SALEM TOWNSHIP - After arguing for months that 165 files he took in his last days as supervisor were his personal property, then admitting later that he had destroyed some, Michael Penn has returned all but two boxes of files he took when he cleared out his office last November.
But board members balked Tuesday at approving an attorney-negotiated agreement to end the lawsuit that forced the files' return.
Penn could not be reached for comment.
If the agreement is approved as proposed, the township would have no legal recourse against Penn if in the future additional files were discovered missing, including still unfound audits of tipping fees from the Arbor Hills landfill on Six Mile Road.
"The agreement is great for the defendant," said Trustee Brien Witkowski.
Still missing are files on the township's cable TV agreement, Johnson Creek, land acquisitions, lease agreements, sanitary sewers, the sewer ordinance and more.
While the clerk is the official keeper of the records, officials indicated duplicates of these records were not made available to her.
The township's new supervisor, Fred Roperti, said he believed the township could get copies of what remains missing from the attorneys or professionals involved in drafting the documents. He favored dismissing the suit.
Both residents and some elected officials were unhappy that the township's insurance company appointed an attorney to represent Penn because he was supervisor at the time the files were removed, and secondly that the township had to spend more of its own money in legal fees to file the suit that ultimately forced the files' return.
Roperti agreed to talk to the township attorney to determine what alternatives might be available.
Roperti initially asked Penn via the phone in December to return the files, then the pair exchanged letters wherein Penn said they were his and indicated some had been destroyed, then ultimately produced most of the missing boxes in early March after the suit was filed in February.
State law mandates that the supervisor preserve and turn over to his successor all books, assessment rolls and other papers.