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HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Returning to work for the new year, the Harrison Township Board of Trustees found itself with a full agenda at its Jan. 13 meeting.
Of all the items to discuss, trustees spent the longest talking through and ultimately approving the payment of over $50,000 in legal invoices to attorneys Hallahan and Associates as part of a case seeking to determine whether cannabis growing businesses are classified as commercial or agricultural. The township has appealed a case, which currently ruled in favor of the businesses as agricultural, to the Michigan Court of Appeals.
“The Board approved an hourly rate of $195 with a projected budget of $5,000 at the July 24, 2023, meeting for these services … As the cases progressed, additional invoices came in and were approved,” Harrison Township Supervisor Ken Verkest said. “I recently learned that the amount paid for this representation far exceeded the $5,000 initial budget. We reviewed and revised the internal approval process to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Harrison Township, along with four other municipalities, are committed to the case due to the possible loss in tax revenue if the classification for these businesses is changed to agricultural.
“That classification change could result in a loss of taxes collected on personal property,” Verkest said. “One year of tax revenue on the personal property at stake is over $105,000, and that’s just for our police and fire millage; that doesn’t include the library millage or various other taxing entities. Based on these figures, I am confident that it is financially prudent to pursue these cases.”
SAD soliciting
Trustees also approved a plan to solicit proposals from contractors interested in removing silt from canals within the Archer/Lakeshore special assessment district.
“Originally, the homeowners had identified a preferred contractor that the township had worked with on several projects previously,” Township Clerk Adan Wit said. “But as we waited for permitting from the state, the contractor had stated he may not be able to do the work due to issues with insurance and staffing. The homeowners spent a lot of time and effort to see if there was anyone else — at one point in time, we thought they were going to have to walk away from the project completely — but they were able to identify another system that may be usable.”
Wit said potential contractors include the newly identified one and the original one, though the original intended contractor tends to be uncertain. With the potential of multiple contractors interested in the work, trustees approved the township to work with consulting firm Wade Trim to prepare a request for proposal. The cost of developing the RFP will be paid with funds raised by the SAD. Trustees will have the final approval on who performs the work.
