted to change the consent agreement that was being discussed in private. After hearing this and listening to what the changes were, Dave Rushing and Linda Hazelton still wanted to vote for the agreement, just without the new changes. This is astounding! How could they still believe that they could trust this man? Thankfully we had three on the board with enough wisdom to vote no. Perhaps we need more changes to the board in six months?

TRIAL DAY
I hear that yesterday at the trial, it has been delayed for at least 30 days to give both parties a chance to come to a meeting of the minds. Judge Deegan will be giving his ideas to the attorneys for what he would like to see, if an agreement can be reached. I am betting that at the board meeting in January this topic will be discussed again. Those of you interested, I hope will be there again to voice your opinions and be heard.

Thank You Riley Voters

We would like to thank all of the voters in Riley that supported the endorsed candidates. With your help 3 of the 5 elected officials have views in line with our goals. It is understood that all things cannot happen with a snap of the fingers, but with the right people in place we should start to see some changes and progress. We hope to see commitments now lived up to. This includes:
Improved zoning for the River Conservation District
A better ditching program to help preserve our roads
Another look at Farm Preservation, working with the county & state to conserve that land
Topography to help with water runoff
A good road ordinance for construction of new roads
Assistance where needed for Neighbors helping Neighbors
A stop to the nonsense with Bisco's, we want to maintain our Rural Character

THE ELECTION IS THIS TUESDAY

We would like to remind everyone to vote on Tuesday November 4th.

Thank you for your support during the primary election back in August. With your help, six of the eight candidates that were endorsed by Friends of the Belle River are now on the ballot this Tuesday. Our goal remains the same. We support those candidates that have shown or expressed their concern for the issues we know are important to all of us. This includes: River Conservation, our Rural Character and a Commitment to use the resources of Riley Township for the good of all of its citizens.
RIVER CONSERVATION
As an organization, we would like to have the River Conservation District expanded for additional protection, or at the least have the new district adopted as proposed by the Planning Commission. Any plan to reduce or eliminate the areas of protection would be unacceptable. Some on our current board did not support this additional protection for the Belle River. This proposal has been tabled for more than a year while some on the board have continued to ignore the issue. Our state representative Phil Pavlov has expressed an interest in coming here and discussing the State Water Compact as passed by the legislature.
RURAL CHARACTER
In order to maintain the rural character of our Township, we believe that there were two ordinances proposed by the Planning Commission that would help. The first was a road ordinance that would have regulated how and where a road could be built. This was changed by a 3 vs. 2 vote to accommodate builders and developers before passing. The second was a topography ordinance that would regulate the building process by maintaining elevations and ensuring that there would be proper water run off, protecting all of the current property owners. This was also defeated by a 3 vs. 2 vote. These need to be in place as originally proposed. We would also like to see Riley Township participate in Farm Preservation. This topic has now been ignored for four years.
RESOURCE COMMITMENT
Although we realize that there are limited resources (funds) in our Township, we also believe that the needs of the residents are paramount. This would include the proper maintenance of all our roads, ditching where necessary, and working within the community to establish a “Neighbor Helping Neighbor” group. This would be coordinated by volunteers to help our neighbors that need temporary assistance and could be accomplished with minimal help from the Township offices. Many of our candidate recommendations have already proven their commitment to Neighbors helping Neighbors by donating time and money to our schools.
FRIENDS OF THE BELLE RIVER is a bi-partisan group of township residents. As such, we recommend that two of the current board members are re-elected. We support Linda Waddy (D) for clerk and Linda Belesky (D) for trustee. We also support and endorse the following new candidates for election: Kitty Slamka (D) for supervisor, Lou Angeli (D) for trustee and either Jennifer Baranowski (D) or Nancy Dudek (R) for treasurer. Both Jennifer and Nancy have the background and the integrity needed for the position.

Meeting the Candidates

I know that the primary purpose of this site was to promote River Conservation, commitment to helping others and maintaining our Rural Character. I promise that after the elections, we will focus more on those issues. However at this time we believe that the elections will have a major impact on how we proceed.

