Sumpter election included power outage at two precincts

At her last meeting as township clerk following the Nov. 5 election, Esther Hurst told the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees that the election is yet to be certified and audited, but it went off very well, even though there were problems.
She thanked her office staff, the election workers and Police Lt. Pat Gannon for putting in extra effort when they lost power on election day at the community center gym, which housed two precincts.
Voters were asked to vote and put their ballots in a box, which was watched by Lt. Gannon, who also guarded the tabulators as they were carried across the street to township hall, and for taking the final results downtown.
The ballots were tabulated after 8 p.m. in the board room, she said.
Clerk Hurst, who was chairing the regular board meeting on Nov. 12 in the absence of Supervisor Tim Bowman, said this was her last meeting as clerk after 30 years of working for the township.
She detailed all the positions she had held over the years and said, “It has been my honor to serve.” She did not seek re-election as clerk because of her health.
Board members and township attorney Rob Young said kind words about Hurst and others who were leaving, including Trustee Peggy Morgan, who was not reelected; Deputy Clerk Karen Armatis, who has held several different positions at the township over the years; and Trustee Donald LaPorte who is switching to being clerk after election to that post.
Township manager Anthony Burdick, before he began his regular report, said Hurst “brought me in years ago and gave me a shot.”
Police Chief Eric Luke said Hurst has been at township hall for his entire 30-year career and deputy clerk Armatis has been a constant professional who helped him even when he didn’t think he needed help.
In other business at the 50-minute, Nov. 12 meeting, the board:
• Tabled the agenda item to approve the updated planning and zoning fee schedule for more information; and removed the proposed second quarter budget amendments and also an item accepting the bid of Vigilante Security to replace and monitor monthly the township facilities’ security and fire alarm systems, at $87,592.50 for installation and $971.10 for monthly monitoring;
• Approved with regret the resignation of fire fighter Jamie Krushlin, effective Oct. 29;
• Approved hosting the Conference of Western Wayne meeting on June 13, 2025;
• Approved purchasing a three-well, stainless-steel sink for the community center gym kitchen at a total cost of $619 using ARPA funds;
• Approved the holiday closure of township offices from Dec. 23 through Jan. 1, with employees using four benefit-bank days;
• Approved posting and interviewing for a seasonal, part-time DPW position for 29 hours or less per week at the AFSCME hourly rate of $23.33;
• Approved accepting the bid from Regal Construction, Inc. for $25,250 for the police department windows, paid with ARPA funds or other available funds, if required;
• Approved accepting the bid from TNT Tree Service in the amount of $5,500 for Banotai Park, paid with ARPA or other available funds, if required;
• Approved extending the temporary, part-time clerk’s office position until Jan. 28, 2025, in order to keep the staffing at three people;
• Heard resident Mary Herring ask what is being built on the southwest corner of Bemis and Sumpter roads and was told it is a drive-through car wash. She also said her friend Amy of Van Buren Township came with her to this meeting to promote a dog park in the tri-community. Herring said she was giving the board this “seed” so they could think about it and maybe in the future it would be a thing that could be done. Herring said Amy plans to go to the Van Buren Township board to suggest this, as well;
• Heard resident Mary Ban say the board still needs a workshop so people can discuss issues in the township. She said since the workshop has been eliminated, the citizens are not given a time for input on township decisions. She said the public comment comes before agenda items are discussed and people don’t know about details of the agenda items in advance. She also said she’d like to know how that corner got approved for a car wash and she can’t believe it did;
• Heard Police Chief Luke say it is a tie between Bemis/Rawsonville and Sumpter/Willow for the intersection with the most accidents for October; and
• At the end of the meeting, heard Danny who had run the gas station at the corner of Sumpter and Bemis roads for 23 years and the car lot across from Ace Hardware for almost nine years, ask the board to help him. He bought the car repair shop at 25891 Sumpter Rd. from John Chapman and he said he expects to be evicted from his car lot by the end of the month. He asked the board for permission to move his license while in the process of getting approvals so he doesn’t lose his state license. Trustee Oddy and Treasurer Patterson told him he didn’t sign in and couldn’t speak. He said he didn’t know he had to sign in. Township manager Burdick invited him to come in the next day to talk about his problem.