Council questioned about wastewater treatment issues

Nick Donis shook his head in disgust as he walked to the microphone to make a statement at the regular meeting of the Ontwa Township Council Monday night.

“I wanted to talk about the positive developments that I noticed at the meeting in Elkhart, but frankly that can wait until later. I just wanted to say that you can see on display tonight the dysfunction that we have in our township government,” said Donis, a representative of Save Our Resources and Environment (SORE).

“I just want to say when it comes to good fiscal management, we don’t see it here. About three months ago, I put in a motion for a Freedom of Information Act and I got one piece of paper. You treated that request as if it was no big deal. So I have to get a lawyer now to get the information I requested? That’s not right,” Donis said.

Each of the seven speakers addressed the board about issues related to the township’s proposed plans to build a wastewater treatment plant for Ontwa Township. Citizens voiced various issues they had with the way in which the township had handled its

wastewater system in the past and asked the board several questions about how they got in the predicament it is in now.

Due to the unrest with the wastewater treatment plant, five out of seven council members have been recalled in a petition filed by SORE, including Brielmaier, treasurer Meryl Christiansen, clerk Paula Ralph and trustees Norm Krupp and Nathan Brosseau.

“There are two members who are in cahoots to get me off the board,” Brielmaier said Wednesday. “They are Jerry Marchetti and Jerry Duck.”

Marchetti was surprised by Brielmaier’s claim.

“That is nothing further from the truth. [Jerry and I] have some serious questions about the wastewater project that has been planned,” Marchetti said Wednesday. “As far as him being recalled, he’s being recalled because the people that have been in attendance at these meetings have not been in support of his behavior. We are in support of the people, and they’re moving ahead of the recall, but we have nothing to do with it. I’m surprised John would even make that kind of a statement.”

Donis was one of seven disgruntled Ontwa Township residents to voice their opinion during the public comments section.Several residents made allegations of closed meetings that were not open to the public, but where decisions were allegedly made.

“Mention was made of a meeting that there were no minutes available for. I would just like to know what meetings, what board was involved, who are they meeting with and why there are no minutes taken, or no minutes available?” asked Don Wilkinson, another Ontwa Township resident.

A seven-member board formed last month was given a 120-day moratorium by the township council to assess — and hopefully resolve — the issues regarding the wastewater treatment plant. Before the board was formed, supervisor John Brielmaier said he and three other community members including wastewater administrator Jim Robinson, Larry Binghart and Tom Miller served as a wastewater committee. Brielmaier said the board would meet whenever necessary to resolve issues with the wastewater plant.

“We met with two of the companies in our industrial park area and discussed what they were going to do to reduce their BODs [biochemical oxygen demand] and the strength of the sewage. At the same time, they were told of what their possible fines could be for exceeding limits. That was two of the meetings. The third, I believe, was in Kalamazoo with the DEQ,” said Brielmaier at the meeting.

Marchetti said he believes the board is now on track to resolve the issues.

“We picked new members to create this seven-member board. Prior to that we had a three-member committee with no scheduled meetings, no minutes, no bylaws. Now we have a seven-member board that has authority, takes minutes and agendas and has scheduled meeting times,” Marchetti said Wednesday.

Another resident and member of the wastewater treatment committee took issue with the closed meetings.

“Why are those meetings confidential? Why don’t we just simply have a public meeting?” John Bosco asked Brielmaier, referring to the meetings held by the three-member board.

Bosco said he called the DEQ and asked if he could attend the meeting, and was told to ask Brielmaier.

“You said I couldn’t come,” Bosco said. “Just the indication that these things are coverd up is enough to get everybody fired.”

Bosco asked the board repeatedly what the criteria were for holding closed meetings.

“According to the Open Meetings Act, the only time that you can have a closed meeting is when you’re discussing employment issues, I believe,” said trustee Jerry Duck.

According to the Michigan law, closed sessions are permitted when “considering the dismissal, suspension or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against a public officer, employee, staff member or individual when the person requests a closed hearing; … strategy and negotiation sessions necessary in reaching a collective bargaining agreement when either party requests a closed hearing; and partisan caucuses of the State Legislature.”

Other residents took issue with problems dating back as far as 2011, before the public was made aware of the issues with the wastewater treatment plant.

“What we find out now is that there was also an environmental impact statement that was generated by Wightman and Associates, and that environmental impact statement had to go to the department in Washington,” said Paul Snidecki, another Ontwa Township resident.

Snidecki said the letter alleged problems with hydrogen sulfide levels. He said the letter also mentioned problems with the amount of sewage Ontwa Township was sending to Elkhart’s wastewater treatment plant, and that Ontwa Township needed its own plant.

“And so based on that, it said we should be given the money for that sewage plant. Well guess who designed that 4.2-mile run? It was Wightman and Associates,” Snidecki said. “In essence, having Wightman and Associates prepare that environmental impact statement is the equivalent of having the colonel from Kentucky Fried Chicken guard the chicken house.”