Jimmie Miller Named Citizen of the Year at Brevort Township
By Paul Gingras

Jimmie Miller is Brevort Township's citizen of the year. Mr. Miller strives to improve the Brevort Lake fishery and to provide fishing opportunities for children throughout the area. He is pictured here at the township's annual meeting Saturday, March 29.

"Helping our youngsters, guiding them, and giving them our heritage," is what drives Jimmie Miller to protect the resources of Brevort Lake, he said in response to being named citizen of the year for Brevort Township Saturday, March 29, at the township's annual meeting. "That," he noted, "is what it is all about."

Mr. Miller was honored for his commitment to promote fishing on Brevort Lake and for his continued efforts as a volunteer steward of the lake.

"This is a guy who has not just taken on one project and done it. he has come back year after year," said township Supervisor Ed Serwach.

Helping kids become good sportsmen includes ensuring that they have good places to fish, Mr. Miller said. To that end, he has been persistent in his efforts to control double-crested cormorants on Brevort Lake, as co-manager of cormorant control for the Straits Area Sportsmen's Club, and he has helped create fish cribs on the lake bottom to provide safe havens for fish to breed.

As a member of the Brevort Township Community Foundation, Mr. Miller helped to host the first Brevort Lake Walleye Derby last year. The second will be May 31 this year, he announced. The foundation hosted the first Brevort Lake Ice Fishing Jamboree in mid- February. Both are intended to be annual events, he told The St. Ignace News.

Mr. Miller also volunteers for Kids Fishing Day at Castle Rock Ponds on the Hiawatha National Forest, and serves as treasurer for the revived Straits Area Shooters Association, which will soon be taking in new members.

"It seems like many people deserve it more, but I appreciate it very much," Mr. Miller said of the citizen of the year honor.

In 2007, Rosemary Irwin was Brevort Township's citizen of the year. She was preceded by Don Lugering in 2006.

The township board expects to take in $397,516 this year and to spend the same amount. Last year, the township budgeted $411,900. The revenue drop is owning less state money and completion of projects that received grants, Mr. Serwach reported.

Expenditures for most items stayed the same or were reduced, compared to last year.

Regular salaries for board members and employees remained the same as last year, but the clerk and treasurer will each receive a separate $1,200, for work associated with the sewer system, including paying bills, depositing funds, and issuing payroll funds, Mr. Serwach said.

Anticipating lower ambulance costs, the township reduced its planned contribution to Allied EMS from $16,800 last year to $13,500 this year.

Mr. Serwach pointed out a large difference in the fire department's equipment and maintenance budget, which was $29,514.91 last year and $3,000 this year. Last year's expenditure reflects a $25,000 payment for a firetruck.

The board budgeted $3,700 for legal fees, however, "hopefully, we do not need to spend anywhere near that," Mr. Serwach said, noting that the township allocated the same amount in 2007, anticipating litigation with Enbridge Energy, and spent only $370 on legal fees.

To help sportsmen control the cormorant population on Brevort Lake, the board budgeted $5,000. The township does not anticipate spending that amount but wants to have money on hand, if the Straits Area Sportsmen need assistance. Leftover funds will be saved for next year, Mr. Serwach added.

Mr. Miller said the sportsmen are likely to request assistance this year, owing to higher gas prices.

The birds have adapted to harassment strategies and are not staying near the bays where sportsmen staged lethal shooting and pyrotechnic harassment practices in past years.

Sportsmen are likely to continue chasing the birds in boats, a costly method, he said.

One thousand dollars is in the budget for continuing improvements to Brevort Township Cemetery, including new fencing, lights, door locks, and gravel.

This is down $1,000 from last year, when the township renovated the cemetery building. All of the funding was provided by donations from area residents, Mr. Serwach said.

The municipal playground will be improved with a $1,000 grant from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which is listed in the budget.

Spending on fuel oil to heat the community center will drop from $4,000 to $3,000 this year. In 2007, the township took advantage of a pre-buy program, which allowed it to buy more fuel than it needed, for a low cost. With fuel left over, the township will need to purchase less this year, Mr. Serwach said.

With the municipal master plan completed, expenditures for the planning commission will drop to $1,000 this year, compared to $5,400 last year, when the commission required more meetings, supplies, and time for research.

The finished master plan also means the township will spend less on zoning. It has set aside $1,000 for zoning, compared to $2,000 last year.

With elections coming, the board budgeted $3,000 for retirement expenditures, compared to $1,300 last year. A board member who retires, or is defeated in the election, may want to draw from the retirement fund, Mr. Serwach said.

Brevort Township's desire to use its own equipment for much of its snowplowing next winter is reflected in the budget; $500 is set aside for snowplowing this year, compared to $2,000 last year, when the board planned to hire a plowing service.

Hoping for lower costs this year, Mr. Serwach reduced the budget for municipal insurance to $4,000. Last year, the township budgeted $5,500.

Mr. Serwach reminded the public that budgets are constantly being changed. Planned expenditures are not set in stone, he said.

Reflecting the federal standard, mileage reimbursement for employees and board members was increased from 32¢ to 51¢ a mile.

First National Bank of St. Ignace will remain the township's municipal depository.

Charles Brown will remain township attorney. Anderson, Tackman, and Company of Kincheloe will remain the township's auditing company.

Spring clean-up will be June 7.

Township meetings will remain the first Tuesday of each month, at 7 p.m.