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Crystal Township Board lashes out at drain commissioner
By Elisabeth Waldon
Gazette staff writer
CRYSTAL TOWNSHIP - Three months after the accidental death of Crystal Township's sewer administrator, the sewer district remains in turmoil.
Dan Eller was killed in an April 23 explosion at the Crystal Wastewater Sewer Facility. Eller's co-worker Kevin Loomis has been maintaining the district since the incident.
However, law requires a certified operator be hired. Loomis won't have a chance to become certified until May 2011.
In the meantime, Montcalm County Drain Commissioner Don Cooper has been supervising the township sewer district. He went one step further and signed a May 6 letter indicating the operating agreement in existence between his office and the township since 1978 would be terminated in 60 days and that he would take over operation of the sewer district.
The 60 days were up July 5, but the county has since granted an extension.
The Crystal Township Board recently created and unanimously approved a strongly-worded resolution addressed to the Montcalm County Board of Commissioners. The resolution accuses Cooper of making "statements and allegations which contained factual errors, were misleading and cast the Crystal Township Board in a grossly unfavorable light."
The resolution states that the township board "takes strenuous exception to many of the unfounded, unfair, inappropriate and misleading remarks" made by Cooper and "strongly objects to the unfair, unreasonable, unilateral and undemocratic method" used by Cooper.
The board is requesting that Cooper rescind his notice of termination letter.
The resolution also refers to statements Cooper made to the Board of Commissioners, including:
• Allegations that the township board misappropriated sewer funds for road improvements.
• That sewer equipment lost in the April 23 explosion was not properly insured; that the township board did not have appropriate sewer budgets or timely fiscal audits.
• That the township board paid Eller - who was fired by the previous board - full back wages when the new board re-hired Eller to avoid a lawsuit.
The resolution denies each of Cooper's allegations, noting:
• No proof has been presented regarding misappropriated sewer funds for road improvements.
• Cooper is responsible for insuring sewer equipment.
• The township board has ensured approved budgets and timely audits.
• Eller was not paid any back wages and "such a statement by the drain commissioner is false and untrue and is a slanderous statement besmirching the good name of each member of the township board."
Crystal Township Board Trustee Jerry Stone attended a recent Board of Commissioners meeting to ensure the commissioners received the resolution.
"If there's any way the Montcalm County Board of Commissioners can intercede with the drain commissioner and leave the Crystal drain alone ... we would appreciate it," Stone said.
Cooper was not at that meeting, but he told The Gazette he is concerned about how the township has been maintaining the sewer district over the years.
"I think they need to be open and transparent on the actual costs of operation and maintenance," he said. "In the last three years we had subsidized from the reserve fund to balance on actual cost. At least one year's worth of the operating budget should be in the reserve fund."
With 27 grinder pumps that have to be replaced, he is concerned about having enough money on hand.
"Earlier estimates would pretty much completely deplete that reserve fund," he said.
Cooper added that a complete procedural manual is absent for maintaining the system.
"When we lost Dan, questions came up about pumps and service areas," he said. "There's no manual or notes as to who maintains pumps or where the service area is."
Cooper said he is continuing to work with the township board and is pleased with the progress so far.
"I'd like the township to have control of their own destiny, but there have been bumps in the road, not just with this township board but with other township boards," he said. "I'd be willing to turn the sewer district back over to the township to operate, but there's going to be some oversight by a committee. How that's going to be structured still needs to be determined."
