FAIRGROVE TWP. — Fairgrove Township officials are getting raises in the 2022-23 fiscal year, which began April 1.
The new township budget, approved March 21, increases the pay for Supervisor Keith Aeder to $12,935 a year, clerk Katie Gebhardt to $16,384 a year, treasurer Sarah Donovan to $12,935 a year, and trustees Dennis Hadeway and Justin Edwards to $164 per meeting.
The budget also raised the pay for board of review members to $21.75 per hour; the planning commission and zoning board of appeals to $63.50 per meeting, with the chair and secretary getting $79.50 per meeting. Zoning administrator Bruce Turner will get $164 per meeting. The deputies for the supervisor, clerk and treasurer will get $16.50 per hour.
In addition, any township board member attending meetings related to Fairgrove Township business, including virtual meetings, will get $59 per meeting.
All of this comes out of a budget calling for revenues of $847,000 and expenses of $1,502,420, a shortage of $654,920. That shortfall will be covered by the township’s savings, which was estimated at $2.3 million.
The big reason for the imbalance is Dutcher Road. The township has set aside $1 million to repave Dutcher Road west of M-24.
That project will be delayed by 30 days after Tuscola County Road Commission engineer Brent Dankert reviewed the engineering provided by RS Scott Associates of Alpena. The road commission has hired Spicer Group of Saginaw to reengineer to simplify the design, a move that could save the township some money.
The plans called for repaving all three miles but a road commission estimate put paving the eastern-most two miles at $290,000 apiece, while the final mile would cost about $1 million.
That third mile is the most expensive for a reason. Road commission officials were calling for the township to move the ditch over from one side of the road to the other. One option on offer is to pave from a major culvert east to M-24 and upgrade the rest of the road. But then the township would need to warn drivers about the curve, the end of the pavement and such in order to make that change safe.
The board also approved a new contract with the village of Akron for police protection, at a cost of $32,261 for the new budget year. That contract approval depends on the review by the township’s attorney.
The board also:
■ Learned Matthew Phelps and Rebecca Green want to buy the old Fairgrove Bank building and turn it into a coffee shop. Hadeway is going to take the pair on a tour of the building.
■ Learned a water leak has developed near the cemetery on Slack Road. And Slack Road also needs improvement, so the township plans to ask the village of Fairgrove if the township can apply some new gravel to the road.
■ Approved a permit for a 60-by-120-foot pole barn at 3168 W. Gilford Road.
■ Approved a Public Act 1116 farmland preservation agreement with Dennis Ackerman.
■ Will have some crushed limestone added to the intersection of Van Geisen and Ringle roads.
