Sumpter board discusses charging mobile home parks for services

At the May 9 meeting of the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees, Public Safety Director/Police Chief Eric Luke gave his monthly police report and pointed out there was an 82% increase in call volume between 2020 and now.
He said the fire department also had an increase.
Director Luke said the township needs to take steps now to provide for this because the volume will continue to climb.
He said with the sharp increase in mobile homes in the community, he thought they might get more people who are interested in serving in the police or fire departments, but that hasn’t been the case.
Luke said every police department in the state is hiring right now.
He said he and township attorney Rob Young met with the 34th District Court, which is restarting community service sentences.
“We will get a group, with no supervisor, to work here,” he said, adding they told the court they want a standing order every week. He said they would try that for a while. Luke said just Sumpter and Van Buren Township are using this right now. He said the first day was supposed to be May 10.
Supervisor Tim Bowman asked if the township police patrol the mobile home parks and he was told they do. He asked if the residents of the mobile home parks are residents and he was told they are.
Supervisor Bowman said the township is spending money to go in to patrol there when the services could be supplied elsewhere in the township.
“Our tax money patrols their business. Is that right?” he asked. “Doesn’t seem right. Privately owned communities.” He asked if police wrote speeding tickets and Luke said yes, they did and the state law is 15 mph in a mobile home park.
Bowman said some mobile home communities have their own security to protect their private property. He said he was against using tax money to protect these private businesses.
Luke said the mobile home parks are like apartment complexes spread out. He said five to seven years ago the units in the parks were privately owned, but now they can be leased out.
“We have to continue to patrol,” Luke said. “It’s no different than apartment complexes.” He said that private security can’t get involved with civil matters and domestic violence.
Bowman asked if police patrolled the private drives all over the township and Luke said they don’t cruise them, but they go down there.
Bowman said it seems like private security should be used and then the township wouldn’t have to patrol as much.
Trustee Peggy Morgan said they have security at Rawsonville Woods, where she lives, but they are only allowed to do so much. They are not police.
Trustee Matthew Oddy said a lot of areas are going to camera systems. He said mobile home residents make up 20% of the population of the Sumpter community, and only support it 3%. He said everyone should be paying the same amount for having first responders dealing with heart attacks.
“That cost should not be the burden of single-family home owners,” Trustee Oddy said. He said with mobile home parks paying just 3% of the costs, that means others pay 97%.
Trustee Don LaPorte said he put the costs in a spreadsheet for the township manager to use for union contract negotiations for the fire department. He determined how much millage they get and the number of mobile home communities.
“We need to find a level playing field,” Trustee LaPorte said.
Luke said over the past five years they have been replacing police officers, not increasing the force.
“I’m not bashing mobile homes,” he said. “I don’t know how the legislature allows this. Sumpter Township must be one with the highest amount of mobile homes.”
There are five mobile home parks in Sumpter and Rawsonville Woods, Holiday West and Holiday Woods have been greatly increasing the number of units over the past few years.
Resident Mary Ban said they should ask the state to accommodate the communities.
In other business, the board:
• Removed from the agenda a proposed contract with Lawrence M. Clarke, Inc. for $3,750 to repair line areas at the Sumpter/Willis pump station; removed recommended changes to the water/sewer shut-off and payment plan policies; and removed the proposal continuing the listing relationship with Moving the Mitten real estate under the original listing terms which expired in December;
• Approved extending the seasonal part-time DPW position to June 1;
• Adopted a proclamation designating May 15 as Peace Officers Memorial Day for Sumpter Township;
• Unanimously turned down an offer from G. Brown to purchase two acres on Willow Road owned by the township for $20,000. The property was originally listed for $31,500;
• Heard Township Administrator Anthony Burdick give updates on township business during the workshop; and
• Went into a 42-minute executive session to discuss contract negotiations with the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters, with Trustee LaPorte, a fire fighter, recused from the session. After reconvening into regular session, the board voted unanimously to approve Chief Luke to advertise for a police officer.