Petition restores Vernon Environmental Commission

VERNON — Vernon Township's Environmental Commission was restored this week thanks to a successful petition from township residents.
Township Clerk Lauren Kirkman on Monday certified a petition submitted to the township asking the council to “oppose and repeal” Ordinance 16-16, a controversial measure passed in June that disbanded the township's Environmental Commission.
Kirkman could not immediately provide the number of verified signatures on the petition, but noted the final tally was more than the required total of 737 signatures. The 737 sum represents 15 percent of the number of total votes cast in the last election, Kirkman said. At a previous meeting, former Environmental Commission chair Beverly Budz said the petition was signed by 1,143 locals.
According to Township Attorney John Ursin, the certification of the petition means Ordinance 16-16 is suspended and has no effect. By virtue of the petition, he said, the Environmental Commission has returned to existence as laid out under the terms of the Township code, as if Ordinance 16-16 were never passed.
Following Kirkman's presentation, the Township Council passed a motion to rescind Ordinance 16-16 and introduced Ordinance 16-21, which would fully repeal Ordinance 16-16. A public hearing for Ordinance 16-21 will be held on Aug. 8.
But the Environmental Commission is not entirely unchanged.
During Monday's council meeting, Mayor Harry Shortway appointed two new members to open seats on the seven-member Environmental Commission, including Sally Rinker as a regular member and Michael Furrey as an alternate. Shortway, who had not yet made his appointments to the Environmental Commission since taking office, designated Rinker as the new chairwoman of the Environmental Commission.
Shortway said he is hopeful Rinker and Furrey will be successful members of the Environmental Commission despite what he called the “probably very unpopular” nature of the changes.
“Hopefully we can move forward now and put all this conflict behind us,” Shortway said.
Shortway said he is planning to make one further tweak to the Environmental Commission by correcting the seat terms of commission members so they are staggered as specified by law. Currently, the terms of all Environmental Commission members are slated to expire in December.