Last Thursday was meet the candidates night in Riley. All of the local candidates were there as well as many of our county and state candidates. It was interesting, but a shame that so few citizens showed up. Most of the evening there were more politicians than residents in the hall. The most interesting thing to happen was when it was overheard "I didn't really want to run and I don't really care if I win." I am told that this was said by Al Titus, one of our republican candidates for Trustee. If this is true, why should we waste our votes on a candidate that has shown his complete disinterest at the meetings. Now maybe we know why.

Now, going back to our last township board meeting, I found it fascinating when the supervisor (Dave Rushing) came out of executive session and stated, regarding the consent and temporary restraining order for Birkenshaw's; "that at no point has this board considered or o.k.'d anything other than letting the courts decide." I suppose that we are all supposed to forget that it had been discussed at a board meeting on a prior month. We are to refuse to believe that we heard with our own ears at the public hearing that the board had considered a consent agreement with Mr. Birkenshaw, and were considering removing the temporary restraining order that the judge had imposed. We are to believe that Mr. Damon (the lawyer for Birkenshaw) is a liar when he said that he had sat down and discussed this with Mr. Rushing and came up with an agreement that Dave said he could bring back to the board. Personally, the credibility of our supervisor is questionable. I will believe what I heard.

Riley, the River and Our Community

1st of all, I stand corrected. The Meet The Candidates Night will be from 6:00 till 9:00 this Wednesday at the Riley Township Hall.

If you are going to meet our local candidates there are questions that could be asked:

Why has the changes to the River Conservation District waited for nearly a year while Dave, Al and Linda Hazelton continue to want to discuss water quality? What does one have to do with the other? If the water is bad, we should want to put in measures that may help to clean it. If the river quality is good, let's protect it. What does one have to do with the other?

Dave: Now that we have won the appeal against the blight at Bisco's station at M-19 and I-69, when will citations be issued? Why haven't they been issued since the case was originally decided in April? Couldn't we use the fines we could (should) have received to offset our attorney costs?

Al: Are you sure that you want to be on the board? You appear to be unprepared most times and continually asking for further explanations on seemingly routine items.

I'm sure you all get the idea. What have these folks done to protect the river? What have they done to preserve our rural character? What have they done to promote community?

A lot of questions from me. I'm sure you all can think up others.

Neighbors helping when needed

On Wednesday, October 8, Friends of the Belle River donated much needed clothing and some school supplies to both Memphis Elementary and Capac Elementary. We have been in contact with both schools and their request was for sweatpants, socks and underwear for the children at their schools. Together we were able to deliver those items that otherwise teachers and educators would have to purchase on their own or do without. This was able to be done only because of donations received from other Riley residents and friends who took the time to shop and deliver the clothing as well. Supporting the "Friends" were Linda Belesky, Linda Waddy, Jennifer Baranowski, Lou Angeli and Kitty Slamka. We appreciate the help and support that these and others continue to give to us and their community.
Pictured are: Kitty Slamka, Jennifer Baranowski and Lou Angeli at Memphis Elementary.

Updates for Riley

Since our last post, here are some updates.
At the last Planning Meeting the site plan for the "Sexually Oriented Business" was denied for the Bisco property.

The Friends of the Belle River has new collected clothing in enough supply that we will be making donations to both Memphis Elementary and Capac Elementary in the coming week. We thank those of you who have helped collect, purchase and will be delivering these items to the schools. Again we will post pictures once the donation is made.

There will be a "MEET THE CANDIDATES NIGHT" for Riley on October 16th. I believe this will be at 7:00. If the time is different, I'll let you know.

I was recently passing by the Township offices when I saw our supervisor entering with Mr. Birkenshaw and his lawyer(s)? There is a rumor out there that he may be planning to negotiate a new consent agreement to allow adult material at the Citgo station. If this is true we need to be at the Board Meeting this Tuesday and remind the whole Board that this is not the wishes of the residents. The citizens spoke out at the Public Hearing and they spoke out again at last months Board Meeting. If a consent agreement is passed by this Board, we will publish who voted and how. We will let you know.

