Votes at a glance: Cascade Charter Township adopts fire code, authorizes depositories and approves hotel ordinance amendments

At its January meeting, the Cascade Charter Township Board took three formal actions of note:

1) International Fire Code adoption: The board voted to amend ordinance chapter 155, article 2, and adopt the International Fire Code to align township requirements with surrounding communities and simplify permit coordination between building and fire departments. Manager Matt Smith and staff explained the change. Roll call was taken and the motion carried.

2) Depositories for township funds: Finance staff recommended the board designate township depositories by resolution and noted the statute requires the board appoint depositories (it need not be done annually). Trustee Shipley moved to approve the recommended list; roll call vote carried.

3) Hotel licensing ordinance amendments: After a presentation and public comment, the board approved amendments to the hotel licensing ordinance that remove the mandatory camera requirement for pools and fitness areas, clarify the recreational-area definition by square footage, allow occupancy to reflect bed capacity, and replace "kitchenette" with "full kitchen" for extended-stay units. Trustee Shipley moved and Clerk Slater seconded; roll call recorded unanimous affirmative votes and the motion carried.

Votes and immediate outcomes: Each motion was carried by roll call or voice vote as noted in the meeting record. The clerk recorded affirmative votes for the resolutions and the hotel ordinance amendment. Staff will implement the adopted fire-code language and update licensing materials and continue inspections and remediation work with the hotels.