HB 4.1.2021 DONE

The Hastings Banner — Thursday, April 1, 2021 — Page 5

from our readers

Editorial page 2

The Hastings Banner

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• NEWSROOM •
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  Brett Bremer (Sports Editor)


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CFO

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Sophie Bates

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Area Locations to purchase the Hastings Banner!

Hastings:

One Stop Shop (Phillips 66)

(M-43 North)

Superette

Family Fare

Tom's Market

Hasting's Johnny's

The General Store

Marathon

Mega Bev

Hastings Pharmacy

Phillips 66 Gas Station (M-37 West)

Family Fare Gas Station

Walgreens

Middleville:

Speedway

Middleville Marketplace

Greg’s Get-It-N-Go

Middleville Johnny's

Gun Lake:

Sam’s Gourmet Foods

Pine Lake:

Doster Country Store

Prairieville:

Prairieville Fast Stop

Orangeville:

Orangeville Fast Stop

Woodland:

Woodland Express

Cloverdale:

Cloverdale General

Brown’s Cedar Creek Grocery

Delton:

Family Fare

Delton Johnny's

Banfield:

Banfield General Store

Dowling:

Goldsworthys

Dowling General Store

Freeport:

L & J’s

Nashville:

Trading Post

Little’s Country Store

Nashville Johnny's

MV Pharmacy

Nashville C Store

Carl’s

Lake Odessa:

Lake-O-Express

Lake-O-Mart

Lake Odessa Johnny's

Carl’s

Shelbyville:

Town & Country

Recycling is great, as

long as it’s done correctly

To the editor:

I am really upset because I really believe

recycling is important to preserve our soil so

we aren’t putting all the trash in our earth.

People don’t recycle correctly. They put

plastic bags in with cans and plastic bottles.

The bags can be recycled at Walmart.

There are signs saying “no plastic bags.”

Cardboard boxes in with cans and plastic and

glass

Just take the time to recycle properly: No

cardboard in with the cans and plastic bottles.

If not sure, ask someone to explain it.

Georgia Lindroth,

Hastings

How much risk should you take

before retirement?

If you’re planning to

retire in just a few years, you

may be getting excited about

this next phase of your life.

However, your ability to enjoy

retirement fully will depend,

at least partially, on the

resources you can draw from

your investment portfolio.

So, while you still have

time to act, ask yourself if

you’re comfortable with your

portfolio’s risk level.

Your relationship with risk

can change noticeably over

time. When you started saving

for retirement, you may have

been willing to take on

more investment risk, which

translated into a relatively

high percentage of stocks and

stock-based mutual funds in

your investment portfolio. As

you know, stocks offer the

potential for greater returns

than other assets – such as

bonds and certificates of

deposit (CDs) – but they are

also typically more volatile

and carry more risk. But

when you were many decades

away from retirement, you

had sufficient time to recover

from market fluctuations. (Of

course, there are no guarantees

• it’s possible that some stocks
  will lose value and never
  regain it.)
  Now, fast forward to where
  you are now – closing in on
  retirement. Even at this stage
  of your life – and, in fact,

even during your retirement

• you will need some growth-
  oriented investments to help
  stay ahead of inflation. Over
  time, even a low inflation rate,
  such as we’ve had the past
  several years, can erode your
  purchasing power.
  So, the issue isn’t this:
  “Should I get rid of all
  my risk?” You shouldn’t –
  and, in fact, you couldn’t,
  because all investments, even
  the ones considered most
  “conservative,” contain some
  type of risk, even if it isn’t the
  risk of loss of principal. For
  instance, some investments
  run the risk of not keeping
  up with inflation. Instead,
  ask yourself these questions:
  “How much risk should I
  take within my portfolio?”
  “How much risk do I actually
  need to achieve my goals in
  retirement?”
  Of course, there are no
  one-size-fits-all answers.
  You’ll need to look at your
  investment portfolio to see if
  it’s positioned to provide you
  with the income you’ll require
  in your retirement years. You
  might have initially based
  your financial strategy on a
  specific type of retirement
  lifestyle, but now that you’re
  nearing retirement, perhaps
  you’ve changed your mind.
  Your anticipated new lifestyle
  might require either more
  or less income than you had

originally projected – and if

that’s the case, you may need

to adjust the risk level in

your portfolio or make other

adjustments.

For example, suppose

you had initially envisioned

a rather quiet retirement,

sticking around your home,

volunteering and spending

time with your grandchildren.

But in recent years –

and especially since the

confinement many of us have

felt during the COVID-

pandemic – you may have

thought that you’d now like

to travel extensively. To

achieve this goal, which will

likely cost more than your

original one, you may have to

work longer, or invest more

each year until you retire, or

seek a higher return on your

investments – which means

accepting more risk.

