A Quick Tour Of Mullett Township

Mullett Township News & Views-Promoting Open Government in Mullett Township

There is also the Mullett Township Party Line or you make drink the Kool-Aid from the Topinabee Development Association "Artesian" Well

Mullett Township is a general law township in Cheboygan County, Michigan. The population was 1312 in the 2010 US census. The township and Mullett Lake are named for John Mullett, who with William Burt, surveyed much of the area between 1840 and 1843.

The commercial center of the Township is the quiet unincorporated Village of Topinabee located on the west shore of Mullett Lake on M27 highway. The village is a trailhead for the DNR Trail with off-street parking and restrooms.

The village has a Post Office, Convenience Store with gas pumps, Public Library with 24 hour outdoor WiFi, an artisan-owned woodwork shop, a breakfast cafe and a bar and grille. Township owned buildings include the Library, Township Hall and Fire Hall, and an unused former school building on Lea St.

Recreation needs are served with a beachfront park and covered picnic area, free public boat launch at the north end of the village, a small public access to Mullett Lake across from the Nokia Cafe and tennis court, ball-field, and playground equipment at a public park located up the hill on Lea St.

The east side of Mullett Township is largely rural, with no commercial development. Township services include a Fire Hall and volunteer East Mullett Lake Fire Department.


Thursday, March 6, 2014

No Evidence Of Einstein On The Mullett Board




The March 4, 2012 Mullett Board meeting opened with a prepared public comment by Mary Jan Miller, Tom O’Hare’s sister and a TDA member. The tirade was directed specifically to Kathy Flory, Rachel Osborn, and an absent John Brown. Mary Jan Miller expressed her dissatisfaction with those three Board members and their failure to approve the TDA supported Blight Ordinance. 

Trustee Brown and Treasurer Flory had both expressed prior legitimate and serious reservations about the unknown costs of enforcement. Ms Miller stated she can see “blight” from her house and the negative effect it has on her property value. Ms Miller must use binoculars as the nearest unkempt yard is a block away and on the other side of the street. Her prepared letter can be heard here.
 

An enquiry to Mr Mike Roper of the Cheboygan County Road Commission about the proposed scheduling to rebuild the long delayed Woodruff Rd boat launch received this response on Monday, March 3, 2014: “We are hoping to put in the boat ramp this spring.  We haven’t received the deposit yet.” Supervisor Gale stated it was now a fall project as the permitting process takes 90 days. We hope the CCRC gets a deposit before their staff expends more effort and time. The Mullett Board has a habit of changing their mind on road projects, deposit or not.   


A real Fat Tuesday was celebrated at the 2014/2015 Mullett Township Budget Meeting as Supervisor Mary Anne Gale delivered her long delayed, over-stuffed, and twice baked budget. The adopted General Appropriations Act naming the Supervisor as Chief Administrative Officer and the Clerk as Fiscal Officer appears to be an attempt to spread the blame. A Supervisor and Board who cannot prioritize and shelve projects to deliver a balanced budget supported by the approved millage have failed a basic tenant of local government.  Work with the funds you have. 


If you were looking for a leaner, dollar reduced budget from Supervisor Gale, you were out of luck. The numbers remain the same as the previously posted graphs. The projected Fund Revenue is $330,970 and the projected Total Expense is $661,015. That is simply ridiculous when all of the projected cost over-runs are non-emergency capital projects.

Supervisor Mary Anne Gale, stating she “did not exert enough fiscal responsibility” and unable to defer any project, she would fail the Stanford marshmallow experiment. Give the kids a marshmallow with the promise of two if they wait 15 minutes. Supervisor Mary Anne Gale would eat the first one, climb on a chair, get the rest of the bag, and then say “look, I left the empty bag for you to use next year”. 


There was Board discussion about the “town hall incident”. A slip and fall caused by snow not removed in the parking area. The Board discussed Supervisor Gale’s desire to eliminate the “change room” from the proposed Boy Scout restrooms. Trustee Brown had communicated to Supervisor Gale the approved second seasonal dock at Boy Scout Park would require secure storage and recommended leaving the change room area large enough to store the aluminum stanchions and swim buoys. 


At the meeting, Supervisor Gale countered with complete removal of the previously reduced in size storage area and to hire Trustee Brown to build a storage shed. So, last month, we had a lengthy board discussion and reluctant Board approval of Supervisor Gale’s “cost savings” by reducing a building by 2 feet in length. This month, again demonstrating her contrariness, Supervisor Gale wants to redo it again. Eliminate the storage area entirely and build a portable shed. The Mullett Board is spending thousands of dollars on engineering, an approved $85,000 to replace the existing restrooms, and now Supervisor Gale wants to add that personal, homey, backyard look with a portable shed. Put a big pile of slabwood alongside it and she’ll have her example of blight.


There was Board discussion of a still unpaid bill from the Topinabee Beach Park “improvements”project general contractor, Team Elmers, in the amount of $49,130.50. Payment was conditionally approved with motion to pay contingent on using the donated $25,000 from the TDA. $3,500 of that $25,000 was to be earmarked specifically for the water feature/faux artesian well/ drinking fountain/memorial monument to the TDA Park. 


Supervisor MaryAnne Gale presented the Board members with an estimate of her proposed 24/7 video surveillance system for the TDA Park. No cost was disclosed publicly. She stated she had another vendor to investigate. The system would record digital video and also allow Supervisor MaryAnne Gale to monitor the TDA Park with a smart phone. 

Big sister is watching. That fond memory of an innocent first kiss under an old Oak tree can now become a viral moment on youtube. The only thing missing is the old Oak tree and the expectation that someone can have a moment of privacy in the TDA Park.

Is this the view Supervisor MaryAnne Gale will see on her video surveillance system?