GREENWOOD TWP- At a special meeting on March 4, the Greenwood Town Board agreed to pay Jeff Maus for 14 hours of paid-on-call time at $25 per hour, plus a penalty of $80.70 for late payment. State law requires the township to have paid any salary due immediately after terminating employment, chairman Lois Roskoski told the board.
The calls took place in January and February, while he was on paid administrative leave, but after Maus was cleared to work by his orthopedic surgeon. The board did not choose to pay Maus for three calls between Feb. 5 and 8, saying that Maus had informed the board he had “limited availability” during that time, and was having the deputy treasurer perform his duties.
“Our township attorney suggested we have a special meeting to vote on this,” she said. The township had paid Maus for the time he spent having the township-required physical, which involved his driving to Grand Rapids. That doctor cleared Maus to return to duty. They had also paid for two calls he responded to on Jan. 8 and 9.
Supervisor John Bassing noted that Maus had responded to 109 calls in 2024.
A list of calls, assembled by Roskoski, showed 19 calls between Jan. 19 and Feb. 17. All were EMS-related, except for one structure fire call. The board approved payment for 13 calls, all one hour except for the structure fire, which was for two hours.
But the board was split on how to deal with Maus’s failure to return all of his fire department related equipment, keys, and files to the town hall. Maus had returned his radios and fire gear, but the board said the township-issued laptop, fire hall keys, and some call logs from 2023 were still not at the hall.
The township, after terminating Maus on Feb. 18, ordered him to return all his fire gear and related equipment by the following day. The township attorney also sent Maus a certified letter with this information, Roskoski said.
“Didn’t he (Maus) tell the previous firefighters who were voluntarily quit, terminated, that we would call the cops if they didn’t return their items?” asked supervisor Paul Skubic. “He returned the other stuff, at what point is it theft?”
Roskoski told the board that Maus had submitted reimbursement claims that totaled nearly $1,000.
“We can’t withhold this check,” Roskoski said, referring to the payment due for his paid-on-call. “But we can withhold the check for expenses. We need to get that laptop back.”
Clerk Debby Spicer asked if the board should make a motion to refer the matter to the sheriff.
A motion by Skubic to hold onto the reimbursement check until the items are returned passed on a 3-2 vote, with Roskoski, Craig Gilbert, and Skubic voting yes, and John Bassing and Rick Stoehr voting against.
“When does it become criminal if the laptop doesn’t come back?” asked Gilbert.
In other business, the board voted to add the fire department’s EMRs to the death/disability policy they had approved for department firefighters. The cost is $10 per person for the year, plus a $4 fee for processing a new employee.