The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Gordon Hall rescinds request for village water, sewer
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: July 24, 2008
What looked like a potential duel between the Dexter Village Council and the Webster Township Board, as well as their respective lawyers, seems to have been averted.
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The two bodies were gearing up for a disagreement on how to handle water and sewer service at Gordon Hall until the Dexter Area Historical Society withdrew its petition for those services from the village board's consideration on July 11. Village officials spent time discussing the matter at their June 9 and 23 meetings.
Further discussion was to take place on July 14, when village officials had hoped to take a closer look at the Public Act 425 agreement between the two municipalities, which lays out how they interact in various circumstances in regard properties set out in that agreement, of which Gordon Hall is one.
The village was waiting to receive the latest revision of conservation easement documentation so village attorney Mark Jacobs of the Dykema Gossett law firm could further develop a course of action.
"Because they withdrew (the request) it made our discussion less, this week," Village President Shawn Keough said at the end of the July 14 meeting.
While the decision to approve the request was held up by the village's efforts to perform due diligence, action by Webster Township further muddied the issue.
The township approved a "Non-Exclusive Limited Revocable Franchise to Transact Businesses (Water and Sewer)" policy on June 17 that didn't sit well with village attorneys.
The policy specifically states that DAHSM cannot request annexation for the 30-year duration of the franchise agreement and also specifies that the village cannot annex properties affected by the franchise.
It also contains references to the village's "request (for) franchise to transact business for the purpose of providing water and sewer to (Gordon Hall)," which Keough pointed out as false at prior meetings, as village officials were still deliberating the matter.
Historical Society member Paul Bishop has previously said he didn't think a franchise agreement was necessary under any circumstances, because fulfillment of the service request didn't require infrastructure installation over any public property.
"I don't know how they can do their (franchise agreement) before we do our (franchise) request," Keough said last month. "They're passing something that is in direct conflict with what they already agreed to do in the 425.
"I don't know how we deal with that other than we tell Webster Township that this is bogus and we're not doing things in the right order."
The village's policy, "Urban Service Expansion Goals and Objectives," does not state that annexation is an outcome of providing water and sewer to a property, only that there exists a signed 425 agreement or unhindered annexation request.
"Whether the resolution is technically legal, it unambiguously expresses the township's opposition to the transfer of the Gordon Hall property to the village which, in my view, is not legal," Jacobs stated in his written legal opinion.
"It directly contradicts/breaches the contractual consent/agreement to that transfer the (township) already has given under the Act 425 Agreement."
The two municipalities already have terms for providing service to parcels under that 425 agreement, which has been in place since 1997.
Page 2 of the agreement states, "(The township and village) have identified certain properties set forth in Exhibit B (which contains the Gordon Hall property) which they agree should ultimately be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Village."
Village attorneys take this to mean that a service request approval and annexation could go hand-in-hand.
"We (understand) that in a connection with the development of the Cedars of Dexter project, and the related request for extension of the Village's water and sewer utilities to support that development, the Cedars of Dexter property was transferred to (the village) in accordance with the terms of the (425 agreement)," Jacobs said in his analysis report of the situation provided last month.
He recommended that the village advise DAHSM to submit a request for transfer of the property to the village in order to allow water and sewer service being granted to Gordon Hall.
According to Jacobs' legal opinion that approach is "consistent with the intent of the Act 425 Agreement (and) (it) is also consistent with the approach the Village used for Cedars of Dexter property."
Cousins alluded to Webster Township's contribution to payment of the mortgage on the Gordon Hall property, which DAHSM purchased from the University of Michigan last year.
The contribution - originally agreed to be $50,000, but later reduced to $33,000 - was signed Monday by the township clerk.
The reason for the reduction was that the township originally believed that conservation easement to encompass 37 acres of the Gordon Hall property, but was later revealed to only be 20 acres after United Methodist Retirement Communities needed additional land for a storm water retention pond.
The easement and contribution issues, inextricably tied together as a trade between DAHSM and the township, originally became a contentious issue this time last year when township officials were informed of the reduction of the property that they were getting.
That issue was resolved this week, after the township's Farmland and Open Space Preservation Board recommended on July 7 signing the easement and payment of three years of contributions. The township board approved the signing on July 14.
Both decisions came after the township board approved its "Non-Exclusive Limited Revocable Franchise to Transact Businesses (Water and Sewer)" policy that seemingly threw a wrench into the village's deliberations on the matter of Gordon Hall service provisions.
The total payment was about $20,000, according to township consultant Barry Lonik. It included two years of back pay, since the deal had been in the works that long. The remaining $13,000 will be paid over the next two years.
When asked about the timing of all of the decisions, Lonik said he wasn't privy to all of the details, so he could not answer.
Township Supervisor John Kingsley did not return multiple phone calls to his residence, place of business or cell phone by press time.
Paul Bishop said on several occasions that he did not wish for Gordon Hall to be annexed into the village, for historical reasons. "It was in Webster Township when Judge Dexter founded it (and) Webster Township feels it should stay in the township.
"We affirmed with Webster our commitment to not come into the village ... that's our commitment and we're sticking with it."
He previously wanted the village to simply approve the request, apply any increased rates and word the agreement in such a way as to specify the unique parameters of the Gordon Hall property and circumstances so a precedent where the village has to provide service outside of the village isn't set.
There are residents outside of the village that could request service, and village officials worried about the implications of granting the Gordon Hall request as Bishop described it. Businesses such as Thomson-Shore Inc. and Shear Elegance Salon on Joy Road are some of the businesses that village officials didn't want to set a precedent for.
While Gordon Hall is estimated to require only 1 REU (residential equivalent unit) and the village's water and sewer services have an estimated 25 REUs available, it is unclear to village officials how many REUs the potential heavy-use customers would require.
Now that DAHSM has backed out of the request, it will put in a new well and septic tank on the property, which the UMRC will pay for, according to Bishop.
The village council had varying reactions to the withdrawal.
"(DAHSM) were the ones who came to us and they were the ones who sent this letter ... I say we just don't deal with it anymore unless they come back to us," said Cousins.
"Webster Township set (the no annexation policy). Not only that, but they backed out from the $50,000 and only gave (DAHSM) $33,000. I was in on those meetings and you can use any rationale you want, (but) they went back on their word."
Trustee James Smith didn't see the sense in Cedars of Dexter having a water and sewer hookup, while Gordon Hall has to settle on a well and septic system. "It just doesn't make sense to provide it."
Trustee Joe Semifero said: "They can come to us at any time and ask to be annexed and we can give them sewer and water.
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