2024 Year In Review
MORTON TOWNSHIP
2024 YEAR IN REVIEW
They say life speeds up the older you get and each year goes by faster, 2024 was no exception to this rule. It was a busy and productive year for Morton Township so allow me to summarize the year in review for you.
In case you missed it, 2024 was an election year. We had three candidates running for our two trustee positions, Yulanda Bellingar and Jeff Ratledge were able to retain their seats on the board. Our long-time treasurer, Maureen Wolfe, announced her retirement so we had two candidates running for that vacancy. Tracy Snyder was able to secure the votes needed to be elected to the position. For the next four years your Morton Township Board is as follows:
Mark R Klumpp – Supervisor Camie Courtright – Clerk
Tracy Snyder – Treasurer Yulanda Bellingar – Trustee
Jeff Ratledge – Trustee
Quality roads have always been a focus of your Morton Township Board even though they are ultimately the responsibility of the Mecosta County Road Commission. We contribute annually to ensure that our roads are of higher quality for your travel and safety. This year we chip sealed and fogged the following road sections within the township; 7-mile between 70th and 80th avenue, 60th avenue between 11 and 12 Mile, 100th avenue north of Buchanan, Buchanan between 80th and 90th avenue, and Buchanan between 105th and 120th avenue. These projects are selected based on an annual inspection conducted by the road commission that determines and ranks the quality of our roads. In total we provided $173,220 for our road improvements this year.
Recycling is another focus area for the township. The recycle center is still averaging over 200 cars per week at our facility. On the annual cleanup day we filled 7-30 yard dumpsters and 4 garbage trucks. In addition, this year we partnered with the Village of Mecosta in hosting a tire cleanup day. The assistance of the Chippewa Hills Wrestling team was greatly appreciated and contributed to the success of both events. Ice Mountain/Blue Triton Brands provided their annual $10,000 donation to assist in recycling operations. We continue to utilize our cardboard baling machines to produce a product to resell. In 2024 we produced and sold 88 cardboard bales.
Morton Township Fire and Rescue Department was down about 47 calls from last year but still responded to 705 calls in 2024. To increase our weekday response capacity, we added our first full-time fire fighter/EMT position in 2024. This allowed our station to be staffed Monday-Friday during the daytime hours, often the most difficult time for volunteer staff to respond as they have regular full-time jobs. Our 26-member department now stands at:
11 Paid-on-Call Cross-Trained Fire/Medical Personnel
9 Paid-on-Call Firefighters
4 Paid-on-Call Medical Personnel
1 Full-Time Firefighter/EMT
1 Full-Time Chief
We continue to partner with other agencies within the county to maximize resources and provide better service for our residents. Mecosta County Sheriff’s Office under the leadership of Sheriff Brian Miller replaced the inoperable Hovercraft and tow vehicle with new equipment through the marijuana funds the county received. We partnered with the Sheriff’s department to house this new equipment at our Canadian Lakes location due to our close proximity to the majority of lakes in the county. We immediately trained two of our staff members to be certified drivers of the hovercraft. Austin township continues to pay for fire/medical coverage from Morton Township by providing an annual retainer fee and then a per call fee. They further solidified this partnership at the end of 2024 by purchasing a new Can-Am off road vehicle and leasing it to Morton Township for fifteen years for $1.00. A new fueling station was created at the recycle center for the fire department that allows for 24 hour access as well as a lower cost per gallon cost of our diesel fuel. Chief Sutherby does a great job continuously writing grants that provide equipment replacement and upgrades for our department.
Building and Zoning continued to be busy in 2024. A large amount of time for both departments and their respective committees were spent on the proposed RV Resort that was eventually voted down by both the Planning Commission and Township Board. New home construction was up slightly at 27 homes in 2024 compared to 23 homes in 2023 and 26 in 2022. We split our zoning duties out from the building official and hired a part time zoning official in 2024 to allow for more focused enforcement of the numerous zoning issues we face.
The Township Board requested our legal firm to do a full review of all of our ordinances (except zoning as that will be a separate project) to ensure accuracy and alignment with any legal changes. We are currently reviewing those and will be making any needed amendments in 2025. We also hired a firm to facilitate the review and update process for both our master and recreation plans. The final versions of both will be adopted in 2025.
Finally, we continued our support of community activities in the form of $4,000 library literacy program, $2,300 Hazardous Household Waste Program, $1,200 each for Village of Mecosta Music on the River and Canadian lakes Reuther Music Pavilion.
We look forward to another successful year in 2025.
