Board also hires new interim clerk, gives audit update

by Judy Reed

The Village of Sand Lake is seeking a new police chief after the Village Council voted Monday, December 3, to remove Chief James Reamsma from the position.

The move came during a special meeting. The council went into closed session at 7:05 and returned about an hour later. President Danielle Hardenburg explained that Reamsma had personal matters happening right now and couldn’t perform his job. President pro-tem Tonia Parkhurst made a motion to remove him as police chief, and the vote was unanimous, 5-0. No other information was released.

Reamsma had been with Sand Lake since 2013. The Village will be accepting applications for the position.

In other business, the council also voted to approve former councilmember Nyha French as the new interim clerk. She started work Tuesday in the Village offices. The Village has been without a clerk since Kent Boersma abruptly quit on November 20, after their auditor spoke in a meeting the night before about Boersma not getting reports to him that he needed to do the audits. He had also not balanced the books in eight months. Boersma was an interim clerk recommended by former Village President Thomas Norton.

Hardenburg said that they had brought in an accounting firm to go through everything and hoped to be able to give the auditor the reports he needed this week. The firm will also balance the books for them.