By Sterling McGinn
Pentland Township has hired a utilities superintendent after a long search.
The board voted at their February 11 meeting to offer the job to Shaun Reed following the resignation of longtime superintendent A. J. Downey, who took a position at the Newberry Correctional Facility last year.
During the search process, Downey agreed to continue overseeing the township’s utilities systems until a replacement was found.
Two individuals applied for the position and were both interviewed at the end of January. The board unanimously approved offering the position to Reed at the February meeting.
On a related matter, the board also voted to adopt an ordinance to offer healthcare. Township Clerk Greg Rathje told the board that the ordinance creation was required by state law for every local government that provides healthcare for employees.
When Pentland’s water system was expanded in 1997, a fulltime position was necessary.
“For 29 years, the community has been fortunate to get three superintendents in a row that had a spouse that could bring in healthcare,” said Rathje.
The board is also looking to fill the position of township treasurer after Margaret Arneth announced her intent to resign. Arneth became the treasurer in 2023.
The board received two letters of interest that night; one from resident Jeffrey Dunbar, and one from Jonathan Brown, currently a board trustee. The board decided to hold a special meeting on February 24 to interview the two applicants.
In other news, Pentland Township hopes to extend their current wastewater treatment agreement with the Village of Newberry while Pentland pursues installing a sewer lagoon system. If constructed, the lagoon, an alternative wastewater collection option, would enable Pentland to disconnect from the village’s wastewater treatment system.
Following lengthy litigation with the Village of Newberry and a settlement agreement signed in March of 2024, Pentland committed to pay the Village $6,600 per month, ending on December 31, 2026. If the system is not up and running by December 31, 2026, the village will be charging the township $7,000 per month for an additional year.
The board held a special meeting on January 20 with their attorney, who was recently hired for legal assistance for the permitting process. The board convened in closed session with the attorney and the engineer working on the lagoon project. After returning to open session, the board authorized Clerk Rathje and engineer Burton to proceed with the communication discussed in closed session.
“We were directed to send a letter to the village, we did that, and we understand the village has the letter and they are working on it,” Rathje said.
The letter will be sent to the village’s infrastructure committee.
Rahtje said the board continues to seek a permit from Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to move forward with the lagoon construction.
