The Leighton Township Board Thursday evening adopted the proposed general fund budget for fiscal year 2021-22, which officially begins April 1.

Estimated revenues were set at 2,239,600, with expenditures at  $ 2,401,602.

It was noted that $32,000 is being set aside for street lights, $500,000 for public safety and $100,000 for capital improvements.

The board also agreed to pay its half (with Dorr Township) for a new Ford police vehicle and equipment costing $43,603.80.

Board members also agreed to pay a 2% increase in annual subsidy to the Wayland Area Ambulance Service. Leighton in February denied a request from WAEMS to nearly double the contribution. The total now comes to $19,463.

• Approved three different bids for three different areas in lawn mowing. Heyboer‘s bid of $2,327 was accepted for Hooker Cemetery, as were Green Lake Landscaping for the Moline fire station and township hall and library and Potts for the Green Lake fires station and park. The figures for the latter two bids were not provided.
• Agreed to the bid of an undisclosed vendor for dust control services, noting that last year’s vendor, Southwest Michigan Dust Control, did not submit a bid this year.
• Agreed to postpone next month’s meeting from Thursday, April 8, to Thursday, April 15, and have the township hall remain closed April 6-8 to the public because the clerk and treasurer will be out of town to attend business-related conferences.
• Told a citizen the Allegan County Road Commission will handle a complaint about the condition of the road near Paris Ridge Elementary.
• Learned from Library Director Karen McKinnon that the local service is slowly becoming more available to the public after being limited to curbside only in January. She said the library had 953 limited visits in February.