MARQUETTE — The Chocolay Township Board will conduct up to three interviews with candidates for the township manager position during its meeting at 5:30 on Thursday at the Chocolay Township Hall.

Agenda materials do not contain information on how many candidates will be interviewed their identities.

Following the interviews, the board will discuss the interviews before considering an employment agreement and proposed compensation for the position.

According to an agenda supplement, the township budgeted $75,000 in 2019 for the position.

The board accepted the resignation of current Township Manager Jon Kangas during a June 26 board meeting. Kangas has accepted a position as the Superintendent of Public Works for Marquette Township, his last day with Chocolay Township is expected to be Sept. 15 due to a 90-day separation clause in his employment agreement.

The board will also consider options to replace the township’s aging fire truck.

The current pumper truck used by the fire department is 21 years old, according to a memo from Kangas to the board, with a replacement cost of $650,000.

A letter from Chocolay Township Fire Chief Lee Gould to Kangas details the issue with the department’s current pumper truck including corrosion issues caused by road salt on undercarriage components such as the fuel tank, and tanks for the air brakes.

“We feel the 20 (to) 22 year replacement cycle is best to keep trucks in solid mechanical repair and maintenance as minimal as possible,” Gould’s letter states. “As time goes by, the gap between truck purchases gets narrower once a truck reaches a certain age limit. With this, maintenance costs rise, as do overall truck costs due to several other factors.”

Kangas letter recommends the board “take the next couple of months to analyze the options for a proposed millage” in order to place the proposal on the ballot in March, 2020.

“If we planned a millage to eventually replace the entire fleet,” Kangas writes, “a millage lasting six to 10 years at 1 mill would be sufficient to keep us on schedule with the entire fleet replacement (of) one apparatus every five years.”

Lisa Bowers can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 242.