As you can see, managing

risk is a balancing act – and

you may need to make some

tough choices. But as long as

you’re aware of how much

risk you can take, and how

much risk you may need to

take to reach your goals, you

can develop a strategy that

aligns with your objectives.

This article was written by

Edward Jones for use by your

local Edward Jones Financial

Advisor.

Edward Jones, Member

SIPC

Andrew Cove, AAMS®

Financial Advisor

421 W. Woodlawn Ave.

Hastings, MI 49058

(269) 945-

Member SIPC

Financial FOCUS

Provided by the Barry County

offices of Edward Jones

Kevin Beck, AAMS®

Financial Advisor

400 W. State St., Suite B

Hastings, MI 49058

(269) 945-

Airport commission

extends manager’s contract

Sophie Bates

Staff Writer

The Hastings/Barry County Airport

Commission extended airport manager Mark

Noteboom’s $78,000 contract for another

three years, at the same rate of pay, during its

monthly meeting March 24.

Noteboom’s contract was scheduled to end

May 31 and, in preparation, Noteboom has

been training assistant airport manager Mark

Anderson to take his place.

“Mark [Anderson] has been in training to

do this,” Noteboom said. “But he still needs

some more work and some more mentoring.

So, what I’d like to do is just extend my con-

tract out until he’s comfortable enough to take

it and go from there.”

Noteboom said Anderson may decide not

accept the position of airport manager.

“If Mark [Anderson] decides that he doesn’t

want this, which could be a possibility, then

we’ll have to look at another person,”

Noteboom said.

Gino Lucci — a Federal Aviation

Administration-certified aircraft mechanic

and pilot and the owner of Lucci Distributing

and Round Engine Aero — has applied for the

airport manager position in the event Anderson

does not take over.

Noteboom’s contract stipulates he train his

successor at no cost to the airport. And, at a

2019 meeting, the commission gave Noteboom

permission to choose his own replacement.

“Six months down the road, if Mark

[Anderson] decides he doesn’t want to do it,

well, we’re still not out anything because all

we did was renew the contract. And if Gino

was still interested that would be the next

person,” Mayor David Tossava said. “It’s up

to Mark because we agreed to that, that he

could pick his replacement. So, like I said, if

we renew the three-year contract, we’re not

out anything.”

The contract requires 90 days’ notice if

Noteboom decides to resign or if the board

were to terminate Noteboom.

The commission voted 4-1 to renew the

contract. Commissioner Vivian Conner voted

no because she said she wanted the opportuni-

ty to review the motion authorizing Noteboom

to choose his replacement before the vote.

“I would like to see the motion from last

summer first, before, because I thought that

vote in the summer went differently,” Conner

said.

The commission also reviewed and

approved the airport’s December 2020 finan-

cial report. The revenue for January was

$41,462 and $19,407 for February.

Expenditures were $23,630 for January and

$16,184 for February.

LDFA board reviews budget,

parking and storage ordinance

Sophie Bates
Staff Writer
The Local Development Finance Authority
and Brownfield Redevelopment Authority
Board last week reviewed a revised version of
its 2020-21 budget for implementation into
the 2021-22 fiscal year budget.
Looking at the 2020-21 budget, Community
Development Director Dan King said revenue
is currently on track and not expected to
change. Revenue was budgeted to reach
$35,200 and is currently $30,264.
“From a revenue standpoint, likely there
won’t be any change to that,” King said.
“[City Clerk Jane Saurman] has information
on the tax rolls and what’s anticipated from
the Tax Increment Funding tax capture, as
well as the Local Community Stabilization
Act money that we budgeted $10,200 for this
year and we received $11,350. From the semi
parking rentals, we budgeted $5,000. We’re
about on track to collect that for this year. So,
I don’t believe that there’ll be any change to
[revenue].”
For expenditures, the board budgeted
$11,800 for the 2020-21 fiscal year and thus
far as spent $4,405.
“I would recommend to our clerk/treasurer
staff a similar budget that’s representative of
next year, similar to this year’s,” King said.
After reviewing the budget, the board unan-
imously approved a motion to recommend the

budget be implemented into the 2021-22 bud-

get.

The board also discussed parking and stor-

age zoning ordinances. The issue was first

raised at the January LDFA/BRA meeting by

Bill Westerveld, owner of Cabinets Plus on

East State Street. Westerveld noted that semi-

truck parking regulations cover all areas of

the city, including private property in industri-

al zones.

Currently, within the D-1 and D-2 industri-

al districts the storage of large items, such as

boats or vehicles, is permitted as long as it is

screened by a fence or other obstruction, from

the view of nearby properties and roadways.

