New residents bring their problems with township to the Sumpter board

“If EGLE came to the township and saw what’s been going on, there would be hell to pay,” said Brent Strong at the Oct. 14 meeting of the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees.
Strong, of Carlisle Wortman planning consultants, was referring to the township building department that his firm was hired to straighten out. Carlisle Wortman had been working at the township since May.
“We’re not here to take advantage of the residents,” he said. “We’re here to help.”
He said this after two of the people who had got up for public comment told of how much money and lost time it has cost them to deal with the township in trying to build their dream homes. The third speaker spoke of all the money his son is being charged for damage to a rental unit that had been flooded.
All three said this was the first time they have ever spoken at a governmental meeting.
April Flores said they used their life savings to buy property at the corner of Sherwood and Judd in October of 2024, planning to build their dream home and retire there. They went step by step, trying to do everything right.
They got a perk test for a septic field and that was OKed. In June they got a building permit to build a barn first and they wanted the water tap that was on their permit. The township wouldn’t give them an answer on their water tap. In August they finally got their water and the holding tank for the barn that was approved by the county.
She said while Diversified was putting in their water tap a township ordinance officer showed up and said they had an illegal septic tank. She said she told him it was a holding tank for the barn and it was approved by the county.
Flores said on Sept. 4 she got an email from “Abby” at the building department. She tried to find out Abby’s title, but Abby wouldn’t tell. The letter said they wanted to see her county right of way permit and her septic permit. The ordinance officer came out and began to take pictures. She said that was making her uneasy so she asked him to leave.
She was given the name of someone at EGLE (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) and so she called him and he told her he was in the enforcement department for when people build on wetlands. The township had sent a complaint to him about her property.
She said she eventually was told EGLE was not concerned about her property. That was after she had spent $3,000 of her hard-earned money to get a delineation of the wetlands in her area and paid $1,000 to EGLE for a study. She told the board she finally got their house permit last week. She said they can’t pour cement or the porches until the spring because of the delay.
“Welcome to Sumpter Township,” she concluded.
Strong said this was the first he’d heard of this and he offered to meet with her and get her project on track.
It was said Sumpter Township complained about eight people to EGLE.
“It cost us $4,000 we didn’t have to pay,” said the husband of the first speaker.
Trustee Tim Rush said Sumpter Township doesn’t have anything to do with a septic tank and it’s all under Wayne County.
Strong said he doesn’t know who complained and, “We don’t complain.”
Trustee Matthew Oddy said in a meeting with EGLE the township was told to ensure they aren’t letting people build on wetlands. He said there may have been confusion and if it looks like there were wetlands on the properties the township may have called.
Trustee Oddy said Carlisle Wortman took over the building department in May to try to improve conditions.
Oddy said building inspector Chris Brinkmeier approved her barn, but, “We do not allow barns to be built before houses.” Oddy said she should talk to the township manager for follow up.
Oddy said with the change over there were hiccups and this was “obviously one of the hiccups.”
The second speaker was Jacob Woodring, a brand-new resident of Sumpter, who was using his hard-earned savings to build the family’s first new home. He said he reached out to EGLE, because he deals with them in his job, and hired a flood plain consultant for a delineator, spending thousands of dollars.
He said he knows a large portion of Sumpter Township is in floodplain.
Woodring said his project was put on hold by the township because he was told the new ordinance said you can’t build in a floodplain. He said he looked in the ordinances on line for the ordinance and he can’t find it.
He pushed EGLE to see if he needed a permit for his building and it would take 30 to 90 days to get an answer. He hired a wetland consultant and then hired a floodplain consultant and in one and a half hours, the floodplain consultant found a letter from EGLE saying that property does not need a permit. The letter had been sent to the township months previously.
Woodring said he spent $1,200 to hire an individual as a floodplain consultant, using his life savings to do so, and the letter was already done and had been sent to the township and should have been on file.
The township’s reasoning was that “We were in a turnover phase” and that is a cop out, he said.
He said his family was moving into this township and trying to build and the township held them back.
Trying to move to Sumpter “has been a burden,” he said.
He said the letter was issued in May 2025 to the prior property owner and copied to the township by email. He said he feels he should be reimbursed by the township.
“We want people to move here and build here,” Oddy said, referring again to a few hiccups. He said this is the first time he has heard of the problems.
Woodring said it’s the job of the township officials to be accountable and not make excuses.
Clerk Donald LaPorte said his job is to be in charge of all the township documents and he would like to know how the letter came here and to whom it was sent. He said this is the first time he heard about this.
Woodring said he has the letter and a copy was sent to the Sumpter Township Building Department.
“If we’re responsible, you should be reimbursed,” said supervisor Tim Bowman.
Woodring said they are responsible and it was found with the property parcel number.
Strong said building in a floodplain is in state law. He said Carlisle Wortman got away from paper files and now with the click of a mouse you can get information on properties.
The third speaker told the problems his son has after renting a house on Reid Street. He said there had been a water leak and he was sent $2,300 in sewage fees when none of that leakage went into the sewage, but only into the crawl space. He said his son’s last bill was $5,500 and he has paid $4,583. There was some confusion about the exact numbers and Oddy suggested he sit down with the township manager again to get it all straightened out.