MARQUETTE — Marquette Township officials took time during a recent board meeting to honor Randy Girard, who recently retired after a long career as Marquette Township manager.

Girard retired at the end of August after serving in the position since 2002.

The Marquette Township Board heard a resolution, signed by Marquette Township Supervisor Lyn Durant, that highlighted Girard’s accomplishments.

The document read, in part:

“Whereas, in recognition of his commendable service to the Marquette Charter Township, Randell has guided the township in continued expansion and development in support of community growth. Whereas, Randell has provided the township business and residential communities with direct and uninterrupted services for a term spanning 18 years.”

Girard said the township’s successes had more to do with a forward-thinking board and proactive staff overall than it did with one person.

“This board, plus the prior boards, have all basically had a vision for the community,” Girard said. “And we distilled that down many years ago to a catch phrase that’s been used quite a bit: ‘catch the vision’… You look back at the things that the township has done — ­I can look back over the last 18 years — there were some pretty significant things that happened … (Actions taken) by the board mostly following recommendations of your extremely professional and capable staff. You are blessed to have the staff that are still there and working for you, including Jon (Kangas).”

He said Kangas, who was hired be Girard’s successor as township manager, is a good fit for the municipality.

“Jon’s got quite a bit of background in municipalities around the region and can easily be able to move into the slot,” Girard said.

He said the boards over the years have taken “heat” for some of their decisions.

“When we put Commerce Drive across to Brookton Road, we got a lot of heat about the ‘road to nowhere’ and ‘Why would you do that?’ And now it’s probably the busiest intersection in the area, in the region,” Girard said. “Expansion of the fire service, including the ambulance: You took a lot of heat for that. (Some residents said:) ‘Obviously we didn’t need it, it was never necessary.’ You got a lot of that kind of feedback. And look at it now. It is your really only (new) source of revenue. Dark stores has taken away a lot of revenue, so the ambulance service has kind of bolstered the fire service. Now you are staffing it, weekends even.”

But despite the issues, the taxpayers have supported the board’s decisions, Girard said.

“You’ve got the confidence of the residents, and have had that confidence for a long time,” Girard said. “The new facilities, the new fire hall, the new township hall. Without going to the voters for any money. That’s unheard of that you were able to pull that off.”

Mike Springer, who is the chair of the township planning commission, thanked Girard for being a “great manager.”

“For me, a lot of times I would go into his office if I had any issues or concerns … and I always left feeling better, feeling like he gave me some ideas to work on and move forward with,” Springer said.

Durant said the past successes of the board have a great deal to do with the information it was provided by Girard.

She recalled an interaction with a resident who took issue with the way Girard interacted with the board on certain issues.

“And he said: ‘Why does he (Girard) have to be so negative?’ And I said, ‘That’s his job,'” Durant said. “He has to bring us all the information, he can’t just bring us the rainbows and unicorns. You’ve got to talk about the whole…. You listen to some of these other municipalities with their meetings and they don’t deliberate. They don’t talk. We do. Yeah, we’ve got couple-hour meetings, but we vet those topics. And that is partly from the information that Randy gave us. He gave us the whole scoop, not just one side.”

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242. Her email address is lbowers@miningjournal.net.