Committee chooses 5 to interview for manager post

A committee chose five candidates on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, to interview for the position of Laketown Township manager. The interviews will start at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the township hall, 4338 Beeline Road.

The meeting will be open to the public.

The names of the candidates will be announced when the Oct. 30 meeting agenda is posted.

Committee

Current Manager Al Meshkin announced in July his plans to retire Jan. 3, 2025. He has been manager for 35 years. The board hired the firm MGT in August for a cost of about $25,000 to conduct the search for his replacement.

Earlier this month, the township board established a Manager Search Committee consisting of the five-member township board plus three residents who won positions in the Republican primary on Aug. 6. Those three will go on to the Nov. 5 General Election but face no competition.

They are Steven Ringelberg who is running unopposed for the position of supervisor, and Michael Koeman and Mark Timmerman who are running unopposed for trustee positions.

In the closed meeting Oct. 23, Ryan Cotton of MGT presented the committee with 11 candidates from a pool of about 40 applicants. The committee chose five people for interviews on Oct. 30.

Township Trustee Jim Delaney was not at the meeting.

The meeting was closed to the public in accordance with the Open Meetings Act because the applicants requested confidentiality.

The search committee is meeting at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, to conduct a second round of interviews. The meeting will be open to the public.