LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
April 7, 2025
The meeting was called to order at 5:45 with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 3  citizens, and 5(all)  board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
A motion to approve the 2025-2026 budget was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. A roll call vote was taken; A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, K Gould yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by and supported by. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence:  There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  C Babcock brought 2 bids for review for the Lyons Township Cemetery Road project. The 1st bid received from CL Trucking was $4350.00 and the 2nd bid received from Feehan and Sons was $9850.00. After discussion on the bids a motion was made to accept CL Trucking bid for $4350.00 was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. A roll call vote was taken; K Gould yes, A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
Discussion on the Cemetery ordinance was tabled until next month.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
There was discussion on whether or not to have J Thelen Treasurer, look into CD’s. The consensus was yes, look into rates for CD’s.
Bills in the amount of $37,840.94 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
TWP Business: Doug Hyland, President of Muir Village was here to discuss recycling. Muir will be a host for recycling in Ionia County. They hope to be operation by the end of May. D Hyland also said that Muir Village received a 1.4 million dollar grant for a special needs park. Everyone can use it, but it is specialized so kids with special needs can use it.
 C Babcock said he and D Hyland were at an MDOT meeting and are trying to get a school zone established on M21. In order to help get that status there are certain things that need to happen. One thing that needs to happen is there needs to be a sidewalk put in from Hayes Road to Twin Rivers School. D Hyland is getting bids for the sidewalk now. The consensus on the board is to help monetarily with this project. Further discussion will be had on this matter when the project gets underway.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
MARCH 3, 2025
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 8 citizens, and 5 board members present.
A copy of the agenda was presented for review. A motion to accept the motion was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  C Babcock will get bids from Listerman’s and Feehan’s for crushed asphalt for both loops and apron in cemetery. J Thelen and J Heckman will edit the cemetery contract for board approval at the April meeting.
Public comment:  There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $20,92936 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
TWP Business:  Craig Dodge from Life EMS was here to discuss how things are going. Mr. Dodge brought reports with him to show runs and times they have down in our township and villages. Things are going well. The Fire Chiefs were asked if there were any complaints and both Chiefs said there were no complaints. Pewamo Fire Chief M Yerge asked Mr. Dodge if Pewamo EMT’s could ride with Life in the ambulance if they were needed and Mr. Dodge said yes but they could not drive the ambulance. Another question was brought to Mr. Dodge about setting up Mass Casualty Incident Trainings together with Life EMS and Mr. Dodge said he would look into that.
The budget amendments in the amount of $90,948.31 were presented for review. A motion to accept budget amendments was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. A roll call vote was taken; all in favor none opposed. Motion carried.
C Babcock had Wilson’s back in to fix the furnace again.
A motion was made to have the annual meeting to discuss the 2025-2026 budget held on Monday March 24th at 5:30 pm was made by J Heckman and supported by K Gould.
Fire Chief Lyndon Randall asked if when they make big purchases, they can use the Township Credit Card that the Clerk and Treasurer have instead of using their own and get reimbursed.
A motion to use the township credit card for purchases was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. A roll call vote was taken. 5 votes yes no one opposed. Motion carried.
A motion was made to purchase a thermal camera for the Pewamo fire department by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
FEBRUARY 3, 2025
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 6 citizens, and 5 board members present.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes with the addition of the 2024/2025 total payroll budget figures and the proposed 2025/2026 5% increase was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
Correspondence: A letter from Ionia Conservation District was read stating that EGLE is requiring all counties to update their County Solid Waste plans. By 2028, Ionia County will adopt a new Materials Management Plan. They sent out a survey to fill out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Ionia County’s current Solid Waste Plan (1999).
Cemetery:  It was brought to the attention of the Board that the Cemetery is not closed. J Thelen asked if it should be closed or plowed if it is not closed. The board will review the ordinance at next month’s meeting and decide steps to be taken.
Public comment:  There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
J Thelen reported that she has sent out letters to everyone who hasn’t paid their personal property taxes ( some are several years behind) stating that if they do not pay, they may be taken to small claims court. She has received many payments since the letter went out. She has asked the board for direction on what the next steps should be. The board agreed to wait to see how much is still out by the March meeting and advise then.
Bills in the amount of $19065.76 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
TWP Business: Jason Orton, our insurance Rep from David Chapman Agency, was here to discuss our insurance policy. There was a small price increase due to the price of fire trucks.
