-The Village of Fowlerville
Breast Cancer Awareness Month - October 2020
Please join the Fowlerville Police Department in showing support and raising funds for the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Stop in to make your $5 donation at the Police Department or the Village Offices. Show your support by receiving a specialty bracelet to wear or give to a friend or loved one for inspiration. Your donation helps to make a world of difference to many and your efforts advocate for many more!
AK Plastics, 900 E. Van Riper Road, is hoping to direct hire 10-15 Production Support Techs:
$16 per hour plus shift premium. Here is the direct link for applicants: https://akamerica.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/aka/job/Fowlerville-MI/Production-Support-Technician_R993
Drive-Thru Job Fair! Every Tuesday from Noon to 4 PM @ Ventra
Reminder: Shake Your Mailbox!
Winter 2020-2021 has been dubbed the ‘Winter of the Great Divide’ by Farmer’s Almanac. What does this mean as businesses and homeowners enjoy the crisp Fall temperatures in the Village? Well, many routines have transitioned to Fall maintenance around the home and property, raking leaves, scheduling vehicles for seasonal upkeep and repairs, and more. The Village of Fowlerville is encouraging to take a moment to inspect your mailbox. Now is the ideal time, before the ground freezes, to make repairs. If you can physically push on your mailbox and it ‘gives a little,’ it will likely not make it through the winter and the snow-plowing season. Here are a few suggestions on what to do:
- Check the wood post in the ground. If your mailbox has been in place for a length of time, weather and use can compromise even the best installation. Also check for any splits, knots, or signs of rot in the wood post. These are telltale signs that more attention and replacement of the post are needed now before the snow comes.
- Take a look at the wooden platform or board where the mailbox sits and attaches to the wood post. This point of contact takes on a lot of pressure and can weaken over time. Are the nails/screws in this area loose? If your mailbox becomes a projectile, these screws and nails can be more harmful than just an inconvenience.
- Consider the actual placement of your mailbox: is it meeting postal standards and safety requirements? The wood post should be installed 24” into the ground so that the front of the mailbox is 6” – 8” back from the curb/side of the street. The mailbox should be 41” – 45” from ground level for mail carriers to access it. By placing the mailbox in this safe area headaches and hassle of repair, or costly replacement, can be avoided if the snow thrown from a snowplow hits the mailbox. The Village has adopted the United States Postal Service (USPS) guidelines for proper mailbox installation.
- Some residents have replaced their decorative or oversized mailboxes seasonally with standard mailboxes as preventative measures. If this option makes the best sense for you, always inspect the remaining wood post when changing out the mailbox.
The Village of Fowlerville cannot assume responsibility for damages from heavy, wet snow thrown from the plows. Damages to mailboxes and posts from the snow making contact with weakened posts or poorly placed mailboxes are the homeowner’s responsibility. We try to do no harm, but our drivers have a lot to consider while working their routes: pedestrian and vehicular traffic, visibility, objects in right-of-ways, and many more factors. If damage occurred as a result of direct contact with the Village of Fowlerville’s snowplow truck(s) or equipment, a supervisor will meet with the homeowner to assess the damage for possible replacement.
Thank you for keeping your mailbox in good condition and in the proper location. Your preventative and proactive efforts are greatly appreciated.
Seasonal Leaf Vacuuming in the Village
The Leaf Vacuum is out! The DPW crew will be in different areas at the beginning of this seasonal service. Their first route will cover the whole Village before moving to quadrants. As you see the Leaf Vacuum and truck in your area, please expect to see it return to your area in the next couple of days. As more piles of leaves are out in the Right of Way (the greenbelt; the area between the sidewalk and the curb), the crew will expand their routes and take longer to return to their starting points. Thank you for your patience as the crews are working hard to complete routes as best as possible. Here are suggested ways you can help make this seasonal service more effective and safe:
- NO PLAYING IN LEAF PILES - Please keep children and pets from playing in leaf piles out for collection by the Leaf Vacuum. Not only is it not safe, especially unsupervised play, but leaves typically do not stay in the nice, neat piles out for the collection service and become road hazards. You would not want your efforts dismissed by others. Thank you for your efforts to keep our community, children, and pets safe.
- LEAVES ONLY - To make sure the equipment stays running, please do not rake anything other than leaves into the green belt. If items other than leaves are placed, service will not be provided until the items are removed.
- WATCH OUT FOR OBSTACLES - Please do not rake leaves around utility poles, mailboxes, street signs, or other permanent fixtures (like fire hydrants) that would inhibit the 9"-diameter hose of getting to the leaf pile(s). Vehicles that frequently park in parallel spaces for street-side parking block leaf piles and prevent the equipment from reaching the pile(s). The Leaf Vacuum regularly comes back to routes/your area and will collect the leaves at the next opportunity. Thank you for your patience!
- DISTANCE FROM ROADSIDE - Leaf piles that are too far from the roadside/curb create problems. Leaves should not be piled in the street/roadway for traffic safety reasons, and to avoid clogging drains. However, leaves that are not piled between the sidewalk and the curb/roadway cannot be reached by the Leaf Vacuum hose. For residents that do not have a sidewalk or curbed street, a good rule of thumb is to place the leaf piles as close to the roadside as possible (about 2'-3' away) without being IN the street. Thank you for piling the leaves in the proper place during this seasonal program.
- YARD BAGS ARE STILL AVAILABLE - The Yard Bags are still available at the Village of Fowlerville Offices, and at Kodet's True Value Hardware outside of the regular business hours of the Village Offices. Both the Leaf Vacuuming and the Yard Bag programs are available to help our residents and certainly are not meant to substitute what works best for residents, whether that be composting leaves, mulching them, or using the leaves for garden cover for the Winter. Residents are not obligated to use either program, the collection programs are simply in place as alternate methods to dispose of compostable yard debris.
Christmas in the Ville postponed until next year due to safety concerns
The committee that organizes Fowlerville’s Christmas in the Ville held a Zoom meeting Thursday morning and decided to postpone the annual event until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and public health guidelines that are currently in place.
“We decided it was best to not hold the parade or any of the other activities, including the hot-air balloons, for the safety of all involved,” said Steve MacDermaid, the co-chair of the committee. MacDermaid said that he had discussed the situation with Village Officials at the Fowlerville Council meeting last Monday and then held the virtual committee meeting on Thursday to make a final decision. “Everyone wants to hold the event, but both the council and our committee felt the risk was too great to those who might attend,” he noted. “Also, with the current social distancing and outdoor crowd size mandates that have been put in place by the State Public Health Department, we weren’t sure we could even hold it.”
The Community Christmas Tree will still be put up at the Main Four corners and decorated, with the intent of maintaining that tradition, but there won’t be an official tree lighting as in the past. Ed Prevo, the committee member who coordinates the parade, said that participants who have been in the previous parades will be sent new packages for next year, adding that anyone who has already sent in their form for this year will be notified of the postponement. Committee members, in making the announcement, said that they would like “to wish everyone a safe holiday and for all to stay healthy during these trying times.”
“We look forward to coming back bigger and better next year and continue with this great tradition,” they added. “Have a Merry Christmas and a healthy New Year.”
Article/news release provided by the Christmas in the Ville Committee and the Fowlerville News & ViewsPlease contact the Village of Fowlerville Offices to include your organization's event