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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief
AMBER TOWNSHIP — Scottville Interim City Manager Clarence Goodlein attended the Amber Township Board of Trustees regular monthly meeting Monday, Feb. 24, and discussed ways the two neighboring municipalities may be able to collaborate. Goodlein suggested the city and the township could share a zoning administrator/code enforcement officer/building inspector and could also jointly contract for police services with the Mason County Sheriff’s Office.
Goodlein had previously met with Township Supervisor Tom Alway. Following that meeting Alway invited Goodlein to address the entire board.
“It’s very unaffordable for most small communities to have these positions and services,” Goodlein said. “It could cost $130,000 to $150,000 once you factor in salary and benefits plus other costs like purchasing an automobile.”
The City of Scottville currently contracts with SafeBuild, a private company, to enforce its zoning ordinance, property codes and residential rental ordinance.
Amber Township’s zoning is handled by Mason County at this time but over the past several years the township board has discussed drafting its own ordinance. The township is also part of the Mason County Junk Authority, which enforces cleaning up blighted properties.
Scottville is in the process of phasing out its police department, due to budget constraints. Once the police department is eliminated, which should happen within the next month, according to Goodlein, the city will rely on non-contracted services from Mason County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police. The city is offering its police station, located at City Hall, as a satellite station for law enforcement.
Amber Township recently entered into an agreement with the Mason County Sheriff’s Office to provide policing services in the summer season. Otherwise, it does not contract for any other law enforcement services.
Scottville’s population is 1,356 and Amber township’s population is 2,529.
Goodlein also said he and Alway discussed the future of the Scottville fire station. Both the City of Scottville and Amber Township are part of the Mason County Rural Fire Authority. Fire services for all of the city and most of Amber Township are provided by the Scottville Fire Department which is located in the city.
Under its bylaws, Rural Fire Authority member municipalities are responsible for providing stations for the seven fire departments. The Scottville station is a pole barn located in the 100 block of East Broadway Avenue. The station was built in the early 1970s and used on the construction site of the Consumers Pumped Storage Plant construction. Following construction, the city purchased the building and it was moved into Scottville. Prior to that, the city fire station had been located in city hall since its construction in 1916.
The Scottville fire station is outdated and too small for modern trucks. The department is the busiest fire department in the Rural Fire Authority and covers more population and property than the other departments. For the last several years, informal discussions have been held to move the station further west into Amber Township, reflected a better coverage of the population.
Alway said the topics are worth further conversations with the city.
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