'Opt-out' choice remains available

Bingham Township residents may use county recycling services "legally" in 2008 following action by the township board at its regular monthly meeting Monday evening.

In the August 2006 election, a narrow majority of Bingham voters rejected a $25 per-household fee to support county recycling programs. As a result, all township residents were banned from using county recycling sites and services in 2007 unless they purchased a $30 permit from the county. The permit program is slated to end in December 2007.

County Planning and Community Development department head Trudy Galla was invited to appear at this week’s Bingham Township Board meeting to present an option that will allow Bingham residents to recycle beyond 2007. She explained that two of the three other townships that voted down the $25 per-household fee in August 2006 had recently decided to pursue the option she was presenting.

Under Public Act 138, the township board may vote to include a $25-per household fee on township tax bills to support recycling, Galla explained. However, the law will allow residents to “opt out” of the fee program by submitting a form to the township treasurer before December 2007 tax bills are distributed.

Township treasurer Nicki Hursey said she could insert a notice of the new program in summer 2007 tax bills, including instructions on how to submit the “opt out” form. If residents “opt out” of paying the $25 fee, a “zero” would appear next to a “recycling fee” line on December 2007 tax bills – but those township residents would not be allowed to use county recycling sites or services.

Bingham township resident Hugh Farber, who serves on the county Solid Waste Council that manages the recycling program, also appeared at the township board meeting. Farber recommended that the township board adopt the “interlocal agreement” allowing billing and collection of the county recycling fee in Bingham Township.

Galla said she did not believe the action would “circumvent the vote” that occurred in Bingham Township in August 2006.

“People who are against recycling and paying the fee still won’t have to,” Galla explained, “but people who want to participate will be able to do so legally.”

Township clerk Peggy Core noted that the recycling fee measure on the August 2006 ballot failed by just 47 votes in Bingham Township.

Township trustee Mary Bush moved that the township adopt the “interlocal agreement.” The motion carried 4-0 with trustee Steve Voisin absent.

In other business at its meeting this week, the Bingham Township Board:

• Adopted a resolution to apply for a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Coastal Zone Management grant of up to $12,000 to help pay for professional site plans for the township’s two waterfront parks on West Grand Traverse Bay, Boughey Park and Hendryx Park. The township’s parks and recreation committee recommended the action.

“We’d like plans to be done by somebody who knows what they’re doing and what permits are required,” said Jan Merriman of the township’s parks and recreation committee.

The township and its now-ousted supervisor Robert W. Foster were criticized by the Army Corps of Engineers last year after a beach at Hendryx Park was groomed below the ordinary high water mark in violation of state and federal regulations.

• Discussed participation in a state-sponsored “decommissioning of furniture and equipment” auction at the Northwestern Michigan Fairgrounds next month to rid the township of several outdated computers, old office furniture and other equipment stored in the basement of the township hall. Core and Hursey were to look into the possibility of participating in the auction to recoup some money from the old equipment.

• Purchased two new fireproof file cabinets at a cost of $850 – an amount already set aside for that purpose in the township’s budget.

• Convinced newly appointed interim supervisor Ross Ard to attend the next meeting of the M-22 Scenic Heritage Route Committee as the township board’s representative. Foster had earlier served as the board’s representative on the committee.

• Agreed to expend $200 to move and reset two improperly placed headstones at the township cemetery on the recommendation of Midge Werner of the cemetery committee.

• Decided to upgrade Internet service at the township hall from dial-up to a high-speed cable at a cost not to exceed $200 over the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30.