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CLINTON TOWNSHIP — Only about an hour of public discussion was needed for the Clinton Township Board of Trustees on May 26.
Having bounced its normal Monday meeting to Tuesday for the Memorial Day holiday, trustees discussed, debated and approved a 10-item agenda that evening.
Several items were not left open to the public. Contract negotiations were handled in closed session, while the option to authorize Priority Waste’s change of control was removed to allow discussion among the Refuse Disposal Committee later in the week.
Other items were handled in due course.
Drain and river agreements
Trustees approved several agreements with Macomb County over the handling of debris in the Clinton River and maintenance of drains in Clinton Township.
First approved was a matching agreement with the county that saw matching $50,000 allocations by the township and county put toward the county’s drain maintenance match program. Funds in the program will be used to inspect and maintain the Vermander Drain, Blay Drain, Glenwood Road Storm Sewer and Forsythe Relief Branch No. 1.
Next approved was the authorization of a $25,000 budget amendment to enter a specific woody debris removal program. The program, which sees the county match Clinton Township’s $25,000 allocation, will support a county project to remove woody debris and obstructions in order to improve the flow of the Clinton River and its branches. This project in particular is expected to help improve the use of the river for watersports, which can access the river system from launches in Budd Park and George George Park.
“It is tough for us to find the extra funds to participate in the match program,” said Township Supervisor Paul Gieleghem. “In this case, we’re cobbling together a number of funding sources.
“In any event, both of these projects are under the purview of Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, and we appreciate the partnership,” Gieleghem said.
Contracts confirmed
Trustees approved a $361,770 contract to Troy-based contractor HMC, LLC to perform work in the next phase of the township’s 2026 sewer lead improvement program.
Old clay leads, which connect residences to the township water system, are prone to failure over time and can lead to sinkholes. Public Services Director Mary Bednar said the old leads also contribute to contamination of the public water system.
“Not only are you getting sinkholes in people’s yards and roots intruding into these sewer leads, which could cause basement backups and stuff, it’s actually causing harm to the public system because that water is infiltrating into our public line, which then causes problems downstream,” Bednar said.
The lines are the responsibility of residents to maintain because they are on their property. Federally-earmarked funds are being used to help pay for these replacements with applicable residents having 50-75% of the costs covered — and one resident having 100% of the costs covered.
Another contract approved by trustees was one with Texas-based printing company Crabar/GBF to print Department of Public Services water and sewer billing envelopes and bills for 2026 and 2027. Crabar/GBF’s 2026 bid was $12,074.06 including delivery. Its 2027 bid was $16,834.22. Both were the lowest quoted prices for their respective years.
Some drama arose with Trustee Dan Kress putting forth a motion that would require the boxes of envelopes to be removed from the board office at the Robert J. Cannon Civic Center, though a motion without this requirement was approved unanimously.
