TRAVERSE CITY -- Peninsula Township's long-serving supervisor wants a little help to manage the Grand Traverse County community.
Rob Manigold, supervisor since 1988, asked the township board to consider creating a township manager's position to handle day-to-day duties, in lieu of a full-time planner.
Planner Gordon Hayward retires at year's end.
But a board majority called a temporary halt to the hiring process amid dire warnings of more cuts in state revenue sharing and a slump in township development.
"We've just been struggling with this planner thing. It's been driving us nuts," Manigold said. "Do we hire a guy and then we can't afford to pay him?"
A committee interviewed four candidates and recommended the township board meet with Daniel Leonard, an assistant planner for Clinton County, just north of Lansing.
Revenue sharing cuts trouble Manigold, who worries the state may cover future funding obligations in IOUs. He cited California as an example of a state that issues IOUs.
California printed over 450,000 IOUs worth $2.6 billion from July to September to cover payments to some county agencies, vendors and for tax refunds.
"What happens when (Michigan) says they owe money to you, but they don't have it?" Manigold said. "That's what scares me."
The board held a flurry of special meetings recently and ultimately resolved the issue on Nov. 4 to keep the township planner a full-time position.
Trustee Penny Rosi, a member of the planning commission, said the township is implementing a new master plan that will require a full-time planner.
"The Peninsula Township residents expect that we have someone there full time, not just two days a week," Rosi said.
A program that administers the township's development rights purchasing also will revert to the planner's plate when a contract with the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy expires next year.
But Manigold still wants the board to consider creating a township manager position to oversee some new programs and projects. He's suggested the board assign those responsibilities to Wendy Witkop, the township's office manager.
The board assigned a committee of four township trustees to review township operations and the role a manager would play.
"There's certainly enough work for a manager, but if we have to hire another person, that's another economic consideration, too," Rosi said. "We have to be fiscally responsible."
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