Rural Character Being Maintained

I'm sorry that I don't post as quickly as I should. Sometimes it takes several days for me to hear all that has taken place at the township meetings. I'm really sorry that I couldn't be at the board meeting this past Monday. For those of you that were not there, our board voted unanimously to deny the consent agreement to Mr. Birkenshaw pertaining to his retail establishment (S.O.B.). Included in the denial was that there would be no lifting of the Temporary Restraining Order put in place by Judge Deegan barring the gas station from having any adult materials. This is the one win for our side so far.

What I did find curious was Mr. Damon's comments, the attorney for Mr. Birkenshaw, regarding the meeting that he has with our supervisor Dave Rushing. Mr. Damon stated that they had sat down together drafting this consent agreement and that Dave had said that this was something he could take to "his board." My questions are: Is this his board? Was he authorized to negotiate a consent agreement without first having the full boards approval? When he was negotiating, was he concerned what was in the best interest of Riley Township, or was he just trying to get this thing settled before the election? Good questions? I wonder if there are any good answers out there.

Anyhow, the Planning Commission Meeting is this Monday at 7:00. The site plan review for the S.O.B. (Sexually Oriented Business) will be taken up then. I hope that the turnout is as good as last month.

Board / Planning Commission Meetings

This is just to remind all that there is a Planning Commission Meeting tomorrow evening September 9th at 6:00 prior to the regular Board Meeting. This meeting is scheduled for 1 hour or less to continue the discussion for the zoning changes for the River Conservation District. This issue has been tabled now for what seems forever and I believe no outcome will happen till after the elections. We have 3 members on the board that know it would hurt their chances if they were to vote as they stated in the past. (See below entries.) If you are interested in seeing this do-nothing meeting, as I said, it will begin at 6:00.

Following at 7:00 is the normal Riley Township Board Meeting. Still on the agenda because it was also tabled last month is the "consent agreement" that Mr. Birkenshaw requested for his Sexually Oriented Business. (Remember the acronym S.O.B.?) It will be important that we continue to have the community active and showing up at this meeting. Questions?? Why was this tabled rather than acted upon last month (denied)? Who was present when a consent agreement was proposed? Who on the Board took the time to come to the public hearing last month and hear what their constituents thought of the S.O.B.? (FYI, the two trustees, Al Titus and Linda Hazelton did not care enough to show up! Are we at least continuing to cite the property for blight after we spent so much township money and won in court? When was the last citation issued?

Next Monday, the 15th, the Planning Commission will meet at 7:00 to possibly vote on the allowance of the S.O.B. at Bisco's. By then we should have the information from the professional planners and the Riley Township attorney. Let us all be there again and hear what they have to say. Let us hear how they vote. Let us remember who appointed the commission members.

Neighbors helping Neighbors

Last week we learned of the needs at Memphis Elementary School for supplies that many families cannot afford these days. Speaking with one parent, we were told that the school supplies alone are more than $60 per child. The response was immediate. Our friends understand and support neighbors helping neighbors. Therefore it was with great pleasure today when we were able to deliver three boxes of needed school supplies to Memphis Elementary. Pictured above is the school secretary, receiving the donations along with the two Democratic Candidates for Trustee; Linda Belesky and Lou Angeli. Also contributing were the other Democratic Candidates; Kitty Slamka (supervisor), Jennifer Baranowski (treasurer) and Linda Waddy (clerk). Along with the help of The Friends of the Belle River we are proud to have citizens such as these also willing to have a voice in our Township Government.


We also spoke with Nancy Thomson, the school principal. She expressed that the next need that she will see is the need for new clothing for her students. This would include everything from socks & underwear to sweat pants and T-shirts. Because of this need, we will now be asking for donations from others as well. If you would like to contribute you may contact "The Friends" via our comment section, or please reach out to those others listed above. Thank you in advance for caring and sharing.

