SN 3-2-2024

The Sun and News, Saturday, March 2, 2024/ Page 5

Middleville council fixes rezoning

gaffe on State Street property

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
When the village of
Middleville approved the
rezoning of more than 20
properties on West Main
Street and four more on State
Street to two newly-created
zoning categories late last
year, one property on State
that was supposed to be part
of the change was inadver-
tently left out.
The Village Council fixed
the mistake Tuesday, unani-
mously approving rezoning
the property at 36 State St.
into the new “transitional
industrial” zone district, join-
ing the other State Street
properties. The property had
been included in notices of
public hearings on the rezon-
ing but was not included in
the original ordinance lan-
guage when the council
approved rezoning the State
and West Main properties.
“This is a corrective
action, as it was omitted

from the ordinance (approv-

ing the rezoning) ... All due

notice was given to members

of the public and all consid-

eration whether or not this

should be adopted was done

as well,” Village Planning

and Zoning Administrator

Doug Powers said. “This was

the way we could correct that

discrepancy.”

The village passed an

ordinance in 2022 creating

the TI and “transitional

mixed use,” or TMU dis-

tricts, one year after the new

categories had been recom-

mended for inclusion in the

village master plan.

The 36 State St. property,

which is owned by the vil-

lage, has been marketed as a

Redevelopment Ready site.

“A (request for proposals)

was sent out to see if there

were people interested in

developing the site,” Powers

said. “We’ve had some inter-

est (in the property).”

Responses to the RFP are

expected to be discussed by

the council either later this

month or at the council’s com-

mittee of the whole meeting in

early April, Powers said.

On a related matter

Tuesday, the council

approved spending up to

$8,000 from the village’s

reserves to help temporarily

cover the cost of relocating

overhead power lines near

the 36 State St. site, from the

middle of the property to the

property line next to

Thornapple Valley Church.

The Local Development

Finance Authority had

approved $50,000 for the proj-

ect, but a proposal from

Consumers Energy to relocate

the lines came in at $57,410,

nearly $14,000 higher than the

utility had been quoted for the

project last November.

“(The LDFA doesn’t) meet

until April, so I’d like to get

a jump start on this before

the prices increase again,”

Village Manager Craig

Stolsonburg said.

Stolsonburg will ask the

LDFA to reimburse the vil-

lage for the overage when it

meets April 18.

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Middleville UMC to host Barry County Cares benefit concert

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
It’s a resource in the
Middleville community that
some folks might not be
aware of.
Tucked in the basement
of Middleville United
Methodist Church, the
Middleville Community
Food Pantry serves about
35 families, representing
more than 100 people, in
any given month, helping
them make sure they have
enough to eat.
And pantry director
Jeanne Petersen says with
rising food costs, she’s see-
ing increased requests for
help.
“It’s a-growing. The need
is there,” said Petersen,
who has been the director

of the pantry for the last 10

years.

Clients who come to the

pantry are interviewed by

Barry County Cares, based

in Hastings, which serves

as the intake resource for

the Middleville pantry and

four other pantries around

Barry County.

“They are the clearing-

house for the clients that

come in here. They do the

interview ... They get the

information, and then that

information is given to one

of the volunteers that come

in,” Petersen said.

Once clients go through

the interview process and

are approved by Barry

County Cares, they can

come in one time a month

and choose five days’ sup-

ply of food. The pantry is

open weekdays by appoint-

ment, Petersen said.

“I (have clients) start

with (canned) vegetables

and fruits, and they work

their way around (the pan-

try). They choose the food

they want. I don’t choose

any food (for them). The

only thing I choose is the

meat,” Petersen said.

And while the shelves are

well-stocked at the pantry,

there are a few things that

might not be available, and

to cover that, Petersen

hands clients $10 gift cards

to Harding’s Friendly

Market of Middleville to

fill in those gaps.

About 25 volunteers help

staff and stock the pantry.

Petersen is thankful to have

the support of the Methodist

church for the use of the

space, which helps the pan-

try put all of the donations it

receives into acquiring food.

“Because they are gener-

ous enough to allow us this

space, we don’t have to pay

heat and rent and garbage

disposal and insurance and

all that stuff,” she said.

The pantry recently

received a check of more

than $3,500 from Harding’s

through a “round-up” fund-

raising campaign where

shoppers could round up

their grocery bill to the next

dollar with the additional

contribution going to the

pantry. Store director Nate

Costello presented the

check to Petersen.

The church will host a

benefit dinner and concert to

support Barry County Cares

on March 8, featuring music

from the Langford Lads,

three area musicians that

specialize in Irish, old-time

and folk music. The dinner

will be served from 5:30 to

6:45 p.m. with the concert at

7 p.m., Petersen said.

The dinner will consist

of meatloaf, a baked potato

bar, salad bar and dessert.

The meal is $15 per per-

son, with children 6-12 at

$10 and kids 5 and under

eating free. All proceeds

will go to benefit Barry

County Cares. Petersen

notes that BCC does not

receive any federal funding

and strictly relies on pri-

vate and business dona-

tions to serve the commu-

nity, and that the organiza-

tion does not receive finan-

cial support from the food

pantries.

A look inside the Middleville Community Food

Pantry, located in the Middleville United Methodist

Church. (Photo by Greg Chandler)

A check was recently presented to Middleville Community Food Pantry Director Jeanne Petersen by Nate
Costello, store manager for the Harding’s Friendly Market in Middlevllle for $3,500. The store recently did a
“round-up” fundraiser to support the pantry. (Photo courtesy Jeanne Petersen)