Notes from Previous Forums 6===================================== Notes for Meeting of April 20, 2019 Spring is near so Dan Egeler, our marine safety officer, gave us of some common sense boating tips like wearing our flotation vests and licensing our boats. Then we had one of those you had to be there moments involving advice to individuals who forgot to use the porta-potty before getting into the middle of the lake. In the rumor department we were able to more or less confirm that Busch's, our only local supermarket, will be adding a Starbucks franchise to the store soon. This led to a discussion about the impact of chains on our locally owned small businesses. Those hoping for a Dollar store in the old Country Market spot were cautioned about the impact such a store has on other local stores. Doug Marrin has moved on from We Love Dexter.com and started his own on-line news service called OnMain.Today. Doug explained that he hopes to provide both broader and deeper coverage. The City of Dexter has scheduled a town hall meeting for Saturday, April 27 at 9:30 AM at the Dexter Senior Center to discuss proposals for space for fire, police and administrative services. This would normally just be an infomercial but in this case it is a pretty big deal since these discussions have been going on for many years without resolution. Seems like a good time to practice a little Civics 101. There were a bunch of other infomercials and folks have gotten real good about bringing their flyers and putting them on the round table just outside our meeting room where interested parties can take something home if they please. Gene Utke urged us all to actually read The Mueller Report as an act of civic responsibility. The report is available on line or if you want your own hard copy it can be purchased from Amazon. Gene's point is that the report is too significant to allow yourself to be influenced only by the media or the spin merchants on either side. It was noted that the construction of recreational trails around us is proceeding at a rapid pace. The school district and the City are working through some differences on the extension south of the city and we are all realizing that many of the trail users need a place to park their car before getting on the trail. We had such a good time we didn't get to the end of the agenda so come prepared next time to opine on the proposal to let townships elect their trustees on a non-partisan basis. ===================================== Notes for Meeting of April 06, 2019 We took another shot at finding the money to fix the roads. Part of the reason that politics is so interesting is the number of moving parts that are beyond anyone's control. Since Governor Whitmer proposed her grand plan to do it all right and do it all right now by biting the bullet and raising the gas tax by 45 cents per gallon - which plan was soundly rejected as being unrealistic - the cost of gas has actually gone up by 45 cents per gallon due to 'market forces'. So we decided to pick on the big trucks which is harder to do now that we have Bob Steptoe, a big truck driver, attending our meetings. We are not sure that they pay the right amount but we found out that they do pay a lot more than we thought they did. Since we operate without the safety net of an agenda we sometimes slide from one topic to another as we did when Bob, the above mentioned truck driver also mentioned that his company, Adair Printing, was closing. It was also noted that nearby Thomson-Shore Printing was entering bankruptcy and down the road printers Edwards Brothers/Malloy was going under after their recent merger. Western Washtenaw County was once known as a national center of low volume, high quality printers. Now everyone has a printer on their desk. We can't have a Forum without talking about development and congestion so we did and we found, with the help of Paul Cousins, a proper villain. It was Judge Dexter who nestled the town at the intersection of a creek and a river and then brought the railroad in the middle of it all. So we have congestion and...more is coming. The development on Baker Road just past the roundabouts is back on the agenda in Scio Township as a planned unit development (PUD). This means that annexation to the city is not on the table and the decisions will all be made at the township level. A big question with high density projects is always who gets the poop. The proposal on the table calls for the installation of a sewage treatment plant on site with discharge into Mill Creek. I believe it is similar to the system used in Thornton Farms on the corner of Jackson and Parker Roads. Jason Maciejewski, our new county commissioner was influential in bringing a working session of the commission to the western part of the county last week. It was well attended with topics selected to appeal to us westerners - broadband access and teen mental health. The commission administers a 200 million dollar budget. Four of the nine commissioners are new, a majority (5) are women, youthful Jason is the third oldest and all nine are Democrats. So now you know. We had the usual flurry of infomercials and added a new help wanted feature as well. Basically, if you are not attending some sort of fundraiser in the next couple of weeks you are not achieving your full potential as a community builder. Karl and I are making our second appearance on the Lucy Ann Lance show (WLBY1290 AM) on Thursday, April 18 at 8:00 AM. Tune in and hear what we have to say about you. ---(John Hansen writes the notes but he knows that Karl is watching and might withdraw the privilege if he gets too far over the center line.)--- =============================================== |
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Notes for Meeting of Mar 16, 2019 We added three or four new faces to the group - always a good thing. Almost 400 people have attended at least once over our four year history. Our first topic was an update on pedestrian safety in the city. (Just for the benefit of those who have never attended a meeting of the Forum we draw the agenda from those present and we try not to spend more than 15 minutes on any one topic.) New, marked pedestrian crossings focused on the needs of school kids are coming and most should be installed before school starts in the fall. Since we are more of an informational group than an arguing group we tend to focus a lot on local issues but today we moved up to the state level and talked about fixing the @#&$ roads. There seems to be general agreement across political lines that the roads need to be fixed and that it will cost something to get the job done. Maybe it was Pogo the Possum that said, "the hurrier I go the behinder I get." We haven't been so good about the hurrier but we certainly have gotten behinder. Our diverse group was able to come to agreement on a least a half dozen ways that we did not want to pay for road improvements. Our taxation system is interconnected and sometimes based on outdated distribution formulas so everything had some kind of downside. Then there is always that 'trust' factor. Will the 'new' money be used for its intended purpose or will it just result in a reshuffling of the budget. When we come to an agreement on how we do want to pay for the roads we will let you know. We don't know anything more than we did before about the future of the old Country Market space or the old Mill Creek Sporting Goods space for that