Months of wrangling by members of the Yankee Springs Township Board has resulted in the resignations of Trustee Roger Rottschafer and Zoning Administrator Larry Knowles, effective immediately.
A notice on the township website notes a special meeting has been called for Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. at the township hall.
Rottschafer, who retired about 18 months ago, said his company, Marygrove Industries, asked him to come back to work for them, and the bad feelings between him and Supervisor Mark Englerth, “helped me make the decision to come out of retirement.”
Relations with Englerth and Trustee Shanon VandenBerg, have been a “dogfight” for months, with accusations of obstructing board efforts to do township business and Englerth’s attitude causing dissention.
An issue mentioned by both Rottschafer and Knowles was about Vandenberg’s refusal to stop discussing his housing development in the township while a trustee on the board that makes decisions that would likely financially benefit him.
Rottschafer said Englerth’s abrasive style led to efforts to keep him away from the fire station and get him removed from the Gun Lake Sewer and Water Authority.
He said the biggest thing for him was the unprofessionalism and lack of credibility of both men that was making the township a laughingstock.
He didn’t know what will happen to the township after the resignations. “People in the audience have asked Englerth to resign; he wouldn’t do it…recall is a possibility…something has to happen to get him out of there.”
"They (Englerth and VandenBerg) are not acting professionally, Knowles said. There’s the conflict of interest thing going on. It’s clearly wrong how they’re doing it and the supervisor allows it.
“Every meeting is worse than the last one… they don’t treat people fairly, and the meetings get out of control."
“I’m still here for the community…I’ll go to planning meetings and help how I can, but I can’t work with them anymore.” Knowles will stay on as director of GLSWA.
“I do enjoy working with the people there. We have some top notch people to help. We’ve had a few minor problems, but we worked them out.”
Asked for a statement, Englerth said: “I’m not slinging mud. It’s unfortunate, but we have to move forward in the best interest of the community in a positive manner.” VandenBerg could not be reached for comment.
