About 50 residents, local elected officials meet and greet at Sylvan Township Hall

Sylvan Township Hall was filled with township residents as well as elected, and appointed officials Sunday afternoon during a special holiday meet and greet hosted by the new Township Board.

On hand were newly elected Supervisor Scott Cooper, Clerk Doug Smith, Treasurer Rod Branham and Trustee Roy Schmidt as well as several appointed board and commission members. Trustee Kurt Koseck was unable to attend.

“I’m happy to see all the citizens here,” Cooper said, adding. “This is a wonderful opportunity to put new faces and names together.”

For Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell, state representative-elect, D-52, it was a chance to meet township residents and elected officials that she’ll begin representing next month.

“It was a nice open house,” Driskell said. “There were a lot of people here and I look forward to working with the board and the residents when I get to Lansing.”

Christmas decorations and multiple tables were filled with holiday goodies as good cheer and laughter permeated the air.

“It was great to see five members of the Chelsea City Council here and I look forward to working with the (township) board on regional communication,” said current Chelsea City Council Member Kent Martinez-Kratz, who will soon represent the township and Western Washtenaw on the County Board of Commissioners.

Four of the five members of the new township board introduced themselves to township residents, many of the Chelsea City Council members, county and state elected officials during the two-hour event.

The fact that the Chelsea council was well represented at the gathering was something that pleased Smith.

“The future of Sylvan Township is tied to the City of Chelsea and I hope that this is the beginning of this process,” (of communication between the two municipalities) he said.

One resident who attended the get-together mentioned that this was the first time since 1975 that there hasn’t been a woman on the board, and he was one of about 50 people who stopped by in the first hour of the open house that was organized by township residents and the new board.

“It was all done by volunteers — no taxpayer money was used,” said Branham, “I’m just so happy to see so many people here and I want to say thanks to everyone who came and who helped put this together.”

Schmidt said he’s “amazed at how enthusiastic this whole board is about just serving, especially these three guys,” he said referring to Smith, Branham and Cooper.

“They just want to do things differently,” he said, adding with a smile, “It’s like they just made the hockey travel team.”