BY SCOTT SULLIVAN EDITOR
Saugatuck Township is once again seeking a new manager after the board and Joe Frey agreed mutually to part ways.
The move was announced by the board as “personnel matter” on its Jan. 12 meeting agenda, almost a year to the day after Frey, 27, began working at hall.
Hired on an interim basis Jan. 13, 2021 and made fulltime manager March 30 for a $70,000 salary, Frey was the fourth person to hold that post since a November 2018 recall election brought in four new members that prompted the resignation of Aaron Sheridan.
Griffin Graham served as township manager to generally rave reviews from July 2019 until resigning January last year to become assistant city manager in South Haven.
Natalie Dean replaced Sheridan as manager and was also zoning administrator for three months from January through April 2019 before resigning due to disagreements between the board on agendas for the township.
Before starting at the township, Frey served as Blissfield Village Administrator for one year and a one year as Beaverton and Gladwin Community Development Consultant with help from a Project Rising Tide Fellowship.
He worked from 2013 to 2016 as site manager for the Isabella County Commission on Aging in Mt. Pleasant, and from 2007 to 2013 as team leader for Frey’s Landcare and Snowplowing based in Grant.
“The board wishes Joe all the best in the future,” township treasurer Jon Helmrich said.