Dorr Township maintenance supervisor’s job may be filled

The Dorr Township Board Thursday night agreed to offer the maintenance supervisor’s position to Randy Grantham at a pay rate of $18 per hour.

Grantham succeeds Jarrod Simon, who resigned after the board refused to pay him $21 per hour.

Trustees John Tuinstra and Terri Rios and Clerk Debbie Sewers conducted a full day of interviews of eight candidates last Friday before deciding on Grantham.

“I was amazed at the talent we had come in,” Rios remarked.

Besides the pay, the new supervisor will get health care, something Simon did not get because he had veterans’ insurance.

The board also agreed to increase the pay of current maintenance assistant Ed Justice, from $12 to $14 per hour and hired Lance Bouwman as a part-time assistant maintenance person.

In other business at Thursday night’s meeting, the board:

• Agreed to absorb the cost of repairing the “spongy” floor in the back portion of the Then & Now Historical Library building, but made no decision on granting assurances the building will be available to the non-profit service for the next 10 years.

The Township Board may want to sell the building or perhaps use it for offices if expansion of the township hall is necessary.

Tuinstra said he’d like to encourage Then & Now to seek financial help from other municipalities since the library serves more than Dorr Township.

“The building is too valuable to tie up for 10 years,” he commented.

Sewers said she noticed the tanning building on 142^nd Avenue is available and suggested it be considered as an option for expansion of township offices.

• Approved the recommendation of the Planning Commission to rezone three parcels on 14^th Street from agricultural to rural estates.
• Agreed to hire Williams & Works for professional services in updating the master plan, though Tuinstra suggested hiring someone for $25 an hour. Cost will be between $9,000 and $13,000.
• Noted the cost of paving roads next year will be $512,000.
• Approved payroll on a 5-1 vote, with Rios dissenting because, “I don’t think we need to be paying overtime on every paycheck for the office manager.”