Sumpter Twp. board hires five new paid-per-call fire fighters

At its regular meeting on Oct. 8, the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to hire five new paid-per-call fire fighters.
Hired were: Samuel Scott Villa, Jr.; Allison Ray Crady; Courtney Ann Frost; Benjamin Lee-Karl Combs; and Richard Jason Landskroener, who is with the Belleville Fire Department.
Supervisor John Morgan said he recognized Landskroener as being a student in Morgan’s sixth-grade class when Morgan was a teacher in the Romulus school district.
All were approved pending successfully passing a physical and drug test.
They will join the present department with 20 paid-per-call fire fighters that is considerably down in numbers from past years.
“Our numbers have been down,” said Trustee Don LaPorte, who is the board’s liaison to the fire department and also a fire fighter. “It’s an awesome thing you’ve signed up for.”
In other business at the 47-minute regular meeting, the board:
• Approved the $9,800 low base bid of C&S Construction of Wyandotte to renovate the ramp at the newly relocated Water Department offices. Other bids were $12,000 from Four G’s Construction of Taylor and $12,500 from Arbor Masonry, Inc. of Milan. The work includes renovation of the existing concrete ramp, removal and replacement of all steel railings, removal and replacement of existing concrete cap as needed (about 30%), repair of broken concrete and correcting the slope away from building;
• Tabled a proposal to pay $1,295 to Total Info to renew a subscription to continue using on the government access channel for one year. The current subscription expires Oct. 31. The service includes sports headlines, world news headlines, local weather, top news, general news, political news, and business news. Treasurer Ken Bednark questioned only having one bid and he got other price proposals. Trustee Tim Rush said he was going to vote no on this since, “I don’t think we need this information. We only need Sumpter Township information” on the government channel;
• Approved paying $8,852.78 to West Shore Services of Allendale to purchase a new computer and operating software for the township’s emergency siren system. Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police Eric Luke said the current computer’s age is at least pre-August 2010. Also, the software needs to be updated to work with the new computer and the software is the bulk of the cost. Luke said the general fund has paid siren costs in the past and the new finance director is deciding which specific fund will pay for this. Trustee Rush said the computer has been there since 2002 and Trustee Matthew Oddy said, “It’s surprising it hasn’t failed already.” Chief Luke said the average computer’s life is 4-5 years and, “We’re on borrowed time”;
• Heard Clerk Esther Hurst announce that there will be a special election on Nov. 5 to consider a bond issue for the Van Buren Public Schools. She said under the new law, voters can apply for an absentee ballot without having to state a reason;
• Heard township attorney Rob Young report he is continuing to monitor the development of case law on marijuana matters and he finds some are making an effort to be lenient and others to be more aggressive. “We need certainty,” he said. He said he is working with the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters union on the contract and the fire fighters are negotiating with “the community’s best interests at heart.” Young said the county is requiring the proposed Verizon cell towers in the township to follow storm water management rules, which makes the township responsible for maintenance of storm water management on the sites if the owners fail to manage it;
• Learned that in the recent water study there was no lead found in any home and five homes had minimum amounts of copper;
• Heard Fire Chief Joseph Januszyk announce that a crew is at work fixing the drain in the fire hall, as approved by the board;
• Heard Treasurer Bednark say the tax bills will be mailed out on Dec. 1 and by then the process to pay by credit card should be ready. He said residents will be able to pay their water bills, dog licenses, and building permit fees, and any payment at the window, along with their property taxes, with a 3% fee for the service. He said they now have check scanning equipment in the office and they are consolidating accounts to Comerica;
• Heard Supervisor Morgan announce that the Turkey Shoot continues each Sunday in October, the offices will be closed on Oct. 14 for Columbus Day, Hazardous Waste Collection will be at Wayne County Community College campus in Taylor from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 19 and the Harvest Fest at Crosswinds March is from 1 to 3 p.m., Oct. 19;
• Heard Rush announce the new updated township website is at sumptertwp.net, as well as .org and .com. He said it can be looked at on mobile phones. Rush also announced the Winter Storm Ready Training Class is at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 24, at the fire hall. He said it is an hour long;
• Heard Mary Sherwood announce the first-annual Bohn Road Block Party is at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19; and
• Heard complaints from residents on the brush that needs cutting along the roadways, the ditches that need to be cleaned out by the county, Comcast poor service, and the problems with mail delivery and other documents with the 48111 change by Van Buren Township.