MECOSTA COUNTY, Mich. — Exactly one week before Tuesday night's meeting five members of the Green Charter Township Board were recalled over the approval of the Gotion E-V battery plant.
Tuesday night the "new" Green Charter Township Board held its first meeting.
The meeting was full of Green Charter Township residents just like any meeting before.
But the tone of Tuesday night's meeting was different, especially during public comment.
People got up to the podium, thanked the board for taking control and encouraged them to keep on fighting the company.
As for general meeting business, there wasn't too much related to Gotion. At the beginning of the meeting New Township Supervisor Jason Kruse said it would be a basic meeting as the new board members try to find their footing.
There was an item on the agenda that was recommended to be rescinded that involved Gotion, an amendment to a contract that would allow for adequate fire training that would deal with plant operations. However, that was tabled for a later date.
Supervisor Kruse says they want to be able to have their own conversations involving Gotion agreements instead of relying on decisions by the old board.
While discussions on Gotion were lowkey by the board those attending the meeting still wanted to say their piece.
"I want to thank you guys for all the hard work and helping to bring democracy back to our township we had, where people just didn't want to listen to us," said one resident. "Tonight's an historic night. It's been a long and hard road to restore this democracy back to our township. Some people compare the situation to a game of chess, that this is chip check, but not checkmate."
Gotion has said that they are committed to continuing their work to bring more than 2,000 jobs to Mecosta County despite the transition in township government.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.