C Babcock had the Ionia County Road Department Brine and Gradall agreements.
A motion to accept the 2025 Brine agreement at .192 a gallon was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
A motion to accept the 2025 Gradall agreement of $3000 for culverts was made by J Thelen and seconded by K Gould.
Pewamo Fire Chief Michael Yerge was here to ask if he could get all the valves on Engine 1 replaced now. He has already replaced 2 and has 11 more to go. If he can get it done all at once he will save around $4000. A motion to replace the 11 valves on engine 1 now was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. Motion carried.
A motion to give a 5% raise across the board was made by C Babcock, there was no support to this motion, so this motion died for lack of support.
A motion to give a 3% raise across the board and a dollar an hour raise to the firemen was made by J Thelen and supported by K Gould. A roll call vote was taken J Thelen yes, K Gould yes, A Hengesbach yes, C Babcock no, J Heckman yes.
A motion to approve the Assessors 2025-2027 contract of $14.50 per parcel. The parcel count is 2176 which totals $31,552 annually, paid monthly $2629.33, was made by A Hengesbach, and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
A motion to approve a 4% increase to Wickham Cemetery Care for a two year contract (2025-2027) for $24,423 per year was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach.
Lyons/Muir Fire Chief Lyndon Randall brought to the attention of the board that their tanker needs a new pump. A motion to approve a new pump for Lyons/Muir  tanker was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
J Heckman brought up she thinks the board needs to go back to having a separate annual meeting. The annual meeting was changed to half an hour before the April meeting, which was supposed to be the last Monday of March because the budget had to be approved by April 1. This made the bookwork off because the April checks and bills were done in March which is in the last fiscal year. The board said to call MTA to see what protocol is for the annual meeting. J Heckman will let the board know what she finds out.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:25 was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. Motion carried.
 
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
January 6, 2025
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 4 citizens, and 5 board members present.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  There was no cemetery comment.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried. J Thelen asked the question, should she be going after personal property taxes? Should she take them to small claims court if they don’t pay? The board would like her to look into this matter more and report back.
Bills in the amount of $38,423.04 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by  A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. Motion carried.
TWP Business:  Joe from Gabridge was here to present our audit. He reported that the township was in good shape and said we should keep doing what we have been doing.
C Babcock announced the members of the Board of Review as Alan Coggan Chair, Elwood Palmer, and new member John Bonter.
A motion to accept the Board of Review members as presented was made by J Heckman and supported by J Thelen. A role call vote was taken J Heckman yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, A Hengesbach yes, and K Gould yes. Motion carried.
C Babcock welcomed Kevin Gould to the table as our new Trustee.
C Babcock informed the board that he had Gutter Wizards install a new gutter to the front of the building because it was icy on the sidewalk after the December meeting.
C Babcock has proposed a 5% wage increase across the board. The 2024/2025 Payroll Budget is $115,700.  A proposed 5% increase for 2025/2026 would total $121,485.   K Gould would like more information on this before deciding. This wage increase is tabled until the February meeting.
C Babcock would like to look at putting more gravel on the roads in the cemetery. C Babcock would like a podium made for people to use while presenting at a meeting. A Hengesbach will have this made at the prison.
A Hengesbach also is having a cabinet made for election equipment at the Pewamo polling place.
Pewamo Fire Chief M Yerge presented his wish list for the upcoming year. K Gould asked this list to be put together highest priority to lowest with prices. Also, Lyons/Muir will also do the same with their list.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:45 was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                   LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
DECEMBER 2, 2024
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 11 citizens, and 5  board members present.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by J Thelen and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  The cemetery road is completed. The wall has not been fixed yet. We need to ask J Wickham to take the rest of the post out from the front of the cemetery.
Public comment:  Deputy Tyler Fennell was here to introduce himself as Liaison for Lyons Township.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $41,930.36 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
TWP Business:  Robert Scheurer came to his last meeting as Lyons Township trustee. We appreciate everything Bob has done for the township. He was a great asset to the board. A plaque was given for his 16 years of dedicated service. Thanks, Bob, for all you did for the township.
Pewamo Fire Chief Yerge was here to ask about looking into hosting MFR training. He will look into it further to get all the information needed.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:23 was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
NOVEMBER 4, 2024
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 2 citizens, and 5 board members present.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by J Thelen and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  R Scheurer said the asphalt company reassured him the asphalt would be done before the season was over. J Wickham has not fixed the wall yet.
