By: Dean Vaglia | Mount Clemens-Clinton-Harrison Journal | Published July 10, 2023
HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Auditing firm Rehmann gave the Harrison Township Board of Trustees an “unmodified opinion” on its fiscal year 2022 books, delivering its report at the June 26 meeting.
An “unmodified opinion” is the highest grade for audits, and Rehmann’s report also detailed there were no issues when completing the audit and no material mistakes were noted. However, there were some immaterial misstatements noted in their report which were addressed at the meeting.
“There was a comment last year related to the way in which you allocate certain costs across funds ... stating that although those allocations are happening appropriately every year and on a consistent basis, there has been no official study done in the recent past to make sure those allocations are still appropriate,” said Rehmann accountant Daniel Clark. “We would just recommend that you would consider having a study done or some sort of benchmark to make sure those allocations are appropriately happening.”
Harrison Township had $29.4 million in revenue and $23.1 million in expenses in the 2022 fiscal year.
Ordinance revisions
Trustees also gave the first approval to a slate of ordinance revisions. The revisions cover chapters 2, 72, 94 and 62 of the Harrison Township code of ordinances.
“These are ultimately driven by internal issues within our building, water and sewer departments,” Township Supervisor Ken Verkest said. “This adoption would begin or introduce these various amendments to our ordinances.”
The first of the amendments is the reinstatement of a municipal ordinance violations bureau. The bureau is a way for the township to collect violation fees without going through courts, with the bureau accepting payment only if an alleged ordinance violator accepts admission for the violation. If admission is not made within 10 days, the bureau may file a municipal civil infraction citation with the district court or pursue other enforcement options. Ordinance violations begin at $150 and go up to $275 for the second, $350 for the third and $500 for the fourth violation within a three-year period, as determined by the date of the violations.
A $150 penalty could be applied to anyone who engages in criminal activity requiring a police response. A broad set of definitions was also added for the purpose of an anti-disorderly person ordinance, which would be punishable as a misdemeanor.
Building officials have more power when it comes to determining if construction can occur in Lake St. Clair with the amendments giving them the discretion to require the approval of the board of trustees and township engineer on any construction which “may have an impact on the health, safety and welfare of the people of the Township and their surrounding lands.” The amendment is intended to send potentially disruptive construction projects to the board of trustees.
“If it’s within somebody’s backyard and they’re putting in a boat hoist, we don’t need to know about it,” Verkest said. “If you want to go several hundred feet out into the lake, it needs to come back before the board of trustees.”
Sign-related changes are part of the amendment set with new language directing those seeing a signage variance to apply for one from the zoning board and limiting the frequency of changes on changeable copy signs to once every 30 seconds.
No future meetings have been published by press time, though second readings usually take place at the following meeting. The board will meet next on Monday, July 10.
Veteran’s garden clarification
During the end-of-meeting public comment session, a resident of the township spoke against the idea of renaming the veteran’s memorial garden outside of Rosso Hall under the impression the township plans to do so.
Verkest clarified the township’s plans for the garden, which are to expand the garden to include a section dedicated to Lt. Col. Donald “Digger” O’Dell.