matter. Part of what makes our community strong is the efforts of non-profit groups that raise money to invest in our people. Most of these groups have some kind of big annual fundraiser and three of them are on the horizon. The Education Foundation has their event on April 12 and the Rotary Club and the Senior Center both have theirs on April 13th. All of these groups provide a great night of entertainment for your charitable dollar and appreciate your support. The Washtenaw County Commission has scheduled a special off-site meeting on April 4 at the Sylvan Township Hall. The idea here is that a bunch of folks from the western part of the county who would be unlikely to go into Ann Arbor for such a meeting will stop by to see their commission in action. It is a working session focused on topics of interest to us westerners with opportunities for lots of public input. March is a 5 Saturday month so the next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be in three weeks on April 6, 2019 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center. The group is moderated by Karl Fink and John Hansen. (John Hansen writes the notes but he knows that Karl is watching and might withdraw the privilege if he gets too far over the center line.) ================================================== Sat. Mar 2, 2019 The Dairy Queen is open. This annual rite of spring is proof positive that we can survive the winter and survive the election season and just about any other adversity. There is still a lot of curiosity about the fate of the old Country Market space. We all have lots of great suggestions but they don't necessarily line up with market realities. The best we know is that it takes time to decommission all of the refrigeration units in the place. We talked a bit about all of the trail construction going on around us and how the routes are determined. Like everything else, there are all sorts of factors. There are regulations involved when crossing rivers, crossing roads, crossing wetlands, crossing rails along with staying barrier free. The whole trail system is a modern miracle in my opinion and a tremendous asset to our community. Webster Township is trying to do the right thing by saving up to build a new fire station with cash. The problem is that their savings rate is not able to keep up with the cost increases in a new facility. They are trying to address the issue of response time for emergencies - most of which are medical. We are always fortunate to have some of our elected representatives present to provide first hand information on current issues. Lana Theis, our new state senator (replacing term limited Joe Hune), described her committee responsibilities which include the chairpersonship (is that a real word?) of the education committee. During her time in the house Lana was strongly identified with the effort to lower our car insurance rates, which are the highest in the country, and she remains committed to that effort. ================================================== Dexter Forum Notes Feb-16-19 Jim Davis sat in for Karl Fink who was on grandpa duty watching his grandson Jasper wrestle in a big tournament. School Board President Michael Wendorf reported that everyone is on the same page regarding pedestrian safety and that needed improvements are mostly subject to time and budgets. As the Dexter area develops some of the decisions are made by the city government and some are made by township bodies. The question arose as to does one body care about the other and can a voice from one body influence the other. The general answer seemed to be yes. Each body is accountable to its voters but the elected people present indicated that they were all good listeners. So let your voice be heard. Progress seems slow on the condo project on Jeffords (as opposed to on Grand street where they seem unfazed by the weather) but delays are systemic and the project will be moving ahead as time goes on. We continue to wonder about the future of the old Country Market site but even rumors are hard to come by. And then we talked about our drinking water. Some found an off taste at a local restaurant. (Perhaps wine would be a better alternative but that didn't come up.) All Dexter city water comes from wells - none from the river. The water is treated but some still find it necessary to install softeners. The old timers remember when there was a big problem with iron in the water turning it and your sheets brown but that was solved years ago. As usual we heard about a number of upcoming events in our busy little town. Folks are encouraged to place infomercial flyers on the table out side of our meeting room so people can take the exact information home with them. The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center. Back issues of the Forum notes are available on our web site DexterForum.com ============================================= Forum Notes Feb 02, 2019 Flowers and cookies and little oranges appeared on the back table in celebration of groundhog day and the beginning of our fifth year. Fresh from our discussion about pedestrian safety regarding kids walking and riding their bikes to school we noted the danger adults face when they cross through traffic to get to the post office which turned into a discussion about future uses for the old Country Market space which we decided would make a great spot for a new post office since they basically did the same thing in Chelsea. No one is aware that there are any plans to do this but sometimes it is our priviledge to get the conversation started. We have spent a lot of time over the years talking about the condo corridor that runs along Grand Street to the back of the downtown. Well, the first residents (including our own webmaster Richard Weaver) have moved in and construction continues even in the dead of winter. Further down the street the Broad Street project remains in the planning phase and the pesky electrical substation may go away by fall. If nothing else I think we are coming to understand the complexity of re-developing old industrial sites. School board president Michael Wendorf issued a personal invitation to each of us to attend the ribbon cutting for Beacon Elementary School on Monday. February 11 at 5:00 PM. We also heard enthusiastic support for upcoming events sponsored by St. James Episcopal Church, The Encore Theater, The Dexter Community Players, The Senior Citizen Center and the Rotary Club of Dexter. You just don't need to go to New York anymore to have a good time. What happens at the Forum doesn't stay at the Forum. We get talked about and written about. A reporter from the Sun Times News and We Love Dexter.com are usually present and, of course, I write these notes. We want folks to feel free to express their feelings on any subject but there is some concern about having a person's name publicly attached to their comments. Our elected officials know that they are always 'on the record' but some regular folks may not want a random comment tied to their name. Let's just say that awareness has been raised on this issue. -------------------------- Back issues of the Forum notes are available on our web site DexterForum.com Just let John or Karl know if you would like to be added to our e-mail list which will get you meeting reminders and your own personal copy of the meeting notes. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. 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