Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Fireworks at Dorr Township meeting


At tonight's Dorr Township meeting it didn't take long for the shouting to get underway. Shortly after the Pledge of Allegiance and the approval of the February Minutes, after slight corrections, a resident asked if it was illegal for the January Minutes to be changed to include an item that had not been discussed.

You'd have thought it was the Fourth of July. One Trustee and Township Attorney Saladin took offense and went on the defensive. The resident claimed that the topic of "soil borings" was never discussed in January, yet soil borings are now mentioned in the Minutes as having been discussed.

Supervisor Bob Pierce declared that this meeting "will not become another Grafton Township" and cut off discussion before the matter really got resolved. A woman corroborated the man's comments about the January Minutes and then brought up a report by a Citizens' committee that had been formed by the Board a year ago to explore space needs of the Township offices.

As the meeting progressed, it appeared that the Committee's written report had not been forwarded to the Township's architect, but was only orally transmitted. Two dissenting letters were provided to the architects.

The citizens' committee, which was disbanded after its work was completed, wants the Township to refund $1,000,000 in taxes it collected and wants consideration of a refund on the agenda for the Township Annual Meeting in April.

The members of the former committee will present their report at the April 13th Township Annual Meeting, although the Trustees and Supervisor want them to present it as electors, not as members of the committee, since the committee has been disbanded. Tempers had calmed down by the point and the rest of the meeting was pretty civil.

The Annual Town Meeting will be held on April 13, 2010, at 7:00PM in the auditorium of the Woodstock High School. Two other venues were considered: the Opera House ($800 plus an hourly charge) and the Library (maximum capacity 60).

The Township approved a $500 donation to the McHenry County Historical Society. Watch for the Dorr Township "free" day there later this year.

Watch for news of senior services and youth services on the Township's website at www.dorrtownship.com/ A March 18 meeting will feature the topic of reverse mortgages and Medicare supplements; an April meeting will feature grandparenting skills. Bus trips for seniors will be available, too.

Tonight's meeting was SRO.

No comments: