Fort Gratiot Township Raises Water Rates

Fort Gratiot Township officials voted last night to extend their contract with the St. Clair County Sheriff Department and to raise water rates.  The board approved a three-year contract with the St. Clair County Sheriff Office that  includes 24-hour coverage by a deputy and a deputy who works six hours a day, seven days a week.  A 6% increase in  the commodity charge for water was also approved.  Port Huron raised the cost of water it provides to the four townships it serves in June of this year and up until this time the township has been covering the increased expense using reserves in their water fund.  Residents will see the increase beginning Jan. 1.  A decision on how firefighters respond to medical calls was tabled as officials stated they were not prepared to approve the resolution that instead of  having all available paid, on-call firefighters respond to non-emergency medical calls, the department would have two firefighters on shift respond – hourly shift pay would be raised, but the cost of overtime would be eliminated.