Sumpter Township Supervisor Johnny Vawters said he will be asking residents to help with the township’s financial problems at the township board’s next meeting.
During his report at the Feb. 23 meeting, Supervisor Vawters said he won’t ask for a tax increase and insinuated it would be more in the area of fees. He didn’t want to say more until the March 9 session.
Supervisor Vawters said there was a time that Sumpter was “down and out” and the union and department heads came forward and helped, dispatchers came forward and helped, the POAM (Police Officers Association of Michigan) came forward and helped.
“And that kept us afloat,” said Vawters. “But we’re up ‘til here (indicating his throat) and bubbles are coming out of our mouth.
“Some time real soon, we will ask the residents of Sumpter Township to help, too,” he said.
“Your taxes are going down, so are our services,” Vawters said. “My idea is not to raise taxes, to keep them the same.
“Next time we meet, I’ll tell you what it is,” he concluded.
In other business at the Feb. 23 meeting, the board:
* Approved the revised rubbish pickup schedule that will start April 6. Jim Young of Republish Waste said currently there are pickups on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, which uses three trucks and that system wasn’t able to get the work done on time. He said on April 6 they will start using the same driver and truck on four days, Tuesday through Friday. There are revised collection maps available at township hall;
* Approved, temporarily, the PNA Hall custodian fee to go from $85, where its been since 1994, to $110. A board committee will be looking into rentals of township property and will come back with a recommendation;
* Approved hiring Keep it in the 70s for mechanical maintenance. A similar request to hire Hendricks Electric for township electrical maintenance was withdrawn until it could be further investigated. Hendricks, a community resident, now is a township electrical inspector who does work for the township, as well;
* Rejected all demolition bids that were recently submitted, since there was confusion on whether Carleton Farms landfill would charge for dumping of debris. Some bids contained charges for dumping and some did not. Carleton Farms will not charge;
* Approved re-advertising for demolition bids for six locations that have been deemed dangerous buildings;
* Approved Parks & Recreation recommendations for $50,000 worth of improvements to Banotai and Graham parks paid from the Wayne County Parks Grant. Deputy Supervisor Craig Moody said the township did too good of a job on Bantoai Park, which changed its official designation from a neighborhood park into a destination park, which makes it ineligible for any more federal Community Development Block Grant funds;
* Tabled a proposal to charge a custodial fee to any group using the PNA Hall for free until a committee recommendation on rentals is submitted;
* Approved the supervisor’s appointment of Trustees Peggy Morgan, Linda Kennedy, and Bill Hamm (Treasurer John Morgan as an alternate) to a committee to consider guidelines for rentals of township properties;
* Heard Trustee Peggy Morgan announce that the recent Parks and Recreation Mardi Gras fund raiser made a profit of $2,461.83. Trustee Morgan also referred to action by the board on Sept. 22 that approved Sumpter Country Fest for 2010. “Yes, we are having the festival and parade,” she stated, adding the problem of paying for police coverage is being worked out with police;
* Although the district library agreement has been approved twice, approved it again with a new effective date of March 1;
* Heard attorney Rob Young explain the agreement with Joe Nasser to sell the township property at the southeast corner of Sumpter and Willis roads. He said the $40,000 figure was for a specific proposal. He said the sale is “development-driven, not price-driven.” Young said he has had several calls questioning the agreement since it was announced. “If the citizens don’t like the development, they will have time to say so,” he said. Moody said the township will be getting sewer tap fees, inspection fees, a total of about $100,000 for the $40,000 sale. Young said, “Hopefully it will spur additional growth”;
* Heard Supervisor Vawters urge residents to fill out their U.S. Census letter as soon as they get it and send it back right away. He said the Census will determine how much money Sumpter will get back through the government;
* Heard Dispatcher Malissa Baker invite the public to an event from noon to 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 25, for a special promotion of Cosco membership in the teen room. Refreshments will be served; and
* Learned 200 fish dinners were served at the Sumpter Haiti benefit, with a profit of $1,100 sent to Haiti. Six churches participated. The event was put on by Leona Mixon, Wanda and Joe Watkins, Mary Ann Watson, Jane Kovach, and Denise Droullard. Vawters said the extra fish was donated to a food kitchen.