The board discussed the soon to be vacated Director of Planning position during Tuesday nights board meeting.
Mardy Stirling, who has been the Director of Planning for three years, will be leaving at the end of August to pursue a career in the medical field, according to township supervisor Bill Fountain.
“She’s a wonderful team member and we’re going to miss her,” he said.
During the interim, the board approved Tony Savoni, who is currently in charge of Ordinance Enforcement for Hartland Township as the Interim Zoning Administrator.
Applications will be accepted until the end of this week for the open director position and township manager James Wickman says he hopes to start interviews soon and have the position filled within the next few months.
Trustee Joe Colaianne thinks Stirling's departure calls for the need to re-evaluate and restructure within the planning department.
“When we hired Mardy (Stirling), it was right around the time when the economy was going pretty strong and we had a lot of projects on the horizon,” Colaianne said. “Obviously when the economy went bad ... a lot of those projects dried up.
“This is a good opportunity to look at that department and determine whether or not it’s staffed appropriately or do we need to make some changes,” he said.
Wickman explained that there had already been conversations between board members and the planning commission to determine what was needed in a potential candidate.
“We talked about the structure of the department and what the needs were going forward,” Wickman said. “We talked about strengths and skill set needed in the next planning director candidate. What will serve us well and that will be important as we do go through the process.”
Although Savoni has submitted his application for the position, Wickman stressed that there had already been a conversation and that the position the board approved was considered temporary – not a trial run – and that other applicants will be considered.
