Elmwood Township officials are in talks to join Cedar Area Fire and Rescue (CAFR), an emergency services department that already covers four townships in Leelanau County.
Township Supervisor Jeff Shaw and the township’s fire chief, Keith Tampa, started the conversation with CAFR some time before the Elmwood Township board’s Oct. 8 meeting. But before Elmwood can join this multi-township department, they’ll need to decide what their share of the costs will be.
“We’ll see where that discussion goes, and obviously there’s a lot of moving parts with something like that. But it would probably be the best thing for everybody in the area as far as taking care of people. The biggest thing is figuring out who pays what, and how it’s calculated, based on run volume, or population, or assessment – all that stuff,” Shaw said.
The four municipalities that are already covered by CAFR are Centerville, Cleveland, Kasson, and Solon townships. Shaw said that these four townships are roughly equal in population and assessed value and make similar amounts of emergency calls.
On the other hand, Elmwood Township has the largest population in the county, and it also has roughly three times the taxable value of any one township under the CAFR umbrella, according to the county’s recent apportionment report.
This suggests that Elmwood may call upon CAFR’s shared resources more than the other townships and should pay a greater share of the costs. Exactly how much more still needs to be determined.
Shaw said joining CAFR would improve emergency response times. Since CAFR staff are qualifi ed to provide advanced life support (ALS) assistance, Elmwood Township would no longer need to rely on agencies like Mobile Medical Response in Traverse City for more serious emergencies. As the board discussed in June, these services from other agencies are not always immediately available.
Earlier this year, the township’s fire and rescue department proposed a levy of 1.2 mills to bring in approximately $550,000 in property taxes, to upgrade to ALS. Township residents will vote on this proposal in November. Shaw said that this millage will still be on the ballot as it will be some time before Elmwood joins CAFR, assuming it will.
At the Oct. 7 meeting, the township board held a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) appeal hearing. The board considered a request from the township’s former supervisor, Jack Kelly, to disclose a January memo from township attorney Bryan Graham. Kelly tried to obtain the memo by appealing to his right as a member of the public to access government records.
The board upheld township Clerk Connie Preston’s decision to deny the request because the memo was exempt from disclosure and protected by attorneyclient privilege. Preston recused herself from a vote on the issue.
The memo that Kelly requested is connected to the board’s decision to rescind an earlier motion to remove all short-term rentals from “Greilickville neighborhoods” after speaking with attorney Graham in closed session.
In addition to this FOIA request, Kelly also sued the township for violating the Open Meetings Act, but a circuit court judge decided in August that there was no legal basis to Kelly’s allegation and granted a summary disposition, resolving the case without a trial.
Also at the October meeting, the township board: - Reached a consensus on which of three options by the firm Beckett & Raeder should be used as a basis for the final conceptual plan for Cherry Bend Park. The plan includes additional parking spaces, pickleball courts, and a link to a proposed nonmotorized trail south of Cherry Bend Road. The board contracted the firm in June for $13,000 to draft a conceptual plan, which will help them secure funding for the project.
- Authorized up to $15,000 to repair the marina’s fire suppression system. According to Harbormaster Dan Jenuwine, the fire suppression system is in violation of the county code due to disrepair to the joints in the system. The board also approved $2,200 to allow Jenuwine to attend the Docks Expo and Marina Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Renewed the township’s health insurance plan through Priority Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield. According to township documents, the total monthly premium with funding under this plan is $5,527.12.
- Approved the 2023 Grand Traverse County standard specifi cations and detail drawings, at the request of the Grand Traverse County board of public works.
- Approved a contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation where the state agrees to construct the multiuse trail mentioned above as part of roadway reconstruction and realignment work on M-72 and M-22 from west of U.S. 31 to Cherry Bend Road.
- A budget amendment moving $107,000 in APRA funds and $3,000 from the general fund to cover unforeseen costs on the Cherry Bend Road project.
- Scheduled a special meeting for Oct. 16 at 4:30 p.m. to discuss a change order on costs on phase three of the township marina project.
