Mary Gillis

1. Attempt by Dexter City to annex 45 acres of Scio Township. Baker Road Land Holdings wants to build a residential development of up to 119 units on 45 acres in northwest Scio Township, relying on a large capacity well that would draw down as much as 800 gallons of water per minute from the underground aquifer that is the drinking water source for hundreds of residential wells already. (Notably this is greater capacity than the 3 municipal wells Dexter already relies upon.)In 2022 the Scio Township Board of Trustees rejected this plan, so Baker Road Land Holdings went to the City of Dexter with a scheme to annex the site in order to move forward with the development. In December 2025, the Scio Board heard a report from a geologist who indicated that a well of this size would require a recharge field of thousands of feet (where there are already hundreds of residential-sized wells). The expert suggested, at a minimum, installation of monitoring wells to detect potential problems with groundwater levels before they develop. But I say—what would we do if the monitoring wells detected a problem with groundwater recharge after those 119 homes had been built and occupied? Whose rights to the water would prevail? How could we un-do what had been permitted to be done? The fact that this proposal comes with a threat to hundreds of residential wells sets me firmly in opposition to this annexation scheme. 

2. State legislature considering the takeover of local zoning and planning powers. A number of bills are currently being discussed in the Michigan legislature that would remove from local control various aspects of local jurisdictions’ ability to plan and zone their own area. The stated justification is to remove overly-protective zoning laws that prevent housing density. In other words, this is a move aimed at increasing the availability of affordable housing. While I support measures to improve housing affordability, I don’t believe that removing local control over zoning is the way to go about it. What giving up local authority over zoning would accomplish is to negate local expertise developed over generations in favor of a one-size-fits-all plan. Placing authority over local conditions in faraway places is bound to yield poor results. The Board should direct its lobbyist and local representatives in Lansing to vote against these measures.  

3. Data Centers. The arguments against allowing a large data center into Scio Township are many. The effect on water availability, noise pollution, the strain on local infrastructure, the consumption of our land and water with little to show for it in terms of local job creation, all argue against permitting a large data center in our Township. The ordinance governing data centers of all sizes recently created by our Planning Commission, and the coming update to our Master Land Use Plan will stand the Township in good stead in the coming years for managing this challenge.

4. Gelman Plume. The US EPA recently added the Gelman Dioxane Plume to the National Priorities List, making it a SuperFund site after 30 years of local activism. While we are grateful that the many years of efforts by residents and elected officials has finally gotten us access to federal cleanup resources, we must continue to be vigilant in pursuit of this promised cleanup in order to prevent the Plume from reaching the Huron River.

5. Federal attempts to take control of local elections. The latest  evidence of this attempt is the US Department of Justice demanding the ballots from the 2024 presidential election in Detroit. With the DOJ under control of the current president, this demand appears to be a way of undermining confidence in elections as a precursor to rejecting election results the president doesn’t like. The federal government has NO ROLE in elections, and threatening the security of election materials is just more bullying by the head of a party that fears the outcome of a free and fair election. I stand with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer in opposing this and all attempts to interfere with local control over elections.  

6. ICE raids and federal lawsuit against Washtenaw County.  Sheriff Alyshia Dyer was elected in 2024 on a platform that included non-cooperation with ICE operations, which are a matter of federal law enforcement, not local. According to the Sheriff’s position paper on this topic: “Sheriff’s Office employees shall not use Sheriff’s Office resources to enforce federal immigration law or assist in immigration related matters.” Given the unleashed savagery of the current ICE division of Homeland Security, I believe that Washtenaw County residents rather need the police to protect them FROM ICE agents than cooperate with them. The current legal actions taken by the US DOJ against Washtenaw County and its chief law enforcement officials, Sheriff Dyer and Prosecuting Attorney Eli Savit, are more bullying by this federal administration, and we all know what to do with bullies: stand up to them!

As I see it, the top issues for the Scio Township Board of Trustees at this time are: