Lake Orion Review Staff Writer
Township residents made themselves heard loud and clear on the subject of building a community center in a recently held public hearing, but the Orion Township Board of Trustees is concerned opinions on levying a operating and capital improvements millage for the parks and recreation department might have been left out of the discussions.
The board plans to schedule a public hearing sometime in the near future to hear comments exclusively on a parks and recreation millage, with the possibility of it being placed on the November 2004 ballot.
‘The hearing was for the community center and a operating and capital improvements millage for parks and recreation,? said trustee Michael Gingell. ‘Almost 95 percent of the dialogue was community center-related.?
Supervisor Jerry Dywasuk said he was opposed to the idea of including a proposal for a community center on the upcoming primary or general election ballots, and thought the board should put that decision ‘away for another day.?
‘The parks and recreation millage is a separate ballot issue (from the center),? he added. ‘Financially, we’re in good shape, so why are we asking for a millage at this time??
Gingell wanted to make sure the board didn’t keep bringing the idea of a parks and recreation millage before voters if residents weren’t interested.
‘The township tried two different times to put this issue before voters,? said clerk Jill Bastian, adding that it would take time to educate people about the proposal.
‘It would give the parks and recreation department a dedicated millage so they could make long range plans,? she said. ‘The public hasn’t had a chance to say how much funding they want parks and recreation to have…if we’re going to put something on the ballot, let’s not put it on (August), but put it on in November.?
Gingell said the millage was proposed to voters in 2000.
‘The public at that time said ‘we’re not interested,?? he added. ‘At .75 mill (proposed by the parks and recreation advisory committee), that’s almost what the entire township operates on.?
According to parks and recreation director Rock Blanchard, the parks and recreation advisory committee wanted the proposal on the August primary ballot because it believed people would be thinking more about parks and recreation at that time, as opposed to in November.
‘They wanted to start planning for 2005, and the more educated voter votes in August…people who care about local issues,? he said. ‘They would prefer August. And the .75 mill would keep us about even with what we’ve been spending the past two years.?
Blanchard said compared to other communities, Orion Township was not spending a lot of money on parks and recreation.
‘Parks and recreation has been able to accomplish little of our master plan, and that’s partly due to there being no dedicated millage,? he added.
Trustee Richard Tomczak feels it’s important for the public to understand that a separate millage for parks and recreation was not uncommon.
‘I think we need to buy land. We need to grab these properties before developers get them,? he said. ‘This is something we should allow the public to take a look see at, and November is a better time than August.?
Treasurer James Marleau agreed, saying the August ballot was the time when necessary millages, like those for police and fire, were renewed.
‘I don’t want to confuse anyone,? he said. ‘We’ve heard a lot about the ISD (Oakland Intermediate School District)…they refer to the passage of that millage as a ‘stealth election.? It won’t be a stealth election if it’s on a presidential ballot.?