Township Board Addresses Fireworks Concerns with State Rep. Cindy Denby

State Representative Cindy Denby was present during Tuesday night’s Hartland Township meeting seeking input from local officials regarding potential changes to the current firework legislation.

Denby told the board that she was visiting several local municipalities regarding their districts firework issues since she says she is “sure we are going to have to make some changes."

Trustee Joe Colainne, who said the legislation is “seriously flawed and needs to be dealt with,” brought up several changes he said he would like to see addressed including:

• Local zoning issues that involves clarifying with temporary vendors that they must comply with local ordinances as well as state ordinances. Using the dispute Hartland township had with vendor earlier in July as an example, Colainne said that some of the confusion stemmed from the fact that the attorney for said that state law pre-empted local laws.
• Stricter penalties for non-compliance.
• Local fire department needs to be notified: Making local fire departments aware of locations and also requiring vendors to receive permits from the local fire department.

“Our fire marshal should be the first person that should be consulted,” Colainne said. “He needs to know the location, he needs to know where it’s going to be in case he has to respond to it. These are all very reasonable kinds of local regulatory conditions.”

Trustee Joe Petrucci said his biggest question was regarding where fireworks were being shot off. Using his own neighborhood as an example, Petrucci said he was concerned about how close some fireworks came to his home.

“I just think that there should be some restrictions on where they can fire off,” he said. “They can buy them, but restrict on where they can fire off.”

Hartland Township Clerk Larry Hopkins, brought up the idea of a future panel being implemented at the state level that would address rules and regulations regarding permits.

“If that does come to pass,” he said. “I think you should look at and have some serious concerns about who you’re putting on this panel.”

Update on M-59 Park Project

Public Works director Shannon Filarecki gave an update regarding the construction of the , the 64-acre park that will include 11 sports fields for soccer, football and lacrosse off M-59 near Pleasant Valley Road is expected to be completed by 2013.

• Pavement work has been completed. Work will now begin on striping the parking lot and installing bumper blocks within the next two week.
• Signage will begin next week, which includes MDOT signs along M-59 as well as some interior parking lot signs as well.
• Irrigation has been completed on fields 1-3, 5, 6, 9 and 10. Water tests will take place at the end of the week. There is currently a temporary generator on-site, however full power from DTE is expected within next three weeks.
• Seeding is expected to start this weekend around non-irrigated parts of the pond and parking lot areas.