As we start our summer please remember to be safe when riding around our lakes in your UTV’s. There are laws and regulations from the state that we have adopted and must be followed in our township. We have opened our community roads to ORV use in accordance with these rules. This summer we will have the added bonus of a county sheriff deputy patrolling our community every week. They will enforce these laws as they apply to ORV use so be safe and know the rules. They can be found at www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/orv-riding/rules.
It is hard to believe that we have been doing this together for the last16 years now and I continue to look forward to it every day. I said when I first came into this position that I would be here until you, our residents, tell me to leave. So far that has not happened and we have been able to implement some pretty substantial changes in our community. From road paving’s to park additions and development; old high school reuse into a community center at no additional cost to us as residents; new homes and businesses in the community resulting in added revenue for our roads and emergency services; new emergency services for our residents in the form of an MFR program; expanded options at the waste site; expanded cemetery; new playground equipment; expanded playground; expanded sewer service; upgraded sewer equipment just to name a few. I look forward to continuing service to my community.
I am going to take this corner and provide some information about a county office that most people are aware of but may not really know their role, that is the Register of Deeds Office. As one of the oldest legislated offices in each county, the Register of Deeds is actually a person. In our county Ericka Earl has filled this position for many years. Her job, which she does very well, is to oversee the recording and maintenance of documents pertaining to all the real estate in our county. Just to name a few: deeds, mortgages, surveys, land contracts, condos, subdivisions and there are many, many more. That’s a lot of documents dating back to 1858, all of them have been digitized and we are not in fear of losing them and Ericka has been working on getting all documents indexed for searching. So far they have indexed all records back to the early 1970’s and are continuing to work their way farther back, as time and money permit. But deeds and most documents older than 40 years are either supeceded or no longer valid, but the work continues. We need to remember, they can only record documents that are brought to them. And those documents must provide room on the pages to stamp and record them in the system. Just because you signed a deed or a land contract does not mean that it is recorded. Someone, either party to a transaction, needs to take the document to the register of deeds and pay to have it recorded. Only then is the document public and protected by that recording. This is true for deeds, land contracts, surveys, liens, changes of ownership or any other document especially as it pertains to land. So use this office for its intended purpose, to protect the documents that protect our property and make sure to always ask your real estate agent or your attorney or your Uncle Joe, if that’s who drew up the deed, if they are recording the documents or if they want you to do it, and if they are be sure to ask for the recording number for future reference. A unique number is given by the Register of Deeds to each page of a recorded document for indexing and retrieval. So thank you Ericka and your staff for providing this service that many do not realize exist until we need it.
In the meantime, consider a membership at the Community Center and Eagle Point Plaza. You can come and enjoy pickleball at any time, yoga, cardio drumming, fitness training, walking or some more intense TOWANDA. Whatever your need we probably have some form of activity to assist you. So stop in and see Roma about a membership. We have family rates and business/group rates also. We would love to see you. When you’re here stop in on Tuesdays and Thursdays to the Plainfield Township Historical Museum. They have great displays of our community throughout history and how our residents lived long ago. The members do a great job preserving and showcasing our heritage. They also have genealogical workshops, and guest speakers so stop and ask about the next event.
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