Sumpter Twp. reports $358,911 from joint fire grants

The Sumpter Township Fire Chief Jamie Goode reported the department saved $358,911 from the grants it recently received for turnout gear and other equipment from a joint grant with other departments.
Chief Goode reported the grant total at the Feb. 10 meeting of the township board. He also said the department has installed 212 smoke detectors and 40 carbon monoxide detectors in the community.
Clerk Don LaPorte said the emergency medical calls are growing and there were 133 incidents in the last 31 days and the chief is the only full-time fire official. The board might have to look at that, he said.
Chief Goode said from 2020 to 2025 the department had a 58% increase in calls.
Trustee Matthew Oddy later remarked that the population is higher in the trailer parks and 30% of the township residents live in trailer parks. He said a person living in a trailer park should be paying the same for fire service as other residents since it takes the same amount of resources to get help to them. And, it is the same for police service, he said, referring to the special fire and police millages.
Supervisor Tim Bowman asked if it was required for police to write traffic tickets in a mobile home park?
Township attorney Rob Young said the manufactured housing community has great lobbyists to keep the status quo. He said mobile homes pay $3 per month per unit or $36 per year. Young said at some point the state legislature will have to take a look at this.
“We can’t discriminate against the manufactured housing community,” Young stated.
Supervisor Bowman said he has seen township officers writing tickets in the trailer parks and this is private property.
“We all know they make a killing,” Bowman said referring to the owners of the parks. He said years ago they used to have pickup trucks with “Security” on the side and these would patrol the parks.
Now he said he has watched police go into the trailer parks, policing private property.
This will change only if the law changes, Young said, adding if police are called, they come, but if not called, the township can’t treat apartments different than other residents or those in manufactured housing.
Bowman still was concerned that police were writing traffic tickets.
Public Safety Director/Police Chief Eric Luke said 15 mph is the speed limit in the parks set by the Motor Vehicle Code and police enforce the state code. He said 30 to 35% of the township’s population is in the parks and what they pay is 2% of the millage amount.
“If we did not go in and patrol, they would blow up,” Chief Luke said, adding officers watch for school bus passing, stop sign violations, and careless driving. He said that the park residents pay less than others is not the residents’ fault.
“I can’t get over it. We are patrolling private property,” Bowman said.
In other business at the Feb. 10 meeting, the board:
• Bowed their heads before the meeting started as Pastor Robert While of Grace Baptist Church in Belleville prayed over them and the community;
• Discussed at length and then approved on a 6-1 vote the meeting minutes of the Jan. 19 Parks & Recreation committee and the proposed schedule of events for the year, including an expenditure of $1,400 to reserve a bus for the March 19 casino trip. Added to the motion, after treasurer Bart Patterson said the committee needs to have budget figures for the events and this last-minute casino trip isn’t on their schedule and it’s in three weeks. Trustee James Frazier said you can’t book a bus without money and the committee doesn’t have a fund for expenditures. Clerk LaPorte said the events, including this new one, need to be sent to the township insurance company to make sure there are no issues. Patterson voted no on the approval;
• Approved the Severe Weather Policy revision, without explanation;
• Approved a separation agreement between the township and Debbie Nogle effective Jan. 23;
• Approved the position description for the Human Resources/Finance Assistant position;
• Heard township manager Ken Marten report he will be attending a session on data centers put on by the county and the township is working on wording for a moratorium on data centers. He said a meeting with the county about Judd Road paving is planned. He also reported the EPA has found that an adjoining property to one that was found polluted also has problems. The permit for a grade change brought this to light. The original permit was granted June 20, 1972, he said;
• Heard Hassan “Sammy” Nassar complain about a letter from Hennessey Engineers asking for a survey of the former Hughes property at 17450 Savage Rd. where he now wants to open a used-car lot. He said that other properties can do whatever they want and the planning consultant told him he didn’t need a survey. Now he has to pay $10,000 for a survey. “I’m fed up,” he said. “A neighbor is beating me up… I’ve been misguided. I spent a half a million dollars and now this.” He said he called the county six times and his neighbor “is driving me crazy.” He asked the board for help and Oddy suggested the township manager get together with the attorney and planner to figure it out. Attorney Young said the building department might need a survey. They will talk to Hennessey and take a look at the situation;
• Heard Laura Perry of Dundee introduce herself as a candidate for Michigan House District 31, saying she will be running on the conservative end of the ticket;
• Heard the deputy clerk announce that those township residents in the Huron Township School District will have an election on May 5;
• Heard trustee Tim Rush say that severe weather starts in April and he would like to set up a one-hour Skywarn session. He said when the sessions were first presented there were many people who attended. He said in recent years there are fewer, so if you would attend a session to let him know, so they can decide whether to hold the session this year; and
• Went into closed-door session at the end of the meeting to consider negotiations for three unions. When the board came back into regular session, the board voted to direct the attorney to proceed as discussed in closed session.