By Dean Vaglia
Leader Staff Writer
The Charter Township of Oxford Board of Trustees had their monthly meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Topics discussed include hiring a new building official, development of a 3.25-acre parcel of land and changes to township employee policies.

Building Official Job Posting
The board voted 4-3 to hire a second building official as a township employee.

“Currently the building official for the township is treated as an independent contractor,” Township Supervisor Jack Curtis said. “We swore him in prior to a change in the MCL in 2012, and Tom Berger continues to act as a contractual building official for the Charter Township of Oxford.”
While Berger covers some issues, there is a backlog of building department issues that need to be addressed.
According to the job description in the meeting packet, the building official will perform “a variety of administrative and technical functions involved in the administration and enforcement of building, zoning and related codes. Supervises the work of building and trade inspectors and clerical/Administrative staff, including the zoning administrator.”
The township is looking for someone with at least a high school diploma, at least five years of relevant fields, state certification and knowledge of zoning laws, building planning and construction site inspection.
Interested parties can send their cover letter and resume to jcurtis@oxfordtownship.org. Starting salary range is $75,000 to $95,000 annually. Applications are due 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 1.

Development of 3.25-Acre Parcel
The Oxford Fire Department and Sharpe Engineering presented two concept plans for developing a site along M-24 north of the Xcelecior Dr. industrial park.
The fire department is looking into building a well at the site to increase firefighting capabilities in the north of the township. This will likely lower the ISO rating and the cost of insurance for houses and properties in the area.
The site designs were not final, but demonstrated ways it could be developed in case the department wanted to build another station in the future. Key elements included detention ponds and a new emergency-use crossover. One design was oriented parallel to M-24 while the other was oriented north-south.
Discussion shifted toward how the development would be funded after Trustee William Dunn brought the matter up, the board ultimately approving the use of $50,000 in fire department funds to pay for the site.

Internal Sick Leave & Pay Changes
The township’s sick leave and pay systems were up for debate.
Sick leave was the first to be discussed, with the board voting unanimously to remove the old system in favor of a new short-term disability plan. The plan guarantees employees to 60% pay up to $1,500 per week for up to 26 weeks. The prior model only allowed for up to 30 paid days off for medical reasons.
Next up was a discussion on replacing the step system for employee wages with a new flexible wage scale with a fixed wage ceiling per department. The board voted 3-4 to keep the existing system, but voted 4-3 to add three more steps. A committee was formed to review the step system and come up with recommendations on how to improve it for the November meeting.
Finally, the salaries for the three full-time elected officials were brought up for review. This is done every three years based on similar communities, and the proposed revised salaries were $90,000 for the Supervisor and $85,634 for the Treasurer and Clerk. The board voted 6-1 to have a committee review the salaries of the positions and present a recommendation at the November meeting.

Possible Illegal Business
Resident John Auchterlonie made a public comment to the board about a possible machining business being run out of a neighbor’s house, citing trucks delivering machining fluids, power surges disrupting neighboring homes and metal plates placed over the ditch along Drahner Rd. He also believes the homeowner is illegally dumping said fluids into the sewer system.
Curtis addressed Auchterlonie’s concerns during trustee comments stating the township will have an investigator on the issue soon. DTE energy and the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner were contacted about the power surges and suspected illicit discharges, respectively.