Public Hearing - Continued

One of the residents asked if there would be a public role call vote on whether or not this would be approved. He wanted it to be known that the people were watching and accountability would be expected for those votes. This resident and everyone needs to know that in Township Government, the supervisor (Dave Rushing) appoints all members of the Planning Commission and is not an elected position. If a resident has an issue with the members, or how they would ultimately vote, that issue could only be taken up with the supervisor. Tom Miller did point out that not all decisions with Mr. Birkenshaw are made through planning. At this month's Board Meeting there was discussion as to whether a consent agreement should be signed by the Township allowing some "adult material" and thereby avoid the need to follow the steps outlined by our own ordinances or the judgements already rendered by the courts. The idea for a consent agreement did not just magically appear. There must have been some prior discussion regarding this. Perhaps Mr. Rushing would like to explain how this came to the board before any hearing was to be held by the Planning Commission???

Both Mr. Birkenshaw's attorney and the Riley Township Supervisor, Dave Rushing addressed the fact that there had been a discussion to have a consent agreement between the two parties, Bisco's and the Township, which may have made this public hearing unnecessary. It was explained that the attorney for Mr. Birkenshaw wrote the consent agreement and that it could have possibly stopped some of the legal expenses being incurred by our Township.

We know that there are legal expenses building because of the lawsuit concerning all of the blight on this property. We also know that Mr. Rushing stopped the first lawsuit regarding this blight when he was elected four years ago. We know that for the last two years or more Riley Township has been fighting to get this cleaned up through the courts and that we, as a Township, continue to win through the appeals process (and we continue to pay). We don't know why a consent agreement would even be considered when we are winning. We don’t know why Mr. Birkenshaw is not paying our legal expenses, as he is the one that continues to appeal and continues to lose. There is also now a question as to whether or not our ordinance enforcement officer is being allowed to do his job and continue citing the property for the blight that is already there. Continued citations for blight may bring up contempt charges and fines that Mr. Birkenshaw would have to pay. We should at the very least continue to enforce those ordinances we know he is still violating.

Public Hearing Thoughts & Comments

Last evening was the Public Hearing for the "adult bookstore" requested at the property owned by Mr. Birkenshaw at Bisco's truck stop. There were at least 40 people in attendance for the hearing. It should also be recognized that Tom Miller, the Planning Commission Chairperson, did an excellent job of running the meeting and keeping it controlled at all times.

The public hearing started with Mr. Birkenshaw's attorney giving all a civics lesson on the Pledge of Allegiance, the First Amendment of the Constitution and Mr. Birkenshaw's right to free speech by having his "adult bookstore" granted. (Technically, adult bookstores are in the category of sexually oriented businesses or S.O.B.'s. Don't you just love acronyms?) After hearing why the S.O.B. should be a permitted use by the attorney, one by one the citizens from Riley, Emmett and Memphis stood up and said why they believed it should not be allowed. Many also spoke to the fact that for years he (Bisco's) has not cleaned up his blight, have skirted ordinances on the edges rather than comply and some spoke to the character of the man who would want to bring the S.O.B. to our community. The comments ranged from the effect on families, their children and society in general, the harm these businesses can do to the surrounding area by their existence, statistics on the increase in crime and other undesirable outcomes and the freedom that citizens should have in determining what they want in their neighborhoods. On this issue, our community certainly extends beyond the boundaries of Riley Township.
More thoughts and opinions will follow soon.

An Invitation

We have been hearing from more people every day regarding Friends of the Belle River. Many of the comments come from the fliers many received prior to the primary election and some comments are mentioning the auto sticker with logo. If you would like to receive a sticker for your car or truck, please leave your name and address in comments. We will not share nor post your information. It will be used only to mail a "Friends" sticker to you and to keep you informed of future happenings.

Posting Comments

I have noticed an increase in traffic, yet no new comments are being posted. For those of you that are new to blogs, to post a comment is quite easy. Just click comments at the bottom of the posting that you would like to add your thoughts to. A new window will then pop up and you can begin posting either under your own ID or as anonymous. You can make a choice each time. L
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Riley Twp - Rural Character

We have written a little about the election. We have written a little about river conservation. This time let's have it be known that our Rural Character is being challenged.

In the Voice this week was posted a notice that a Public Hearing will be held at the next Planning Commission Meeting on August 18th at 7:00 P.M. This will be to hear public comments on a request by Robert Birkenshaw (the owner of Bisco's I-69 truck stop) to change the use in one of his buildings. On the white out-building facing M-19, he is asking for permission to operate an "adult bookstore".

