Despite opposition from many members of the public, the Leland Township board voted 4-1 to eliminate the full-time township maintenance position at its regular meeting Monday night, with treasurer Shirley Garthe being the one opposing vote.
Ken Hagstrom served in the maintenance position for 29 years, performing a wide range of maintenance and custodial duties for all township property and buildings. Township Supervisor Clint Mitchell said that talks about the position and cost effective savings began last year as they were going into the budget, noting that they had to scramble a bit to maintain the parks when Hagstrom was unable to work in 2023. At the direction of the board, Mitchell said they budgeted and looked at other companies that could do the work of the current maintenance job, weighing what the cost comparisons would be and if potential companies would be able to handle the work load of all the parks and additional projects.
According to the projected maintenance cost comparison for the fiscal year 2024, the maintenance position salary is $43,680, but with other add-ons such as healthcare, gas, diesel, fuel, and supplies, a phone, and pension, the total estimate to fund the position is $73,760. The projected cost comparisons also looked at outsourced mowing estimates from various businesses at different township locations. It was determined that the total township estimated savings, if the position was eliminated and maintenance work was outsourced, would be $40,310.
Garthe, the opposing vote to the elimination of the position, questioned during the meeting the effectiveness of outsourcing work, noting how Hagstrom’s work ethic will be hard to replace and find among other companies.
“I don’t think it should be all about the money anyway, but I feel this is a valuable position for the township and for our parks, and I never received a call from anybody saying ‘we want less for our parks’ in all the years I’ve been with the township,” Garthe said.
In November, Mitchell said he met with Hagstrom to discuss the future of the position, but that he had no interest in part-time or seasonal employment. The elimination of the job, which goes into effect April 1, will allow Hagstrom to continue to be paid for the next few months, but Mitchell said they “want to do right by Ken,” and give him the option to choose a lump sum severance package if he is interested.
“We absolutely appreciate Ken’s service to the township; no one took this decision lightly… Ken’s inability to manage the physical duties of the job for a year forced us to consider alternatives. When we did that, compared to what we spend in-house, the numbers were too big to ignore,” Mitchell said. “A cost difference every year of $30,000 to $40,000 is a playground, a basketball court, pickleball courts, resurfaced roads. Ken had no interest in moving to seasonal employment from full-time, and I respect that. But we have a responsibility to the taxpayers. For four-plus months of the year, we just don’t have that much for him to do.”
Township clerk Lisa Brookfield echoed Mitchell’s comments that while there are savings in outsourcing the work going forward, they are understanding of the fact that Hagstrom has been a township employee for over 20 years and that a solution, whether it is in the form of a severance package or something else, has always been part of the conversation.
“I think for me, that’s the most important thing, how do we make that work for Ken. It would be important for me that the board have some kind of conversation in private with Ken because we are really restricted by what we can say in public…” Brookfield said at the meeting. “We had a lot of thought go into this and talked about it in great detail in our budget workshops last year, so I don’t make the decision lightly, but what is important to me is that we take care of our employee.”
Leland township parks and recreation commission chair Tim Zywicki voiced concerns about the position elimination on behalf of the committee, explaining that they do not agree with the perceived cost savings that were presented.
“We believe this calculation does not account for several unanticipated costs, some of these include additional mowing, emptying trash receptacles around the township… All this stuff takes time that’s going to be hard to get outside people to do. It’s hard for us to consider eliminating the position when we’re hoping to grow the parks, it’s already understaffed,” Zywicki said.
“I just want to make sure that you realize all of the little things that he (Hagstrom) did on his own to maintain things, especially on this property, I would see it all the time, he would always go over and above that, and I don’t think you’re going to get that from a contracted company,” said Leland Township Library Director Mark Morton during public comment.
Former Leland Township Supervisor Cal Little was present and expressed his disappointment in the board’s decision as well, adding that management has an obligation to “step up to the task of coordinating the employee’s performance” and expectations of the job if they feel that the person is not meeting that.
“I hope the township has the foresight and planning to assign an individual to be responsible for scheduling these outsourced services, they come at all hours of the day and night, and someone has to be on top of that,” Little said. “Also I think we have to recognize that our township is a tourist destination, the appearance of it, the neatness of it… it’s an important asset and I don’t know how much money you can put on that as a value.”
