The Clark Township Board of Trustees signed a one-year lease agreement with Smith Sanitation Thursday, April 16, to operate the Clark Township waste transfer station. The Rudyard-based sanitation company will pay the township $500 to run the facility on State Avenue in Cedarville.

The township had a net operating loss of $7,500 for the transfer station last year; revenues for the facility were $16,000 and expenditures were $23,500.

"They're going to provide the same service that we've been providing and we won't have that operating loss of $7,500," Township Treasurer Katie Carpenter said. "We're only doing it for a year to see how it goes, and we're limiting him to our rates, too; he can't up them for that year."

Bagged garbage fees will remain $3 for eight-gallon bags, $4 for 30-gallon bags, and $5 for 55-gallon bags.

Smith Sanitation will take over operations of the transfer station Friday, May 1, operating Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Mondays from noon to 4 p.m. until October 31. Days of operation will decrease to Saturdays only between November 1 and April 30, owing to seasonal residents leaving for the winter.

Since Smith Sanitation will be operating the transfer station, the township is doing away with free dump day, which will save the township an additional $2,800 to $4,500, Mrs. Carpenter said, however, she said she is encouraging the sanitation company to offer some kind of promotion to accept larger items at a discounted rate.

"What I'd like to see them do, and I think the residents would appreciate it, is set a truckload fee . . . where you could get rid of it any day that it's open rather than the one day a year that the township says, 'Bring it all here,'" she said.

Township raises cemetery

plot rates

The board approved a motion made by Clerk Mike Miller to raise cemetery plot rates at the township's three cemeteries, Cedar Cemetery on Four Mile Block, Italian Cemetery on St. Ignace Road, and Fenlon Cemetery on Chard Road. Rates will be raised from $170 to $250 for a single plot and $400 for nonresidents; from $325 to $425 for two plots and $600 for non-residents; from $600 to $850 for five plots and $1,200 for non-residents.

The rates were raised to generate more income for long-term cemetery maintenance, Mr. Miller said, including grave digging, mowing, trimming, gas, and equipment upkeep. In 2008, the township paid more than $10,000 in wages, not including additional maintenance costs. The new rates will go into effect Wednesday, July 1.

The township does offer a payment plan to residents to purchase cemetery plots.

"Our prices are very reasonable," Mr. Miller said. "These new prices, I believe, are very reasonable, too."

House to study roads

The board hired St. Ignace Township resident Oliver House as an independent contractor to study the roads in Clark Township and create a multi-year plan to prioritize which roads need repairs. Under the contract, the township will pay Mr. House $6,000 out of the township road fund to perform the service.

Mr. House, a retired Michigan Department of Transportation civil engineer, will conduct the roads survey between Friday, April 17, and August 31. He was represented at the meeting by Frank Harness of the Clark Township Road Committee.

"We're going to put together a professional plan that no one can challenge," Mr. Harness said. "We're going to improve our infrastructure with this plan, that the county would never have the time to do in 100 years."