In view of the rising controversy and in response to concerns from our members.  The OWL board has adopted an additional position on the sewer rate issue.  This position was adopted at a special board meeting on 01 October 2003 and the following letter was sent to the Township Board.  The attachments referred to in the letter are hyperlinked appropriately.

Organization of Woodland Lake

October 1, 2003

Township Board of Brighton

Brighton MI 48116

Dear Sir or Madam:

As the primary petitioner for the sewer district, and as an Organization that counts among its members fully one third of all the households within that district we wish to express our concerns with the contemplated rate increase.

The original verbiage of the petition that we circulated amongst Woodland Lake homeowners is attached.  As you can see, in paragraph 3 our members capped the cost at no more than $13,972.50 per REU or the estimated amount of $12,150 plus 15%.  It does not, as has been said in previous Township meetings cap the assessment but the cost of the project.  See the quote below:

“signatures … shall continue to be valid provided that the cost of the project … does not exceed  the estimate by more than fifteen (15%) percent.”

The Organization of Woodland Lake considers these petitions to be the legally binding contracts between the Woodland Lake residents and the Township for the sewer district.  As such OWL proposes that the Township not increase the capital charges beyond $17.16 per REU per quarter so as not to violate that contract and therefore make all Woodland Lake signatures null and void.

With that in mind OWL proposes the following as outlined in the attached recap.

OWL can and will support the rate structure as outlined  with the commitments detailed above as this remains within the contractual obligations of the petitions circulated.  OWL would like to point out that even this rate structure leaves Brighton Township at the high end of Michigan sewer rates, according to the chart provided to you at the 16 September board meeting by Mr. Bertoia, without the capital replacement charge we are in the 75^th percentile.

Further it is OWL’s observation that no controls have been put in place by the Township to ensure that this does not happen again either on this project or future ones.  OWL strongly recommends that the Township enact appropriate ordinances to guarantee the residents that this will not happen again.

Sincerely,

Kathy Kittridge

Vice President

For More Information Contact:

Organization of Woodland Lake
P.O. Box 617 Brighton, MI 48116
Tel: +1 (810) 229-7894
Internet: webmaster@woodlandlake.info

Last modified: 12/05/03 16:58:22 -0800