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1651 Frankfort Hwy PO Box 2129 Frankfort MI 49635 Phone: (231) 352-9791 OPEN 9-Noon Mon - Tues - Wed Click here for individual hours CLOSED Thurs-Fri Click here for holiday closures This website information updated as of Sun, March 16, 2025 at 3 p.m |
- NEXT REGULAR BOARD MEETING: 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at the township hall. The public is welcome and even encouraged to attend, or to watch the video tape on our You Tube Channel that will be posted approximately 24 hours later. The two most notable issues at hand are the passing of the FY 2025-26 Budget & Salaries, and passing a updated version of the Short Term Rental ordinance. Also significant might be the discussions of airport authority membership, blight and an update on the controversial cell phone tower. Check back as there may be additional documents submitted. Click on the underlined items which are readable/downloadable. Hard copies are provided by the township mare only upon request. [Please note that some are very lengthy so be warned before you're tempted to print them out; they will require much ink.] An asterisk indicates action is anticipated. Anyone needing special accommodations to attend the meeting should call the clerk well in advance for possible assistance.
Minutes: 2.19.25 Reg Mtg (*); 2.26.25 Public Budget Meeting (*)
Correspondence: Housing North (*)
County Commission: Report
Fire & Rescue: Report
Financials: Summary Report; Warrant Report (*) ; FY 2024-25 Budget Amendments (*); Automatic credit card payment (*)
Airport: Appointments (*)
Budget: 2025-26 Budgets (*); Salaries & Wages Summary; Appropriations Act (*)
Clean Up Day: 2025 Contract (*)
Environment: Report
Planning & Zoning: Report
Old Business: #2 Short Term Rental Ordinance (*); STR Application (*) and Violation Fee Schedule (*); Hire STR Admin (*)
New Business: County Headlee Rollback (*)
- TRANSPARENCY IS OUR MIDDLE NAME: Your government reps at CLT want you to know what we know, what we do, what we are planning. We need our constituents to be interested, involved and informed. It ironic that in this day and age of so many different types of non-stop-in-your-face media, we are still having trouble communicating with our residents. We send out newsletters twice a year. We update this website several times a week. Approved minutes are always on our website to read or download. If you stop by, we're ready to answer your questions in person. What else? Here's a great suggestion: view CLT Board meetings by checking out our YouTube channel. Every once in a while we screw up the mechanisms, but we only do that rarely and as a result, you have access for your viewing pleasure to official board business as it was being decided.
- CELL PHONE TOWER AT THE 7TH STEET PUBLIC BEACH & BELLOWS PARK: Notice from the COF of Frankfort's plan for a new 190+ foot communication tower was given to the CLT Board last summer and we, in turn, presented all we knew to CLT constituents in our July Board Meeting. Click here for the link to the packet of material supplied to public by our Board July 17, 2024. Also, click here to see our Winter 2024-25 Newsletter in which we further conveyed information to our constituents about our Board concern for inter-governmental communication and this project, as well as others. CLT was originally approached about locating the proposed tower in our township-owned wooded acreage near the North Cemetery, but no one from the City of Frankfort nor the APC Tower Company communicated interest again before we learned, instead, the City of Frankfort had already signed a contract at the end of May, 2024 and asking only for our zoning permit. The signed contract allows construction and lease of a section of this Frankfort-owned parcel of land.* The City of Frankfort agreed with the companies that approached them that there was a need for such infrastructure to serve the wider community's desire for complete modern communications coverage. Bellows Park extends from Crystal Lake to Thomas Road. The location of the tower, perched on the wooded ridge, is on northeast corner of Bellows Ave and Thomas Road. (See photo, which shows view of tower from South Shore.) Any additional antennas are to be added in the near future. What is pictured here is current.
- EMPLOYMENT/VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Your community needs you! There is an immediate need to fill some township "empty seats." High priority is our need for a new position, the Short Term Rental Administrator; a Cemetery Committee member with family in either North or East Cemeteries. But we would welcome interested community members to join any of these areas: Blight Committee, Environment Committee; Zoning Board of Appeals. However, not only would the township like to see you involved with your local government, in a myriad of ways so would Benzie County and Northern Michigan appreciate your involvement. Your voice and your skills are important. In addition to feedback, consider volunteering, or working in a staff position. Click here to take you to our Employment & Volunteerism webpage for volunteer opportunities. Last but not least, we recommend you check with the county website or look up some of the area's non-profits to might benefit from your assistance.
- COMMUNITY GUIDANCE NEEDED ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: The Environmental Committee's next meeting will be Thursday, April 3, 2025, 5:00 p.m. at the CLT Hall. We are currently soliciting public feedback regarding environmental concerns/inquiries in Crystal Lake Township. Attend in person or send us a message about your interests. Click here for form. Want to volunteer to be on the CLT Environment Committee? Email Abbie Ellsworth.
- CLT NO LONGER ACCEPTING DELINQUENT TAX PAYMENTS: Any delinquent tax payments after February 28th shall not collected by Treasurer Jill Marble at the township hall. Do not bring your late payments into the offices nor drop them in the mailbox outside. All questions should be directed to, and tax payments paid directly to the County Treasurer, Kelly Long, at the Government Center, 448 Court Place, Beulah, MI 49617 #231-882-0011 [email protected]
- LACK OF A VIDEO RECORDING OF LAST REGULAR BOARD MEETING: The Owl video recording of the Crystal Lake Township Board meeting on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 started and ended correctly. The MP4 conversion was running normally when staff left the hall Wednesday night. Treasurer Jill Marble came to the office Thursday to post the meeting write up and video to our YouTube channel. There were six corrupted files in the folder where normally 4 files appear, one of which was the meeting MP4 video. Jill has handled and successfully completed this process several times without incident. Of course, Murphy’s Law prevailed, and the failure occurred following a Board meeting where attendance and emotions were high regarding a concerning topic.
- The Crystal Lake Township (CLT) Board meeting started promptly at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 19, 2025. There was a full house. A group of residents was adamantly against the City of Frankfort’s lease agreement and construction of a cell phone tower in Bellows Park. While the property is within the Crystal Lake Township borders, it was a donated piece of property to the City of Frankfort by the Bellows family. The residents have organized quickly, retained council, and are pulling out all of the stops to halt construction immediately, with a goal to ultimately have the project moved elsewhere. The issue was researched, and there was passionate public comment.
- Tom Kucera, CLT Zoning Administrator, gave a synopsis of CLT knowledge of the cell tower project and involvement on the zoning side of the project. Mr. Kucera stressed the actions taken were based on the CLT Zoning Ordinance along with the township attorney’s advice secured at that time. CLT noted it was waiting for further direction from its attorney.
- In the case of McCall vs Crystal Lake Twp et al, settlement was recently reached during mediation. Settlement was contingent on CLT Board approval. Attorney Bradley Wierda of Smith & Johnson, Attorneys, P.C. represented CLT throughout the proceedings. Mr. Wierda attended last night’s meeting and gave a concise and thoughtful summary of the case proceedings and expressed his support for the outcome of settlement. The Board vote was unanimously in favor of the agreed upon settlement. Details will be made available when the process is complete.
- The Short-Term Rental (STR) Ordinance, the one that passed unanimously in January, was re-introduced, revised after legal review by the township attorney. The STR sub-committee chair, Treasurer Jill Marble, presented a new, edited, more well defined version of the ordinance after some lawyerly suggestions were incorporated. The Board will vote on a second and hopefully final version at the March meeting, and official informational letters to all CLT constituents will be mailed thereafter. Click here for a readable/downloadable copy of the newer draft of the CLT STR. Content is not expected to change but proofreading for errors will occur between now and March.
- The rest of the meeting covered normal business at hand. Great reports from Chief Cederholm and Commissioner Trigg were given. Some of the other items covered included financials, CLT fiscal year budget, and information regarding the revised State of Michigan Earned Sick Time Leave Act.
