Brandon Twp.- The township board approved the cable budget, including a 2 percent wage increase for consultant Greg Normand, during their Nov. 4 meeting.
The budget and raise were approved unanimously. A separate motion to use excess cable franchise fees to support the police fund passed by a 5-2 vote, with Treasurer Terri Darnall and Trustee Ron Lapp voting no.
‘I think Greg has done a great job bringing community events to the cable station viewing audience, along with working with student employees and helping to educate them,? said Supervisor Kathy Thurman.
Normand has been cable consultant for OTV, broadcast on Channel 99 in the village and township, for the past 13 years. He has earned $30,000 annually, without a raise, for all of those years. He will now earn $30,600 for each year of his newly signed 2-year contract. Normand does not have a set number of hours that he works. Thurman said he sets his own schedule.
The cable budget and raise were approved by a 5-2 vote at the Ortonville Village Council’s Oct. 28 meeting. Trustees Debbie Baker and Coleen Skornicka voted no.
The 2014 cable budget includes projected revenues of $400,453, which includes a projected $219,963 carry forward (fund balance), as well as $159,952 in township cable franchise fees and $19,269 in cable franchise fees for the village. These fees are received from Charter Cable, which pays the municipalities for the privilege of operating cable equipment here. The 2014 budget is projecting expenditures of $114,850, to be used primarily for Normand’s salary, as well as other employee wages, equipment, and supplies.
Additionally, $71,998 of cable franchise fees collected will be transferred to the township’s general fund to be used to supplement the police budget. The village will use $8,672, roughly half of the cable franchise fees they collect, to fund a skate park monitor and park operations.
The projected cable carry forward for 2014 following the expenditures/transfers is expected to be $204,932.91.