Politics & Government

White Lake Resident Clashes with Township Board Over Baseball Diamond Projects

White Lake Township Board Trustees attempted to address issues raised by residents at Tuesday's meeting.

White Lake resident Matt Sprader believes there are problems with the way the White Lake Township Board is handling the construction of two baseball diamonds, and he rallied enough supporters to fill for the board's meeting Tuesday night.

Sprader stood up during the public comment portion of the meeting and said he believed that the township was working on Vetter Park and the new Hidden Pines park without going to bid and following proper township procedure.

"You've got no permits, and Jay Brendel is doing most of the work," Sprader said, referring to the township treasurer who's ownership in the company doing the work has been brought into question. "Our township needs to change, why don't you guys do the right thing?"

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Sprader placed an advertisement in the Dec. 14 edition of the Spinal Column Newsweekly, a local paper, asking people to show up at the meeting.

Sprader said Tuesday that he believed money being spent on the baseball diamonds at Vetter Park and Hidden Pines was a misappropriation of parks and recreation millage funds.

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After several other residents spoke up on the issue, Supervisor Greg Baroni attempted to address some of the concerns.

"The Vetter Park project is something that's been on the table for a long time," Baroni said. "With Hidden Pines, we spoke to all the residents around the area and gathered their comments and concerns. The park will be done in two phases: The first phase will be the baseball diamond and parking lot. The second phase will be playscapes, benches and a walking trail."

Baroni and Trustee David Lewsley, who also serves as parks and recreation liaison, said the projects are covered by the millage.

"The millage was for all parks projects, not just pathways and trails," Lewsley said.

In response to the allegation that Brendel was being paid by the township to do the work through one of his businesses, Brendel said it was not true.

"I was bought out of B&B Co. eight months ago," Brendel said. "I am no longer a part of that company."

B&B is the company doing the construction at Hidden Pines and Vetter Park.

Brendel and Township Clerk Terry Lilley said they have been donating work to the projects on their own time.

The information about Brendel and Lilley donating work was revealed when a bill for landscaping around the Dublin Center, where Vetter Park is located, was higher than initially bid. Trustee Carol Burkard asked the board why it was paying more than what it originally planned to spend.

Lilley told Burkard that an additional evergreen tree had to be purchased to replace one that was removed after the township received a complaint from a resident.

"But why are we paying for that? Who removed the tree?" Burkard asked.

Brendel said Lilley and he removed the tree when installing underground electrical work at the park. While Brendel said the tree was not on the resident's property, Baroni said that, based on the property line, it appeared that it was and therefore shouldn't have been removed in the first place.

Many of the other items of interest were removed from the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. Those items include the second reading of the cemetery ordinance and an update on the Bogie Lake Road sanitary sewer extension agreement with Huron Valley Schools.


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