VOLUME 168, No. 41 Thursday, October 13, 2022 PRICE $1.
T HE
H AST INGS
Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856
City approves five-year contract with new wastewater treatment plant operator
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings officials signed a 5-year, $166,
contract with Infrastructure Alternatives, Inc.
to manage the city’s wastewater treatment
plant.
The new contract comes as the city’s previ-
ous contract with Operations Services comes
to a close. Operations Service’s contracted
certified operator George Holzworth will be
replaced by an IAI-certified operator, who
has not been chosen yet. John Barthels, a
representative of IAI who attended Monday’s
council meeting, said the company was clos-
ing in on potential candidates.
“There’s a real shortage in the state of
Michigan and across the country (of certified
operators) in the wastewater industry,” Barth-
els said. “We have talked to a number of
candidates externally that we’ve worked with
over the years. We also have a number of
internal candidates and we think we have a
really good pool of people who would be
your prospective manager here at Hastings.”
The contract approved by the city would
appoint Josh Mannard as the plant’s interim
certified operator until a long-term candidate
could be found and placed at the plant. Man-
nard currently works as IAI’s project manag-
er for the Bowne Township wastewater treat-
ment plant as well as a wastewater treatment
plant serving the Royal Estates Manufactured
Housing Community in Kalamazoo.
City Manager Sarah Moyer-Cale said the
decision was based on several meetings the
city had with IAI and reviews from others
who had worked with the contractors.
“(Director of Public Services Travis Tate),
myself and (Superintendent of Utilities Verne
Robins) evaluated the proposals, met with IAI
a few times, talked about their organization and
their philosophy and approach towards waste-
water contract operations and we were very
impressed with them,” she said. “(We) also
contacted the references. The people we spoke
with were all very happy with their services.”
IAI was founded in 2000 and is based out
of Rockford. Barthels told council members
he believed the Hastings facility would be a
good fit for IAI services and the company
focuses on building long-term relationships
with clients.
“We’ve been doing it a long time. Our mis-
sion isn’t necessarily to be the largest compa-
ny out there,” Barthels said. “But we really
try to find partnerships with clients and our
goal is to have long-term relationships. We
focus on quality. We’re not perfect; we make
mistakes. But if we do make a mistake, we
own it, we fix it.”In other business, the city:- Approved a three percent pay increase for
City Manager Sarah Moyer-Cale. The raise
came after an employee evaluation for Moy-
er-Cale was completed by council members in
Sept. and was consistent with other non-union
city staff members, according to the city. - Approved a $28,368 purchase order for
copper tubing, curb stops and corporation
stops from Ferguson and a $34,000 purchase
order from Advantage Plumbing and Drain.
Both purchase orders were to replace lead
water service lines for 17 houses on East
Thorn Street as required by the Michigan
Department of Environment, Great Lakes and
Energy (EGLE). - Approved a $144,450 contract with Lake-
land Asphalt Corp. for parking lot improve-
ments to City Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4. Funds for the
improvements are coming from both the city
and the downtown development authority. - Entered a sales listing agreement with At
Home Real Estate for the sale of 1013 W.
Green St. and approved the mayor and city
clerk to enter a purchase agreement upon
receiving an acceptable offer. - Approved a request from the Jingle and
Mingle Committee to hold the Hastings Jin-
gle and Mingle Event from Dec. 2-4 in down-
town Hastings.
Hit-and-run suspect Palmer
has trial set for January
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
A trial date has been set for early next year
for a 32-year-old Delton woman charged in a
hit-and-run crash that killed a 21-year-old
woman in Barry Township in May of this
year.
Alexandra Marie Palmer is scheduled to go
on trial on Jan. 23, 2023 before Judge Michael
Schipper on three criminal counts, including
failure to stop at the scene of an accident
resulting in death, a felony that carries a pris-
on sentence of up to 15 years and fines of up
to $10,000 upon conviction.
Schipper set the trial date on Wednesday
during a pre-trial conference. Palmer appeared
for the hearing via video from the Barry
County Jail, where she is being held on a
$20,000 bond.
Palmer is accused of striking Mica LeBeau
with her vehicle in the early morning hours of
May 8 in the 6900 block of Delton Road.
LeBeau’s body was found lying alongside the
road by officers from the Barry Township
Police Department.
Schipper set aside Jan. 23-24 and Jan. 27
as dates for the trial. Assistant Prosecutor
Josh Carter said discussions on a possible
plea have taken place with defense attorney
Carol Jones Dwyer.
“We are still working on a resolution in
this case,” Carter told the court.
According to the police investigation,
Palmer was traveling westbound on Delton
Road when her vehicle struck LeBeau, who
was walking along the roadway. The driver
then fled the scene west on Delton, then
turned north onto Norris Road, police said.
Palmer was arrested on June 13 after police
received a tip on her whereabouts. Other
charges against her include failure to stop at
the scene of a serious personal injury accident
and a moving violation causing death, accord-
ing to court records.
A final pre-trial conference has been sched-
uled for Dec. 20.Board of Commissioners passes motion to cut
funding for a Barry County Sheriff’s detective position
Jayson Bussa
Editor
As the Barry County Board of Commis-
sioners makes its way closer to finalizing the
county’s 2023 budget, the board decided
abruptly on Tuesday to eliminate funding for
a detective position within the sheriff’s
department, claiming that it was not an
appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.
The Barry County Sheriff’s Office current-
ly has funding to support three detectives.
Detective Sergeant Janette Maki currently
handles the lion’s share of cases as the other
detective, deputy Mark Noteboom, has been
assigned by Sheriff Dar Leaf to investigate
voter fraud ever since he was hired to the
position in February.
Leaf and Undersheriff Jason Sixberry
both confirmed that the department has a
third detective waiting in the wings with
deputy Rose O’Grady. She is currently
undergoing training and handling some
detective duties, but due to staff shortages,
the department is unable to take her off of
the road in Middleville to assume full-time
detective duties.
With less than a month left before the 2022 general election, the Hastings Banner will
be providing weekly election previews to help inform voters.
Inside this week’s issue, you will find a full rundown on candidates vying for seats on
school boards for both the Hastings Area School System and Thornapple Kellogg Schools.
Our team will be following up with previews on races for state representative, Barry
County commissioner and more.Free, accessible information
crucial to government
transparency
See story page 4
Saxon football one win away
from another title
See story on page 9
Previewing races for Hastings,
TK school boards
See stories inside
Alexandra PalmerJohn Barthels, division director at Infrastructure Alternatives, Inc., spoke to council
members on Monday about a new five-year contract to manage the city’s wastewater
treatment plant. (Photo by Hunter McLaren)During Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Jon Smelker (second from the
right) motioned to eliminate funding for a detective position within the Barry County
Sheriff’s Office. His motion passed with support from Catherine Getty (right) and Hoot
Gibson (second from the left). (Photo by Jayson Bussa)Last week, the county’s Committee of the Whole questioned Barry County Sheriff
Dar Leaf about how he is utilizing three detective positions within his department. Leaf
explained that he has two full-time detectives, but one is only investigating a voter
fraud case. The third position is vacant with an applicant waiting in the wings. (Photo
by Jayson Bussa)See SHERIFF, page 2