The Idle Giant of Balsam Street

The Idle Giant of Balsam Street Local landmark. Occasional mosquito habitat. Visible from space. Please observe only from public roads or lawful public access areas.

Do not enter private property, block traffic, interfere with nearby residents or businesses or create new problems.

FINISHED DIRT IS THE PRODUCT.That explanation actually helps.Because if finished dirt is the PRODUCT, then what arrives ...
09/02/2026

FINISHED DIRT IS THE PRODUCT.

That explanation actually helps.

Because if finished dirt is the PRODUCT, then what arrives at Balsam is not finished dirt.

The process, in plain English:

Soil is hydro-excavated.

It becomes slurry.

The slurry is transported to Balsam.

It is received and stored.

Water and solids separate.

It dries and/or is dewatered.

The material may be screened or otherwise processed.

Eventually, usable soil or fill leaves the site.

EGLE calls Balsam a Liquid Industrial By-Product Designated Facility and identifies receipt, storage, drying, dewatering, screening/testing, reuse and disposal as parts of that pathway.

Carrollton Township’s M-1 ordinance refers to processing or treatment of products from “previously prepared materials.”

So at what point did the incoming slurry become “previously prepared”?

If the finished dirt doesn’t exist until AFTER the processing at Balsam, that seems like a pretty reasonable zoning question.

TheIdleGiant.org

Still Legendary.™

Formerly known as

09/02/2026

The Carrollton Township Visitors Bureau has asked us to stop making tourism commercials.

Unfortunately, they have not provided that request in writing.

Still Legendary.™

09/02/2026

BREAKING — FIELD STATION NO. 2

07:14 A.M.

The bird feeder cam has once again spotted...

birds.

Today’s visitors: American Goldfinches.

A refreshing change from bulldozers, excavators and dump trucks.

Still Here. Still Watching.™

09/01/2026

Apparently everyone understands what happens at Balsam except the people asking questions about it.

Which is interesting.

Because the people asking are also the people who:

Live next to it.

Hear it.

See the trucks.

See the material arrive.

Watch the berms grow and disappear.

See the standing water.

Smell the odors when they occur.

Photograph the equipment.

Read the permits.

Read the ordinances.

Request the records.

And attend the meetings.

Maybe the people living beside an operation shouldn’t need a decade-long apprenticeship in zoning and environmental regulation just to understand what was approved across the street.

TheIdleGiant.org

Still Legendary.™

09/01/2026

The No. 2 Bird Feeder Cam now has repeat customers.

American Goldfinch: 8 visits.
House Sparrow: 1 visit.

For the first time in Balsam Street history, something has returned repeatedly and everyone is happy about it.

🐦

Still Legendary.™

09/01/2026

PLEASE DO NOT POKE THE BEAR. 🐻

Important neighborhood safety announcement:

Residents are reminded that asking too many questions about zoning, permits, site plans, drainage, noise, dust, odors, industrial by-products, wastewater, or what exactly has been approved may constitute “poking the bear.”

The bear, meanwhile, may continue:

• operating heavy equipment beside homes
• receiving hydro-excavation slurry
• drying and processing material
• building and removing massive berms
• running trucks in and out
• generating noise, dust and odors
• existing in the floodplain for years under a series of finite permits

But please.

Be tactful with the bear.

The neighbors only have public records, ordinances, cameras, FOIA, and an apparently unreasonable desire to understand what is happening across the street.

For clarity, the operation residents are asking about is R.B. Satkowiak's City Sewer Cleaners Balsam Street site.

🐻📄

TheIdleGiant.org

Still Legendary.™

™️

There's an explanation we've heard for some of Carrollton Township's floodplain confusion:The building code changed in 2...
08/31/2026

There's an explanation we've heard for some of Carrollton Township's floodplain confusion:

The building code changed in 2021.

Okay.

Codes change.

But that doesn't make everything that came before them disappear.

Carrollton's own flood-damage-prevention ordinance traces back to May 30, 2000, with later amendments.

That ordinance addresses development in mapped flood-hazard areas, including activities such as filling, grading and excavation.

Then there are the State permits.

The 2013 DEQ floodplain permit contained local-approval language.

The 2019 permit again preserved required approvals from other units of government.

The 2025 EGLE permit did the same.

And in December 2025, Michigan's NFIP coordinator told Carrollton Township directly that a local permit should also be required for the floodplain filling and grading work.

So saying:

“The building code changed in 2021.”

doesn't really answer the historical question.

It creates another one.

What exactly changed in 2021?

Did 2021 create a completely new local responsibility?

Did it alter an existing process?

Did it clarify one?

And if the Township believes the earlier local ordinance provisions didn't require the same type of administration, then:

what did those provisions require?

That should be explainable.

With dates.

With ordinance sections.

With the official responsible.

With the actual record.

We're not pretending laws never change.

We're asking government to explain what changed — and what didn't.

WHO CHECKED THE FLOODPLAIN HOMEWORK?™

And when?

JUST NOMENCLATURE.EGLE calls it:Hydro-excavation slurry.Liquid Industrial By-Product.Formerly Liquid Industrial Waste.De...
08/31/2026

JUST NOMENCLATURE.

EGLE calls it:

Hydro-excavation slurry.

Liquid Industrial By-Product.

Formerly Liquid Industrial Waste.

Designated Facility.

Receipt.

Storage.

Drying.

Dewatering.

Screening/testing.

Reuse.

Disposal.

Wastewater.

But sure.

It’s all just words.

Which is unfortunate, because zoning ordinances, permits and environmental regulations are famously areas where terminology has absolutely no importance whatsoever.

😌📄

TheIdleGiant.org

Still Legendary.™

08/31/2026

NOTICE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOOD TACT

Residents living beside industrial activity are reminded to remain appropriately polite while discussing:

• heavy equipment
• truck traffic
• noise
• dust
• odors
• drainage concerns
• hydro-excavation slurry
• Liquid Industrial By-Products
• wastewater
• zoning
• permits
• site plans
• public records

Please remember:

The activity may be loud.

Your questions should not be.

Thank you for your cooperation.

— Department of Neighborhood Tact

TheIdleGiant.org

Still Legendary.™

“NOBODY STOPPED IT.”That is not the same thing as:“The Township reviewed the complete operation, classified the land use...
08/31/2026

“NOBODY STOPPED IT.”

That is not the same thing as:

“The Township reviewed the complete operation, classified the land use, reviewed the applicable site plan, applied the ordinance standards, and determined everything complied.”

A lack of enforcement can mean many things.

No review.

Incomplete review.

Agency deferral.

Unclear jurisdiction.

Staffing limitations.

Missing records.

Or a perfectly valid determination that simply hasn’t been identified yet.

That’s why residents keep asking for the actual record.

“Nobody stopped it” is not a zoning classification.

TheIdleGiant.org

Still Legendary.™

Address

449 Balsam Street
Carrollton, MI
48724

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