Questionable Spending By Dorr Township Officials (Before my term as a Township Trustee)

Vacant Lot …(1/4 acre)…………………………………………… $90,000 plus
An e-mail from the supervisor shows the cost of lot with home.$83,000
DDA records from Nov 2011 show the cost to demolish home …$7900
Tax income to township (if not purchased) could have been….
(estimated) ……………………………………………………………$1200 per year.
Rental income to the township (if purchased and rented out, rather than torn down) could have been………………………………………..(estimated). …….$10,000 per year

Current Status…………………………………….….. Vacant Eye-sore.
Future Plans………………In the 2012 DDA budget. Another $10,000                                          is planned for “improvement” to the property.

One Small tree ………………………………………………………………..…….. $628
One of the recently planted small trees next to the street had to be replaced. Nov 2011 DDA Account shows a debit to H & K Lanscaping for ……………………….. $628

(A neighbor around the corner spent $25 on his tree of about the same size, and another one up the street spent $10)

And according to Attachment F on an MDOT Application the new
Street Lights (35 @$5500 each) total out at ………………………………..$192,500

New Streetscape Maintenance ……………………………………………….. $10,000
The DDA Budget for 2012 lists Lawn Care / Snow Removal on 142nd from Maple west to the parks …………………………………………………………………..………. $10,000
(1/3 of a mile. And why didn’t the other businesses get lawn care paid for by the taxpayers?)

Front Doors at Township Office………………………………………………… $10,724
From the May 19, 2011 Board Meeting Minutes: “Weber moved and seconded by Saunders to accept the bid of Mugen Construction, option 2, at a cost of $10,724.00 to furnish and install electric door operation on the east exterior entrance of the Complex to improve handicap access. Motion carried.” When I asked for a copy of the competiing bids, the answer was, “We didn’t get any competing bids.”

Library Sign ……………………. $24,900         (P.Globe 11-14-2011, page 2)
While most businesses and churches use a painted plywood sign or something with changeable plastic letters, the library spent this money on an electronic sign. The Township Board took no action to correct it and then gave the Library Board tens of thousands more to spend.

Unneeded Sewer Installed …………………………………………..….. $1,600,000
Maybe you’d rather not remember this, but…. In 2008, and again in 2009, the residents submitted more than twice the needed signatures to stop the proposed sewer extension #5. Yet the Township Board defied the will of the people, and made plans to put it in anyway, with owners from only 22% of the land area signing up to connect. In doing so they violated Michigan’s Public Improvement Act. They said hook-up would be voluntary, but the word “voluntary” isn’t even in the MI Public Improvement Act. Then they passed an ordinance saying all new construction would be required to hook-up. They did not test wells for contamination or survey property owners about the performance of their septic systems.

The swampland at 18th St and 140th Ave ……………………………..…..$125,000
While this was done several years back, one of the Trustees who voted for this purchase is still on the Township Board. The “excuse” for buying the land was to turn it into a park, but it is so low that much of it is under water, much of the time.

An Alternative
The “tax-and-spend” mentality is well represented in the current township government. I would like to provide an alternate point of view when spending questions arise in Dorr Township government. I think I can stretch your tax dollars a little farther than this. I understand the meaning of work, and I understand what it means to spend conservatively. . And I have the worn out work boots to prove it.

Note: I’ve tried hard to be very accurate on this report and have documents to back up every statement. But if you find any of the above to be significantly mistaken, please contact me. I will be happy to post a correction at my website, and possibly buy you coffee and a roll at Colonial Kitchen.

VOTE: TUINSTRA FOR DORR TOWNSHIP TRUSTEE
Conservative Values … Sensible Spending

Paid for by:
John Tuinstra for Dorr Township Trustee, 1720 142nd Ave, Dorr, MI
616-681-5635 rebuilder777@.yahoo.com
johntuinstra.com