Township threatens ‘detachment’ of Petersburg land
Summerfield Township and the City of Petersburg are going back to the negotiating table to discuss the water issue this evening (Thursday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the township hall). The two units of government are to discuss very specific issues about water availability and possible future water use.

Township Supervisor Zelda Lucas said the public will be permitted only limited comment time at that meeting.

“If it becomes a circus, we are not going to do it,” she said at a meeting on Monday, Jan. 21 in the Summerfield High School cafeteria. It was at that meeting that the special joint meeting on Jan. 24 was scheduled.

About 75 people attended the meeting in the cafeteria Monday night.

Summerfield Township and the City of Petersburg had reached a stalemate in their negotiations to run water lines down Ida West Road to provide the City of Petersburg with a new municipal water supply from the City of Monroe. Summerfield Township residents along the route were to be allowed to tap in. However, the township board wanted a guarantee of a higher percentage of water if more water were to be available in the future.

City officials said the water supply was very limited, and that Summerfield Township’s demands were too high. Negotiations broke off.

Summerfield Township then took a drastic step to get the city’s attention.

The Township Board held a special meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 16, to discuss the “detachment” of some land from the city, and putting it back under township jurisdiction.
After lengthy discussion, the board had voted 4-1 to proceed with the process of detaching about one-third of the City of Petersburg and putting it back into the township.

Voting in favor were: Township Supervisor Zelda Lucas; Treasurer Joan Wiederhold; Clerk Tammy Bleashka; and Trustee Donald Newell. Trustee Fred Smith tried to abstain, but Mrs. Lucas told him he could not abstain, so he voted “No.”
She added, “I’m not trying to blackmail anybody. If we reach an agreement with the city, we don’t have to go through with it [detachment]. We can drop it.”

Several City of Petersburg officials also attended the meeting.

“We do this with great reluctance,” said Mrs. Lucas, who added that the township has not been able to reach an agreement with the city about running the water lines down Ida West Road and into the city.

“We believe we have discussed the situation in good faith. Our last proposal as to the percentage of water was met with a resounding ‘No.’ There have been no counter offers on the part of the city, so we have little choice but to move ahead to protect the township and its people. We still would welcome talks with the city to try to reach a fair agreement. Until that happens, we will continue to protect the residents of our township to the best of our ability,” Mrs. Lucas said.

City Responds
Petersburg’s mayor, Leroy Burguard, who did not attend the special meeting, said the next day, Thursday, Jan. 17, that it’s the township which is not negotiating in good faith.

“At the last special joint meeting we had with the township, they said the only thing they wanted was for us to agree that annexation would not be required to get city water. We did that,” said Mr. Burguard.

“Then, two days after that, Zelda decided that she wanted more water. We are only getting so much water from Monroe. She knows that. She went to Monroe twice and talked to them,” he said.

“We have a signed agreements with Dundee Township and Raisinville Township. Our agreement with Dundee Township states that if in the future we somehow get more water from Monroe, that Dundee gets the same percentage as other townships. Well, Zelda said she wants 25% of the next 100,000 gallons, and 50% of the water if we get more that. If we give Summerfield 50% of the additional water and Dundee 50% of the additional water, which we would have to do under the contract, there would be no water for Petersburg and no reason for us to attempt to get more water,” Mr. Burguard said. “Not that there is going to be more water. Monroe needs $15 million to update its water plant before that could happen.”

Clearly frustrated, Mr. Burguard said, “ We’re willing to do anything we possibly can, without cutting the people in the city short. If there was an abundance of water, we would share because the costs go down.
“This whole thing is petty as far as I’m concerned. I think the people in the township need to wake up as to what’s going on,” said Mr. Burguard. “Every time we negotiate, we agree to their demands and they come up with something different.”

Negotiations to Resume
Mr. Burguard also related this information at the Monday, Jan. 21 meeting. Mrs. Lucas said that she just used those numbers arbitrarily to make the point that the township wants more water if it becomes available in the future.
Mr. Fahey, the attorney, said that Summerfield Township’s only chance to negotiate for more water is before the contract is signed, and that’s why the detachment issue came up.

After questions from the crowd, Mrs. Lucas said the township had not conducted a water survey or contacted any engineers about estimated future water use needs or costs, but was willing to negotiate for a lower percentage of future water use.

Although she wanted only a couple of representatives of each board to discuss the matter, in a meeting which would not be open to the public, Petersburg officials pressured for a meeting of both full boards, in order to resolve the issue, and the Jan. 24 meeting was set.
Detachment

“Detachment can be viewed as a “reverse annexation.” It is used by some units of government to discourage future annexations.

Bill Fahey, an attorney which has handled some boundary dispute cases through the Michigan Townships Association, was hired by Summerfield Township, and attended the Monday, Jan. 21 meeting.

He said that several townships have used the threat of detachment successfully to get cities back their bargaining tables. He also said there have been successful detachments all over the state, and that once detached, it is highly unlikely that the land would be annexed again.

Detachment is a petition process, followed by an election. Land can be detached even if a city provides water and sewer service there, and the city must continue to do so. Other services, such as road maintenance, would be the township’s or road commission’s responsibility.

Land owners in the detached area would not longer pay city taxes, just township taxes.

Any or all land in the city which used to be in the township— however long ago— is eligible for detachment.