Public comment:  There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $31,960.63 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
TWP Business:   C Babcock was talking about putting in an oversized culvert on Reeder Rd. Linda at the road department thinks it can be done for a reasonable price. Portland Township and Ionia County Drain Commissioner want to go in on the project also.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:07 was made by A Hengesbach and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
October 7, 2024
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 3 citizens, and 4 board members present. J Heckman was absent.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery: R Scheurer called American Asphalt twice. They are backed up for about 2 weeks. Josh Wickham called R Scheurer and said they would try to get the wall fixed this week.
Public comment: Pewamo Fire Chief M Yerge asked before the bills were paid if he could add a bill. The board agreed to pay the bill.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $70,490.50 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
TWP Business: J Thelen let the board  know that J Heckman had to have a camera put up outside for the ballot box. Also, J Heckman is having a combination lock put on the front door.
There was a discussion about Weber Dam. C Babcock said he has another meeting this week about Weber Dam.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:20 was made by A Hengesbach and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
 
 
 Deputy Clerk
 
Kim Thelen

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
SEPTEMBER 3, 2024
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 8 citizens, and 5 board members present.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by R Scheurer and supported by J Thelen. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery: The road has been completed in the cemetery, but it was done incorrect. They paved by the flagpole but not the approach. They were supposed to do the approach and not by the flagpole. R Scheurer will contact them to see what they will do about it. There is a wall that needs fixing.
Public comment:  There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $31,996.53 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
TWP Business: Pewamo firefighters were here to discuss the ambulance contract we signed with Life Ambulance. Thomas Miller was the main spokesperson  for them. They are concerned that Life will not get to the scene in good time. They feel they do not work well together. They have asked the board to check facts for both Life Ambulance and Portland Ambulance. The board reminded the firefighters that Portland Ambulance contract skyrocketed. That is why the board felt we had to give Life a chance. It is on a trial basis.
C Babcock announced there  is a Webber Dam meeting on September 10, 2024.
J Heckman read the bid from Sid’s Floral for Christmas decorations. The board decided to discontinue decorations from Sid’s Floral.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:07pm  was made by J Thelen and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
August 5, 2024
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 5 citizens, and 4 board members present. A Hengesbach was absent.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by J Thelen and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery: R Scheurer reported there were a couple of limbs down driving in the second drive. There are now 3 stones that are tipped over that need to be fixed. J Heckman will contact J Wickham to get the stones fixed and the limbs trimmed. R Scheurer has reached out to the asphalt company to see when they will redo the road in the cemetery, and they said they will have to get back with him on a timeline.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by R Scheurer and supported by J Heckman. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $98,269.23 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by R Scheurer and supported by J Heckman. Motion carried.
TWP Business: Life EMS James Nave was here to discuss the contract they sent over. There was a lot of discussion back and forth on it. R Scheurer made a motion and J Heckman supported signing the contract for 5 years @ $15.50 per capita knowing we can terminate it if we feel we need to. A roll call vote was taken; R Scheurer yes, J Heckman yes, C Babcock yes, and J Thelen yes. Motion carried.
J Thelen made a motion and R Scheurer supported paying the Life EMS contract quarterly. A roll call vote was taken; J Thelen yes, R Scheurer yes, C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:15 was made by J Thelen and supported by R Scheurer. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
JULY 8, 2024
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag.  There were 6 citizens, and 5 board members present.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review.  A motion to accept the minutes was made by J Thelen and supported by R Scheurer.  Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  R Scheurer reported the cemetery looked good. J Wickham had a complaint reported about a foundation sinking. R Scheurer and A Hengesbach will take a look at it.
Public comment:  There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach. Motion carried.
A motion to let our CD mature in September was made by R Scheurer and supported by J Heckman. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $35,617.86 to the general fund were presented for payment.  A motion to pay the bills was made by R Scheurer and supported by A Hengesbach.  Motion carried.
TWP Business: Dan Soules was here to discuss the Ambulance contract for Portland Ambulance. Dan explained that Portland went so long without charging enough money that now he is trying to play catch up to make it sustainable. The consensus of the board was to table this again until we have a special meeting with Life Ambulance.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:23 was made by R Scheurer and supported by J Thelen. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman