CRYSTAL LAKE TOWNSHIP IN BENZIE COUNTY MICHIGAN

VETERANS DAY:

This day is but one of all days in the year that we recognize and honor
the sacrifice of our members of the United States Armed Forces.

Thank you for your service, veterans.

ELECTION RESULTS: Use this link to connect to Benzie County election results from November 4, 2025.

NO FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS: October 29 - November 12, 2025. Many apologies! We are transferring to entirely new financial software. Due to a badly needed system update process on these 15 days, we will be unable to process any financial transactions during the switch over. Any transactions submitted will be processed after 11.12.25. Feel free to stop by in person or give us a call with questions. Thanks in advance for your anticipated patience with this unavoidable hiatus in our normal business operations.

SOME OFFICES CLOSED: Nov. 10-13 and Nov. 17-20, the Clerk and Treasurer will be in training and therefore unavailable to conduct regular duties. Other CLT personnel will be available to assist. We apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

(SHORT!) TOWNSHIP BOARD MONTHLY MEETING: 6-6:50 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. This meeting will last only 45-50 minutes because there is a Planning Commission meeting scheduled for November at 7 p.m. The public is welcomed and encouraged to attend. As well as previous board meetings, video coverage of this board meeting after the session is adjourned, can be viewed via our YouTube link. Underlined below are readable/downloadable documents that will assist the township board to conduct their business. (*) Indicates a probable vote taken. Check back as the date gets closer for any late-added documents. Those wishing accommodations for special needs should contact the clerk, Judy VanMeter, well in advance of the meeting.

Draft Agenda: 10.15.25 (*)
Minutes: 10.15.25 (*)
Correspondence: Airport Rumors/Popp; Herryman/Parks & Rec Communications
County Commission: Report
Fire & Rescue: Report
Financials: Summary Report; Warrant Report (*); BS&A Additional Module (*)
Airport: Report; CLT Representation (*)
Budget: Amendments (*)
Buildings & Grounds: Snowplowing Contract (*)
Calendar: Draft 2026 (*)
Elections: Report
Planning & Zoning: Amendment to Zoning Ordinance 3.28 (*)

PLANNING COMMISSION MONTHLY MEETING: 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19, 2025. PLEASE NOTE THE EXCEPTIONAL RE-SCHEDULING IN THIS MONTH ONLY DUE TO THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY. Click here for draft agenda.

TREES COMING DOWN: We have had a multitude of queries and complaints about the trees currently being bulldozed on properties in close proximity to the township hall. All tree removal is being done under the direction of either the Frankfort City/County Airport Authority, or the Frankfort Pines (assisted living facility.) All inquiries and comments should be directed to them.

OUTLET DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: It's important that our constituents be aware about the popular "Outlet Project" planned for just east of where Crystal Lake overflow is released into the Betsie River. The DNR owns the land just east of the actual damn, which has recently leased to Benzie County. A DNR grant is allowing for the development of a non-motorized park area there, and it is contained without Crystal Lake Township borders. Want more information? There is an Internet video of the BOC Parks and Recreation plan for Railroad Point was made during the Sept.23, 2024 meeting of the Benzie County Board of Commissioners (BOC), and remains available at: www.YouTube.com/@BenzieCounty. Also, our own CLT Planning Commission September minutes reflect discussion on the proposed site plans. Lastly, CLT Board members Treasurer Marble and Supervisor Ferris met on with Project leader, Ed Hoogterp and County Commissioner Gary Sauers, in addition to some CLT concerned citizens (pictured here) for a personal walk-through at the site. Updates are happening daily, so pursue the County Commissioners in person or via their meetings for more information. A BCCC vote is expected shortly.

SHORT TERM RENTALS PACKETS: Crystal Lake Township's Short Term Rental policy is now in full effect. As of September 15, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. applications for a permit, and updated as of 9.23.25, are downloadable if you click here. For a copied of the Short Term Rental Ordinance [as amended on 9.17.25] click here. To take you to the Short Term Rentals webpage, click here.

ATTENTION CRYSTAL LAKE TOWNSHIP VOTERS: Please check with our clerk or deputy clerk to verify your mailing address. This is especially important if you are on our permanent absentee ballot mailing list. This will help with any confusion with those who have multiple addresses (i.e. alternate winter addresses.) We would also like to update your email and phone numbers, as many are missing from our files. Contact information is [email protected] or [email protected].

ROAD IMPROVEMENTS: This early fall we finished up capping/sealing all our township roads. These are your road millage dollars at work. Here's some background: In November of 2024, the majority of our constituents voted to renew the Crystal Lake Township 5-year (up until 2029) road millage of up to 1.0 millage to maintain/improve the asphalt roads within our boundaries. Note that this is a different millage from the county-wide road millage. With the accumulated monies in our dedicated CLT Road Fund, the Benzie County Road Commission applied "chip-n-seal" to the following: Adams, Airport, Bacon, Bellows, Bridge, Carlson, Casey, Cox, Didrickson, Elm, Figg, Forrester, Glory, Graves, Marquette, Martin, Michigan, Mollineaux, Nelson, Nugent, Palcich, Pautz, Robinson, Runway, Shorewood, Sunset, and Thomas. The exact cost billed to us was $772,891.41 and was 99% paid for with taxes already collected. After all the work was completed, the Road Fund was depleted. In order to build it back up, the CLT Board has decided to continue for 2026 to collect the 1 mill or .9831, with the Headlee Rollback factor applied. Special thanks to our dedicated Road Committee members: Bruce Walton, Al Popp and Judy VanMeter for offering their advice and monitoring the roads, and for the good people at our county road commission for executing the labor.

ZONING ADMINISTRATOR EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY: Click here to take you to our Employment page as we are looking for someone to shadow the CLT Zoning Administrator, learn this all-important township job and discover if this is a commitment the applicant would like to make when our ZA retires. We hope for an applicant who already has experience as a ZA. But if not, we appreciate that an applicant will need time to learn the job, thus we will provide time and salary as an "apprentice." Want to know more about this? Talk with us 🙂.

TRANSPARENCY IS OUR MIDDLE NAME: No secrets. Your local government reps at CLT want you to know what we know, what we do, what we are planning. If an issue takes you by surprise, maybe that's because it has taken us by surprise but it is not because we are trying to keep secrets. Democracy needs not only our board and staff members but also our constituents to be interested, involved and informed. It is true, but 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 one another. We are on the record as very much wanting to communicate with our residents. How do we currently do that? We send out newsletters twice a year. We update this website several times a week. Draft and, later, approved minutes are always on our website to read or download. If you stop by, we're ready to answer your questions in person. We also video record view CLT Board meetings which you can then view via our YouTube channel. Every once in a while we screw up the mechanisms of videoing, 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. If you have any other suggestions on how to share township information with you, we are all ears.

THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR TOWNSHIP BOARD: Political geography in America today is largely defined by a variegated patchwork of rural red and urban blue localities. Given this, one might expect most local governments to be dominated by one political ideology or the other. And yet, a recent survey --taken by Civic Pulse and supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY)-- of elected officials from counties, municipalities, townships, and school boards reveals this is far from the case. They found the majority (58%) have some degree of ideological pluralism represented on their board. Crystal Lake Township is reflective of that majority. Not only do we have a mix of party affiliations, we have a mix of world views, outlooks and opinions within those party labels. The important thing is whether we are representing the township constituency and doing our work to serve you in a respectful, legal and ethical way.