Gilette offered Cassopolis village manager position for one year

Published 3:40 am Tuesday, June 20, 2006

By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Cassopolis VIgilant
CASSOPOLIS - Monday evening the Cassopolis Village Council voted to offer Kevin Gillette the position of village manager for one year.
He will be receiving $48,000, but will not be costing the village any additional insurance money.
Gillette was the former Lincoln Township supervisor in Berrien County from 1996 until 2004.
His wife of 14 years, Lisa, who works for Edgewater Bank, also attended the June meeting.
He has served on the Berrien County Planning Commission and on the Michigan Township Association's Board of Directors.
Trustee Vince Hawkins, a member of the Parks and Recreation Committee, had hoped the council would approve an agreement with Camp Baber to rent the swimming pool for the use of village children for 45 days this summer.
With a starting date of next Monday and a cost of $9,000, not including the cost of a program director, lifeguard and staff, the plan was voted down.
Some members on the council questioned where the money would come from, since it wasn't budgeted for this year. Others wanted to see new equipment for Southside Park.
In other business the village council:
Heard from Clerk Paula Beauchamp that the audit has begun with all going well.
Voted against hiring Dennis Ash to provide the sound system for the Gospel Fest at Sam Adams Elementary School coming Saturday, June 24 at 6 p.m., sponsored by the Cassopolis Chamber of Commerce. Trustee Walter Malone informed the council it is illegal to use government funds for entertainment.
Approved the request for fireworks at the Cass County Fairgrounds on Aug. 4, the end of the 4-H Fair.
Approved an ordinance which will require mandatory hook-up to village water, except for those grandfathered in.
The council also approved a resolution to support the application to the state for the Block Grant in the amount of $210,000, following a public hearing earlier in the evening.
The company, Schwintek Inc., are required to hire 15 new employees, according to Mickey Bittner of Wightman Jones, an engineering firm. He was surprised the plan was accepted by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation using land from the industrial park, instead of cash as a match.
Malone questioned why the council wasn't provided a better business plan and showed the number of machine shops in the phone book, asking whether the company will even succeed.
Bittner assured the council the owner of the business was investing $750,000 into the community in a new 10,000 square foot building and equipment. Fifty-one percent of the employees hired must be of low to moderate income.
The village will be committing approximately three acres in the industrial park, at an estimated value of $90,000. The infrastructure will allow opportunity for easier expansion of other businesses into the park, he added.