Welcome -
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***The Forum is co-moderated by Karl Fink and John Hansen.
If you wish to be added to the Forum Mailing List just send a request to RepHansen@aol.com. or KarlVFink@gmail.com -You will get meeting reminders, meeting notes and nothing else.- -Meeting Dates-*** The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be this Saturday, August 7, 2021 - 8:30 AM at The Dexter Wellness Center on Baker Road. ****************************************************** To attend a meeting please join the "Forum Mailing List" as noted above to get the sign in info ****************************************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ <<< The "Stump">> ---- "Stump Activity" is complete... for now. ---- ------------------------------------------------------------------ ************************************** Check the Forum Notes from previous meetings on the "forum previous notes" pages.. ************************************** |
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Who We Are- |
The Dexter Forum is supported by the Dexter Wellness Coalition as part of the 5 Healthy Towns initiative to "help connect with others in healthy ways". The purpose of the Forum is to create an opportunity for interested women and men to gather to discuss important issues facing our community. All are welcome on a drop-in basis. The group meets on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
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The Forum in action-
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*** "We make the agenda at the meeting so you never know what's on peoples' minds until you ask." ****
========================================================== Dexter Forum Notes - July 17, 2021 Trash pick up is still a problem in the townships but not in the city of Dexter. This topic was 'recycled' from the last meeting. The commission that is charged with drawing our new district boundaries for state and national representatives is being challenged by the late arrival of census information but will still be expected to finish on time according to the latest court decisions. Lori Kintz (of the fighting Pegasus's) briefed us on the new project undertaken by the 5 Healthy Towns folks. It is basically a community bulletin board to promote activities in Dexter, Chelsea, Stockbridge, Manchester and Grass Lake. You can check it out at Onebigconnection.org There is not much there yet but that is the point of her presentation. Follow the steps to add your favorite events. Mara Greatorex, temporary acting interim president of the board of education, indicated that the board would complete the process of filling the two empty seats on the board by the end of the month at which time the board will appoint a permanent, new president. At this time the district plans call for full time in person instruction this fall. And, as usual, we learned another interesting factoid from our favorite road commissioner. While reflecting on the flooding problems on some of the expressways in Wayne County Doug pointed out that none of the roads cared for by the Washtenaw County Road Commission are dependent on pumps. If there were any he would require that someone check on a regular basis to see if they actually worked. July is one of those five Saturday months so our next meeting will be on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center on Baker Road. ====================================================== Dexter Forum Notes. July 03, 2021 We celebrated our Independence, not just from the British, but also (cautiously) from the virus by returning to our home base at the Wellness Center. Karl showed his independence by celebrating with his extended family on the shores of Lake Michigan. John Scharff anchored the conservative stool. We noted the passing of long term attendee Buzz Sellman and the transition to care by another regular, Don Thackery. We have been meeting together for long enough now to have developed a level of personal care for one another. The Dexter Historical Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with attendant hoopla. This is more about the museum than Gordon Hall but they own that too. Another Gordon, Darr that is, spoke on behalf of the Hudson Education Center's new subsidiary The Hudson Music Center's new venture called the New Horizon Band. This is geared towards older folks who might be beginners on their instrument but will include more experienced folks as teachers and mentors. www.hecmusic.org Jack Campbell, our builder friend, let us know that land is expensive, lumber is really expensive and labor is expensive and hard to find but everything else is great. The real star of the show was a visit by our newest City council member, Sanam Arab. Sanam has been in the community for 5-6 years and worked her way up to council through service on the Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee. We gave her a chance to tell us a little about herself before dunking her in the fire station issue. She handled that well. John Scharff, also an elected official who serves as the treasurer of Webster Township, kindly pointed out that the new, soon-to-be-dedicated fire hall there was built on time and under budget with cash saved up over the decades. A penny here, a penny there....... We will meet next on Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 8:30 AM at