Politics & Government

Board Moves to Merge Departments; Will Hold Special Meeting Next Week

Here's a summary of Tuesday's White Lake Township Board of Trustees meeting.

With the approval of the board, 's building and planning departments will merge in the next few weeks, allowing both departments to be better staffed and employees to cross-train.

"Initially, everyone will continue to do what they do now," Supervisor Greg Baroni said. "There will be no job classification changes and no promotions."

In addition to the merger, the building department — currently housed at the back of the township building — will be moved to where the assessing department is currently housed – at the front of the building – and assessing will move back to where the building department is currently located. This will allow the planning and building departments to be housed in the same area of the building. The move should happen in the next few weeks.

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All of the board members in attendance agreed about the merger and passed a resolution allowing it unanimously.

Trustee Carol Burkard was absent from Tuesday's meeting.

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"We currently have only three employees in the building department," Baroni said. "They used to be a seven. By merging the two departments, we will have more employees available to better meet the needs of the citizens — whether that's more people at the counter or more people to answer the phones."

In a separate discussion, the board voted down a proposal for a trial four-day work week.

Treasurer Jay Brendel said he and Baroni initially broached the topic after hearing from the neighboring community of Wixom.

"We heard Wixom officials speak recently about how great it was for Wixom and how they managed to save $50,000 a year in Wixom by moving to a four-day work week," Brendel said.

The idea was to have a trial period, instituting the four-day week between Memorial Day and Labor Day, to see whether there actually would be any sort of significant savings. However, after members of the board discussed their concerns, the proposal was voted down with only Brendel voting in favor.

"I've tried the four-day work week, and I have a lot of concerns," Trustee David Lewsley said. "I think our first priority is to serve the citizens of White Lake, and that means being available five days a week."

If the township were to move to the four-day week, employees would have had work 10-hour days. Lewsley also cited problems with productivity levels at the start and end of the longer work day stating people, in his experience, tended to be less productive in the early hours of the work day and at the end of the longer work day.

The board said it will continue to look at cost-saving measures and analyze other possibilities, such as staying open later one day and closing earlier the next to save on utilities and other costs.

Other items approved on the agenda include the following:

  • A room to be built inside the lobby of the Dublin Community Center to allow more space for activities.
  • Final contract costs of Movie in the Park.
  • A tri-party agreement with the Road Commission for Oakland County for the paving of the dirt portions of Cooley Lake Road and Cedar Island Road.
  • A computer partnership with Waterford Township to share resources and upgrade the township's computer systems.
  • A new phone system for the fire department to replace its outdated system for costs not to exceed $6,100.

Special meeting scheduled

The township will hold a special meeting at 4 p.m. April 26 at to address a sewer project for and to see a presentation from the township's auditors. Other items may be added to the agenda prior to the meeting.


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