By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Two new public safety park rangers will be out in Hamburg Township this spring and summer.

The Board of Trustees met Tuesday afternoon and formally approved the hires, Emma Mossing of Tyrone Township and Gilberto Olivera of Hamburg Township.

The board authorized the creation of the seasonal, part-time positions back in March. The pilot program is modeled after the MDNR’s park rangers and will run through early September.

Director of Public Safety Richard Duffany said interviews were conducted and they were impressed with both candidates, who he described as very bright college students who are both in the medical field and can lend that expertise. The two will be trained in CPR and carry AED’s or automatic defibrillators.

Duffany said they won’t have full coverage or as much as he wants since the board only authorized two positions for 30 hours each. He noted the hours will be flexible and put them where they deem the greatest need. The uniformed rangers will be out on foot, bicycles and ATV’s on the township trails and at events such as Fun Fest, fireworks and soccer tournaments.

The job description has aspects of public safety in general including ordinances and loose dogs but the rangers will also handle maintenance issues and work with parks and recreation and the DPW.

Duffany noted they get a lot of calls about issues with dogs off leases and the new rangers will be able to address that, freeing up officers to handle calls and their primary duties.