By Teddy Rydquist
Leader Staff Writer
In what was the first session for both Jack Curtis as Oxford Towenship supervisor and Rod Charles as trustee, the final township board meeting of 2020 was December 9, via Zoom video conference. Taking an hour and 45 minutes to complete, the meeting was a busy and productive one. After paying respects to the American Flag and approving the consent agenda, Curtis opened the floor to public comments not scheduled to be talked about, but there were none.

Fire department to conduct
searches for two new employees
Oxford Fire Chief Pete Scholz began his report by addressing the December 31 retirement of Assistant Chief Dave Creech and the January 4 resignation of Finance Office Manager Joanne Edmonds.
“He began his career as a paid-on-call firefighter back in March 1980,” Scholz shared of Creech. “Worked his way up through the department, up to assistant chief, and became assistant chief in July 2016. He’s been involved with just about every single aspect of the department there is, he was on both design committees for Station 1 and for Station 2, he was truck committee, for (inspecting) all the trucks we’ve got at the department, he’s been extensively involved with training, he’s been a mentor for all the people at the department, he’s been an extensive resource for all the truck knowledge, firefighting background, and everything.
“I’m greatly going to miss him; I think he’s done a lot for the department and he’s definitely made Oxford community a better place.”
The board unanimously accepted Creech’s retirement, with regrets.
McGrath Human Resources Group will conduct the search for a new assistant chief, which will consider both internal and external candidates. With Scholz planning to retire in December 2022, the goal of this search process is to find an individual who will step into the chief role at that time.
It will cost $18,400 to contract McGrath and these funds will be expensed to the 2021 Oxford Fire Department Account.
Edmonds is departing for a career position elsewhere, and the search for her replacement is ongoing. She did agree to help train her successor past January 4, given the intricacies of the financials.
“When I spoke to Chief Scholz, I decided I understand how time-sensitive some of the financial tasks are and how very complicated, specifically the payroll is, for the fire department,” she said. “I would be more than happy to help evenings and weekends to ensure there is a smooth transition of those tasks.”
Edmonds will still be a member of the department as a paid-on-call firefighter/emergency medical technician (EMT).

Scholz’ two-year contract finalized
After postponing the matter at their November 18 meeting, the board approved, 7-0, Scholz’ planned final contract as chief.
It’s effective January 1 and will run through December 31, 2022. Scholz, who has been with the department since 1976, will earn a base salary of $100,109.36 in 2021.

Sharpe Engineering Report
Township Engineer Jim Sharpe offered his report, touching on Lapeer Road (M-24), the Woods of Tullamore housing development, and the new Culver’s restaurant.
He started with M-24.
“There will continue to be, over the next week or so, single-lane closures with arrow boards because they have to put in some permanent signs, but that should all be completed by the week of Dec. 18. During that same time, the signage company is going to have crews that are going to be picking up all the barrels, the signs, the barricades all over the job, the detour route.
“There are a lot of those class-three barricades that have been knocked over, laying in the grass, so, if you do happen to notice them, or if any residents notice them, in a couple of weeks that have been missed, then just please notify me, or the supervisor, he can get in touch with me, and then we can reach out to Dan’s Excavating and make sure they’re taken care of.”
He then spoke about the 49-lot Woods of Tullamore residential development on East Drahner Road.
“They’re doing some final testing on their sanitary sewer over there, that’s going to happen on December 15, and, assuming that gets passed, all the utilities would be serviceable, and Mr. (Bob) Tedesco would be able to start selling more lots over there.”
About Culver’s Restaurant on M-24, near Tractor Supply Co. he said, “They’ve performed the grading on the site, the site utilities are currently going in with some testing and so forth. They would continue to work on the work on the building I would assume over the wintertime, but no asphalt this time of year, so, that will follow up in the springtime.”

Appointments
A total of 41 appointments and six alternate selections were made to 24 different boards and committees. Here are some.
Charter Township of Oxford Planning Commission: Korey Bailey, three-year term (January 1, 2021-December 31, 2023)
Oxford Area Cable Communications Commission – Member at Large: Ed Hunwick, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Cemetery Committee: Jack Curtis and Curtis Wright, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Community Development Block Grant Funding: Joseph G. Ferrari, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Compensation Committee: William “Bill” Dunn and Margie Payne, one-year terms (January 1-December 31, 2021)
Election Commission: Rod Charles, Jon Nold and Curtis Wright, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Gravel Inspection Committee: Jack Curtis and Bill Dunn, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Gypsy Moth Program: Rod Charles, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Hazardous Waste (NO HAZ) Committee: Joseph G. Ferrari and Rod Charles (alternate), four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Highway/Roads Committee: Jack Curtis, Joseph G. Ferrari and Curtis Wright, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA): Bill Dunn and Margie Payne, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Oxford Addison Youth Assistance Board: Rod Charles, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Oxford Area Cable Communications Commission: Bill Dunn and Margie Payne (alternate), four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Oxford Downtown Development Authority: Bill Dunn, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Planned Unit Development (PUD) Committee: Jack Curtis and Bill Dunn, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Planning Commission: Jon Nold, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Polly Ann Trail Management Council (PATMC): Jon Nold and Curtis Wright, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Safety Path Committee: Joseph G. Ferrari, Margie Payne and Curtis Wright, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG): Joseph G. Ferrari and Rod Charles (alternate), four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Union Negotiations Committee: Joseph G. Ferrari and Margie Payne, four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Village of Oxford Planning Commission: Jon Nold, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Water & Sewer Committee: Jack Curtis, Jon Nold, Curtis Wright, and Bill Dunn (alternate), four-year terms (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
– Zoning Board of Appeals: Margie Payne, four-year term (January 1, 2021-November 20, 2024)
Up next
The Oxford Township Board of Trustees will next meet on Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at their standard 6:30 p.m. time.