Township board members briefed on raid leading to arrest of individuals, recovery of stolen items

Local Government Meetings

New Buffalo Times

Democracy Requires Transparency

CITY OF NEW BUFFALO JOHN HUMPHREY, MAYOR CITY COUNCIL LOU O’DONNELL, IV. MARK ROBERTSON, JOHN HUMPHREY, ROGER LIJESKI, BRIAN FLANAGAN City Council meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 6:30PM CITY OF NEW BUFFALO PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS to be determined NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP BOARD PETE RAHM, MICHELLE HEIT, JUDY H. ZABICKI, PATTY IAZZETTO, JACK ROGERS Board meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at 7PM NEW BUFFALO TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM

NEW BUFFALO AREA SCHOOLS BOARD CHUCK HEIT, PRESIDENT HEATHER BLACK, VICE PRESIDENT JOHN HASKINS, TREASURER LISA WERNER, SECRETARY JOYCE LANTZ, TRUSTEE FRANK MARGRO, TRUSTEE PATRICIA NEWSTON, TRUSTEE CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP BOARD DAVID BUNTE, PAULA DUDIAK, LIZ RETTIG, RICHARD SULLIVAN, BILL MARSKE Chikaming Board meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 6:30PM CHIKAMING TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION Meets on the 1st Wednesday of each month at 6:30PM THREE OAKS THREE OAKS TOWNSHIP BOARD Meets on the 2nd Monday of each month at 7PM VILLAGE OF THREE OAKS BOARD Meets on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 7PM GRAND BEACH VILLAGE OF GRAND BEACH COUNCIL Meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 7PM MICHIANA VILLAGE OF MICHIANA COUNCIL Meets on the 2nd Friday of each month at 1PM

Township board members briefed on raid leading to arrest of individuals, recovery of stolen items

Members of the New Buffalo Township Board heard an update on a search warrant that led to the arrest of individuals and the recovery of stolen items on El Dorado Boulevard at their rescheduled Thursday, Dec. 16, meeting.

Lt. Ryan Sullivan of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Patrol said that recently, the multijurisdictional narcotics team, Southwest Enforcement Team (SWET), assisted deputies from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department as well as the New Buffalo Township patrol of the Sheriff’s Department with a search warrant on El Dorado Boulevard.

For over a month and a half, the township patrol had had ongoing issues with the residence on El Dorado Boulevard. Between Oct. 27 and Dec. 9. the sheriff’s department had “somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen or more separate incidents resulting in contact with at least 12 individuals suspected of, charged or arrested for various crimes,” Sullivan said.

Currently, the sheriff’s department has been “involved in the arrest and detention of several of these individuals on 16 felonies and two misdemeanors,” he said, adding that “at least eight additional felony charges and one misdemeanor charge are currently being sought in relation to these individuals as well.”

He added that individuals from this residence are also related to a fatal crash that occurred in Chikaming Township Nov. 27,” which “resulted in an individual

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA being charged with vehicular-related homicide with the Chikaming Township Police Department.”

Hundreds of tools and miscellaneous items have been recovered from the residence and from multiple vehicles involved in related traffic stops.

“Thus far, three victims of break-ins and larcenies have been reunited with their stolen property,” he said, adding that the victims are from La Porte and Michigan City.

Sullivan said he suspects that a lot of other break-ins and larcenies are related to some of these individuals, but he “doesn’t know if we’ll ever be able to formally make that tie in some of the cases unfortunately.”

“This overall situation and the law enforcement response is a testament to the value of having deputies who are familiar with the needs and the norms of the community that they patrol as well as the availability of additional resources that can be brought from a larger sheriff’s department when needed,” he said.

In a 3-0 vote (Patty Iazzetto and Judy Zabicki were absent), board members approved the 13th payment to the Public Safety Building Project in the amount of $24,942.90.

Board members adopted resolution for Public Act 152. Township supervisor Michelle Heit said the resolution exempts the township from the act so they can contribute to employees’ health savings accounts.

The following reappointments were approved: Pano Arvanitis, Steve Necsi and Carol Schmidt to the Planning Commission for terms expiring Dec. 31, 2024; Traci Lauricella, Susan Rogers, and Ron Oselka to the Zoning Board of Appeals for terms ending Dec. 31, 2024; Chad Butler, Ed Carpenter and Mary NyKamp to the Construction Board of Appeals for terms ending Dec. 31, 2023; and Kurt Hauseman and Bradley Griffith to the Corridor Improvement Authority for terms ending Dec. 31, 2025.

A quote from Advanced Property Management Services for landscaping maintenance in the Union Pier corridor area, Township Hall and the Public Safety Building was approved.

Board members approved hiring David LeRoy as the township hearing officer at the following costs: prehearing site visit, $50 plus mileage and hearing, $100 for the first hour and $25 for an additional 15 minutes plus mileage.

Upon recommendation from the employee committee, board members approved the time off policy for full-time employees in a 2-1 vote (Jack Rogers was the dissenting vote), which Heit said states employees get 60 days banked time off (12 weeks) and a maximum payout of 30 days (six weeks).

The purchase of two trucks – one for the water department and one for the parks department – from Three Oaks Ford for a cost not to exceed $28,000 was approved.