By Don Rush

It took all of about 30 minutes for the Oxford Township Board of Trustees to complete their regular meeting on Nov. 9. Township Supervisor Jack Curtis was absent for health reasons.

CJ’s working on a path grant

The township’s communications and grant manager CJ Carnacchio asked the board to allocate $60,600 from the general fund balance for the design work for a 4,075 foot-long, eight-foot wide safety path along the south side of Seymour Lake Road, from Sanders to Seymour Lake Township Park. Carnacchio said this money will be contingent on a $50,000 grant he is looking to secure from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan/Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Legacy Funds. He said this is the third time he has looked for grants from the foundation – having already secured $100,000 in grants for the design of the Ray Road/N. Oxford Road safety path in 2020 and for the design/construction of the Dunlap Road safety path in 2021.

He said his grant proposal is due to the foundation by Dec. 12. Trustees approved the allocation.

Noxious weeds on their minds

The board discussed the need to look into how the township should deal with properties that are overgrown with “noxious” weeds. Discussion revolved around how the township should do this either by inserting a noxious weed amendment to the township’s Property Maintenance Code, or by creating an entirely new ordinance. Trustees wanted to know how the township would enforce such an ordinance on larger parcels of property which may be used for farming. They decided to task a subcommittee of trustees Jon Knold, Rod Charles and Catherine Colvin to come up with a plan and to bring it back to the next board meeting. In the trustees meeting packet was also a note that stated the township board voted down a similar ordinance draft back in 2012.

No NOTA Winter Tax

Treasurer Joe Ferrari presented to the board a motion which would levy zero mills for the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) on the Winter 2022 tax bills. This was approved across the board by trustees in light of the Nov. 8 election which passed an Oakland County wide transit millage rate of 0.95. Township residents were paying 0.2314 mills for their NOTA services.

EVIP grant funding

The board approved renewing its one-year subscription to the Munetrix system ($3,711) in order to receive a $61,635 grant from the state under its revised Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP).

Clarification

The board approved a “Resolution to Clarify” amendments made to Section 12 (Site Plans) to the township’s Zoning Ordinance. The clarification is to allow two developments in the township extra time for their preliminary and final site plan approvals.

Mobile Food rules

Trustee Jon Knold told the board the township has had a Mobile Food Establishment Ordinance since 2021. In that time, he said, it is time to revisit the ordinance to make “streamline” revisions which would make applying for permits easier. The board approved to revisit the issue and to look at recommendations at its December 14 meeting.