Rutledge, Wallace Vie for Brevort Township Seat
By Paul Gingras

Burton Rutledge

Republican Burton Rutledge and Democrat Luci Wallace are competing for a seat on the Brevort Township Board of Trustees, and township residents can cast their votes Tuesday, November 7, at the township hall on Church Street in Moran, between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Mr. Rutledge, an assistant fire chief and former trustee, places the need for a new fire hall high on his agenda. The current fire hall is in poor condition, he said, and the township has been unable to convince voters to tax themselves for a new one, so he has joined a team of residents seeking other ways to pay for it. The group of firefighters proposes to use existing fire department funds and seek a grant from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. It is now gathering design and cost information, he said.

Mr. Rutledge said Brevort Township also needs a new community hall, and he supports the millage proposal to pay for it. If passed, the township will obtain a 30-year loan to build a new hall and use the millage to repay the loan.

Thirty years "seems like a long time," he said, "but that's how these things get done."

"I understand that no one wants to pay any more taxes than they're paying now," he said, so if voters turn down the proposal, Mr. Rutledge plans to continue to push for a community center and seek alternative methods to pay for it.

Roads are another major priority in the township, he added, but he does not see a problem with the current system. Projects are getting done, he said. "You can only do so much with what you've got."

Mr. Rutledge said Brevort Township will be a better place with a new fire hall, new community center, and good roads.

Luci Wallace agreed that the fire hall and community center top Brevort Township's list of pressing issues, and places communication between the board and the community as a top priority.

Poor communication has caused old plans for a new community center to be confused with updated plans that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars less, she said.

"I like the current proposal," she added. "It is much more within our reach than the last one."

Mrs. Wallace, who chairs the township's planning commission and the board of review, said there was an inch of water on the community center's floor during the last planning commission meeting, so, clearly, the big issue over the next year will be replacing the building.

"It is literally falling down around us," she said.

Keeping a new facility small is important, she noted, because it will cost less and, since unemployment is high in Brevort Township, the lower the cost, the better the chance that voters will approve the proposal.

An important step in getting projects done in Brevort Township, Mrs. Wallace added, is to get more people to attend township meetings.

"My big thing is getting people out to vote and involved in community issues," she said.

Everyone needs to participate, including younger people, because township issues also affect them, she said.

Mrs. Wallace said the board has been improving its communication with the public about township issues, and she plans to continue to increase interaction between the board and the public to get projects completed.

"The playground was a great start," she said.

For that project, Township Clerk Susan Stelzer tapped financial and human resources in the area to develop a new playground, and if the township firemen succeed in building a new fire hall, it could generate even more enthusiasm for community development, she added.

Speculating on the township's future, Mrs. Wallace said, "I wouldn't change it a whole lot. It has a close-knit, family feel. That's why I live here."

Referring to Moran, "I would like to see downtown continue to develop, as it has in the last two years," she added. "Downtown could really turn into something special, which it is well on its way to doing."

Editor's Note: No photograph was available of Mrs. Wallace.