By Carol Stiffler
Current Portage Township Supervisor Don Reed isn’t running for re-election this fall, opting instead to retire after completing his single term on the board.
“I’m going to be 67 here in another month and a half,” Reed said. “Not that I’m a hundred, but it’s time for me to take a hard look at retirement.”
Reed is pleased with major accomplishments the township made during his tenure, including passing the bond proposal to pave township roads and getting Curtis Public Library established as a stand-alone township library.
He’ll stay busy for the rest of his term and plans to remain involved in the community after. “I just don’t need to be way up front,” Reed said.
Reed is thankful for the support he received during his term as supervisor and hopes the board will keep an open mind going forward.
Three Republican candidates are seeking the supervisor position: former township supervisor Steve Sicinski, Laura Smith, and Eric Wiegand. The candidates are introduced below.
Steve Sicinski
Sicinski served one term as Portage Township supervisor before being unseated by Reed. After Reed decided not to run for re-election, Sicinski said he was approached by several people, including Reed, asking him to run again.
“We just want to keep moving Curtis forward,” Sicinski said.
He noted that the efforts to pave township roads spanned three supervisors – the late Tom Hoogterp, then Sicinski, then Reed. Township taxpayers were paying 3 mills back then to maintain the roads, and are now paying about 3.25 mills to cover costs to pave the roads.
“The average household went up less than $50 [in taxes],” he said. “We went from gravel to pavement for less than $50 [more] per year.”
Sicinski would like the township to increase its services, including EMS and ambulance.
“Being a rural township, it’s an important thing to have an ambulance service,” Sicinski said. “We aren’t just ambulance; we are ALS certified – advanced life support. It’s expensive, but it’s needed. More needed here than in urban areas.”
Sicinski is eager to see the two proposed fishing piers become a reality. One will be near the bridge over Portage Creek just east of Chamberlin’s Ole Forest Inn, and the other will be on Shoepac Lane.
“They’re both places where people are already fishing,” he said. “We acquired a $100,000 grant to put these piers in. That has not been completed yet. We started before I left office; five years later, we haven’t got the piers in yet. I want to finish accomplishing that.”
Laura Smith
Smith has routinely attended Portage Township meetings in recent years and declined to share comments for this article. She is the mother of Portage Township Treasurer Andrea McKeage and would not be the first local family to hold multiple township positions. In Luce County’s Columbus Township, married couple Jeannie and Kelly King served as supervisor and treasurer for years.
Eric Wiegand
Wiegand has been captain of the Portage Township EMS for eight years and also serves on the Portage Township Fire Department. He has lived in Portage Township for 33 years.
“I want to go to the board with understanding about EMS and fire and the need for it,” Wiegand said. “There’s things that we need, especially on the EMS side, that I want to pursue.”
Wiegand is continually pursuing new medics and EMTs for his department.
He said people moving to the area from more urban settings expect “different things” from the Curtis community.
“There’s been some conflicts, and I don’t want to see that,” Wiegand said. “I want to keep Curtis the way it has been.”
Wiegand thinks it’s a mistake to allow box stores to establish in the community. “I like to see the small people prosper,” he said.
He would also like to see Curtis reclaim more of its small-town feel.
“I would see it as a unique waterfront village, not something cut out of cardboard,” he said. “We’re going to see new houses get put up, which is a good thing.” Getting ahead of the potential surge in VRBO rentals is another key situation he wants to address.
“I want to bring back the hometown feeling. That would be the best thing,” he said.
