Union Township manager to be announced as early as Wednesday

The search for a manager for Union Township could be complete by next Wednesday.

At a special meeting of the Charter Township of Union Board of Trustees Tuesday, the board chose candidates to interview to from a pool of 27.

“We will interview the candidates on July 20 and the public has the chance to be here,” Supervisor John Barker said. “We’ll give a couple days after the interviews to citizens for feedback and will let the public know who we want to offer the position to on July 22.”

Last Wednesday’s regular meeting was the deadline for the applications, Barker said.

Barker said that so far, Bill Baldridge, the executive search consultant from the Michigan Municipal League, had received 27 applications for the position and is hoping the public gets involved with this process.

“Within a couple weeks we will have an offer to the candidate,” Barker said.

Other business

After five months of negotiations, the board and Local 1855, Chapter 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union agreed to a contract through Dec. 31, 2011.

“It’s a fair agreement with fair compensation,” said Trustee Phil Mikus. “There was a lot of give and take on both sides.”

The contract was approved on a unanimous vote by board members after a closed session with the township’s labor attorney, Steve Schultz of Lansing.

Curbside recycling may be coming to the township.

Mikus said a proposal for curbside recycling has been discussed and information on funding and the contract will be discussed at the next meeting.

The board also unanimously approved the rezoning of property from industrial to commercial at 2266 Northway Drive.

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