The Martin Township Board heard a presentation Wednesday evening from Stuart Peet, raising a question about whether the Gun Lake Band of Potowatomis should have a seat on the Ambulance Board for Wayland Area Emergency Services.

Peet, who has represented Martin Township on the Ambulance Board for the past 11 years, told township officials Director Bob Hess is in negotiations with the tribe about such a membership, but he noted that some local government officials have expressed concerns. Hopkins Township Supervisor Mark Evans, for example, expressed alarm about the Gun Lake Tribe buying up land, thereby taking it off the tax rolls because it is a sovereign nation.

The Gun Lake Tribe not long ago bought the land formerly used by Mel Trotter Industries to establish the Jijak Foundation rural education event center in Hopkins Township for hosting Native American celebrations such as pow wows. The center was approved over Evans’ objections.

Another example is the Luella Collins Community Center on 126th Avenue in Shelbyville, which tribal officials have said serves as “a gathering place designed and constructed that could be utilized by tribal members and their community… designed to reflect tribal heritage and traditions and constructed in a very serene wooded area surrounded by prairie grasses and wild flowers common to the area.”

Despite the public benefits of the two land purchases, Evans has contended that the tribe’s purchases have resulted in less tax revenue for local governments because the properties are removed from the tax rolls and are regarded as non-profit.

Evans has insisted, and Peet said he concurs, that the tribe cannot accurately calculate its government contribution to the ambulance service because it serves as a non-profit that reduces state equalized valuation, which is one of the key components of determining how local townships, villages and cities share in costs.

Peet said the tribe’s casino already has an agreement in place for ambulance service.

“Eventually, they (tribal members) will have their own personnel and paramedics (just like they have their own police),” Peet said.

Peet also asked the Township Board to reimburse him for mileage to and from Ambulance Board meetings, which are held every other month, or six times a year. He requested a stipend of 56 cents per mile, the going rate established by the federal Internal Revenue Service. That would mean about $108 per year.

As board members deliberated, Peet said, “C’mon guys, I’m worth it.”

He noted that he is one of only three of the 11 original members of the Ambulance Board still serving. He said the City of Wayland’s representative, Ron Kobish, just left to take a new job on the east side of the state.

Board members told him they would take up the expense in their deliberations on the next fiscal year budget, which will take place next month.

PHOTO: Kevin Finney, director of the Jijak Foundation site in Hopkins Township, owned by the Gun Lake Tribe, points to the property on the may at a Hopkins Township Board meeting in 2013 before it finally was approved. (File Photo)