COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – After a two hour closed session, the Michigan South Central Power Agency Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on Monday afternoon not to renew General Manager Paul Beckhusen contract after it expires June 30, 2020.
Under terms of his contract, the board was required to inform him by next Monday of their intentions. Also under terms of the contract, Beckhusen would be entitled to 14-months of severance pay, which would give him a total of $500,000 that would cover the final year of his contract and the severance money.
There was no formal action taken on the severance after the board reconvened in open session.
The action came after a motion earlier in the meeting by Hillsdale City Manager David Mackie to terminate Beckhusen at the end of this month was defeated 3-2. Mackie cited a portion of the contract when he made his motion saying it would limit the agency liability to $250,000.
Mackie said the agency’s transition can be handled by the director of finance, the board of commissioners, outside agency staff and the agency’s attorneys.
Mackie and Union City Village Manager Chris Mathis have been critics of Beckhusen and have voted several times to fire him. However, Jeff Budd from the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities, Clinton Village Manager Kevin Cornish, and Marshall City Manager Tom Tarkiewicz have supported Beckhusen.
Mackie’s motion sparked a nearly half hour debate which got testy at times over items that have already been discussed. Tarkiewicz serves as the board chair and he once again voted against terminating Beckhusen on Mackie’s motion.
Tarkiewicz said Marshall’s power load is going to almost double by September and by 500 percent in three years as part of their economic development and the power supply is something they are working with Beckhusen on right now.
Meanwhile, the board voted 4-1 to authorize the public utility firm of Courtney and Associates out of Findlay, Ohio to conduct an administrative evaluation.
