WEBSITE GOING AWAY SOON!!!
SpringvilleTownshipMI.live has been the official township website for Springville Township since October of 2016. I originally put this website together to be a blessing to the township residents. Before the website, there was no effective way to know what was going on with the Springville Township Board. There were no Minutes for people to read, and no way to go online to know who the township officials were or how to contact them. And you could always contact anyone through the Contact page on this website. We have fielded hundreds of requests from the Contact page that we faithfully answered the same day or sent it on to the proper township official to handle.
In the last 4 years, since the community center opened, we have been keeping the calendar on the website for everyone who has reserved the center and used it. We have had hundreds of banquets, birthday parties, funeral meals, showers, and many parties use the community center.
In the last 7 years, over 100,000 visitors have visited the website. We formally thank you all. There have been many positive comments sent to us concerning all the informative pages that are on the site. It has been a labor of love for me personally. And now it is getting too much for me. As a County Commissioner, and the Chairman of Northern Lakes Community Mental Health Authority Board, Vice-President of Wexford County Airport, and on the boards of the Wexford County Library, Michigan State University-Extension Board, Network Northwest Board in Traverse City, it is no longer cost effective for me to continue to pay the yearly website fees and the yearly registration fees. These can be upwards of $600 a year. When the township was paying me $200 a month, it was much easier to apply that money to the fees.
Since the township has made no effort to negotiate for the website, or even approach me with any plans for a new contract, this website will have to close down soon. I have arranged a date of July 8, 2023 to close it down. The reason it will be kept in tact until July 8 is so that the township may have time to set up their own website and be able to download all the PDF’s on this site to use. There are many Minutes for the past 7 years and many other PDF’s, like on the Form’s page, that can be utilized on a new township website.
THANK YOU, Springville Township folks, for allowing me the privilege of keeping you involved in the township process. We have a wonderful township. My book on “The History of Springville Township,” shows how wonderful of a township we have. That book is still available at the Mesick Pharmacy and also I donate copies to the Mesick Museum so that all the money from the sales at the Museum help the Museum itself.
Sincerely,
Ben Townsend
What Does Springville Township Do?
State Law mandates our township perform three main duties, assessment administration, elections administration and tax collection. Thus, the three main officer’s functions, the Supervisor, the Clerk and the Treasurer. Also, we have procedures for financial administration, which are budgets, accounting, investments and deposits. Our Township Meetings must comply with Michigan’s Open Meetings Act (MCL 15.231, et seq.) and township records must be stored and made available through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA – MCL 15.231, et seq.).
Beyond those mandated functions, the township also supplies needed programs for the people in the area, such as the Fire Department and overseeing cemeteries. Basically, the township can offer services that protect the health, safety and welfare of the communities within its jurisdiction.