Sumpter Twp. board removes cemetery ordinance from agenda

A proposed new cemetery ordinance to replace the 60-year-old ordinance was removed from the agenda by the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees at its regular meeting on Oct. 24 after several questions arose on the new details.
Trustee Matthew Oddy, who chaired both the workshop and regular meetings in the absence of Supervisor Tim Bowman, said he thinks the fees should be taken out of the ordinance and approved by resolution, so they don’t have to change the ordinance when fees are updated.
Township Manager Anthony Burdick said the new ordinance was written by Cemetery Committee members Deputy Clerk Karen Armatis and Finance Director Scott Holtz.
Township attorney Rob Young said the ordinance actually came from the Michigan Township Association and he thought they needed a discussion so board members can understand the changes.
Deputy Clerk Armatis said she and Holtz went to classes that were very intense and the ordinance was reviewed by the MTA attorney to make sure it was in compliance with current law.
She said, for instance, they learned that the law allows for “green burial” where you can put a body in the ground without a vault or casket. “That’s the law now,” she said.
Trustee Oddy said the new ordinance says plot owners can’t sell the plot to anyone else and they have to sell it back to the township. He said the clerk decides how many plots a family can buy and he thinks that gives the clerk too much power.
Clerk Esther Hurst took offense and Oddy said a clerk elected in the future could decide to sell more plots to a family in the clerk’s church and fewer to a family not in that church.
Manager Burdette asked board members to send him questions they have and he will give them to the committee. He also invited them to the Cemetery Committee meeting to discuss their questions.
He said the matter of a sexton for the Martinsville Cemetery needs to be addressed. He said the township could go out for bids for sexton services. He said many surrounding communities use their DPW for this. He said Michigan Memorial takes care of its own services and contracts that service out to others.
In other business at the one-hour-and-34-minute workshop/regular meeting, the board:
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of John Honey to the planning commission with a term to expire Nov. 9, 2026;
• Approved the supervisor’s appointment of Randy Lynch to the cemetery committee;
• Approved the purchase of eight new police in-car computers from CLEMIS for $25,178 to replace the computers who are five years old;
• Approved the holiday closure of Sumpter Township from Dec. 25, 2023 through Jan. 1, 2024, with employees using two days of paid time off;
• Heard Trustee Tim Rush report that the chili cookoff that the Parks and Recreation Committee was planning was called off for a lack of volunteers. He said they tried really hard to get the Turkey Shoot in place for this fall, but they would have to charge too much for rounds;
• Heard Daniel Venet, vice president of municipal sales for Priority Waste, explain each of their trash pickup trucks has six cameras and they can see each pickup as it happens. The images are saved for a week and can be saved forever if there is a reason. The manager of the drivers can be summoned immediately for any problem, he said. Priority Waste recently replaced Republic Waste for trash pickup;
• Heard a Hennessey Engineer report plans have been sent to EGLE for the water main replacement at Rawsonville Road. It is 5’ within the easement and will be 6’ deeper than the current finish depth of 5’. It will go from an open cut near the catch basin and then will be directionally drilled 500’ feet. Two hydrants will be added and the total replaced pipe is 846’. The original pipe in the wrong place will be abandoned;
• Heard Burdette report on seeking services from Realtors to sell some township properties, completing a study for township fees, setting a list at the next meeting of proposed uses for ARPA funds since the list is due to the state on Dec. 7, and options for recycling; and
• Heard Oddy report that the planning commission will meet on Nov. 9. The 6 p.m. meeting includes a public hearing on a proposed large solar farm ordinance amendment.
Along with Supervisor Tim Bowman, Trustee Peggy Morgan was also absent and excused from the Oct. 24 meeting.