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NILES TOWNSHIP — Concerns about the coronavirus were voiced by two parties on Monday night at the Niles Charter Township meeting. While six of the seven members of the board were present, the public space for an audience remained notably empty, leaving the gathering to an attendance of just eight people total.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lt. Ryan Sullivan of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department presented the January police report, as well as an update on how the sheriff’s department is adapting to current events.

In the January report, the department noted 351 complaints, 61 tickets issued and 47 arrests in the Niles Township. During that same time month long period, the sheriff’s department handled 1,142 complaints, issued 339 tickets and made 233 arrests across the county.

Sullivan’s update included a report that the department had recently dealt with break-ins of storage units, and included that their department had been making progress on a few of their cases.

Sullivan also addressed concerns within the department about the coronavirus, COVID-19, making changes to everyday life and interactions.

“With school being let out, it changes the dynamic for us seven days a week,” he said.

Sullivan also shared that there had been new protocols implemented when bringing anyone to the Berrien County jail, to help avoid any illness entering the jail.

“I think conversation amongst deputies is trying to limit our contact with people as much as we practically can, which obviously has limitations. If someone calls us, and we take a complaint, we’ll have to use precautions within the protocol of taking the complaint,” he said.

The meeting moved ahead from the report to its new business agenda.

One of the orders of business approved included allowing SPI Plastics to tap into the Niles Township sewer. SPI Plastics sits over the Indiana border, though infrastructure was in place that made the sewer more accessible from Niles Township.

Also Monday, Niles Township Clerk Terry Eull brought to the attention of the board members that the Greater Niles Senior Center had announced its closure, but was still operating in other ways.

“They are still doing the car rides to take people to the doctor, people are still delivering food, and they are still getting drugs from pharmacies,” Eull said. “Service is still available, and people can call, but they’re not doing their day to day activities right now. Their doors are closed.”

Eull connected the center’s decision with a proposal of his own.

“I would ask the board that starting tomorrow, once we get the paperwork drawn up, that we close the doors at the township during the day, but we have a sign out front that says we are closed for the safety of our employees,” Eull said.

Some discussion went on between the township board members about keeping business flowing as usual, but ultimately they decided to push the decision for a day or two on closing the building’s doors. At the end of the meeting, members concluded that the building would remain open and that they would continue discussing potential safety measures for the future.