I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. But if I was an owner of a dog who has ever bitten someone, I would want to be totally familiar with Act 426 of 1988 “Dangerous Animals”.  As I read it, if your dog has bitten someone it is now classified as a  “Dangerous Animal” and can get you convicted of involuntary manslaughter if it then kills someone and up to four years imprisonment if it seriously  injures someone. This law is posted on the Township Website Sheriff’s page and here:

http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-Act-426-of-1988

 

 

Oakland Township resident and animal rescue expert*, Ann Marie Rogers has recently sent extensive research findings to our State Senate to support her two most recent recommendations to them:

• Oppose Michigan Senate Bill 710 which would allow dangerous “game bred” Pit Bulls confiscated from dogfighting rings to be adopted out to the general public
• Oppose Section 7 of Michigan Senate Bill 709 which would prohibit local communities from passing ordinances banning Pit Bulls or other dangerous breeds.

Previously she asked State Senators to

• Oppose Senate Bill 741 which had the same purpose as Section 7 of 709 above.

Ms. Rogers has contacted local Planning Official, Doug Mende, suggesting that the Planning Commission of Oakland Township consider an ordinance banning Pit Bulls and other dangerous breeds. Ms. Rogers has data on Pit Bull attacks in Oakland Township.

All I need to know to support her follows at these two links that she provided:

216 children killed by pit bull type dogs. https://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/children-killed-by-pit-bulls.php

Pit bull type dogs kill an estimated 30,000 animals a year.

http://www.animals24-7.org/2017/01/11/record-32550-pit-bulls-killed-or-badly-injured-other-animals-in-the-u-s-in-2016/

Because of Ms. Rogers’s earlier communications of this topic, I was alerted to the extreme dangers of totally unpredictable Pit Bulls and alerted family members who had just adopted one from a local shelter. After reading Ms. Rogers extensively researched material, they returned the animal, much to my relief.

I have posted Ms. Rogers’s complete  emails to the State Senate on my website on a “Pit Bull Dangers” page at this link:

https://oaklandtownshipsentinel.com/pit-bull-dangers/

Please communicate with your State Senator on these bills. Use this link to find him or her

http://www.senate.michigan.gov/fysbyaddress.html

 

*Ms. Rogers is President of No Place Like Home Animal Rescue and was an animal control officer and past Oakland Township Parks Commissioner.

If your heart stops (cardiac arrest) you die 7-10% per minute according to this American Heart Association article provided to me by Greg Ball. PAD_WorkingAgainstTime

Greg is an Oakland Township Firefighter/Paramedic (he does it all!) and our EMS Coordinator. Our ambulance or any ambulance anywhere, likely can’t get there fast enough to save you.

So you need to learn CPR / AED.  Conveniently, the Oakland Township Fire Department has classes.  The next one is February 17. Call 1-586-752 and say you are interested in CPR classes or see the email sign up info and full schedule at this link: http://www.oaklandtownship.org/township_departments/fire_department/index.php

 

Even responding as fast as Oakland County 90% standards of 6 minutes for urban areas or 8 minutes for rural will likely not save you if your heart stops completely – cardiac arrest. When you add the 1-1/2 to 2 minutes it took the 911 dispatch center to understand your call and notify the fire department, you are up to 7-1/2 to 9-1/2 minutes from the time of your call to when the ambulance arrives in your driveway. Oakland Township response is at something more like 14 minutes from time of call.  A person in cardiac arrest needs citizens who can administer CPR and run today’s inexpensive and easy to use AED’s to administer a shock to restart his/her heart.

Sign up for the course. Call 1-586-752 and say you are interested in CPR classes.

 

 

 

 

Oakland Township Fire Department (OTFD) Report to Come in February

After pressure from three Board members at  the 1/23/18 Board of Trustees Meeting, Township Manager Dale Stuart committed to February for delivering “…a  report to the subcommittee  and then the entire Board for our analysis of the current status of the fire department and short-term, medium term and long term potential actions that the Board could take”.  Mr. Stuart is referring to the subcommittee formed by Board action 29 months ago on as shown in this excerpt from those minutes

 

Board Minutes 8/25/15 –

“1. Chief Strelchuk – 10-Year Strategic Operating Plan

 MOTION by Langlois, supported by Reilly to form a subcommittee regarding a 10-Year Strategic Operating Plan for the Fire Department consisting of Trustees Ferriolo, Giannangeli and Buxar.

