Sumpter Board decides not to give extra pay to two board members

The Sumpter Township Board of Trustees decided it wasn’t a good idea to pay two board members $500 more a month because they were working harder.
At the Feb. 14 meeting of the board, the agenda item was removed that approved paying Trustee Don LaPorte and Clerk Clarence Hoffman $500 more a month for their liaison positions. LaPorte is board liaison of the police and fire departments and Hoffman is liaison of the building department.
When resident Mary Ban asked where this idea came up to pay them extra, Supervisor John Morgan said there is a lot of work to being liaison to these departments and there is a precedent. He recalled the board approved paying the late Trustee Bill Hamm $500 a month more to serve as liaison to the building department.
“But, we decided not to do that,” Supervisor Morgan said.
Another related agenda item was also removed for consideration: Consider approval for an administrative leave from the fire department for Don LaPorte.”
Trustee LaPorte explained.
He said he thought to serve as liaison to the fire department he would have to separate himself from the fire department.
“I have a passion for going on fire calls,” said LaPorte, who said he has been doing this for roughly 11 years. He said he has spent hundreds of hours in training.
“I respectfully ask to remain on the fire department,” he said.
When the Independent asked if it was legal for him to vote on fire department matters when he was on the fire department, township attorney Rob Young said being liaison is just a matter of bringing information to the board and he could vote on fire department matters.
LaPorte said he would abstain from union contract votes.
In other business at the Feb. 14 meeting, the board:
• Approved allowing the Sumpter Seniors to use the community center without charge for a Black History celebration on Feb. 24;
• Approved the reappointment of Richard Pokerwinski to the planning commission with a term to expire July 23, 2019;
• Approved removing Esther Hurst from the Zoning Board of Appeals since she was appointed township trustee. Also approved appointing Ken Bednark to her BZA term to expire Dec. 17, 2017;
• Approved an employment contract for Maria Beaudrie, who had retired but has been coming back to help out. She can’t be paid without a contract;
• Approved the appointment of Michelle Bellingham as Human Resources Coordinator effective Feb. 27, with Bellingham leaving the union. The board directed Young to write up a contract for the position. Bellingham took five or more seminars on her own and took the Humane Resources class to prepare for this position;
• Approved CAL Plumbing to install water fill stations at ground-working level to fill the trucks at Station #1 at a cost of $1,100. LaPorte said it allows the department to fill trucks with water in the garage. They have a fill in the ceiling, 15’ up, and a fire fighter has to climb on the truck and pull a rope. This ground-level fill will be safer, he said;
• Approved Standard Operating Guideline #8243-100 for incident reports for the fire department, to make sure everything is there;
• Approved payment of $3,200.80 which is 10% of the cost for more than 1,000 feet of 4” fire hose awarded through a FEMA grant. It’s enough to completely redo an engine, LaPorte said. He said the township also has been awarded 25 fire fighter turnout gear and will pay 10% for that. That includes books, bunker gear, and helmets and is expected to last 10 years;
• Approved pay $3,319 for software from Emergency Reporting Co. for logging in fire reporting incidents to the State of Michigan. Recurring yearly costs are $2,220. The township’s current system is 10 years old;
• Approved paying $2,734.85 for six G1 Unication VHF voice pagers with stored voice for the fire department use, with a two-year warranty. They replace pagers that are 20 years old;
• After a second public hearing on the federal Community Development Block Grant Funds for 2017-18, the board adopted the use of the $73,403 in allocations, which included $11,010.45 in grass cutting and snow removal for seniors;
• After a second public hearing, approved the proposed 2017 Recreation Master Plan which is to be updated every five years. It actually lapsed a couple of years ago. The township can get federal and state recreation funding when the plan is in place;
• Learned Colleen Armatis passed all of her state fire training after five months and 276 contact hours. She now has Firefighter 1 and 2 status and is also trained in Hazmat. Her medical class starts at the end of the month;
• Heard Glenn Silvenis introduce the township’s new State Rep. Joe Bellino, R-Monroe, who has been Silvenis’ good friend for many years. Rep. Bellino said they worked together 41 years ago selling wine. Bellino stayed after the meeting to speak with constituents;
• Heard Supervisor Morgan thank LeRoy Paige for the new flag that will fly over the fire hall;
• Heard Police Chief Eric Luke report he has found Brownstown Township will be able to help Sumpter with its dogs and he will bring information to the next meeting. He said the two-year agreement will be cheaper than the previous contract with the Humane Society;
• Heard Fire Fighter Bill Simmons read his letter of retirement as a fire fighter. He said on July 24, 2007 he said he would give 10 years of service and he will retire Aug. 24, 2017;
• Heard Senior Director Mary Ann Watson report the Wayne County Nutrition program sends out frozen meals for when the Sumpter Senior Center building is closed and they have volunteers and drivers who go above and beyond to get meals to seniors. She said Wayne County has had no complaints about Sumpter Township meals, despite the letter to the editor in the Independent saying seniors didn’t get meals over the holidays;
• Heard Ronald Barrington Robinson ask about a dress code for Sumpter employees. He was told there is a dress code in the employee union contract. He said he was appalled at the attire worn in township hall. “Some dress like a hooker,” he said. Sharon Pokerwinski said she often agrees with Robinson’s comments, but she has no problem with the way the employees dress at township hall;
• Heard Jay Bardell compare employee salaries published in the Independent for the 2015 and 2016 years and found employees were listed as getting less this year than last. Bellingham said she did the salary list for the Independent this year and maybe she made a mistake. She will be glad to check her figures, she said. “We’ll check why there’s a discrepancy and give the answer at the next meeting,” said Supervisor Morgan; and
• Heard Trustee Matthew Oddy announce the township owned 58 parcels, in response to a question by Bardell at a previous meeting. Trustee Oddy said Deputy Treasurer/Supervisor Karen Armatis prepared a book 10 months ago showing the parcels owned by the township so they could work towards selling some of them. Bardell said he paid $36 to get the book through the Freedom of Information Act.