I will wait for the consistently complete draft minutes to come out (thanks to Ingrid Kliffel) before deciding what parts of the meeting video to watch. I did not seen any controversial items on the original agenda. Such long meetings are the norm for this very thorough Commission and Parks and Recreation Department headed by Mindy Milos-Dale. One change is that Emily Barkham will be Chairperson in 2022. Officers are elected annually. 2021 Chairman Brian Blust cited increased personal time committments in deciding not to seek the chairmanship.
Board of Trustees Meeting 1-11-22 Was Brief (48 minutes) and Routine
All items I would characterize as fairly routine. None would bring out “torches and pitchforks”. The meeting included a one-half hour closed session, so open session was very brief. I will post the minutes when available or you can watch for the usually excellent (thanks Clerk’s Department) synopsis when available in The Record newspaper as legally required. I notice that Orion Twp. posts their Board meeting synopses on their website in addition to print newspapers.
The next Board meeting will be a special meeting on the 24th to address primarily the 2022 budget. This will probably be at 3 PM (no public notice yet). Other meetings on the budget will be the 7th and 17th. I suspect these will not be televised or taped. The regular meeting on the 25th was cancelled,
Lithium Battery Car Fires Have Not Come to Oakland Township Yet
A recent article titled “Zapped” in the Sunday 1-9-22 Oakland Press detailed problems that GM is having with electric vehicles powered by large lithium batteries. The plant has shut down production while the cause of the defective batteries is investigated and 141,000 Chevy Volts are under recall. According to Oakland Township Fire Chief, Paul Strelchuk, his department has not been called on to respond to any such fire yet. He did comment that Groveland Fire Department had a fire in one of their lithium battery powered chain saws. These fires are hard to extinguish as they burn until all the lithium reacts with water to make flammable and explosive hydrogen gas. ( I was a chemist in a former life.)
According to this 222 page report citing 21,687 incidents, there are a lot of ways a battery can be manufactured with defects or be abused in use, causing fires. See these disturbing charts from pages 4 and 9.
Go to Sheriff Substation for Help with Drug Addiction
Our local Sheriff substation at 4391 Collins Road participates in a program called “Rides for Recovery”. If you go to the substation at any time you can get help being admitted to a program through Oakland County Health Network. If the station is unmanned, push the call box button. You won’t be arrested on drug charges, but instead be connected to help. Thanks to our substation commander Lieutenant Stephen Dooley for this information.
Oakland Township Fire Department to Receive about $40,000 in Opioid Lawsuit Settlement
Township Manager Adam Kline told us that we can expect to receive $38,000 – $40,000 from the $28 billion opioid national lawsuit settlement against Johnson and Johnson. A recent Oakland Press article (1/9/22) showed Royal Oak as in line to receive $493,000. Manager Kline confirmed that the payouts are based on population. He said the Fire Department plans to use the money primarily for training on the use of Narcan (naloxone) , the drug used by the Fired Department Paramedics to counteract opioid and other overdoses.
Parks and Recreation Meeting Wednesday 1-12-22
Look over this agenda to see if anything warrants a comment from you. I assume the meeting packet will be available early next week.
Brief Summary of Safety Paths and Trails Committee 1-5-22 Meeting – No Controversial Issues –Yet.
I watched the 47 minute meeting and will report it when draft minutes are issued. (The minutes alone may suffice as a report, thus saving me scarce time.) I saw nothing discussed that would lead any resident to say, “Why didn’t you tell me about that?!!”
The SPTC will be identifying the next project in 2022. In September 1, 2021 minutes they identified these three as top priorites –
• Gunn Road: Adams Road to the Paint Creek Trail
• Adams Road: Gunn Road to Marsh View Park at Clarkston Road***
• Snell Road: Rochester Road to Bear Creek Park
***A proposal for Adams Road Paint Creek Trail was rejected by the Board of Trustees in 2013. Thus a new plan would need to overcome the issues raised then, or the current Board would have to feel differently. Here is an excerpt from minutes of March 12, 2013
He was supported in this opinion by a 7/0 vote of the Board.
The entire minutes can be seen here on pages 6 and 7. https://ecode360.com/documents/OA3183/public/629915068.pdf
28 people commmented on this. The meeting video is no longer posted on the website.
For me the main barrier to this project is to safely go down the long steep Adams Road hill north of Delta Kelly School without creating a dangerous attractive nuisance for young dare-devil boys (or girls) on bikes.
Oakland Township Manager Adam Kline and Sheriff Substation Commander Lt. Stephen Dooley Make Remarks about Oakland Township Deputies and Firefighters Particpation in Response to Oxford School Shooting Incident
See their heart-felt comments at Agenda 9 (1:45-1:50) in the meeting video below. Scroll way down to second to last video segment – only 5 minutes. Please watch it.
Oakland Township Sentinel 