Sumpter Board names Trustee Tim Rush deputy supervisor

At its Dec. 14 zoom meeting, the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees appointed Trustee Tim Rush as deputy supervisor to serve until the end of May at an annual salary of $8,804.
This was on a 6-1 vote with Trustee Peggy Morgan voting no. Trustee Rush recused himself from the vote, although Clerk Esther Hurst said it was perfectly legal for him to vote for himself.
Township attorney Rob Young sent a memo to the board saying this was legal and provided a two-page article from the December Michigan Township Authority newsletter that discusses the issue.
“I am not taking a position on the merits but instead only providing the legal analysis regarding the issue,” Young wrote in his memo.
At the workshop meeting when Supervisor Tim Bowman announced he would be appointing Trustee Rush as his deputy supervisor, a surprised Trustee Morgan laughed out loud and excused herself from the zoom session briefly to compose herself. She said later she thought he was going to be appointed to help in another capacity at the township.
“Under Michigan law it’s legal to do this,” Young said. “Normally, it’s just an appointment, but it takes board approval because he’s on the board…”
Trustee Rush said this is just temporarily because Supervisor Bowman needs help. He chastised Trustee Morgan for her outburst. “You disgrace the board,” he said.
Clerk Hurst cautioned the board that if you give somebody too many hats something could go wrong. She said there is not much to do over the holidays. She suggested if Supervisor Bowman spent a little more time in the office it would help. She said she wasn’t in favor of the move, but she did end up voting for the motion.
The $8,408 was what they paid Ken Bednark when he was named deputy supervisor. Supervisor Bowman said he would like to take another look at the rate of pay.
Trustee Morgan asked Supervisor Bowman what duties the supervisor handles. “Do you have any duties? … If we give Tim more duties, there’s more pay.”
“I’m here practically every day of the week,” Supervisor Bowman replied. “I have duties, Peggy.” He said Rush would help when he wasn’t present.
Trustee Matt Oddy said he’d like to add that the deputy supervisor would help manage the building and water department. He said other duties can be added by the board in the future, if needed.
In other business at the Dec. 14 meeting, the board:
• Hired Nicholas Johnson, 26, of White Lake as a full-time police officer contingent on him passing a physical, a psychological examination, and a drug test. Johnson will start at the six-month pay rate. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Madonna University and graduated from the Oakland Police Academy in June;
• Approved the police department’s three-year agreement with Power DMS to use the document management to help gain accredited status through the Michigan Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission (MLEAC). Total cost of the agreement is $13,321.55. Public Safety Director/Police Chief Eric Luke said the police department started the two-year, exhaustive accreditation process back in the spring;
• Approved the contract with Michelle Cole for finance and accounting-related services as the rate of $95 per service hour effective Dec. 1 through Feb. 28 on a vote of 5-2, with Trustee Don LaPorte and Clerk Hurst voting no. They voiced concerns about not getting from her a list of the projects under way and contact people, as they had asked for. “She left us in the field,” said Trustee LaPorte. “We need to understand what’s going on with these projects. If she can’t provide this tomorrow, we don’t need her services … We go it alone.” Clerk Hurst said when she didn’t get the list immediately after the resignation, she went around Cole and got the contracts. “We can move forward without her,” Trustee LaPorte said;
• Approved as part of the $130,057.84 accounts payable motion the additional payout for Michelle Cole of $16,720.30 for the vacation and personal time she had coming at the time of her resignation. This was figured at $45.19 per hour;
• Approved the purchase of the Bio Air System for odor remediation at Sumpter and Willis roads for a total cost not to exceed $98,552.73, as recommended by DPW Director John Danci;
• Approved the purchase of water meters and reader boxes from Ferguson Waterworks for a total of $9,376.48 to replace meters that are in short supply and an effort to keep an inventory of 100, as recommended by Danci;
• Approved the reappointment of Helen Teall to the Board of Review effective Jan. 2, 2022 until Jan. 1, 2025;
• Approved paying all outstanding / processed warrants to a date of the Dec. 31, 2021 close of business with the clerk’s office sending out a list of warrants being paid to the board members;
• Approved directing the clerk’s office to take all necessary action for the purposes of BS&A accounts payable and ADP payroll activities until Jan. 12, 2022;
• Approved opening the township hall and the treasurer’s office for residents to pay taxes on Thursday, Dec. 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
• Approved, on a 6-1 vote, moving the supervision of water billing clerk Anna Winter to the treasurer’s office due to the vacancy in the deputy supervisor position, with Trustee Morgan voting no;
• Approved modifying the Parks & Recreation Ordinance, Section 16-32, to the new language that prohibits alcoholic beverages in the township parks;
• Noted the next township meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. unless a special meeting is necessary;
• Held a moment of silence in memory of Donald Swinson, known as Papa Fixit, who also kept the community in honey. He was the father of former Trustee Don Swinson;
• Discussed in its workshop session before the regular meeting whether to go back to in-person meetings in January. Attorney Rob Young said if the county doesn’t extend zoom meetings past the end of the year, the township will have to meet in open session or be in violation of the Open Meetings Act. Supervisor Tim Bowman said his wife is currently dealing with breast cancer and they are being very careful. “I will be absent until the doctor says it’s OK. A live meeting is not worth my wife’s life,” Supervisor Bowman said; and
• Discussed in its workshop session having the human resources responsibilities be done in the clerk’s office as it’s been done in the past. Oddy said that was his intention in his motion at the last meeting.