Sumpter closes Dec. 10 meeting with a prayer by Treasurer Patterson

At the end of the 44-minute Sumpter Township regular meeting on Dec. 10, Treasurer Bart Patterson said that he had been thinking about it for a while and knows the U.S. Congress and Senate open and close their meetings with prayers and he’d like board members to consider that for Sumpter.
He said a year and a half ago, when he first came on the board, he mentioned it. He would like to see it somewhere in the meeting, he said.
“Mary [Ban] reminded me tonight when she said ‘Jesus is the reason for the season,’ so I’d like to request that sometime in our meetings we have prayer,” he said, thanking Ban for the reminder.
The board was enthusiastic about the request to add prayer to the board meeting and Supervisor Tim Bowman invited Treasurer Patterson to say a prayer right then and he did.
Patterson asked God, among other things, to help the board members in their big responsibility “to guide and lead our township.”
Then, the last regular meeting of the year closed on a happy note.
In other business at the 44-minute meeting, the board:
• Set a special meeting for 6 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12, to consider approval to file application for MEC Fiber Optics consideration and to consider approval of the collective bargaining joint healthcare selection for the 2025 Healthcare Package. Treasurer Patterson and Trustee Tim Rush said they couldn’t attend the special meeting, but the rest of the board said they could so a quorum was expected;
• Heard Mary Herring, a resident since 1969, congratulate the new board and tell them she’s seen administrations come and go and she wanted them to build upon the successes and failures of the past. She wished them luck as they moved forward. Herring said she was on the Parks and Recreation Commission for 16 years and she offered a challenge to the new members of Parks & Rec to listen to the people to learn what they want. She said the township has an under-used community center. She said they used to have youth basketball and adult volleyball in the gym and maybe they could have square-dance lessons in the gym. She said she also hasn’t dropped the idea of getting a dog park in the tri-community, since so many people live in mobile home parks and apartments. She also praised Police Chief Eric Luke for working to get the police department accredited. She said the township has a lot to be proud of with the police department and, “They serve us well”;
• Heard Mary Ban agree that the police department is top notch and Parks and Recreation is improved. She asked if the township will have Sumpter Fest and Trustee Rush said it’s on the table but it will take several steps to get back where it was. Ban said she missed having the usual Christmas tree at township hall this year but the community center’s senior party had beautiful decorations and “a real good party.” She said former employee Karen Armatis was there giving full support. She said there were no board members there and she said she knows they all have jobs, but, “You missed a real good party.” Then she reminded them that “Jesus is the reason for the season”;
• Heard Chief Luke announce there was a three-way tie for the intersections with the most crashes during November: Rawsonville and Bemis, Rawsonville and Willis and Sumpter and Willow;
• Heard Rush announce that he finally got through to the government representative for Comcast and the previous Thursday a technician came out and now Governmental Channel 12 is all cleaned up. He said they could use a new coder, but he thinks the township shouldn’t spend the money since Comcast will be installing new coders in the next year or year and a half;
• Heard Clerk Donald LaPorte announce that the fire department’s old rescue truck was put out for auction and the department’s new Ford Expedition truck is now outfitted and in service. He said shows where some of the township’s federal ARPA funds went;
• Approved warrants totalling $187,269.83, which included an IDR electronic modified payment with penalty of $2,461.80;
• Passed a resolution approving the three 2025 Wayne County annual permits for emergency repairs, annual maintenance work, and other things;
• Approved and filed Rob Young’s attorney report since he was not present;
• Approved a resolution for annual exemption from Contribution Act 152 of 2011, since the township qualifies under the provision for exemption as provided in the Act;
• Removed from the agenda appointments to the Board of Review, without explanation;
• Approved appointing Clerk LaPorte, Treasurer Patterson, Trustee Matthew Oddy, Deputy Campbell, Deputy Herman, and Chief Luke to be the interview committee for the Human Resources Specialist position;
• Approved paying all the warrants through Jan. 3, 2025, with Trustee Frazier asking that copies of the warrants be sent to board members as soon as available;
• Approved posting and interviewing candidates for the full-time staff position of Human Resources Specialist;
• Approved the payout of final benefits for Karen Armatis in the amount of $1,869.42;
• Approved hiring Wyatt Behrendt as a seasonal, part-time DPW worker effective Jan. 6, 2025 at the AFSCME rate of $23.33 per hour up to 29 hours weekly, pending completion of background and drug screening;
• Approved hiring Lucky Gunter as the Director of Water, Sewer, and Public Works pending completion of background and drug screening at pay of $90,000 annually and direct the township manager and attorney to draft the employment agreement;
• Approved sending the Acrisure proposal for the 2025 medical, vision, and dental employee benefits and monthly premium costs to the joint CVA committee for selection at the meeting to be held on Dec. 11 which then will go to the Dec. 12 special meeting;
• Accepted the proposal of Midwest Pavement for the maintenance of the fire hall parking lots at a cost not to exceed $6,000 to be paid with ARPA funds or other funds available. The stripes will be painted in the spring;
• Approved paying the 50% down payment of $19,200 to Pristine Roofing LLC using ARPA funds;
• Approved the final payment to Midwest Pavement for the campus parking lots for a total of $241,900 using ARPA funds;
• Approved, with regrets, the Dec. 11 resignation of Dawn Hadiuyk as payroll clerk and elections specialist. It was reported she had a new job in the field she was working to be a part of; and
• Removed from the agenda the closed session as it relates to employee matters.