BUCHANAN TOWNSHIP FINISHES THEIR NEW $1.2 MILLION TOWNHALL

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

BUCHANAN – It’s been a busy year for Buchanan Township officials despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials have been able to move into the new township hall and have continued to conduct business and offer services to residents.

Township Supervisor Malinda Cole-Crocker said last week that having

the new hall was fortuitous during the pandemic since it offers protections for staff and residents. Construction on the new $1.2 million township hall began in 2019 and was completed last July.

“We moved in July 1 and the old building has been torn down,” she said. “The new hall has drop boxes inside the foyer where people can drop off payments anytime. We also have glass in the counter area to protect everyone from COVID. There are speakers so the staff can interact with the public. We also have the Girl Scouts’ food pantry out front.”

Right now, the township is wrapping up the 2020-21 fiscal year and preparing for the new budget year that starts April 1. Cole-Crocker said the township board will hold a budget hearing at their March 18 meeting and approve the new budget later that night. The township meetings are held the first and third Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and are currently virtual.

She said the new budget won’t be much different than the current one, with revenue and expenditures set at around $590,000. The current year budget is expected to end up at around $585,000.

“I don’t see any big changes in the new budget,” she said. “There will be some savings with the new township hall and we’re putting more money into roads. We expect to spend $67,000 to $68,000 this year. We’re not sure what we will get with state revenue sharing, it’s still speculative.”

One area where the township is likely to see growth is in new construction. She said the township is among the townships in Berrien County seeing a lot of new building going on. “People are building new homes like crazy, especially along the river,” she said.

The budget will include some money set aside for park improvements, primarily at the Mud Lake Bog off of Elm Valley Road. The township is supportive of plans to extend the McCoy’s Creek Trail from the city of Buchanan into the township, but hasn’t budgeted a contribution yet, she said.

The trail plans have been discussed at Buchanan City Commission meetings since last summer and recently have expanded to include Buchanan Township. City officials initially considered extending the trail from Schirmer Parkway to the River Street bridge and are now looking at a bigger project.

The discussion has now focused on a larger project which would extend the trail past the River Street bridge and out Walton Road into Buchanan Township to a local brewery. City officials now expect to apply for a Michigan Department of Transportation grant this summer to pay for trail construction in 2023.

Cole-Crocker said the township is supportive of the plans but won’t be able to contribute much since she said township residents are more interested in getting township roads fixed. City officials and their consultants from the Wightman engineering firm have talked about working with the township since the state looks more favorably on projects involving more than one municipality.

The ultimate goal of the Buchanan area trail project is to extend the trail northward to eventually meet up with the Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail. That trail run from the South Bend-Mishawaka area through the city of Niles. Organizers are currently looking at extending the trail northward to Berrien Springs.

One area where it doesn’t look like township will have to make any changes is with the township fire chief position. Although Chief Tim Jesswein is poised to become the full-time fire chief in Niles Township, he will still be able to continue his Buchanan Township duties.

Cole-Crocker said her township is fine with Jesswein taking on the new job since he is only part-time with Buchanan Township. Jesswein has more than 22 years of experience as a firefighter, captain and fire chief. He has worked for the Niles Township fire department for several years already.