 Motion carried unanimously.”

 

It is not clear if this report will contain all the elements of a 10-Year Strategic Operating Plan. There was no formal board action outlining what was required.

The discussions on 1/23/18 that led to this February commitment can be seen by watching about 11 minutes of meeting video starting at Chapter 9. Supervisor Michael Bailey summarized comments by Trustees Ferriolo and Buxar, when he said, “We are all getting somewhat impatient.” Mr. Stuart had made no mention of the status of this fire department report in his Township Manager Report, which preceded the Board member comments on the agenda.

Fire Chief Paul Strelchuk reports to Township Manager Dale Stuart. Mr. Stuart, hired in September 2015, is a professional manager. He runs the day-to-day operations of the Township according to policies set by our seven member elected Board of Trustees and Township Ordinance #97 which outlines his duties broadly. I am unaware of any policies that the Board has set for the Fire Department.

I was glad to see the subcommittee members and Supervisor pressing for a time commitment. The situation has urgency. In my opinion, we are exposing residents and our dual paramedic / firefighters to unacceptable risk as long as we fail to comply with commonly accepted or legally required response time and minimum manpower at the scene in our responses to medical, fire and other emergencies.

When the report is presented, you can be assured that Oakland Township Sentinel will be interviewing qualified residents with extensive business planning, Paramedic and/or Firefighter experience for their detailed opinion of its adequacy. We will also evaluate if the plans –

 

• Will likely lead to compliance with applicable NFPA and OCMCA standards
• Contains all the necessary categories of a typical 10-year Strategic Operating Plan, as suggested by retired Dupont Executive and Township resident Marty McQuade in this 2015 work with OTFD.

 

Oakland Township Sentinel readers –

I sent the email below to the listed Township officials 1/16/18 at 12:51 PM. As of 9:44 AM Saturday 1/20/18 I have received no comments. I plan to address this situation at the Tuesday 1/23/18 Board meeting in public comment.

You may have seen the recent article in the Rochester Post about how Rochester is planning to address a similar fire department response time /  manpower issue with a planning committee involving citizens.

“To:

 Charter Township of Oakland Elected or Appointed Officials:

 Michael Bailey, Township Supervisor

Karen Reilly, Township Clerk

Jeanne Langlois, Township Treasurer

Robin Buxar, Township Trustee, Member Fire Subcommittee

Frank Ferriolo, Township Trustee, Member Fire Subcommittee

Lana Mangiapane, Township Trustee

John Giannangeli, Township Trustee, Member Fire Subcommittee

Dale Stuart, Township Manager

Paul Strelchuk, Fire Chief and Emergency Manager

Louis Danek, Assistant Fire Chief

 

Below is an editorial article I intend to post on Oakland Township Sentinel website on Saturday, January 20 at 7 AM. I invite comments from all those above to whom this is addressed. Deadline is Friday 1/19 at 10 PM. I will publish any comments in their entirety and “no comment” for those who have none. I will similarly give you the opportunity to comment on future articles in this series.

 

Robert A. Yager

Editor

Oakland Township Sentinel

1146 Bear Creek Ct.

Oakland Township, MI 48306

248-495-8563”

 

Our Fire Department Needs a Long-Term Strategic Plan – Immediately

 

The Oakland Township Fire Department (OTFD) cannot muster sufficient manpower (skeleton crew of full-time, augmented by volunteers) to respond in force and on time in order to comply with all national, state and county standards, including the Oakland County license requirements to operate Advanced Life Support units. New senior housing under construction in the Township will further stress this system.

Inadequate responses pose an unacceptable danger to both residents and OTFD paramedic/firefighters. We are asking them to rescue us from burning or smoke-filled buildings or give us advanced emergency medical treatment with inadequate manpower at the scene. This manpower most of the time has driven a large ambulance or huge fire-truck alone without benefit of a “co-pilot” to watch for traffic, work lights and sirens or talk to the dispatch center for any updated information,  or talk to each other to make a plan. This poses an unacceptable traffic accident risk and reduces effectiveness of responses. 

