By By JOHN EBY / Niles Daily Star
CASSOPOLIS – Howard Township's police services contract with Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood survived a 9-5 vote Thursday night by the Board of Commissioners.
The minority consisted of Dowagiac Commissioner John Cureton, Minnie Warren of Pokagon Township, Charlie Arnold of Cassopolis and David Taylor and Carl Higley of Edwardsburg.
At issue is the fact that Howard Township wants to prohibit truck traffic on Barron Lake Road, which is an all-seasons primary road.
Underwood said if signs restricting Barron Lake Road truck traffic are put up, "We will enforce that ordinance as it's written. Any tickets written off that ordinance will go to court and someone pleads not guilty, any expenses incurred as a result of that are all the responsibility of the township. The county prosecutor is not involved in that process and no funds will be expended by the county for the enforcement of ordinances. A regular county officer cannot enforce local ordinances, only state statutes," except for the specific deputy working in Howard Township at contracted times.
Road Commission Vice Chairman LeRoy Krempec said Howard Township Supervisor Michael Sutherland wrote a letter to Engineer-Manager Joseph Bellina III asking for their assistance in installing signs the township arranged to manufacture on its own.
"After some debate," Krempec said, "it was decided that would be a conflict of interest" for the Road Commission "if we installed signs that we are opposing. Until we come up with definite legal opinion as to what our next move will be, we will not participate in installing signs. They, in turn, will install them as an ending to the ordinance. They're going to put up signs prohibiting truck traffic on Barron Lake Road.
"We found out that we share jurisdiction," Krempec said. "We have jurisdiction over repair and maintenance. They have jurisdiction over the elements that control speed. What it will come down to probably will be 'reasonableness.' Is it reasonable for them to have trucks go down White Street? Trucks go into the township before the truck driver read the sign. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered.
"Hopefully, we're trying to assemble Pokagon (Township) with Howard and the Road Commission to sit down and try to iron this thing out. Pokagon, I know, is not in favor of the ordinance. I don't know where it's going to end up," though court is a possibility.
"But as it stands right now," Krempec advised the county board, "we are not going to remove the signs if they are posted by Howard Township."
Commissioner Ed Goodman, D-Pokagon Township, elicited from Krempec that enforcing the ordinance could make the Road Commission liable to reimburse the state for money spent making Barron Lake Road an all-purpose, all-weather artery.
"What is desired by Howard Township is not necessarily good for the City of Dowagiac," Cureton said, "because some of those trucks will go off Dailey Road and come through Dowagiac beyond what normally they would coming up Barron Lake Road. The alternative would be to go through Niles, and that's not good for Niles."
Commissioner Debbie Johnson, D-Niles, said, "I want to take a step back because they're tying the whole ordinance issue into this, but this motion is to approve the agreement between Howard Township and the County of Cass for sheriff's protection," which costs Howard Township $50,000 for 40 part-time hours per week.
"Only then can that one officer enforce any of the ordinances," she said. "Any other Cass County deputy sheriff going through cannot touch these ordinances. The chances of how many trucks at those times, there might be a few, there might not. My main concern is that if we do not approve this contract with the sheriff, the township is without that patrol officer for those stated times."
That's one of the problems Warren had in casting her no vote.
"This is saying that you've got two different laws," she said. "He catches me today on duty and I've got to go to court, but the ones coming behind me get away."
Commissioner Robert Ziliak, R-Niles, commented, "The police officer, when he's working for the township, may as well be called a township officer, he's enforcing the township ordinances and his check comes from Howard Township. It has nothing to do with the county. I'm in full support of this contract and I want it passed because the township board has approved it. We should follow and support its board's action. If their actions are wrong, they will be corrected through court action or whatever.
"As far as what Commissioner Cureton is talking about, trucks going to Dowagiac, that may be another issue, but it's not the issue at hand here about approving the contract – not what the result is going to be for Dowagiac or Dailey Road."