By Carol Stiffler
Portage Township resident Dawn Buckley presented several formal complaints to the Portage Township board at their November meeting, requesting a follow-up on each complaint at the board’s December meeting, which takes place on December 9.
Buckley asked the board to account for procedural failures, zoning violations, and unauthorized actions by township officials concerning a missing lawnmower and the Curtis Area Trail Association (CATA) project. A majority of the discussion centered on trees removed from the Lilac Lane property the CATA organization is leasing from the township. The trees were removed without permission, Buckley said, and in addition, funds from the sale of those trees should have been given to the township.
Township Supervisor Steve Sicinski replied that he thought the lease agreement gave CATA permission to use the land any way they liked. At Buckley’s request, he called the township’s attorney and learned that while the property can be used, nothing should have been removed from the property without township permission, and funds from the sale of the trees should be paid to the township.
Trustees Pat Abram and Edgar Holbrook issued a joint statement. “The trustees had no part in the arranging and marketing of the trees,” they affirmed. “That was all done by the lessee.”
Abram said the CATA organization is expected to be present at the township’s December 9 meeting, and will read an explanatory letter to the board.
Buckley said that following the meeting, the matter of the missing lawnmower was studied and declared to be a misunderstanding.
The News will continue to follow this story.
