The formation of a downtown development authority (DDA) in Clark Township was tabled by the Clark Township Board of Trustees at its Thursday, March 19, meeting, owing to several oversights in the formation process. Township Clerk Mike Miller said the process the township was following, based on information from the DDA search committee, was incorrect in several areas and the board would not feel comfortable approving a DDA ordinance under such conditions.

If a DDA were to be formed in Clark Township, Mr. Miller said he would recommend to the board that the whole process start from scratch.

Township Treasurer Katie Carpenter outlined several procedural steps at the meeting that were handled improperly by the township in the DDA formation process. Twenty notices describing the proposed boundaries that needed to be posted in visible areas within the proposed district to notify property owners of its formation were not posted; taxing authorities, like Les Cheneaux Community Schools, Eastern Upper Peninsula Intermediate School District (ISD), and Mackinac County Board of Commissioners, were improperly notified about their tax reallocation options and how to respond, and property owners within the proposed DDA boundaries don't have the option to be excluded from the district.

What's more, under a revision made in the mid 1990s to Michigan law concerning DDAs, school districts like the ISD and Les Cheneaux are automatically exempt from tax reallocation. The schools did not need to be notified, because they already were exempt, Mr. Miller said.

Diane Patrick of the DDA search committee said although the schools' automatic exemption was overlooked, it is not so much an oversight as it is being extra cautious. Both entities were expected to opt out, she said, and subsequently did so.

"I would rather we informed someone that didn't need to be informed, than not inform someone that needed the option to opt out and were wrongfully taxed as a result of that," she said.

Mr. Miller said the letters sent to taxing authorities did not notify those entities of their proper recourse. The letters also didn't explain that authorities which actually had the option to opt out of tax reallocation needed to do so and respond to the township within a certain time.

It is uncertain how such areas were overlooked, Mr. Miller said, but he is glad they were discovered before a DDA ordinance was enacted by the township board.

The board has received 32 letters from residents against the formation of a DDA in Clark Township, and only 12 in support of it.

"The majority of the community, or the people that we're hearing from, aren't behind it," Mrs. Carpenter said.

The board is seeking more information from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) regarding other economic development options available to the township before scrapping the current DDA ordinance. An open meeting with Cathi Cole, the MEDC representative for the U.P., will take place Wednesday, May 13, at 10 a.m. at the Clark Township offices to review what options are available to the township.

If a DDA is to go forward in Clark Township, Mr. Miller said, the process will more than likely have to start all over.

"We would have to start and do the whole thing over again. Send out notices, the whole ball of wax. But do it correctly," he said. "As clerk, I am not comfortable with what we sent out. If we're going to do it, we'd better do it right, and do it by the law. We have not done that."

Old firetruck to sell on eBay

The board will post the sale of its old firetruck on the Internet auction site eBay. The 1986 GMC truck, with a 2,400-gallon stainless steel tank to hold water, will not be advertised as a used firetruck because of liability concerns for wear and tear that may not make it as reliable as it once was.

Consultant to draft

road repair plan

The board will work up a contract to hire Oliver House as an independent consultant to create a multi-year plan to prioritize which township roads need to be fixed. Mr. House will likely be paid in increments of $2,000 from the township road fund, totaling $6,000, to create the plan, which is expected to be completed this summer.

Mr. House is a retired Michigan Department of Transportation civil engineer.

"As most businessmen know, if you don't have good roads, you don't get business," said Frank Harness of the Clark Township Road Committee, who proposed hiring Mr. House to the board. "We need those roads. That really is the first asset that is important to the tourism industry, other industries, and just going to work and coming home."