“It may be a situation where we do have to

review our ordinance or permitted uses in the

D-1 and D-2 districts to further define and

clarify the semi- parking and storage issue,”

King said. “It may be advantageous or perti-

nent to go ahead and have the planning com-

mission review those ordinances and possibly

do a clean-up issue or text amendment to

better define and clarify what’s permitted,

what’s a special use and maybe items in those

zoning ordinances that are really new and

don’t speak to some of the actual activities

that are occurring.”

The board requested the planning commis-

sion review the ordinance and make changes

if necessary.

Geiger agreed that the board should not
waive the late fees, and said he did not see any
option other than to send out the licensing
applications and require fees as usual.
The board unanimously voted to do so.
Mulder previously said he would abstain from
voting on the issue due to his involvement in
the restaurant industry, but said he would vote
on that motion since its only action was to
keep the current policy in place.
Geiger later told The Hastings Banner he
believed restaurant inspection licensing notic-
es are normally sent out in February, but they
were delayed this year due to the board’s
consideration of reducing the fees.
“Unfortunately we have not come to a con-
clusion and at this point we have a legal dead-
line of April 30,” Geiger said.
But Geiger added he expects the board to
continue discussions of how to alleviate
restaurants’ economic issues after getting
more information.
Geiger said restaurant owners should
expect their notices in the mail soon.
In other business:
The board voted 5-1 to hire a new supervi-
sor for the personal health division, and

extend the employment of three disease inves-

tigators for a further six months.

The supervisor will report to personal

health director Sue Thusma, and work along-

side two other supervisors in the division.

Scrimger proposed hiring a second person-

al health director to relieve the long hours of

overtime Thusma has been working since the

pandemic began.

“I think this is an appropriate compromise

that will allow the staff to operate much more

efficiently, and relieve some of the pressure

on at least one individual who’s been working

essentially six and seven days a week, a lot

more than eight hours a day,” Brehler said.

But some board members were hesitant to

hire another director due to the cost. Jon

Smelker said he was against hiring another

director, and was the only vote against the

motion.

Scrimger said the cost of a new supervisor

would be between $50,000 and $55,000 for

the remainder of the fiscal year. The exten-

sion of the disease investigators will cost

$65,000.

• The board unanimously voted to purchase
  a medical records software system from

Patagonia Health.

Scrimger said the current records system

will be rendered obsolete at the end of the

year because it relies on Microsoft’s Internet

Explorer, which is being phased out. She rec-

ommended Patagonia because of its low

maintenance cost and based on positive feed-

back from other health departments which use

the software.

• Geiger said there has been no further dis-
  cussion on purchasing new software for vac-
  cine distribution, which was a topic of extend-
  ed discussion during the February meeting.


• The next Board of Health meeting will be
  at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday April 22.

LICENSING, continued from page 1

Community

cross walk

is tomorrow

Grace Lutheran Church of Hastings invites

the community to take part in the Good Friday

Cross Walk, April 2. The walk will begin at

9:30 a.m. from Grace Lutheran Church, 239

E. North St., Hastings.

The cross walk was canceled last year due

to the onset of the pandemic. This year’s

event will have with added safety precautions.

Participants will meet outside in the church

parking lot for directions and prayer before

beginning.

Bottles of water will be available for those

who would like to take one on the journey.

Restrooms are available in the church

however, those entering are asked to wear a

mask while inside. Walkers from the same

family unit may walk close together; however,

participants will be encouraged to keep a

greater distance between different families.

“We walk in the streets of Hastings,

reminding us of how Jesus walked in the

streets of Jerusalem to the place of

Crucifixion,” Pastor Ken Scheck said. “Good

Friday is not just another work day or day off,

it is an opportunity for us to focus on the

journey of our Lord’s crucifixion and

resurrection. During the walk, we will stop,

read Scripture and offer prayers as we open

our minds to Jesus’ journey, which gave us

life.”

From the church, walkers will head south

on Michigan Avenue, west on State Street

through downtown, pause in front of the

courthouse, return east on State Street, turn

north on Michigan Avenue, and conclude the

walk back at the church.

The 2 ½-mile walk usually takes about 1

½ hours.

Those who can’t walk the entire distance

may join as long as they are able. A safety

vehicle will follow the walkers to offer a ride

or assistance, as needed. Everyone wanting to

carry the cross may take a turn.

People of all ages are invited to participate.

Strollers are welcome, but no pets or bicycles.

A time of visiting outside will be provided

at Grace after the walk.

Additional information is available by

calling the church, 269-945-9414, or Kim

Domke, 269-908-0024.

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