Sumpter gives $10,000 to support Belleville Area Museum

After 17 years of not financially supporting the Belleville Area Museum, the Sumpter Township Board at its April 14 meeting voted unanimously to send $10,000 to the museum.
The allocation was put into the budget for 2015, said Deputy Treasurer Karen Armatis. Sumpter’s budget year just started.
“This is a year-to-year thing,” said Supervisor John Morgan. “If we can afford it, we will do it. We’re not committed.”
In March 1998, when Sumpter was having budget woes, it was taken out of the budget and not returned until now.
The Van Buren Township Board of Trustees, which runs the museum, had discussed closing it or cutting back hours if it couldn’t get the city of Belleville and Sumpter Township to join in its support as they had promised in a past, signed, three-way agreement. The city has cut its donation back to $10,000 with $1,500 from its Downtown Development Authority. VBT covers the rest of the $66,670 in expenditures.
Armatis said the museum was looking for a speaker for June on Sumpter Township history and Mary Ban said Jean Hartwig is the township historian.
In other business at the April 14 meeting, the board:
• Approved the lease/purchase of two 2015 Ford Police Interceptor SUVs at a total cost of $58,250.88 (including extended warranty of $1,340 per car) to replace the car totaled in a January accident and to replace a 2011 car with 120,000 miles on it. Trustee Don Swinson, who works at Atchinson Ford, abstained from the vote. The board also agreed to give the old police car to Clerk Clarence Hoffman to use for township errands and the former police car now used by Hoffman to the fire chief. The fire chief’s old car will be disposed of. Captain Eric Luke said insurance paid for 2/3 of the totaled police vehicle and 60-70% of the police equipment in that car can be reused;
• Approved a renewed agreement with West Shore for annual maintenance of the outdoor warning equipment at a cost of $5,600. There now are 14 sirens;
• Approved a fast-track agreement with Carleton Farms to accept ash from the Detroit Incinerator at $1.25 per ton for a new contract now being bid upon. The township’s agreement had called for $2.50 per ton, but there has been none since Carleton Farms lost the contract. The agreement is expected to bring $175,200 in new income to the township. This is a one-time approval for the upcoming contract and anything after that would have to come back to the board or the township would be paid the $2.50;
• Approved cutting checks from the Sumpter Festival account for $6,000 to O&W/Miller Beer and $500 to Holly Swinson for beer tent supplies;
• Approved using Parks and Recreation funds to pay $2,340 for Mid-West Coating to install an epoxy floor system in the Parks and Recreation building. Swinson said is the same as is in the renovated Quick Lane Center at Atchinson Ford;
• Approved purchase of gravel and grading of the road in Banotai Park at a cost not to exceed $2,500 with the contractor yet to be determined;
• Approved hiring two part-time police officers: Patrick Russell and Joshua Scaglione. Captain Luke said this puts the department at 16 sworn officers, including the chief, and all but three are full time; and
• Heard Ban say she understands the growing of marijuana takes a lot of water and she wondered if that is what is sucking up the water in drought-stricken California. She said a lot of people wouldn’t mind marijuana plants sucking up the extra water in Sumpter Township. She asked Trustee Matthew Oddy to look into the issue of water and marijuana and he said he would.