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Despite potential for fireworks at the annual Amador Township meeting due to the fact that no one had filed for the open supervisor seat, Clay Larson was overwhelmingly voted as a new supervisor with 55 of the 65 votes cast.

The other write-ins to fill the seat left vacant by departing supervisor Peter Johnson were mostly solo votes for residents, but also included a vote for President Donald Trump.

Township treasurer Bob Linder was nominated and voted on to be the moderator of the evening, and everything ran smoothly. The new budget was approved, which included a proposed increase of $60,000 from $420,000 to $480,000. A majority of that raise is attributed to the Debt Service fund going from $65,000 to $115,000, which is to start paying for the new fire truck the township ordered.

The other big news from the meeting was the fact that it was Fire Chief Kevin Johnson’s first time at the podium representing the department. He took over for Jason Fredlund, who had been the fire chief for a decade. Fredlund was in attendance and was given a round of applause for his service. Johnson said he’s been a resident in the township for 19 years and has been a firefighter for 15 of those. “It’s a big responsibility and I take it very serious,” Johnson said. 

Johnson did note that calls were down considerably last year.

Dan Kaiser was on hand to keep the township abreast of Almelund Lions news, and supervisor Lin Strong, who runs the Almelund Apple Festival, said they had their best year ever. “We had a phenomenal Apple Fest,” she said. “We ran out of almost everything, which is a good thing.”

Strong, who also shared the Building and Property report, said that they recently had someone in to look at the windows in the town hall for replacement. She hadn’t gotten the quote back yet but was concerned it was going to be an “extremely high” price tag, and that they would look into getting the windows repaired rather than replaced if that was the case.

Supervisor Gene Fisk noted that the township had $10,000 for new playground equipment that is generated through a developer fee from the county. He said they were going to add new swings, handicap swings and teeter totters, among other apparatus’ at the township parks.

One resident noted that the  basketball hoop at Triangle Park was in really rough shape, and Fisk confirmed that would also be addressed with the money. “It will be a nice improvement to the parks,” he said of the money.

Near the end of the meeting, it was announced that Terri Lind, who has been the clerk for 15 years, would be retiring from the appointed post. Janine Schifsky will be taking her spot, and was at the meeting to shadow Lind and her responsibilities. The gathered crowd of about 35 thanked Lind for her time and effort.

The meeting, which was called to order at 8:15, was adjourned after just over 30 minutes at 8:48.

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