Sumpter Township honors veterans in Martinsville Cemetery

Sumpter Township honored veterans in Martinsville Cemetery when Finance Director Scott Holtz and Deputy Clerk Karen Armatis read the veterans’ names and basic information at the Oct. 22 township board meeting.
The meeting room lights were dimmed and pictures of the tombstones and official documents were shown on the screen at the front of the room as Holtz and Armatis called out the names.
“This is what we have found so far,” Armatis said, adding, “We thank all men or women who have served.”
Board members and members of the audience praised Armatis and Holtz for all the work they have done so far to upgrade the cemetery and for sharing the names of veterans who are there.
In other business at the 52-minute meeting on Oct. 22, the board:
• Approved advertising for bids on a 40-niche columbarium for Martinsville Cemetery. Armatis said 68% of funerals today are cremains. She said they got an expert to come out, visit the cemetery, and draw up specifications, with plans for expanding it if necessary in the future. Treasurer Bart Patterson said this columbarium will take up the space of about 29 burial plots, but it will have 20 on each side, with space for two in each, totaling 80 spaces;
• Approved advertising for bids on a columbarium foundation and a 10’x20’ concrete courtyard at Martinsville Cemetery;
• Approved using $56,995 in federal America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to reimburse the fire department account to pay for the 2024 Expedition it had purchased;
• Approved withdrawing the police department window bid from EMU Global Services due to their inability to fulfill the project;
• Approved closing the township hall from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 12 for the annual holiday luncheon. Township manager Anthony Burdick said he is buying the meats and they are open to donations from board members and others;
• Approved accepting the $38,400 bid from Pristine Roofing for the removal and replacement of the township hall roof to be paid with ARPA funds;
• Approved the proposal of Bill Kenyon for the continuing education of Sumpter Township’s Leadership Team, without explanation;
• Approved retaining attorney Randy Pentiuk for legal services to work with the township on the Republic Services landfill contract, as recommended by township attorney Rob Young. No figure was mentioned;
• Heard Clerk Esther Hurst announce that early voting for the Nov. 5 election starts on Saturday, Oct. 26. She said early voting hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays;
• Heard resident Mary Ban commend both Armatis and Holtz for the veterans’ presentation and their work on the long-neglected Martinsville Cemetery. She noted that she was told that one person buried there was born in 1775, but was not a veteran. She also noted brush is growing out of control everywhere along the roads and the roads are bumpy. She asked Clerk Hurst if the township’s election integrity is up to par, and Hurst said it is, noting they just held their public testing of the accuracy of the voting machines;
• Heard Holtz report the township just got the landfill check for August and it was $162,722.56, a reduction of just 3.73% from last year at this time. He said the landfill checks had been coming in at around 5% less than last year, so this is a step up;
• Heard township manager Burdick report that the cemetery committee had pulled together a siteplan and activities for Martinsville Cemetery. Armatis said they have a drawing of the cemetery and its roadway and gate and they will abandon the last row of sites where there are no bodies. Holtz said they have the results of ground-penetrating radar and he wanted to know how the board wanted this information to be shared with it, through a workshop or having board members attend committee meetings;
• Heard Burdick also report on spending of ARPA funds. He said they purchased a three-well stainless-steel sink for $620. The asphalt millings will be put on the parks’ roads by the end of the next week. He said the cemetery columbarium will not be paid with ARPA funds. He said the handicapped access for the front and back doors of the community center will be in place no later than Nov. 7. He said approximately 4,000 service lines have been described in the five-year plan required by EGLE, the third coat of paint has been put on the recycling bin behind township hall, and the DPW road salt that wasn’t ordered on time last summer has been ordered;
• Heard Trustee Matt Oddy report that the review of number of animals allowed per acre and slaughterhouses will be on the agenda of the next planning commission meeting on Nov. 14; and
• Heard Oddy report the fire house open house the previous Sunday was a success, with many children lining up for rides on the Gator. He also noted the recent vendor market in the community center gym was packed and another will be coming up.
Township Trustee Peggy Morgan was absent from the meeting.