Road and Fire Dept. Issues Top Brevort Twp. Concerns
By Paul Gingras

Road and fire department issues dominated the Brevort Township Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday, September 4, at which Supervisor Ed Serwach said he would address the Mackinac County Road Commission on a number of concerns voiced by members of the township road committee. He also plans to seek clarification regarding a proposal by Moran Township, which has offered the Brevort Township Fire Department $3,000 in exchange for secondary-fireresponse services in remote areas of its municipality, such as near Ozark. Brevort Township firefighters said they need more detail regarding what Moran Township expects of them.

The board voted to accept the road committee's recommendation not to pay a $19,000 road commission bill for work done on Dukes Road, until the project is completed. The committee said the job is half finished. David Craig of the road committee also requested that Mr. Serwach obtain an itemized list of work done on Dukes.

The road committee and the public complained about poor conditions on Charles-Moran Road, which has recently received work. Mr. Serwach agreed to accept the committee's recommendation to contact the road commission and inquire whether work on Charles- Moran is finished. The public noted that the road is extremely rough and water pools in the center.

At the committee's recommendation, Mr. Serwach agreed to consult the road commission regarding the Black Point Road project. No work had been done by meeting time, Mr. Craig reported. Mr. Craig had attended recent road commission meetings and pressed the issue. He noted that Black Point has been a top road priority for the township this year. The $47,350 project includes sub-grade strengthening, drainage improvement, and aggregate surfacing.

Federal money has been allocated for the project and must be used by October, Mr. Craig said.

At public request, Mr. Serwach agreed to have the road commission re-gravel the community center parking lot and fill potholes on Christensen and Wartella roads. The township owns a gravel stockpile at the corner of Black Point and Charles-Moran roads, so costs should be low, he said.

To avoid repeatedly filling potholes on area roads with gravel, Mr. Serwach said he would inquire about having them graded. In his experience, consistently graded roads require little or no re-gravelling, he told The St. Ignace News.

In his report to the board, Mr. Craig expressed general dissatisfaction regarding road work in Brevort Township.

According to Mr. Craig, many of Brevort Township's projects have been bypassed by the road commission in favor of projects in more affluent townships.

He also called on road commission members to view area projects in progress. Mr. Craig and members of the public said they have witnessed several area projects at which road workers were present but not working, or where projects were completed unusually slowly.

Mr. Craig suggested that the township seek bids from private companies for area road projects. Mr. Serwach said he was not sure about the legality of doing so.

"The big question is, if the township hires another contractor, what happens to the relationship between the township and the road commission?'" he told The St. Ignace News.

We are witnessing "a changing of the times," he added, since in the past, the public simply accepted the work and prices as defined by the road commission. Now, the public is attempting to add more input on area projects, he said.

In other business, Mr. Serwach said he would contact Moran Township for clarification regarding its proposal to provide $3,000 to Brevort Township's fire department. Moran Township has no fire department and relies on the St. Ignace Fire Department as its primary responder. On its western border, it relies on the Hendricks Township Fire Department as a secondary responder. Moran Townshp officials say they are offering money to bolster fire departments and protect residents at the far reaches of their borders.

Area firefighters Burton Rutledge and Charles Litzner, who were present at the meeting, said the proposal was confusing because Brevort Township does not have a fire-service agreement with Moran Township. Township fire departments often maintain mutual-aid agreements, they explained, which is not possible in this case because Moran Township does not have a fire department.

The Brevort Township department responds to fires in Moran Township only when requested to do so by the St. Ignace Fire Department, Fire Chief Mark Peterson said. This is part of Brevort Township's mutual-aid agreement with the city fire department, but there is no direct agreement between Brevort and Moran townships, he added.

"I do not know what they expect of us. I have to discuss this with the board," Mr. Peterson said regarding the $3,000 proposal.

He plans to discuss the matter with Mr. Serwach and Township Clerk Susan Stelzer prior to the October board meeting, at which time the matter will be addressed, Chief Peterson told The St. Ignace News.