Google is looking
for places around the country to test its ultra-fast broadband
internet. This network will deliver Internet
at speeds more than 100
times faster than what most Americans have access to today via a 1
gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connection. They say their
service will be offered at a competitive price to at least 50,000
and potentially up to 500,000 people.
From now until
March 26th, Google is accepting submittals for its Request for
information (RFI), which will help them decide where to put the test
network. They are also asking community members to chime in and
nominate their areas. Fill out a nomination form, talk to your
neighborhood organizations, write letters to the editor, tell your
friends, put it on twitter, call in to the radio stations… Let’s not
allow this opportunity to pass without giving our fullest effort!
The
Parks & Recreation Department youth t-ball, baseball and softball
registration is now underway. Now you can
fill out the form online, then print and mail with your check.
Now there's no need to find time in your busy schedule to come to
the Parks & Rec. office or wait in line!
The property assessment procedure and your assessment notice can
seem overwhelming. The Delhi Township Assessing Department is
happy to answer your questions. Please visit the new Assessing FAQ's page to find
answers to your questions. The page offers Q&A's, resources,
links and information so you can learn more about the assessment and
appeal process.
The U.S. Census
counts every resident in the United States, and is required by the
Constitution to take place every 10 years.
The 2010 Census
will help communities receive more than $400 billion in federal
funds each year for things like:
Hospitals
Job training
centers
Schools
Senior centers
Bridges,
tunnels and other-public works projects
Emergency
services
The data collected
by the census also help determine the number of seats your state has
in the U.S. House of Representatives.
We can't move
forward until you mail it back.
In March of 2010,
census forms will be delivered to every residence in the United
States and Puerto Rico. When you receive yours, just answer the 10
short questions and then mail the form back in the postage-paid
envelope provided. If you don't mail the form back, you may receive
a visit from a
census taker, who will ask you the
questions from the form.
Delhi Township and
nine other mid-Michigan communities are participating in a
competition to win significant grant dollars from Blue Cross Blue
Shield of Michigan for projects to encourage walking and fitness.
We need your help! We're calling on
all residents, businesses, churches,
clubs and groups who’d like to begin or continue a healthy
lifestyle.Help your
health and help Delhi Township win grant money
foryour parks
and walking trails.
Join Delhi’s effort in the 2010 Winter Warm-Up Challenge
today. Sign up at: http://www.bcbs.com/innovations/walkingworks/ (see
directions for signing up)
Last year was a
light-hearted competition between area Mayors/Supervisors to see who
could log the most steps over a 9-week period for cash grants toward
community fitness. Though not the victor,
Delhi Township Supervisor Stuart Goodrich did
very well. Goodrich won $300 to put towards a community
health or fitness project. This money was used towards the new
Valhalla Park playground equipment to help promote youth fitness.
This year’s
competition is not between Mayors and
Supervisors, but between communities. So,
You can help!
All you have to do
is
sign up on-line and track your activity
each day or week through minutes, steps or miles of activity. At
the end of the 10 week period, the community with the most activity
averaged per participant wins a grant prize donated by Blue Cross
Blue Shield.
It's hard keeping active in winter in
Mid-Michigan. But walking sessions at Holt Junior High makes it easier and warmer!
A satellite group
has been formed for Delhi
residents to walk at the Holt Junior High on Tuesdays from 5:30 to
6:30 p.m. in conjunction with the Winter Warm-Up. The first session
is Tuesday, February 2, 2010.
The Winter Warm-Up offers more than
just a warm place to walk, however. Each week will feature
information on a variety of health-related
topics and you can walk with Township and School
officials. There are contests and prizes
including Lansing Mall gift certificates, 1-month YMCA guest passes,
walking shoes from Playmakers, season passes to Ingham County Parks,
fitness class certificates, “fun and fitness” prize baskets and
more!
Already active? Or can't make it
to the Tuesday walking sessions? Then just log
the activity you're already doing. Whether you're a regular jogger
or thinking about getting a little more active, you can help your
health and help Delhi win this challenge.
The Challenge
begins January 23rd and runs through March 27th.
Sign up hereor call Tricia VanderPloeg, Deputy
Supervisor, at (517) 694-2137. Please join us in our challenge to
become a healthier community.
To be quickly
notified of area emergencies and other important information that
may not be pertinent for the township web site, facebook or twitter,
Delhi Township residents may now subscribe to the Delhi Township
Nixle site. The Nixle site provides the user with the ability to
sign up for instant notification in cases where information needs to
be disseminated to the public quickly.
Nixle is a
Community Information Service providing one source for access to
credible real-time community information. Nixle provides communities
throughout the country with news and information that is both
proximate and personally relevant. Nixle makes this information
instantly available over web, mobile, and smart phone devices.
As an example,
Delhi Township Public Works may have a road closed, and a message
may then be sent out to subscribers updating the community on the
road closure.
There is no cost
for this service. Any interested Delhi Township resident may
subscribe by going to
www.nixle.com.
When signing up,
you will first fill in pertinent information, then be directed to a
page wherein you can specify what information you wish to receive,
i.e., a Delhi Township resident may request information for Holt,
Delhi Township and Ingham County, or you may wish to request only
Holt information.
The Live RoofTM has now been
placed on the roof of the new Sam Corey Senior Center. This live
vegetation roof is just one of the reasons the newest building in
Delhi Township is considered LEED certified. LEED is a third-party
certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the
design, construction and operation of high performance green
buildings.
The roof will
provide the already operating Sam Corey Senior Center with a
better way to reduce heating and cooling costs, increase the
roofs life span, reduce stormwater run off, filter pollutants
and carbon dioxide out of the air and also filter pollutants and
heavy metals out of the rainwater.