As one example, national standards say it takes at least 4 firefighters to safely enter a burning building. Two go in as a team and two stay outside to potentially rescue them. Recall a recent firefighter death in Auburn Hills. We have no public data on how well we comply with this.

In a second example, the Oakland County protocols governing the Oakland Township license to operate Advanced Life Support (ALS) units in the county requires at a minimum 1 paramedic and 1 EMT to staff each unit at all times.  Current Oakland Township ALS staffing is only 1 paramedic for each unit at all times.  The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) reports Oakland Township’s population in 2017 was 18,575.  For this density of population (>500 per square mile), the Oakland County Medical Control Authority requires that ALS units arrive within 6 minutes, 90% of the time.  According to our analysis of raw data received under the Freedom of Information Act, OTFD was capable in 2017 of under 12.5 minutes 90% of the time, with the worst response being to the farthest SW section 31 (bounded by Dutton, Adams, Silverbell) at under 15 minutes 90% of the time.  Section 31 is the location of the new Blossom Ridge senior living facility.

OTFD should have a comprehensive, publicly available, improvement plan to address these and other important issues. A competent planning process to make such a plan, would start with the Board defining the relevant policies that broadly define the Fire Department’s job performance requirements. Board policies regarding compliance with the various national, state and county response standards would be key early policy decisions in such a plan. The Township Manager and Fire Department must know Board policies first before they can provide plan details.

The recent very short 1/9/18 Board meeting would have been a good time to resume discussing this issue. Perhaps it will be on the agenda for 1/23/18.

The above opinions, or parts of them, supported by facts, have been expressed, starting in late 2014 to the Board of Trustees, the Board Officers, The Board of Trustees Fire Subcommittee, the Township Manager, the Fire Chief and the Assistant Fire Chief in numerous email and / or face-to-face communications by me and at least five other knowledgeable people (listed alphabetically) –

• Paul Elder – OTFD volunteer (Paid-on-Call) paramedic / firefighter – expressed his concerns in meetings with Board Officers and by email
• Jerry Kalinski – retired Southfield fire service officer and longtime Oakland Township resident  – expressed his concerns in Public Comment at Board meetings and at Officer Office Hours
• Marty McQuade – a resident and retired business executive, who spent considerable volunteer time in 2015 helping the fire department prepare a 78 page draft 10-year Strategic Plan that has never been publicly discussed
• Dave Piche, retired Bloomfield Twp. “Fire Chief of the Year” in a confidential 11-page report in October 2017. This report was leaked to Oakland Township Sentinel.
• Scott Rosati – OTFD full-time paramedic / firefighter – delivered detailed statistical information in a 43 page report to Board Officers

 

At present the Fire Department has no formal public improvement plans.

Board members say correctly that what an individual Board member says about policy is only personal opinion unless backed by a Board approved motion. What has the Board said about its policy regarding fire department planning?

At the 8/25/15 Board Meeting –

“MOTION by Langlois, supported by Reilly to form a subcommittee regarding a 10-Year Strategic Operating Plan for the Fire Department consisting of Trustees Ferriolo, Giannangeli and Buxar.

 Motion carried unanimously. “

In spite of this motion, 28 months later, the Fire Department has no formal plans except the annual budget and we have heard nothing from the Board or Fire Subcommittee concerning any progress or deadlines on this planning assignment. Since a recommendation-making subcommittee requires public notice of meetings under the Michigan Open Meetings Act; we conclude there have been no subcommittee meetings.

At 33 minutes, the 1/9/18 Board meeting was the shortest Board meeting of recent record. Ten minutes (18:01 to 28:22) was spent on a review of how the new full-time 75%/25% Facilities Technician / Assistant Fire Chief Lou Danek was handling his new Facilities assignment. I applaud these efforts, and like the increased focus on systematic inspection and maintenance. The Board had many questions and comments. But, I wish we had also seen at least equal attention to fire department policy planning. There was plenty of time available to the Board.

