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www.newbuffalotimes.com
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022
New Buffalo Township Board hires new deputy clerk
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embers of the New Buffalo Township Board accepted, with regret, the resignation of longtime deputy clerk Kathy Butler, as well as approved the appointment of Victoria Graham as her replacement, at their rescheduled Tuesday, Feb. 22, meeting. New Buffalo Township Supervisor Michelle Heit said that Butler will be moving on as deputy clerk for the Village of Grand Beach. “She’s one of the family… It’ll be tough, but we wish her well - they’ll be lucky to have her,” she said. Board members approved appointing Graham at a rate of $19 an hour. Clerk Judy Zabicki said Graham will be a “great asset to the township.” “She’s young, she lives in the township, and she plans to be here for a long time,” she said. Board members tabled accepting a bid for a parcel located at 10270 Townline Avenue in Union Pier for next month. In September 2020, board members approved the purchase of the property from the Berrien County Treasurer for a delinquent tax amount of $4,851. An original motion, upon recommendation from Heit, called for the township to accept the highest bid for the parcel in the amount of $30,000 from Chad Gradowski; however, this motion was withdrawn. The township had received three other bids for it, one of which was from John and Susan
BY FRANCESCA SAGALA
Mackanin in the amount of $17,411.91, the third highest bid. John said neighbors as well as the president of the Gordon Beach Homeowners Association had written letters in support of them acquiring it, adding that their intent was to clean it up and make it a green space. He said that the county treasurer said Michigan Combined Law states that the law in effect in 2020 when the property was acquired still is in effect today even though it changed in 2021: “Any funds in excess of the minimum bid shall be returned to the county.” “As far as I could determine, the minimum bid was the amount that the township paid for plus $2,000 for a survey and some other expenses and anything over that does revert to the county and the township is not allowed to keep any of that; therefore, the highest bid isn’t necessarily any advantage and doesn’t provide any additional compensation to the township,” he said.
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eit said that, as stated by John, the treasurer said it seems to fall under the old act, which says they have to return “any monies we have beyond this property to the county;” however, she’s still not “super clear” on it. Heit added the county attorney looked into it and it still “doesn’t seem clear on what that date means.” Board members adopted a resolution to apply for a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Grant for some
design work to be done at the Exit 1 overpass, such as a nonmotorized path and lighting. Since the project will involve some engineering, the township will be working with the Berrien County Road Department. The 15th and 16th payments in the amount of $15,977.41 and $4,196.63, respectively, for the Public Safety Building Project were approved. The rezoning of a parcel from C-1 to R-1 low density residential to construct a private road named Driftwood Path to a service site condominium consisting of 14 single family homes sites located on Community Hall Road was approved. Board members approved Pat Donnelly, township parks director, attending the Michigan Recreation and Park Association Conference in Traverse City from March 3-6, with a $375 cost for registration and $360 for the hotel, as well as mileage and meal reimbursement. The hiring of Sam Donnelly and Benjamin Coffeen (at a rate of $15 an hour) and Mike Bombin (at $13 an hour) as seasonal park employees was approved. Zabicki, secretary of The Pokagon Fund Board of Directors, said that students and seniors can pick up applications for eye glasses, which are paid for by The Fund every two years, and that scholarship applications for college or trade school are now available for high school seniors.
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LAPORTE MOVING TO FURTHER BOLSTER POLICE DEPARTMENT
he LaPorte Police Department is assembling its own group of officers trained and equipped to safely handle the most dangerous situations. An emergency response team is another step under Mayor Tom Dermody to fully restore a once depleted force. “We’ve committed as a cornerstone that we’re going to have a safe community,” he said. Police Chief Paul Brettin said nine officers have been chosen to serve on the ERT and will start training next month. Brettin said funding is being pursued to purchase equipment like night vision goggles, ballistic vests, helmets, tear gas and wireless phones to negotiate with hostage takers and other sources of major threat. Federal grants, private donations and other sources of funding are being pursued to meet the over $100,000 startup costs. “The need is there and we’ve fallen behind on that need,” he said. Brettin said the department used to have an ERT but it was disbanded several years ago. He said equipment used by ERT’s for added protection is no longer safe to use after five years and decision makers then felt the city didn’t have the money to restock. Ever since, Brettin said the department has relied on emergency response officers from the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan City. He said the advantage of having an ERT here is quicker and guaranteed response.
Brettin said there’s always a chance outside departments won’t have adequate resources to provide at a moment’s notice if they’re experiencing their own high demand. He said officers lacking skills and tools to effectively deal with those situations would still respond but at a greater risk to themselves. “It’s a lot safer to take a trained team in there,” he said. Brettin said ERT members would also go out and arrest individuals wanted for major felonies or with history of extreme violence. Right now, Brettin said warrant sweeps in LaPorte are done by the two other local police agencies with help from the U.S. Marshal’s Office. He said more sweeps would occur in LaPorte from the department here having its own ERT to use at its discretion. “We have too many high risk warrants individuals in our community. We need to be knocking doors, knocking them in and removing people that do not want to live their lives appropriately and safely in our community,” Dermody said.
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he police department is back to having more than 40 officers after years of struggling with manpower, which dropped to nearly 30 officers more than a year ago. Significant pay raises were also given to help maintain the numbers. Brettin said the goal is to active the ERT this summer. “We got the officers who are interested. We’re just waiting for the green light,” he said.
— STAN MADDUX
