SN 9-17-2022

The Sun and News, Saturday, September 17, 2022/ Page 9

young families in the town-
ship.”
Wells said some wish list
items that residents frequent-
ly mention include a splash
pad, pool, dog park and a
pickleball court.
“These are things that folks
are really wanting these days.
And we are, admittedly, defi-
cient in a lot of active recre-
ation. We have Prairie Wolf
Park, which is great. But we
don’t have a lot of designated

trail areas,” Wells said.

Parks in Gaines Charter

Township include Earle

Brewer Park, Creekside

Park, Prairie Wolf Park,

Dutton Shadyside Park and

an undeveloped park, Cody’s

Mill Park, north of 84th

Street and west of Kalamazoo

Avenue. Most of the parks

are owned by Kent County.

There are two major trail

systems in the township: the

Fred Meijer M-6 Trail and

the Paul Henry Trail.

“I think really garnering

what kind of things the pub-

lic needs is first (priority),”

Lehmann said. “We have

heard — at least at Prairie

Wolf Park — people would

like to have permanent

restrooms there. A pavilion

comes up a lot. We’ve con-

sidered putting an outdoor

educational center at the

park, along the lines of the

Outdoor Discovery Center

(in Holland), the Whittenbach

Wege Center (in Lowell), or

the Blandford (Nature

Center, in Grand Rapids).

“For Cody’s Mill, we’ve

talked about a sledding hill,

maybe a splash pad there,

maybe a ballpark.”

Township officials are plan-

ning to pursue state and feder-

al grants, plus private dona-

tions, for purchasing open

land, and improving parks and

recreational facilities. They

also will consider in the town-

ship capital improvement plan

the feasibility of building an

amphitheater at some point in

the future.

“That’s something we

would have to set aside

money for,” Wells said. “If

people support a millage, an

amphitheater is certainly

something we could look at

much sooner than later. There

are a lot of questions about

that — where it would be

sited, what would be the best

access, and, depending on the

size, what does the parking

arrangement look like?”

Some township board

members recently talked about

whether they should establish

a fund for acquiring future

park land or ask residents if

they would approve of a dedi-

cated millage to help the town-

ship pay for open land when

opportunities to buy it arise.

Township Manager Jonathan

Seyferth said recently that fed-

eral funds allocated through

the American Rescue Plan Act

(ARPA) can be used for pur-

chasing future park space, as

well.

Maps and informational diagram boards were set up on easels at the parks
and trails open house on Sept. 14 at the Gaines Township Hall. (Photo by James
Gemmell)

MASTER PLAN, continued from page 8

Spectrum Health Pennock

president out as health

system consolidates

By Jayson Bussa
Editor
In a cost-cutting move late
last week, the newly-merged
Spectrum Health and
Beaumont Health — now
known as BHSH System —
shed hundreds of employees,
including the president of
Spectrum Health Pennock.
On Friday, BHSH System
released a statement, saying
that it cut 400 non-clinical
and administrative positions
throughout the state.
“Unfortunately, this con-
solidated leadership model
means that the role held by
Angie Ditmar, who has
served as president (of)
Spectrum Health Pennock,
(a) southeast regional market
leader since November 2018,
will be eliminated,” Chad
Tuttle, Senior Vice President
at BHSH said in a statement
to the Sun and News. “Angie
has been an outstanding
leader, cultivating deep rela-
tionships with the Pennock
board and the Barry County
community. We thank her
for all she has done for our
organization and our teams.”
Beginning on Oct. 7, Bill
Hoefer will serve as the lead-
er of the south regional mar-
ket, where Spectrum Health
Pennock and Spectrum
Health Zeeland Community
Hospital will share resources
and partner together regular-
ly to meet the collective

needs of the system’s south

region.

Hoefer brings more than

27 years in health care lead-

ership and has served as the

president of Spectrum Health

Zeeland Community

Hospital since June 2021.

“I am confident Bill’s per-

sonable leadership style and

vision for the south market

will help us in our efforts

toward health that is simple,

affordable, equitable and

exceptional,” Tuttle said.

In a general statement

from BHSH System, the

health system said the move

was in response to rising

market pressures.

“Our health system, like

others around the nation, is

facing significant financial

pressures from historic infla-

tion, rising pharmaceutical

and labor costs, COVID-19,

expiration of CARES Act

funding and reimbursement

not proportional with expens-

es,” the statement said.

“Joining together as one

health system places us in a

stronger position to face these

challenges while ensuring

quality care for our communi-

ties for generations to come.”

Angie Ditmar

and potentially nesting in

the trees.

The work will be similar

to the reconstruction of

100th Street that has been

going on between

Kalamazoo and Hanna

Lake avenues this year. The

south half of the roadway

there has been graveled and

crews are now working on

the north side. Once all the

gravel is poured, they will

work on the base-course

paving. Harrall said about

$100,000 worth of guard

rail is being installed on

that section of 100th Street,

but the section between

East Paris and Patterson

avenues will require less

railing.

The total estimated cost

of the road reconstruction

between East Paris and

Patterson is $1.7 million.

About $991,000 of that

would be federally funded

and the KCRC would pick

up the remaining $709,

tab.

Harrall said a public

information meeting on the

project was held in Gaines

Township on June 29. He

added that the most recent

schedule anticipates the

project will begin in mid-

April 2023 and last about

three months. No official

action to approve or revise

the project will be taken by

the KCRC board until later

this fall.

“One of the big improve-

ments of what we’re pro-

posing is that shoulder will

be wide enough that vehi-

cles that won’t need to be

in that through lane – a

mail carrier or trash (haul-

er) – will have somewhere

safe to park, to refuge,”

Harrall said. “The paved

shoulder will be a big

improvement.”

If approved, through

traffic will be detoured

and local traffic will be

maintained during the

reconstruction project.

The contractor will be

required to maintain

access to homes, business-

es and other property. But

access typically will be on

a gravel surface

Andrew Marsman of

nearby Leighton Township

in Allegan County said

many of the parents in his

neighborhood drive on

100th Street to take their

children to school. He

asked that the road com-

mission consider postpon-

ing the reconstruction proj-

ect until after school gets

out in June.

“100th Street between

East Paris and Patterson

is the main through-way

to get there. So, if this

road is closed during the

school year, I think it will

be very difficult,”

Marsman said. “If you

detour to 92nd Street, that

doubles the traffic in front

of the (Caledonia) high

school.”

Marsman also asked if

the KCRC has considered

making the intersection of

East Paris Avenue and

100th Street a four-way

stop. He said northbound

East Paris sometimes is too

slippery going downhill in

the winter to stop before the

intersection, even if the

road is salted.

“I think it would be a lot

safer if we could maybe

propose the idea of a four-

way at that intersection,”

Marsman said.

Harrall replied that

KCRC could consider

changing the construction

timeline, but has other proj-

ects that it needs to coordi-

nate first.

“It’s unlikely that we

would finish it during the

school recess,” he said.

“Summer break is much

shorter than it used to be.

Some schools may get

out sooner than others

and some start sooner.

So, it gives you about an

eight-to-ten-week win-

dow. It’s likely this con-

struction would be three

months.”

Harrall said the KCRC

traffic and safety depart-

ment examines traffic

counts and the frequency of

vehicle crashes when it

considers the viability of

turning an intersection into

a four-way stop.

“We don’t arbitrarily put

those up,” he told Marsman.

“They’re very much like a

traffic signal. There has got

to be certain warrants met

to justify a four-way stop.

We can find out and get

back to you.”

The Kent Intermediate

School District would have

to figure out a detour route

once the 100th Street recon-

struction begins.

100TH STREET, continued from page 8