I will lay out the facts about the issues that require planning in detailed “bite sized” pieces in future articles to come soon.  Support from the community for a rapid comprehensive planning effort is welcome and perhaps vital to getting forward movement with appropriate direction and speed. You can find your Board members email addresses at this link if you wish to communicate with them.

http://www.oaklandtownship.org/boards_and_commissions/board_of_trustees/index.php

Oakland Township resident Ann Marie Rogers has written a lengthy detailed letter (click on link below) to state legislators asking them to vote against State Bill 741. This bill would not allow local governments to ban specific breeds of dogs such as dangerous pit bulls.

Ms. Rogers letter cites numerous cases and studies of the dangers of pit bulls. They kill and maim children. Go to the end of the pdf and see a seriously maimed child in his hospital bed.

Dear Honorable MI Judiciary Committee

At the Tuesday 1/9/18 meeting, the Board of Trustees tabled action for a future meeting. Apparently the Board received additional information from the applicant after the Board meeting packet was put together, so they wanted time to review that.

Representatives of Blossom Ridge senior living explained their intent for the liquor license. It would allow residents to have drinks or wine with dinner and allow drinks to be served at resident events in their clubhouse (for example a wedding shower for a resident’s granddaughter). The type of license they are applying for would not allow them to refuse service to outsiders, who are not Blossom Ridge residents, but they don’t plan to encourage that. For example they don’t plan to post advertising signs. Apparently their experience at other senior living centers run by Moceri owned companies is that outsiders don’t take advantage of the legally available liquor for sale.

Oakland Township Sentinel has sorted  entries in 2017 PRC minutes by 58 subject categories into a 128 page pdf  document titled “PRC Meetings 2017” This pdf is available above under “Useful Reference Material / Parks and Recreation” menu.

Some key items in 2017 were:

• 209 acres were acquired to expand 60-acre Stony Creek Nature Park (a Township Park that is directly north of, but not to be confused with, Stony Creek Metropark.) The cost was about $2,900,000 with about 75% from a Michigan Natural Trust Fund Grant (State land oil and gas lease money)
• Gallagher Creek Park development plans with picnic and play areas were solidified. (9 pages)
• Paint Creek Trail Bridge 33.7 plans ($750,000 – mostly grants) were solidified for replacement in summer of 2018 (42 pages)
• Plans were made to have kayaking at Draper Twin Lakes Park.
• Dr. Ben is on top of fighting invasive species,  including phragmites,,  and restoring prairies with a new truck
• Encroachment has been dealt with through letters to residents, surveys, markers, police contact and courts when necessary.
• Events draw ever larger numbers of residents – Goodison Good Thyme, Winter Carnival, Open Houses at Lost Lake Nature Park, Music in the Meadows, Sledding
• PRC continues to work cooperatively with the Historic District Commission to assure a seamless fit between Cranberry Lake Park and the Historical Cranberry Lake Farm & Farmhouse
• As required by our Zoning Ordinance site plans for a new housing development were reviewed
• PRC, especially Commissioner Blust, made  constructive comments to Planning Commission regarding the all-important Master Land Use Plan.
• PRC Honored past PRC members

PRC minutes, prepared by long-time Recording Secretary, Ingrid R. Kliffel, are the “Gold Standard” of township minutes. By reading PRC minutes one can get an excellent summary of what transpired at each meeting. You get the all-important deliberation leading up to a vote, including summaries of what each citizen had to say.

You can get all the background on an issue or issues, without watching hours of meetings or videotapes. If you choose to get involved you can do so from a better informed viewpoint.

I encourage you to read the minutes each month to see if there is anything you may want to give input to PRC in person or by email. I failed to do this in 2017. I regret missing the opportunity to support long-time township resident Marty McClure on his concerns about Paint Creek Trail Bridge 33.7 design.

