By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Township could have a new interim manager in place by the end of today.
The Township Board voted 6-1 Monday night to offer the position to Howard Fink, who served as Park Township manager from 2017 until August of last year.
A three-member transition team consisting of current Manager Josh Eggleston, Township Supervisor Kerri Bosma and special legal counsel David Eberle was to have worked on negotiations with Fink, with the idea that a contract could be presented to the full board at a special meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Township Hall.
Fink was chosen from among four candidates who interviewed with the board Aug. 5. He most recently served as interim administrator for the Kalamazoo Lake Sewer and Water Authority. He also served as manager in Northfield Township, near Ann Arbor, from 2013 to 2017, and town administrator in Merrillville, Ind., from 2008 to 2013.
The board has been looking to get an interim manager in place before Eggleston’s resignation as township manager takes effect Aug. 21. Eggleston is leaving Zeeland Township to become manager in Holland Township. The interim would serve until a new permanent manager can be hired.
“(An interim) manager is not there to make any drastic changes. Typically, an interim manager is about a six-month time period,” Fink said during his interview. “That kind of time period doesn’t lend itself to change. What it does lend itself to is making sure that there’s effective operations, strong leadership, good counsel to the board, to create an environment in which the next individual who comes on board can succeed.”
Fink also spoke openly about farmland preservation, saying the key to preserving farmland is limiting where sewer can be extended.
“Sewer capacity is the number one driver of development,” he said. “If you want to have farmland protection, if you want to have farmland preservation, then institute utility boundaries. I tell you there are many, many communities across the state that do it. There’s just not that very many in West Michigan. But it does exist and it can be done.”
Fink also spoke out in support of Ottawa County’s purchase of development rights program as a tool for farmland preservation.
Township Treasurer Melissa Veldheer said that Fink’s understanding of how township government works set him apart from the other candidates who interviewed.
“We’re a township. He has township experience,” Veldheer said. “I cannot stress enough that when we need structural issues, if you don’t know how a township operates, we are going to be teaching them what a township is.”
Trustee John Shrauger said Fink was the only candidate of the four with a track record to get things done in a short period of time.
“I don’t think we need a consultant, we need a workhorse who recognizes a limited timetable for us to make whatever decision we need to make in six months,” Shrauger said.
Other candidates who interviewed were Nate Geinzer, founder and chief executive officer of Double Haul Solutions, a firm which has been working with the township on its strategic plan; Tony Graff, a management consultant for MGT Impact Solutions, a public sector management consulting firm, and former manager in the Upper Peninsula city of Menominee; and David Trent, a former village manager in three eastern Michigan communities – Ortonville, Grass Lake and Almont.
Clerk Brian VanDussen was the lone no vote on offering the interim job to Fink.
Fink holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from DePaul University in Chicago and a master’s in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Zeeland Record
Zeeland Township could have a new interim manager in place by the end of today.
The Township Board voted 6-1 Monday night to offer the position to Howard Fink, who served as Park Township manager from 2017 until August of last year.
A three-member transition team consisting of current Manager Josh Eggleston, Township Supervisor Kerri Bosma and special legal counsel David Eberle was to have worked on negotiations with Fink, with the idea that a contract could be presented to the full board at a special meeting tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Township Hall.
Fink was chosen from among four candidates who interviewed with the board Aug. 5. He most recently served as interim administrator for the Kalamazoo Lake Sewer and Water Authority. He also served as manager in Northfield Township, near Ann Arbor, from 2013 to 2017, and town administrator in Merrillville, Ind., from 2008 to 2013.
The board has been looking to get an interim manager in place before Eggleston’s resignation as township manager takes effect Aug. 21. Eggleston is leaving Zeeland Township to become manager in Holland Township. The interim would serve until a new permanent manager can be hired.
“(An interim) manager is not there to make any drastic changes. Typically, an interim manager is about a six-month time period,” Fink said during his interview. “That kind of time period doesn’t lend itself to change. What it does lend itself to is making sure that there’s effective operations, strong leadership, good counsel to the board, to create an environment in which the next individual who comes on board can succeed.”
Fink also spoke openly about farmland preservation, saying the key to preserving farmland is limiting where sewer can be extended.
“Sewer capacity is the number one driver of development,” he said. “If you want to have farmland protection, if you want to have farmland preservation, then institute utility boundaries. I tell you there are many, many communities across the state that do it. There’s just not that very many in West Michigan. But it does exist and it can be done.”
Fink also spoke out in support of Ottawa County’s purchase of development rights program as a tool for farmland preservation.
Township Treasurer Melissa Veldheer said that Fink’s understanding of how township government works set him apart from the other candidates who interviewed.
“We’re a township. He has township experience,” Veldheer said. “I cannot stress enough that when we need structural issues, if you don’t know how a township operates, we are going to be teaching them what a township is.”
Trustee John Shrauger said Fink was the only candidate of the four with a track record to get things done in a short period of time.
“I don’t think we need a consultant, we need a workhorse who recognizes a limited timetable for us to make whatever decision we need to make in six months,” Shrauger said.
Other candidates who interviewed were Nate Geinzer, founder and chief executive officer of Double Haul Solutions, a firm which has been working with the township on its strategic plan; Tony Graff, a management consultant for MGT Impact Solutions, a public sector management consulting firm, and former manager in the Upper Peninsula city of Menominee; and David Trent, a former village manager in three eastern Michigan communities – Ortonville, Grass Lake and Almont.
Clerk Brian VanDussen was the lone no vote on offering the interim job to Fink.
Fink holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from DePaul University in Chicago and a master’s in urban planning and policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago.
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