Halloween is just around the corner, and members of the Union Church Governing Board seem to feel more “tricked” than “treated” by the Orion Township Board of Trustees.
Governing board president Burke Cueny told the board of trustees on Oct. 20 that interior restoration of Union Church, located in the Village of Lake Orion but owned by the township, was to have been completed by Halloween.
“Now it’s trick or treat,” he said. “We have the floor almost done, but the heating and cooling is still left.”
The board approved allowing volunteers to complete some work left to be done at the church, such as painting, provided they sign a volunteer waiver form. The board is also considering an architect proposal from Stephen Auger and Associates for the church. The cost of the proposal, including detailed drawings and construction documents,” is a little over $16,000.
“We don’t need to spend $16,000 on an architect,” argued Cueny. “We have a building supervisor here at the township who is perfectly capable of supervising this project.”
Township building official Tom Berger said he had to be careful on how he proceeded with the project.
“The building belongs to the township, but it is in the village,” he said. “(Buildings and grounds director) Reenae Tulip was asked to find out a cost and bring it to the board…she was just doing her job.”
Trustee Michael Gingell said since the church is a township building, he believed it was the township’s job to drive the project forward.
“We need to know how to bring the building up to code so we don’t have to eventually tear out the heating and cooling to meet state code,” he said, adding that the church governing board should see the architect’s proposal before the board voted on it.
“We need to know how we go from point A to point B in opening this building, and that’s what the architect’s going to help us do,” Gingell said. “It’s more than just drawings…it’s (information) we need to get a certificate of occupancy from the state.”
The board plans to vote on the proposal at a future meeting after the church governing board and Berger have had a chance to review it.