Residents of Portage Township will go to the polls and vote on three millages in the August primary. At the regular meeting Tuesday, April 11, township trustees prepared the request for 0.5 mill for the next four years to fund the Curtis Library, one mill for three years to fund road projects, and one mill for the next two years to finance fire and ambulance equipment replacement. The board also discussed the increasing need for fast, reliable Internet service in the area and the construction of a new baseball field for Little League.

Portage Township owns the library building and pays the utility bills, but it has nothing to do with its operations, said Township Clerk Marcia McDonald. Curtis Library is a branch of Bayliss Public Library of Sault Ste. Marie, which also runs Les Cheneaux Community Library, Brevort Township Community Library, Drummond Island Library, and Engadine Library. The township's renewal millage will provide Bayliss with $22,000 a year for services at Curtis Library, such as buying books and paying staff.

The Portage Township board has discovered that it needs an additional one mill to handle upcoming road projects. Township Supervisor Donald Ferris is working with the Mackinac County Road Commission to establish which roads take priority, and the board passed a resolution to chip and seal Long Point Road, a project which began last year. The road will be finished this summer, provided subgrade work has been completed and sufficient funds are available, Mrs. McDonald said.

Prior to beginning the upgrade, the road had deteriorated badly, she said. In fact, when an ambulance was sent down Long Point Road during the spring thaw, the township had to send one four wheel drive vehicle ahead of it and another behind, both loaded with cables, in case it got stuck. There are many year around residents who live on Long Point Road, she added.

The board will make a plan to employ a high speed Internet service provider at the next meeting Tuesday, May 9. Township officials are having increased difficulty keeping up with their work, as more and more government agencies and other organizations rely on the Internet. The township hall has only one dial-up connection, which, according to Mrs. McDonald, requires hours to download a document. The township board sought the advice of Peter Copenhaver of the Symbios computer company in Germfask to conduct an Internet assessment Friday, April 21, to determine the township's needs. AT&T had promised to provide service by the end of the year, both for the township hall and the town of Curtis, but it appears that will not be soon enough, Mrs. McDonald said. In addition to the township

administrators, Internet access is needed by the ambulance corps, the assessor, the fire department. Program updates can take hours to download, and hog the line so that others can't use it.

"The current system is not meeting our needs," Mrs. McDonald said.

In other business, both chassis for the township's new fire trucks have been paid for, and at least one truck is expected to arrive in July, Mrs. McDonald said. The second truck will arrive next fall.

The board commended Bill Berry of Curtis for his efforts to create a new baseball field for the Little League.

The project has been going on since last fall when Fred Burton began clearing trees, said Trustee Patrick Abram.

The field will be adjacent to the softball field behind the new section of the Woodlawn Cemetery. The Little League had been playing on the field at Curtis Elementary School, but needed a new field better suited to its needs, Mrs. McDonald said.