Sumpter Twp. board outlaws alcoholic beverages in twp. parks

At its Dec. 14 zoom meeting, the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees unanimously approved modifying the Parks & Recreation Ordinance, Section 16-32, to new language that prohibits alcoholic beverages in the township parks.
In other business, the board:
• Approved the supervisor’s reappointment of Helen Teall to the Board of Review effective Jan. 2, 2022 until Jan. 1, 2025;
• Approved paying all outstanding / processed warrants to the date of the Dec. 31, 2021 close of business with the clerk’s office sending out a list of warrants being paid to the board members;
• Approved directing the clerk’s office to take all necessary action for the purposes of BS&A accounts payable and ADP payroll activities until Jan. 12, 2022;
• Approved opening the township hall and the treasurer’s office for residents to pay taxes on Thursday, Dec. 30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
• Approved, on a 6-1 vote, moving the supervision of water billing clerk Anna Winter to the treasurer’s office due to the vacancy in the deputy supervisor position, with Trustee Morgan voting no;
• Noted the next township meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. unless a special meeting is necessary;
• Held a moment of silence in memory of Donald Swinson, known as Papa Fixit, who also kept the community in honey. He was the father of former Trustee Don Swinson;
• Discussed in its workshop session before the regular meeting whether to go back to in-person meetings in January. Attorney Rob Young said if the county doesn’t extend zoom meetings past the end of the year, the township will have to meet in open session or be in violation of the Open Meetings Act. Supervisor Tim Bowman said his wife is currently dealing with breast cancer and they are being very careful. “I will be absent until the doctor says it’s OK. A live meeting is not worth my wife’s life,” Supervisor Bowman said; and
• Discussed in its workshop session having the human resources responsibilities be done in the clerk’s office as it’s been done in the past. Oddy said that was his intention in his motion at the last meeting.