- COUNTY IS SPONSORING BASIC CERT COURSE: May 3 - 4, 2025 at the Benzie County Government Center. Interested in helping our community without going through all the Fire/EMS and Safety classes? This is a great opportunity to get involved. There is no requirement to become a CERT member to take this course, and it is free of charge. There are quality units on disaster preparedness, first aid, and fire controls. More information on basic CERT training can be found in the below links. No one should be deterred who wants to attend the class! For many it is a “leg-up” at a self-study pace to assist with advancing all the information that will be covered in the two days of classroom learning. For all questions, or if someone needs accommodations regarding the pre-requisite training feel free to contact:
505 South Michigan Ave., Beulah, MI 49617
Phone: 231-882-0567 Fax: 231-882-0568
Email: [email protected]v
https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/individuals-communities/preparedness-activities-webinars/community-emergency-response-team
https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2019.CERT_.Basic_.PM_FINAL_508c.pdf
(*) Wondering about this Frankfort-owned "island" in the midst of our township? Although situated in the middle of CLT boundaries, the land parcel on which sits the public beach, the picnic pavilion, boat launch and tree-covered ridge, was donated by the Bellows Family back in the 1930's and thus owned by the City of Frankfort. COF has maintained the park through the many years and, most recently, the neighboring Pugh family members have since contributed $250K to the improvement of the park.
- NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES: The township is always looking for more secure avenues for communicating and storing information. One of those steps recently taken is to establish safer emailing and to do that we needed to create all new email addresses for the staff. Prefixes will name the job position (e.g. clerk, deputytreasurer, zoning) and the suffix will henceforward be cltbenzie.org. Check on the "Staff" webpage for everyone's new email address. Then, please make changes to your address book accordingly.
- IRONMAN 2025 & 2026: Frankfort City Council recently voted to sponsor another two years of the Ironman Event. Once again, no direct or dedicated communication was received from the City to Crystal Lake Township to discuss or request cooperation. In order to hold the Ironman in much the same fashion as it was held its first four years, Crystal Lake must sign off with the proper authorities (Benzie County Road Commission) in order for Ironman to block regular public traffic/reserve for use solely by racers some of the roadways located within our township. We have been asking our constituents: Should the CLT Board agree to give permission for yet another two years? Very few responded to our query before the 12.18.24 Board Meeting, and it seems even the low response gives the impression that residents are split evenly. The result was the Board voted 3-2 to give permission for Ironman to use our CLT roads for 2025 and 2026. However, it was also decided that at the end of 2026, CLT will re-evaluate, ask for assurances that racers will not obstruct rescue efforts as they have in the past, and require that CLT have a "seat at the table" if Frankfort decides to sign any more contracts. These conditions must be met, the majority of the board said, or CLT's response for future permission to use/restrict traffic will be an automatic decline.
- FIBER INSTALLATION IN CLT: Are you seeing the workers and the bright orange colored tubing being trenched into the roadsides around our township? Cherry Capital Communications has already connected a large multiple of homes to the newly constructed Crystal Lake Twp fiber-to-home network; they are still working to finish their goal. If you are interested in signing up or would like more information, please go to https://portal.cccfiber.com or call 231-264-9970 option 1 for Sales. After signing up, there are several more steps to getting your home connected: 1) Fiber in conduit will be installed from the road to your home. 2) The fiber will be spliced into the network, which will allow for your home to be scheduled for activation. 3) At the time of activation, a fiber cable is installed in your home with CCC electronics. The electronics should be installed in the part of the home that has the most internet activity, typically a living room or office. For larger homes or multiple areas of the home, additional electronics can be installed. The goal is to get as many homes connected along the route as possible. The best time to sign up is now. A fast internet connection will allow you to stream TV, work from home, improve cell phone service. Any questions on common applications we are happy to answer your questions. Click here to view a broadband projected service map.
