Page 6/The Sun and News, Saturday, September 10, 2022Middleville Council to consider conceptual design
for State Street housing development
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Village of Middleville
Council will take up for con-
sideration at its Sept. 13 meet-
ing a preliminary conceptual
design for a potential
multi-family riverfront devel-
opment on State Street near
downtown.
The council’s Committee of
the Whole voice voted 7-
Tuesday to move a draft con-
cept for the residential project
on to the full council with the
intent of acting on it soon. If the
village council votes to move
forward with the project, the
next step would be to publicly
post a Request for Qualifications
(RFQ) for prospective develop-
ers to submit their ideas for
developing the site.
Grand Rapids-based engi-
neering firm Williams &
Works provided some concep-
tual drawings for the proposed
36 State Street project, which
could feature 19 market-rate
townhomes situated on 3.
acres along the southern bank
of the Thornapple River. Other
types of mixed-use develop-
ment are possible.
The design presented
includes townhomes, a public
pathway, a stormwater-reten-
tion area and leasable parking
spaces. The layout would pro-
vide views of the river for
residents in 13 of the 19 dwell-
ing units.
The density of about 5.
units per acre would not
exceed the maximum eight
units per acre allowed by the
village in the transitional
industrial district downtown.
The development would be
built on a former industrial site
that is currently covered par-
tially by a parking lot.
However, it is only a prelimi-
nary concept at this point, not
a site plan.
“All this is is conceptual, to
say (to developers), ‘This is
what we would like to see
here. Now, bring us your
ideas,’” Middleville interim
Co-Village Manager Alec
Belson said. He is also the
village’s Department of Public
Works director.
The vacant village-owned
property has 550 feet of street
frontage and nearly 700 feet of
waterfront. The Thornapple
Valley Church is just west of
the site and a single-story
building is across the street to
the south. It used to be a man-
ufacturing plant.
“It’s a really unique site,”
Maleah Rakestraw told the
council via a remote video
connection. She is a landscape
and urban designer for
Williams & Works. “It’s a
pretty big parcel ... This is a
great piece of waterfront prop-
erty. We’re trying to show
developers how close this
property is to your downtown.
The use of the Paul Henry
Thornapple Trail is pretty
unique to this site. And the fact
that there is a boat launch just
to the north.”
It will be up to the village
council to decide which ideas
will be included in the RFQ.
“We’re giving the develop-
ers brainstorming ideas,”
Belson said. “Now you bring
your plan to us.”
Some work would have to
be done on the site to make it
ready for redevelopment. An
upgrade to the lift station will
be needed to accommodate the
project, because it only ser-
vices one building currently.
Belson said a developer and
village staff would have to
negotiate who would pay for
the lift station.
Two sections of the proper-
ty would require environmen-
tal remediation where, accord-
ing to village officials, Volatile
Organic Compounds (VOCs)
were discovered when engi-
neers took soil and groundwa-
ter samples.
The Michigan EconomicDevelopment Corp. collabo-
rated with Williams & Works
on the project’s survey work.
The MEDC provides assis-
tance for such projects to com-
munities like Middleville that
are certified as Redevelopment
Ready Communities. The
RRC is a voluntary, no-cost
program that helps communi-
ties come up with effective
redevelopment strategies
through a set of best practices.
The Michigan Municipal
League is assisting, as well.
Rakestraw said feedback
from village council members
and village staff, plus adjacent
property owners, was used to
develop the conceptual design
draft.
“So, through the MEDC
this RFQ – once approved by
you – will be shared with the
development community to
generate some buzz and inter-
est in this site,” she said told
council members. “The main
part of this document general-
ly is to outline the potential for
development and to share with
the development community
your vision.”
Council to interview three
finalists for village manager
position
A short list of three finalists
for the village manager posi-
tion will be interviewed by the
village council at a special
meeting on Saturday, Sept. 24.
The finalists are Craig
Stolsonburg of Middleville,
who will be interviewed at 9
a.m; Jennifer E. Antel of
Wayland, who is scheduled for
a 10 a.m. interview; and Jane
McGookey of Caledonia, who
will be interviewed at 11 a.m.
The interviews are open to
the public. The ad hoc search
committee that reviewed the
seven original applications
included Belson, village presi-
dent Sherry Ronning, pro-tem-
pore Fran French, trustee Mike
Lytle and clerk Glorimar Ayala.
Committee of the Whole
moves High Street engineer-
ing project on to full council
An estimated $1.5 million
project to potentially recon-
struct High Street between
Main and Washington streets
next year was moved on to the
full village council Tuesday by
the Committee of the Whole.
Belson said most of the
water and sewer mains on that
stretch of road were installedin the 1960s. Sidewalks are
starting to fall into disrepair, as
well. Village staff will work
with engineers to replace 13
lead or galvanized water-ser-
vice lines to homes, and install
new water and sewer mains, a
new sidewalk and an upgraded
storm-sewer system.
Williams & Works has pro-
vided an engineering design
estimate of $42,649. That
includes $27,180 for design
work, $8,528 for design sur-
veying, $5,44 for geotechnical
work (six soil borings) and
$1,497 for bidding. Belson
said the project could go out to
bid in January or February.
“If we do move forward, we’ll
be looking at various funding
sources for this project, using
some ARPA (American Rescue
Plan Act) funds, water-sewer
funds, the major street fund. In
October, we’ll be approaching
the (Local Development Finance
Authority) to help assist with this
project, as well,” Belson said.“Currently, Main Street to
High Street is a disaster for
routing trucks,” council trustee
Mike Cramer said. He asked
Williams & Works engineer
Brandon Mieras if some
streetscape corrections will be
made as part of the design
project so that large trucks will
be able to turn the corner there.
Trustee Kevin Smith said
he would support a central-
ized-delivery method that
would allow truck drivers to
park their vehicles in a set-
aside space downtown.
Acorn Treehouse Ventures
LLC recently purchased the
property at 115 N. High Street.
Owner Johnny DeMaagd
plans to use the facility to
expand production for his cof-
fee shop business.
Getty addresses county
commission election contro-
versy
Barry County Commissioner
Catherine Getty spoke at the
Committee of the Whole meet-ing about her being declared,
by a judge, as the winner of the
Republican state primary race
for the District 2 county com-
mission seat.
The Aug. 30 ruling by
Judge Vicky Alspaugh means
Getty will be the GOP nomi-
nee and continue to hold the
commission seat because she
has no Democratic challenger
in the Nov. 8 election. John
Gallagher had garnered more
votes in the primary, but was
unable to take the seat because
he lived outside of District 2
lines.
“So, it was kind of a legal
discussion about how that
would take place,” Getty said.
“But I think that going
through the courts and
through the judge to have a
ruling was the proper legal
remedy for a very confusing
situation. Now, I’m just look-
ing forward to serving my
community in the years to
come.”QUESTIONS:
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A preliminary conceptual rendering provided by Williams & Works of what the
State Street development might look like one day. (Courtesy rendering)Williams & Works engineering firm prepared this proposed conceptual drawing
for the State Street development by using survey and aerial imagery. (From mid-
dlevillevillagemi.documents-on-demand.com)