Glen Arbor Township’s board approved a $53,417.74 reconciliation refund to Empire Township for fire and emergency services at its meeting Tuesday night. During the same report, Glen Lake Fire Department Chief Bryan Ferguson told the board that July was one of the busiest months on record.
“We had 105 calls of service, and that brought the yearly tally to 346 through July 31st,” Chief Ferguson said.
The Empire refund comes from the township’s annual reconciliation of fire department costs, under which Empire pays 47% of operational expenses.
“What actually made this possible is we had a couple large capital, $250,000 capital equipment that has been pushed to this current (fiscal) year,” township supervisor Tom Laureto said. “So it made this a little easier, but we also increased the monthly payment in Empire, so hopefully they’ll be ahead of the game for the next 12 months.”
The board also agreed to replenish the department’s vehicle capital fund, which has fallen from $763,731 to $674,152.” with a $350,000 contribution this fiscal year. They plan to increase the contribution by 3% annually.
“That should ward off any surprises in the future,” Laureto said.
Residents can weigh in on the fire department’s fiscal year 2028 budget at a public hearing set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 9, at the township hall.
A request to amend a township ordinance was also discussed by the board. The ordinance in question would be changed to allow a platted lot to be split between family members who jointly own it. The current ordinance was adopted in 1998 and has been amended five times since then, yet does not clearly address this particular situation.
“Sounds like a no brainer to me,” board member Bob Hawley said.
Laureto then brought up a concern saying, “I guess the issue is when you…divide that, are you opening, in this case, lakeshore property to new construction.”
The request has been sent to the township’s attorney for review before returning to the board. The whole process is expected to take about two months before having a final answer.
During public comment, planning commission secretary Andy Dotterweich advised the board to “be very controlled when you’re in a platted subdivision on what you allow and don’t allow…You’re going to change the view of that whole area if you start allowing bigger splits.”
The board then spent some time discussing longer term financial planning and anticipated capital expenses. They reviewed several major projects from recent years, including township hall improvements, parking lot work, sport court improvements and technology upgrades, and discussed future costs of election equipment, local roads and recreation facilities.
The Glen Lake Garden Club (GLGC) requested an increase to its annual contribution from Glen Arbor Twp. for the flowers planted in 12 barrels around downtown Glen Arbor. The township has contributed $300 toward the plantings since 2012, with the Chamber of Commerce contributing an additional $300. The GLGC requested that both entities increase their contributions to $400 as plant costs have risen. The request was unanimously approved