On Jan. 16, Ms. Lucas said Summerfield Township wants to detach an area which totals about one-third of the City of Petersburg— the Valentine Subdivision, and everything east of Division Street, including, ironically, the city water plant and the elementary school. Neither the city-owned property nor public schools would pay taxes to the township.

“That doesn’t mean we would own the water plant,” said Mrs. Lucas, “just that it would be in the township.”

She said the rationale behind detaching the area east of Division Street is to put a barrier between land in the city and land in the township, so all the land down Ida West Road cannot be annexed. She fears the city someday would annex all down Ida West to US-23.

However, the township does not plan to reserve that land as agricultural. It wants a guarantee of future water if available, to develop that area as part of the township.
She had no answers when people asked how much extra revenue the township would receive if it detached the land from the city and put it back into the township.

Detachment Procedure
Mrs. Lucas outlined the procedure for the detachment process. A petition with a minimum of 100 signatures of qualified electors and property owners— with a minimum of 10 from the township and 10 from the city— would be required to put the issue on a special election ballot.

Then, the city and township residents would vote separately, but their votes would be counted together. If the majority vote for the detachment, it would go forward, Mrs. Lucas said.

When residents asked where the money was to come from to pay for the legal services and special election for the detachment, Mrs. Lucas said that the township had $30,000 which it earned on certificates of deposit, and the township intended to use that money.

Township Supervisor Zelda Lucas said the public will be permitted only limited comment time at that meeting.

“If it becomes a circus, we are not going to do it,” she said at a meeting on Monday, Jan. 21 in the Summerfield High School cafeteria. It was at that meeting that the special joint meeting on Jan. 24 was scheduled.

About 75 people attended the meeting in the cafeteria Monday night.

City officials said the water supply was very limited, and that Summerfield Township’s demands were too high. Negotiations broke off.

Summerfield Township then took a drastic step to get the city’s attention.

Several City of Petersburg officials also attended the meeting.

“We do this with great reluctance,” said Mrs. Lucas, who added that the township has not been able to reach an agreement with the city about running the water lines down Ida West Road and into the city.

City Responds Petersburg’s mayor, Leroy Burguard, who did not attend the special meeting, said the next day, Thursday, Jan. 17, that it’s the township which is not negotiating in good faith.

“At the last special joint meeting we had with the township, they said the only thing they wanted was for us to agree that annexation would not be required to get city water. We did that,” said Mr. Burguard.

“Then, two days after that, Zelda decided that she wanted more water. We are only getting so much water from Monroe. She knows that. She went to Monroe twice and talked to them,” he said.

After questions from the crowd, Mrs. Lucas said the township had not conducted a water survey or contacted any engineers about estimated future water use needs or costs, but was willing to negotiate for a lower percentage of future water use.

Although she wanted only a couple of representatives of each board to discuss the matter, in a meeting which would not be open to the public, Petersburg officials pressured for a meeting of both full boards, in order to resolve the issue, and the Jan. 24 meeting was set. Detachment

“Detachment can be viewed as a “reverse annexation.” It is used by some units of government to discourage future annexations.

Bill Fahey, an attorney which has handled some boundary dispute cases through the Michigan Townships Association, was hired by Summerfield Township, and attended the Monday, Jan. 21 meeting.

He said that several townships have used the threat of detachment successfully to get cities back their bargaining tables. He also said there have been successful detachments all over the state, and that once detached, it is highly unlikely that the land would be annexed again.

Detachment is a petition process, followed by an election. Land can be detached even if a city provides water and sewer service there, and the city must continue to do so. Other services, such as road maintenance, would be the township’s or road commission’s responsibility.

Land owners in the detached area would not longer pay city taxes, just township taxes.

Any or all land in the city which used to be in the township— however long ago— is eligible for detachment.

“That doesn’t mean we would own the water plant,” said Mrs. Lucas, “just that it would be in the township.”

She said the rationale behind detaching the area east of Division Street is to put a barrier between land in the city and land in the township, so all the land down Ida West Road cannot be annexed. She fears the city someday would annex all down Ida West to US-23.

Detachment Procedure Mrs. Lucas outlined the procedure for the detachment process. A petition with a minimum of 100 signatures of qualified electors and property owners— with a minimum of 10 from the township and 10 from the city— would be required to put the issue on a special election ballot.

Then, the city and township residents would vote separately, but their votes would be counted together. If the majority vote for the detachment, it would go forward, Mrs. Lucas said.

When residents asked where the money was to come from to pay for the legal services and special election for the detachment, Mrs. Lucas said that the township had $30,000 which it earned on certificates of deposit, and the township intended to use that money.

City Responds
Petersburg’s mayor, Leroy Burguard, who did not attend the special meeting, said the next day, Thursday, Jan. 17, that it’s the township which is not negotiating in good faith.

Although she wanted only a couple of representatives of each board to discuss the matter, in a meeting which would not be open to the public, Petersburg officials pressured for a meeting of both full boards, in order to resolve the issue, and the Jan. 24 meeting was set.
Detachment

Detachment Procedure
Mrs. Lucas outlined the procedure for the detachment process. A petition with a minimum of 100 signatures of qualified electors and property owners— with a minimum of 10 from the township and 10 from the city— would be required to put the issue on a special election ballot.