The Dexter Wellness Center. ====================================================== Dexter Forum Notes June 19, 2021 Smiles. People had smiles. No masks. It felt good to be back live, in person. So we talked trash - not insults, we don't do that, but real garbage. The township folks especially, were having frequent problems with missed pick-ups and recycling mixed in with regular trash. We placed the blame on a shortage of drivers, a soft market for recyclables and, oh yeah, us - we produce too much waste. Now here is another thing you can only learn at the Forum. Why doesn't someone pickup all the signs and barrels left along side the road now that Miller Road is open again? The answer is efficiency. The contractor who rents those items out is gambling that their new destination is closer than their storage yard so instead of moving them twice they just wait for a new order to come in and move them once. Now you know. We talked a lot about adjustments in the labor market. Fewer folks want to be teachers and police officers and many entry level jobs are going unfilled while 'techy' kinds of people can basically name their own salary. Speaking of job openings - there are now two open seats on the school board and the City council is still running with one empty chair. We will meet next on Saturday July, 3, 2021 at 8:30 AM again at the Dexter United Methodist church. Our goal is to return to the Wellness Center as soon as they are willing to accommodate us. ======================================= Dexter Forum Notes June 05 2021 We picked the right time to ask about the re-opening of Miller Road. It was today! Today is siren testing day. Steve Bemis is part of a group that listens to the sirens and reports on how well they work. There are all sorts of 'behind the scenes' things like that you learn about only at the Dexter Forum. The new Webster Township fire hall is on the verge of becoming fully operational. Mary and Dan from the senior center board let us know that the senior center is re-opening - softly. Just another ray of sunshine after a long year of closings. The Encore Theater is up and running with some concert style offerings. Folks who have had sneak peeks are very impressed with the beautifully remodeled old school facilities. Karen Roberts continues to keep us up to date on issues with the planning commission. Accessory dwelling units (also known as granny flats) are on the agenda this week along with continuing discussion about form based design and special zoning along 2nd street in the car wash area where one side of the street is all commercial and the other side is all residential. The Mast Road bridge project has switched sides which makes you think they are close to half done. The one way traffic adjustment seems to be working well except during the afternoon rush hour. The city council has run out the clock on the replacement process for filling the current council vacancy. Two of the five applicants recommended by the mayor failed to get the required four votes. It is unclear what happens now. This will be our last Zoom meeting. The Forum will be returning to live sessions with the meetings to be held at the Dexter United Methodist Church until such time as we can return to our old home at the Wellness Center. The church is just down the road from the cider mill on Huron River Drive. Use the first driveway and follow the signs directing you to the Dexter Forum. ******For over a year John Newman has used his personal Zoom account and given his time as moderator to keep us up and running. We thank him and wish him well in his new life in Colorado.****** The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, June 19, 2021 - live and in person - at the Dexter United Methodist Church. Fully vaccinated folks are welcome without masks - but let's be careful out there. The virus is still out there trying to find sneaky ways to cause trouble. John and Karl ======================================== Dexter Forum Notes- MAY 15, 2021 There's going to be a party. A birthday party. Our friend Sanam announced that the Dexter Arts Culture and Heritage committee will be the coordinating body for the City of Dexter's 200th birthday in 2024. Talk about planning ahead. We shared our general confusion with the sudden lifting of mask requirements for vaccinated people in most, but not all places. For some it is a big jump into a mask optional world trusting those who have not been vaccinated to be wearing a mask. Local regulations will still apply. Already some big stores have announced that they will still require masks. The vacancy on the City council remains as the council conducted a non vote on the mayor's nominee. The 60 day window for filling the vacancy is closing but no one seemed quite sure what happens if the time expires. The Dexter community garden had to be relocated to accommodate new construction and the new plot turned out to be filled with poison ivy making it unusable. Mother nature wins anther round. The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, June 5 at 8:30 AM and it will be our last meeting on Zoom. We will be moving back to in-person sessions beginning on June 19. We will have all of the details worked out by next time. ====================================================== Dexter Forum Notes- and more are on page 10... back to the start of the Dexter Forum on Page 1 --- Enjoy... =========================================== ... |