I have cut and pasted the minutes in chronological order by subject for the Board of Trustees, Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals into a 59 page pdf document. It has a table of contents with 55 subjects and can be seen under the Board of Trustees on this website above under “Useful Reference Material / Annual Summaries”

 Take a look at a subject that interests you and follow chronologically to see what was done on your subject of interest. Remember that “The Board Speaks Through its Motions”. Only with a Board approved motion can you be sure what their official position is on most topics. I say most topics as the three officers do have some authority and responsibility under State Law for performing their duties as Supervisor, Clerk and Treasurer independent of full Board review.

I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. Consult with an attorney if you intend to file a notice of intent to file a petition or any other legal action.

If you are dissatisfied with the new revised zoning ordinance you can file a petition to have its adoption decided by a special election. This was last done in Blossom Ridge rezoning and the rezoning was overturned by voters but later reinstated by a consent agreement when our Board feared the potential financial and zoning consequences of letting a judge decide.

You first file a notice of intent to file a petition within seven days of publication. The Zoning Ordinance will be published soon. Then you need a lot of signatures. To me it looks like 1086 are needed, but I am not sure which of the sections below apply from Zoning Enabling Act 110 of 2006.

 

“125.3402 Notice of intent to file petition. Sec. 402. (1) Within 7 days after publication of a zoning ordinance under section 401, a registered elector residing in the zoning jurisdiction of a county or township may file with the clerk of the legislative body a notice of intent to file a petition under this section. (2) If a notice of intent is filed under subsection (1), the petitioner shall have 30 days following the publication of the zoning ordinance to file a petition signed by a number of registered electors residing in the zoning jurisdiction not less than 15% of the total vote cast within the zoning jurisdiction for all candidates for governor at the last preceding general election at which a governor was elected, with the clerk of the legislative body requesting the submission of a zoning ordinance or part of a zoning ordinance to the electors residing in the zoning jurisdiction for their approval. (3) Upon the filing of a notice of intent under subsection (1), the zoning ordinance or part of the zoning ordinance adopted by the legislative body shall not take effect until 1 of the following occurs: (a) The expiration of 30 days after publication of the ordinance, if a petition is not filed within that time. (b) If a petition is filed within 30 days after publication of the ordinance, the clerk of the legislative body determines that the petition is inadequate. (c) If a petition is filed within 30 days after publication of the ordinance, the clerk of the legislative body determines that the petition is adequate and the ordinance or part of the ordinance is approved by a majority of the registered electors residing in the zoning jurisdiction voting on the petition at the next regular election or at any special election called for that purpose. The legislative body shall provide the manner of submitting the zoning ordinance or part of the zoning ordinance to the electors for their approval or rejection and determining the result of the election. (4) A petition and an election under this section are subject to the Michigan election law, 1954 PA 116, MCL 168.1 to 168.992. History: 2006, Act 110, Eff. July 1, 2006.

125.3403 Amendment to zoning ordinance; filing of protest petition; vote. Sec. 403. (1) An amendment to a zoning ordinance by a city or village is subject to a protest petition as required by this subsection. If a protest petition is filed, approval of the amendment to the zoning ordinance shall require a 2/3 vote of the legislative body, unless a larger vote, not to exceed a 3/4 vote, is required by ordinance or charter. The protest petition shall be presented to the legislative body of the city or village before final legislative action on the amendment and shall be signed by 1 or more of the following: (a) The owners of at least 20% of the area of land included in the proposed change. (b) The owners of at least 20% of the area of land included within an area extending outward 100 feet from any point on the boundary of the land included in the proposed change. (2) Publicly owned land shall be excluded in calculating the 20% land area requirement under subsection (1). History: 2006, Act 110, Eff. July 1, 2006.”

There were 7240 votes cast in the November 2014 gubernatorial election as shown in county voting results.

Precinct	Ballots Cast	Registered Voters	Voter Turnout
Oakland 1	1,041	1,782	58.42%
Oakland 2	907	1,883	48.17%
Oakland 3	471	790	59.62%
Oakland 4	944	1,581	59.71%
Oakland 5	941	1,816	51.82%
Oakland 6	1,032	1,921	53.72%
Oakland 7	1,149	2,229	51.55%
Oakland 8	755	1,284	58.80%
Total	7,240	13,286	54.49%
15%	1086

Notice in Rochester Post 12/28/2017

 

Remember, I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice.