Courier-Leader photos/Paul Garrod
By Paul Garrod
Staff Writer
ALMENA TWP. – With no contact from the Almena Township supervisor to the Almena Township Board since early last December, the Almena Township Board at its Wednesday, Feb. 21, meeting, approved a resolution requesting his resignation.
In the resolution, the township board said Supervisor Bill VanTassel “is not available to the public, is refusing contact from fellow Board of Trustees, has failed to make contingency plans with his newly appointed deputy, is not preparing monthly agenda or board packets, is not attending budget meetings, has not prepared the budget, and is not attending monthly board meetings.”
During the January township meeting, the board shared that Almena Township Trustees Tim Kloosterman and Joe Leduc tried to contact Supervisor VanTassel and were told he was unavailable for phone calls/conversations or visits. Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Loren Tarner reported that he had spoken by phone with VanTassel regarding a blight complaint at the supervisor’s property.
At Wednesday night’s meeting, the board filled in the empty agenda with items that needed to be addressed that evening. Township Clerk Sandra Rickli asked Board Trustee Kelly Redmond to chair the meeting in VanTassel’s absence. Redmond also did the same at the board’s January meeting.
Redmond told the board and others in the audience, “According to state law and the statutory duties, a supervisor doesn’t have to be in the office.”
Former Almena Township Treasurer Wayne Nelson, who attended the meeting as a Van Buren County Road Commissioner, said of VanTassel’s absence, “It’s causing a potential quorum problem.”
The board was to send out the letter to VanTassel by certified mail on Thursday, Feb. 22.
In another area, the board accepted a resignation letter from Treasurer Geoff Moffat, effective March 1.
In the letter dated Feb. 12, Moffat said, “It is with extreme misgivings that I tender my resignation as Almena Township treasurer, however, recent and ongoing health issues in my family take priority and make this action necessary.”
He concluded, “I have truly enjoyed my service to the citizens of Almena Township and wish to you all the best in your future to our township.”
Former Almena Township Trustee Mark Roman was appointed to fill the remainder of Moffat’s term, which expires in November.