Updated: 11:20pm, 7/11/12 (see below)
Just over two weeks ago, Pleasanton Township Supervisor Tony Merrill announced his resignation. His distant cousin by marriage, and current Pleasanton Assessor Carol Merrill, was quickly appointed by the township board to fill the remainder of his term at its Tuesday, June 12 meeting. But the board's action raises more questions than it settles, comes as voters start to examine candidates for the August primary, and follows several weeks of concerns about an illegal meeting. Carol Merrill and David McNeilly are both running as Republicans for the full term of the supervisor position.
Tony Merrill wasn't planning to run for a second term. By early May, he had decided that he'd had enough of the job, especially since it had increasingly put him in heated debate with Pleasanton trustee Bob Babcock. Merrill told the Gander that he didn't want to be a "lightening rod" for Babcock.
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| Tony Merrill at the June 12 township board meeting |
But it appeared to be a surprise to many that Tony Merrill stepped down before his term was over in November. Everyone, that is, except for most others on the board: trustee Dave Ertel, clerk Amy Cross and treasurer Judy Girven. Babcock did not appear to know the announcement was coming. A few minutes after 8pm, near the end of the meeting, the board accepted the resignation of Planning Commission chair Bob Stafford. After a moment's delay by Girven, Merrill then announced his own resignation, effective June 16, citing personal reasons and conflict between the position and family duties. He suggested that Dave McNeilly and Carol Merrill be considered to replace him.
Without any substantive discussion or mention by the board of other nominations for supervisor, Amy Cross moved to appoint candidate Carol Merrill for the rest of the term, with Ertel seconding the motion. Babcock protested the swift action and asked for more time to deliberate. Tony Merrill was the only one to respond, and suggested that Babcock's concern was an example of an unnecessary delay. The two men then argued over whether the Planning Commission recently held an illegal meeting, which Babcock has charged.
The Gander sought clarification of a point, but the supervisor refused to recognize this reporter and would not explain why. This differed from statements earlier in the evening, when board members Ertel and Girven had suggested that the board was flexible in its rules and willing to hear from the public throughout the meeting, rather than restricting speaking to the public comment period at the start. Ertel and Girven did not say anything, however, when this reporter's request was refused. The township board then confirmed Carol Merrill as the new township supervisor, 4-1 with Babcock opposing.
An audio clip of this portion of the meeting is below (duration 7:17), beginning with the board's acceptance of Stafford's resignation from the Planning Commission.
Reports on the Planning Commission and the Lake Improvement Board were then given to the board by Babcock and LIB representative Jerry Stick, respectively, and the township board meeting ended at 8:17pm.
The questions, however, continue. Although Babcock voiced concern three separate times about an illegal Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, May 24, the board showed no interest in investigating or discussing his claim. Tony Merrill denied Babcock's claim, but the other board members did not speak on the matter. It's not clear why.
Babcock says that a special planning workshop was called on Tuesday, with notification by telephone on Tuesday, May 22. Babcock says that the meeting started at 6pm after being called to order by Bob Stafford, with quorum present and consisting of Stafford, Babcock, Marv Peska. Planning Commission secretary Bob Peterson, and at first, member Kris Kranz, were not there. After some minor discussion of the commercial wind ordinance, including height restrictions for wind turbines, there was then discussion of whether the meeting had been posted properly, whether Amy Cross or Bob Peterson had that duty and whether there was an agenda for the meeting. Babcock says he notified the board that he would not be part of an illegal meeting and departed, leaving only two members but not enough for quorum. David McNeilly, who was present that night, claims that Kris Kranz arrived a moment later and entered the township hall, thus restoring quorum. McNeilly says some more minor discussion continued about the lack of public posting of the meeting, and members decided to abandon the meeting at about 6:09pm.
During the opening minutes of the June 12 township board meeting, McNeilly attempted to address the board with his May 24 Planning Commission observations. Babcock had first brought charges of the illegal meeting as the board was considering its bills for the month. Babcock inquired whether per diems would be issued for those who arrived at the township hall on May 24. McNeilly's request to make a comment, however, was denied by Merrill, who shouted "no!" Other board members did not express interest in hearing McNeilly's comment.
On separate occasions, Stafford, Merrill and Peska have said that while a quorum was present, it did not constitute an official meeting.
The issue of selective allowance of public comment has grown since last fall, when the township board developed the habit of adding items to its meeting agenda in the middle of a meeting. Frequently, a topic for the agenda was brought up suddenly and was handwritten in by one or more board members. Common practice, even with Pleasanton's own Planning Commission, is to make the meeting's business clear, up front, by formal approval of the meeting's agenda, which includes an opportunity to modify it. This notifies the public that changes are being made, so that the public would at least have a chance to comment on the upcoming business at hand.
The township board has not followed this practice, and there were questions about that by this reporter and resident Todd Zalud at the start of the June 12 meeting. Zalud asked if he could address the board when it came time for discussion of paving Alkire and Lumley Roads, or whether he should address it then. It was then that Girven and Ertel, respectively, said that tradition allowed for flexibility in following the printed agenda and that the board would usually allow public comment while each item was being discussed. "Within reason," added Merrill. It was not made clear what rationale the board follows during this practice.
Zalud came to express concerns about paving Alkire Road, which had been proposed by Tony Merrill at the board's May 14 meeting, along with paving Lumley Road. Zalud asked for the board's reasoning for wanting to pave Alkire, inquired about the consequences of faster vehicle speeds for small children and brought up the impact of paving on landowners' property. Paving typically requires that a road be widened, which can lead to the removal of trees, shrubs and other items. Zalud said that his maple syrup harvesting could be affected if maple trees along Alkire Road were cut down.
The board did not answer Zalud's questions then, or during the time they discussed paving. Instead, the board discussed the high estimates for paving by the County Road Commission ($254,000 for Alkire and $270,000 for Lumley, with the township required to pay its matching share of $189,000 for the work). The board agreed that it preferred a quote from Elmer's of Traverse City, $110-115,000 for Alkire Road, and Merrill suggested further negotiation with Road Commission director Jerry Peterson. The board also took comment from Dave Adams, who suggested consideration of the Ron Brown & Sons company.
The board also discussed of the Lake Improvement Board. Merrill expressed frustration with the state law that created the LIB, said that the LIB had presented its mission as strictly that of combating Eurasian water milfoil and charged that the LIB represented "taxation without representation." Pleasanton Township does have its own representative on the board (currently Jerry Stick, previously Bryan Harris and Jack Sawka). The board eventually rejected a resolution of support requested by the Lake Improvement Board, 3-2, with Ertel, Merrill and Cross voting to reject it, and Babcock and Girven dissenting. Girven expressed general support for the LIB. Both Girven and Babcock suggested waiting until receiving and reading a written opinion on the matter by the township's attorney. The opinion, requested by the board at its April meeting, was apparently received by Merrill earlier in the day but it had not yet been furnished to the rest of the board.
Other business before the board included brief discussion on the awarding of a $30,000 grant from the Manistee County Revenue Sharing Board, for township hall roof replacement and related bids, resuming work on a noise ordinance, discussion of spraying for weeds at the Pleasanton cemetery and the hiring of a new sexton for the cemetery.
Below is a partial recording of the meeting (duration 40:31). It starts about half an hour into the meeting, as quotes for road paving work were discussed and continues until the meeting's end.
A previous version of this story described Carol Merrill as the cousin of Tony Merrill. This description was provided by Mr. Merrill when Ms. Merrill was appointed township assessor. Ms. Merrill recently clarified their relationship to the Three Pines Gander and described it as "about 15 times removed.".
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