The Clinton Township Board of Trustees meets on the evening of Feb. 27.
By: Dean Vaglia | Fraser-Clinton Chronicle | Published March 8, 2023
CLINTON TOWNSHIP — The Clinton Township Board of Trustees joined many Macomb County communities on Feb. 27 by adopting a new animal control ordinance in line with the county’s standards, practices and recommendations.
“It’s very important to residents and businesses and our communities in general that we have a sort of standardized, across-the-county animal policy, and this allows us to do that,” Trustee Julie Matuzak said. “Chief (Jeff) Randazzo at the Macomb County Animal Control does an amazing job with limited resources, and the county provides animal control to most of the communities in Macomb County. So having a standardized best practice that we can all work with I think is beneficial to everybody — including all the animals.”
Clinton Township is one of the communities serviced by Macomb County Animal Control, and adopting the ordinance allows animal control to enforce penalties as township ordinance violations.
Trustee Mike Keys expressed concern about whether the ordinance allowed Macomb County Animal Control to raise more funds through townships, because townships would rely on county agencies for such activities. The shelter now also has a no-kill animal holding policy.
Treasurer Paul Gieleghem responded that any attempt to raise funds for projects like a new shelter would require an agreement between communities and the county.
Township financial update
On Feb. 27, Gieleghem gave the township’s third quarter investment report to the board. The township treasurer explained that while the township is limited by law as to what investments it can pursue, it has been able to make gains.
“We’ve been invested in some of the bank products, but pool funds, stuff that’s daily liquid, stuff that’s very short-term has been paying much better (and) providing better yields than some of the longer-term investments,” Gieleghem said.
However, longer-term investments required to meet benchmarks have suffered in the COVID-influenced financial markets. As a result, the township is lagging in meeting its benchmarks but making more money on investments than within the past decade.
The township’s bank deposits total $17,199,129 spread across eight banks. Gieleghem said $67,476,180.40 is held in pooled funds and eight certificates of deposit are expected to yield at $96,239.48 at a rate of 2.59%. The township’s nine Treasury bills total $11,853,568.47 and are expected to yield at $222,431.53, and the fixed income investment portfolio has a market value of $12,350,835.06 and was earning a 4.48% average rate of return at the end of December 2022.
The board scheduled a public hearing to review the 2023-2024 budget at the March 13 meeting.
Selfridge Resolution
The board also approved a resolution to “encourage the placement of advanced generation fighter aircraft” at the Harrison Township-based Selfridge Air National Guard Base. The resolution — which referred to Michigan’s World War II aircraft and war materiel production history, the current operations at the base, other military installations within the state and the plans to retire the A-10 Warthog attack aircraft currently stationed at Selfridge by 2027 — comes after a variety of state and local level politicians as well as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer have called upon the Department of Defense to add an F-35 multirole fighter aircraft mission to the base.
“This is giving the tools to our congressional representatives to (provide) some support, some background, some foundation to say, ‘Our communities depend on these organizations, they depend on Selfridge,’” Gieleghem said about why so many communities and politicians are passing resolutions in support of the base. “Selfridge is an incredible community asset for us and it’s integral to the defense of our nation.”
Finding a new plane, likely the F-35, would allow the base to remain an economic anchor within Macomb County. According to the resolution, Selfridge employs 246 full-time staff, 611 staff members altogether and brings $44,520,000 a year to Michigan.
The base is currently one of two considered for an F-35 foreign customer training school and a relocated Republic of Singapore F-16 training and storage mission. Selfridge sits as an alternative for this program, second to the “preferred alternative” of Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Missouri. A decision on this plan is expected in March.