Sumpter Twp. board unanimously turns down contract for twp. administrator

At the end of the April 12 meeting of the Sumpter Township Board of Trustees, the board voted unanimously not to approve a proposed contract for the new township administrator they had voted to hire.
Darwin McClary, who has 30 years of experience in municipal government and was selected as the top candidate by the township’s hiring committee and board at previous meetings, wished the township board well as it moves forward.
After two unrelated announcements by Clerk Esther Hurst, the meeting adjourned without further comment.
The contract item was added to the agenda at the meeting. When it came up, there were no motions.
Township attorney Rob Young said the board had passed the motion to adopt the recommendation of the hiring committee to hire McClary. He said the board said they would match other contracts and the board looked at the contract.
Young said he looked at an amended agreement and was handed another contract he wanted the board to consider.
Young said a lot of progress was made in negotiations and McClary was there at the meeting if board members wanted to ask any questions.
McClary said in his experience when you look for a manager candidate, the usual process is a committee is established and a contract established on what the community can live with and what it can’t live with.
He said he spoke with the deputy supervisor (Trustee Tim Rush) and the township attorney. McClary said he proposed changes that were not substantive, such as the severance clause for termination without cause.
“You would see my recommendation is the norm,” he said. He said some township managers have larger severance and his proposal was a six-month severance for base pay only.
He said he would be happy to talk to the deputy supervisor and supervisor.
“Is this the final contract?” Trustee Matthew Oddy, asked referring to the document they had been given.
Deputy Supervisor/Trustee Rush said McClary sent him the updated page, Section 7, and all other parts are the same.
McClary said the part that said “after the first year of employment” wasn’t necessary because his contract is indefinite and he can be fired at any time as an at-will employee. He said “one year” doesn’t make sense.
He said the final offer was marked up in green.
Trustee Oddy made a motion to consider the contract before them and all board members voted no.
That was the only public discussion on the matter. The second-place candidate in the hiring committee’s report to the board was Karen Armatis, who had worked for the township for 30 years.
In other business at the April 12 meeting, the board:
• Held a special closed-door meeting before the workshop to consider attorney/client privileged material on the Fraternal Order of Police and AFSCME union contract negotiations and then came into regular session to direct the attorney to proceed as discussed in the closed session;
• Held 30 seconds of silence before the regular board meeting started in memory of James Posegay who died earlier that day. Deputy Supervisor/Trustee Tim Rush said the board will pass a proclamation at the next board meeting in his honor. Posegay served on the Parks and Recreation Commission for more than 30 years and was an outstanding community member, Rush said;
• Heard Trustee Peggy Morgan make a statement for the record on how she disagrees with the three-minute rule for public comment recently put into practice. She said residents should be able to talk to the board about problems. “Elmer Parraghi [former supervisor] got recalled for that. I do not agreed to that,” she said. “I’m not saying anybody should be recalled, only that it gets you into more trouble than out of trouble”;
• Approved the purchase of 30 Unication G4 800Mhz dispatching pagers for the fire department at a total cost of $21,858;
• Heard a motion from Trustee Morgan to appoint the Belleville-Area Independent a the Sumpter Township Newspaper of Record, effective immediately. There was no second to the motion, so it died for lack of support. There was no discussion at this point during the regular meeting, but during the workshop session Bowman, LaPorte, and Hurst complained about what the Independent publishes;
• Approved language to add to the accounts payable policy as recommended by Finance Director Scott Holtz;
• Approved a recommendation to print and deliver the newest version of the township newsletter to be mailed out no later than May 2 at a total cost not to exceed $4,500. The newsletter committee was made up of Finance Director Scott Holtz, Anna Winter, and Karen Woodington;
• Approved Supervisor Tim Bowman’s recommendation to accept the bid from Diversified Excavating & Site Utilities in the amount of $129,368 for the site work on the township fairgrounds as detailed in the quote provided, with Trustee Morgan casting the only no vote;
• Approved on a 4-3 vote Supervisor Bowman’s recommendation to sell the township-owned property on Arkona Road to Roberto Sanchez for $100,000, with an expected project initiation no later than April 1, 2023. Voting no were Trustees Oddy, LaPorte, and Morgan. Voting yes were Trustee Rush, Treasurer Vincent Warren, Clerk Hurst, and Supervisor Bowman;
• Approved on a 4-3 vote Supervisor Bowman’s recommendation to accept the bid from Jacob Losen in the amount of $80,000 for township-owned property on Martinsville Road, with an expected project initiation no later than April 1, 2023. Voting no were Trustees Morgan, Oddy, and LaPorte;
• Tabled a resolution proposed by Rush to support the action taken by Conference of Western Wayne on the issue of Great Lakes Water Authority members paying costs for Highland Park that they didn’t incur. Oddy wanted more information on whether not paying what was billed will bring large late charges for the township;
• Approved, on a 6-1 vote with Morgan voting no, the migration of ADP to BS&A Payroll Platform Module at a project initiation cost not to exceed $14,300, effective April 18, 2022;
• Removed from the agenda a proposal by Trustee Morgan to establish the full-time deputy supervisor position with a pay rate of $27 per hour with the same benefits as provided to the two other deputies for statutory and non-statutory duties to be directed by the supervisor. Supervisor Bowman said if such a move was to be made, he should be the one to do it and he didn’t want it on the agenda. Morgan withdrew the agenda item;
• Approved fixing the Ordinance vehicle, which is a 2017 Police Interceptor, at a cost of $5,327 by Fox Auto as recommended by Public Safety Director Eric Luke. He said the vehicle needs a water pump, brake and suspension work;
• Approved giving the Treasurer’s office authority to claim some $1,300 in cash or items of value for Sumpter Township from the State of Michigan Unclaimed Property program;
• Approved going out for three bids for security measures for the supervisor’s office and to build a ramp to the board table;
• Heard resident Mary Ban speak for three minutes until the buzzer cut her off. She said the roads need attention from the county, she asked about any information on the museum, and that she supported having a Newspaper of Record residents could hold in their hands and read. She said the people are ignoring that internet “paper you use” and “We the people do have a right to know,” she said;
• Heard Clerk Hurst announce that Dawn Hadyiak has been assigned the position of payroll clerk/elections clerk, with the current AFSCME rate of clerk’s pay. She also said she needs election workers for the August and November elections and new voter ID cards are being mailed out with new polling locations; and
• Heard a presentation by Michael Berry of PFMAN on the Michigan Liquid Asset Fund, which is rated AAA. During the workshop session he said the board has to pass a resolution to apply. There were questions about the Comerica investment program and how that got dropped. Holtz said he will do background on the situation and write a memo to the board.