SUPERVISORS CORNER

Unfortunately it is again that time of year when the dreaded gypsy moth is going to appear (if it already hasn’t in your area).I know …..I’m supposed to call it “spongy” moth but since I have never had any ill will towards gypsy’s(since I never met one), I really don’t see this as denigrating in any way. Does the name tiger lily make a tiger less ferocious and show it as a wimp in the cat kingdom? No, it’s just a name, so the PC police can take a hike on gypsy moth, at least in my narrative. Back to the issue at hand, the consultant is watching the hatch and leaf development very closely. He has been in the area twice in the last week (5/9-13) checking on both items. Based on the current weather we are looking at the spraying to occur during the week after Memorial Day. It will be a two to three day operation, depending on the weather and will occur mainly in the morning hours before any wind picks up.
Remember this is the same as last year. This is not a pesticide that kills on contact. The caterpillars need to eat the leaves that are sprayed in order to ingest the Btk spray that will eventually kill them. It is not instantaneous. It will take days to weeks to see any impact and then it will not affect all of them.
We continue to receive large amounts of waste at the transfer station. If you bring in a trailer load, you need to make sure to send enough people to unload it. Joe is one guy and is very busy with the entire site. He can help with the forklift for large items, but smaller bags and debris must be unloaded by the resident. Also, don’t forget to show your card. He will be asking for them over the holidays and if you can’t show the card he is instructed to refuse to allow you to dump. This the policy at the waste site and has been since it opened. Do not be angry at Joe as he is following our instructions and any complaints need to come to my desk, not our employee’s, they are just doing their job as we have instructed. We will take any abuse of our employees whether verbal or otherwise seriously resulting the loss of waste site privileges and possible legal steps as required.
We are in the process of renewing our township master plan and township recreation plan. We will have a questionnaire that we would like you to fill-out which will be available in our offices, and on-line as well as a QR code that you can scan with your phone camera that will take you to the survey. It is only 20 questions, but it helps us get the communities opinion on your community. We hope to have it ready by Memorial Day and be able to hand them out at your lake meetings or at least the website and QR code.
After the holiday we will be changing the operation at the waste site for a week or two. We are pouring a concrete slab at the exit from the crushers where your currently drive on gravel then back onto asphalt to drop your recyclables the exit the site. We will not be able to use the compactors or the precrusher during this time so we will have to dump our bags in open top bins and we need to stop accepting large items during this time including leaves, brush and tires. No trailer loads please. This is all weather dependent so we will keep you informed on our plaza facebook page, website and the digital sign outside the gate. During the first two weeks of June please call before you come to the waste site with any large items, brush or leaves.
The waste site is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 AM through 4 PM and Sunday from 9 AM through 2 PM. We are open on Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day.
One more request is that anyone interested in assisting our Garden Club this Summer in tending the planters downtown, please contact Linda or Janet at the Hale Hardware. They are always looking for additional help.
As always if you ever have any questions, comments or concerns regarding our community please contact me. I am in the office Monday – Friday 7:30 – 4:00 at 989-728-2811 or my cell at 989-984-7073 or by email supervisor@plainfieldtwpmi.com.
Fred Lewis – Supervisor Plainfield Township