For
a virtual tour of Holt’s beautiful new
senior center that was built with an environmental conscience,
visit the Sam Corey Senior Center page
at
http://delhitownship.com/parks-SeniorCenter.htm.
Sheep were purchased
this spring and have been grazing on two large plots of township
land at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The sheep munch
contently under the watch of a llama that protects them from coyotes
and wild dogs.
The natural
approach to lawn care should save the township $10,000 or more
compared to the costs of mowing six months out of the year. The
township has found the sheep can munch in places where lawn mowers
can't mow. Once a year, a week was spent trimming steep, rocky
slopes on the land. The sheep have taken care of the slopes,
saving additional money and man-hours.
Not only that,
instead of consuming gas and polluting the air with fumes from power
equipment, the township will actually have something useful when the
sheep's work is done: wool. Their wool has been made into
socks and are available for sale. Sock sales are a fundraiser with
the proceeds going back to the sheep project.
Of course, there may
also be another by-product of the project: lambs. Any offspring will
be offered to local kids in the 4-H program.
Designed for
activities and fellowship, Holt's
beautiful new senior center was also built with an
environmental conscience--the
first LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) building constructed for Delhi
Township. A geothermal
heating/cooling system and a "live" roof are just a couple
examples of what makes this a "green" building.
Delhi
Charter Township received the
Certificate of Achievement for
Excellence in Financial Reporting by the
Government Finance Officers Association
of the United States and Canada (GFOA)
for its comprehensive annual financial
report (CAFR).
The
certificate of achievement is the
highest form of recognition in the area
of governmental accounting and financial
reporting, and its attainment represents
a significant accomplishment by a
government and its management.
The
CAFR has been judged by an impartial
panel to meet the high standards of the
program including demonstrating a
constructive "spirit of full disclosure"
to clearly communicate its financial
story and motivate potential users and
groups to read the CAFR.
The
GFOA is a nonprofit professional
association serving approximately 16,000
government finance professionals with
offices in Chicago, IL and Washington,
D.C.
The Delhi Charter Township
Wastewater Treatment Plant has been honored bythe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for innovative
efforts to protectour environment.
The Delhi plant received the
PISCES (Performance and Innovation in the
SRF Creating Environmental Success) award for developing the state's
firstintegrated biomass-to-energy
digester system, in which residuals or “leftovers”from the wastewater treatment process are “digested” (treated
and stabilized) sothey can be safely
returned to the environment as nutrient-rich biosolids. Theheat and energy component of this system will reduce the
demand for naturalgas and electricity,
yielding an annual energy savings of more than $75,000. Thenew digester should go online by this summer.
“We are honored to have our work
recognized by the EPA,” said Sandra Diorka,Director of Public Services for Delhi Charter Township. “The
digester systemrepresents another
important advance toward sustainability in Delhi Township.”Township Supervisor Stuart Goodrich added, “The digester
project is the lateststride taken by the
township in its ongoing commitment to recycling, reuse,environmental education, and a ‘green’ approach to wastewater
and solid waste management.”
The Delhi Township plant serves
more than 25,000 people in the township andtwo small portions of the city of Lansing. "It is an honor
for the U.S.Environmental Protection
Agency to recognize one of Michigan's wastewatertreatment facilities for their innovative, efficient,
effective protection of theenvironment,"
said Director Steven Chester, who presented the award.
Many residents who
pay their summer and winter tax bills at the Treasurer's
Office ask where all their tax money goes. While the Township's
Treasurer is responsible for collecting the tax bill, the Township
receives only twelve percent of the total bill. So where does
the rest go?
For a typical home
worth $150,000 within the Holt School District and paying a tax bill
of $3,000, Delhi Township keeps $355 with the remainder distributed
to the following taxing units:
Each one of these
units provides valuable services to the residents of our community.
If you need additional information on how each unit spends your tax
dollars, please do not hesitate to contact
that unit. For questions relating directly to Delhi Township,
please contact the Township Treasurer at 694-0333 or the Township
Manager at 694-2137.
In 1994 Proposal A
was added to the Michigan Constitution by a vote of the people as
their response to escalating property taxes. Before Proposal A
became law, property taxes were based upon the fair market value of
a property. After Proposal A was approved and enacted into law it
significantly limited how quickly individual property tax bills
could increase from year to year. It stated that the value of
property, described as Taxable Value, could not increase by more
than the increase in inflation or 5%, whichever is less. Meanwhile,
there was no limit on determining the fair market value, described
as Assessed Value. This allowed the Assessed Value to increase more
rapidly than the Taxable Value creating a widening gap between the
two since 1994. During this economic downturn declining market
values have resulted in declining Assessed Values. Properties with
Taxable Values significantly lower than the Assessed Value will
still see a property tax increase until the Taxable Value is equal
to the Assessed Value.
Learn how
the wastewater process works and about the
"first in the state" technology that is the
center of the POTW upgrades. The video
was filmed at the annual POTW open house as
part of Water Quality Awareness Week last
May.
Delhi Charter
Township has completed a draft wetland inventory. The
draft map
provides potential and approximate locations of wetlands within the
Township. The draft map does not necessarily include all of the wetlands
within the Township that may be subject to a future wetlands ordinance.
A copy of the map is available for public review here
and at the Department of Community Development Office at 2074 Aurelius
Road, Holt, MI 48842. Comments, written or oral, will be received by
the Township Department of Community Development at the above address or
by telephone (694-8281) until the close of business on March 31, 2010.