Present for the Monday, July 7 Miami Township Trustees meeting were, from left, Fiscal Officer Jeanna GunderKline, Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas, Trustees Chris Mucher, Marilan Moir and Don Hollister, and Fire Chief James Cannell. (Video still)
Township Trustees update agenda process, zoning code
- Published: July 15, 2025
At their regular meeting Monday, July 7, the Miami Township Trustees took steps toward updating the processes of creating meeting agendas and distributing them to the public.
Presently, regular meeting agendas are distributed in print to those present for meetings; according to the trustees’ unanimous decision, agendas and associated documents will be posted to the Township’s website the Friday before each bi-monthly regular meeting and emailed to those who sign up to receive them in advance. Printed agendas will still be available at regular meetings.
The change in process was brought forth by Trustee Marilan Moir, who spoke during the meeting about a need for timely and informed consensus between trustees about what will be discussed and decided at each meeting.
“We regularly don’t have [an agenda] ready until the day of [a meeting], and it’s a surprise,” Moir said.
She cited an executive session added verbally to the meeting’s agenda earlier that evening by Trustee Chair Chris Mucher to discuss compensation of an employee, which had not been added to the printed agenda. Following the executive session, Mucher moved to approve a $5,000 “exemplary service” bonus for Capt. Nate Ayers, who was named interim chief in January — a role he was initially intended to serve for one month, but served for six months. The motion was approved, with Moir as the lone dissenting vote.
“This is nothing against [Ayers], but having no idea that this was going to be on the agenda tonight … it’s improper to blindside us with these things,” Moir said.
Trustee Don Hollister, ahead of voting on the new agenda process, supported Moir’s proposal that agenda items be submitted ahead of regular meetings and made available to the public, but noted his desire for flexibility in adding late-coming items to future agendas.
“I think this change would be very valuable and good, but I don’t like the idea that we can’t add,” Hollister said.
Moir clarified that new items could be added to agendas with a majority vote from trustees; local resident Lori Askeland, when prompted by Hollister to share her agenda experience as a former Village Council member, said she believes making the general public aware of what will be discussed in a meeting ahead of time is good governance.
“Public bodies have a duty to keep the public informed if they’re making major decisions that affect the public purse and public well-being,” she said. “You shouldn’t be making big decisions on topics that were not on the agenda involving significant amounts of funds without the public knowing that that’s going to happen.”
The trustees unanimously approved Moir’s proposal, and also approved payment of up to $550 monthly to Cyndi Pauwels to act as assistant to Fiscal Officer Jeanna GunderKline; thus far, Pauwels has served in that role, keeping meeting minutes on a contracted, per-meeting basis, but Pauwels will now be paid hourly to continue taking minutes, prepare the bi-monthly agendas and assist GunderKline in other tasks.
Chief Cannell sworn in
Monday night marked one week on the job for Fire Chief James Cannell, who was sworn in during the regular meeting.
“Chief, welcome aboard,” Mucher said ahead of the swearing in. “A wholehearted, warm welcome to you.”
Giving his first Miami Township Fire-Rescue report as chief, Cannell said: “I’ve been out on half a dozen runs in the week, observing your crews on emergency scenes, and I can tell you, you’re in good hands.”
Cannell said his work over the last week has been to assess MTFR’s practices and organizational structure. With that in mind, he said that, in the coming weeks, he aims to re-enroll MTFR in a drug kit exchange with local hospitals, which will provide pre-filled drug kits for ambulances and will handle exchanges for used or expired medications. He also plans to improve scheduling coverage on each shift and recruit more part-time personnel by meeting with other area fire chiefs and training-school educators who could suggest likely candidates.
Also upcoming, Cannell said, is a planning meeting for MTFR’s budget, as well as an update to the station’s outgoing voicemail and website.
He also noted that, during his first week, MTFR had one walk-in patient at the firehouse, who was treated in the station’s medical exam room — a service some in attendance at the meeting were not aware was offered.
“It happens all the time,” Cannell said. “A lot of times people are hesitant to call 911 in an emergency, so they’ll come down to the firehouse and get checked out.”
Cannell ended by thanking Township staff and local resident KellyAnn Tracy for organizing a community appreciation week for MTFR staff, which coincided with his first week.
“Community support is everything, so thank you for that,” he said.
Zoning Resolution updates
Zoning Administrator Bryan Lucas updated Trustees on text amendments to the Zoning Resolution, which lays out ground rules and framework for the Township’s zoning code. Lucas has been working with the Township’s Zoning Commission to overhaul the Zoning Resolution since the beginning of the year; in April trustees approved text amendments that restructured the Resolution and made space for future amendments.
At Monday’s meeting, Lucas brought forth new text for section 502 of the Resolution regarding accessory structures; in previous versions of the Resolution, accessory structures were mentioned briefly as part of a section about dwellings, but with this text amendment, guidelines have been expanded and given their own section.
In brief, the new section on accessory structures notes that they must not be built in a front yard, may not exceed a height of 20 feet, that there must be a minimum of 10 feet between such structures of 200 square feet or larger, that permits are required for accessory structures with a foundation that are larger than 100 square feet and that accessory structures cannot be used for habitation. Additionally, accessory structures in agricultural districts used for agricultural purposes are exempt from township zoning regulations.
The trustees unanimously approved the text amendments.
Lucas said the overhaul of the Zoning Resolution is intended to bring clarity to the regulations therein, and that text amendments are standard procedure for Zoning Commissions.
“It’s what a Zoning Commission should be doing all the time if a law changes and, generally, if the public’s view of something has changed,” he said.
More text amendments are forthcoming, Lucas said, adding that public hearings for text amendments are held ahead of trustees’ votes and are advertised in public notices in the YS News in advance.
“We’re looking at about 28 to 30 text amendments happening in the next two years,” Lucas said.
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