According to our ordinance, this should not be allowed within 1000 feet of a residential district. Look at his property!! He is certainly within 1000 feet of the houses in Emmett. He is also within that same 1000 feet of residential properties in Riley. The property across the street (M-19) is zoned commercial for only the first 600 feet. Also, the property behind him (Burt Rd) is zoned for mobile homes which is a residential zoning. Why is there even a question as to whether or not this is legal. I understand that the request was sent to the township lawyer for a legal opinion. Let's make sure that our opinion is known too.

By coincidence this week in the Times Herald there was an article about him tearing down some of his buildings in Emmett, including his topless bar. Could it be only by happenstance that he now wants to open his "adult trade" in Riley? Is it possible that this is only a first step before wanting topless dancers at his new location also?

I don't know the answers to these questions, but I do know that it will take citizen voices and citizen presence at this public hearing to make certain that our voices are heard. Please mark down the date and time. Show up. Voice your opinion. Is this the RURAL CHARACTER that we want to have?

By the way, good luck to the candidates that we have endorsed. we wish you the best results possible on Tuesday. May you all be on the ballot in November.

Riley Township Candidates

As a group, we decided that rather than talking directly with each candidate about their views, we would talk to those that knew the candidates. By speaking with their acquaintances and those that have attended meetings in the Township we have been able to form an opinion of where each stands on certain issues. The issues that we are primarily concerned with are:
River Conservation, maintaining theRural Character of our Township and the proper use of Resources for roads, ditching and the needs of our citizens.
RIVER CONSERVATION
As an organization, we would like to have the River Conservation District left as is, or have the new district adopted as proposed by the Planning Commission. Any plan to reduce or eliminate the areas of protection would be unacceptable. This proposal has been tabled for more than a year.
RURAL CHARACTER
In order to maintain the rural character of our Township, we believe that there were two ordinances proposed by the Planning Commission that would help. The first was a road ordinance that would regulate how and where a road could be built. This was changed to accommodate builders and developers before passing. The second was a topography ordinance that would regulate the building process by maintaining elevations and ensuring that there would be proper run off of all waters. These need to be in place as originally proposed.
RESOURCE COMMITMENT
Although we realize that there are limited resources (money) in our Township, we also believe that the needs of the residents are paramount. This would include the proper maintenance of all our roads, ditching where necessary, and working within the community to establish a “Neighbor Helping Neighbor” group. This would be staffed by volunteers to help our neighbors that need temporary assistance and could be coordinated with minimal help from the Township offices.

FRIENDS OF THE BELLE RIVER is a bi-partisan committee of township residents and would like to endorse the following candidates based on their beliefs, views, and goals for the Township of Riley.
REPUBLICAN
John Rhodes – Supervisor
Nancy Dudek – Treasurer
Bill Lawniczak – Trustee
DEMOCRAT
Kitty Slamka – Supervisor
Linda Waddy – Clerk
Jennifer Baranowski – Treasurer
Lou Angeli – Trustee
Linda Belesky - Trustee

Riley Township Election

We are starting to look at the candidates for this years election in Riley Township. We will be looking at both the democrat and republican candidates because of our belief that at the Township level things need to be non-partisan in order to accomplish anything.

Our criteria for endorsing any candidate will be their position on River Conservation and the maintaining of the Rural Character that we all have come to love. This is why we live here.

There are three candidates for Supervisor, three candidates for Treasurer, the Clerk is running unopposed, and there are five candidates for Trustee. As we learn more of their positions on the above issues, we will let you know. Hopefully an informed vote will bring about the change needed to enhance our township and protect our natural resources.

Let us Begin

Today we will start posting to our new site. We would like the "Friends of the Belle River" to belong to those of us that care about the preservation of the natural habitat as well as the rural character of Riley Township. We will post, periodically, pictures of the river and its wildlife. We will also be posting about those that want to change or eliminate the protections that are in place for the river and the surrounding areas, as well as those that support it.

Please send your thoughts and send along pictures that you may have that will support the preservation of the Belle River and its surroundings. Let us know if you to are a "Friend of the Belle River".