SN 5.15.2021

Page 2/The Sun and News, Saturday, May 15, 2021

616-891-

Locally owned business installing American made products

High Efficiency

FURNACE

& AIR

$

200

OFF

* Must present this coupon.

Expires 5-28-

FURNACE

TUNE-UP

$

79

95

FRONTIER

HEATING & COOLING

210 East Main Street, Caledonia

“The company built

by referrals”

Caledonia’s Kinsey Street construction shelved until next year

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The planned reconstruc-
tion of Kinsey Street in the
village of Caledonia has
been put on hold until next
year.
The project had been
scheduled to take place this
fall, but village engineering
consultant Jon Moxey of
Fleis & VandenBrink told the
village council Monday that,
based on the current bidding
climate for road projects, the
village would be better off
financially delaying recon-
struction on the section of
Kinsey between Maple and
Main streets.
“We’re better off trying to
be first in line for spring
2022 construction,” Moxey
said. “We’ve talked to the
[Caledonia Farmers]
Elevator. They said it really
doesn’t matter to them
whether it’s fall or spring.
That was the conclusion we
reached on your behalf.”
Moxey said bid prices for
projects this year are expect-
ed to be considerably higher
than last year. He described
the bidding climate as
“scary.”
The project calls for
rebuilding Kinsey between
Main and Maple, with a
combination of curb and gut-
ter and open ditch cleanout,
sanitary sewer improvements
and extension between Main
and Maple, and associated
storm sewer and drainage
improvements.
The road portion of the

project has an estimated cost

of $762,000, while the sani-

tary sewer portion has an

estimated price tag of

$153,000. Those include

design, engineering and con-

tingency costs. The village’s

estimated contribution to the

road cost is $337,000. The

sanitary sewer costs are

being covered through the

township’s sanitary sewer

fund, Moxey said.

The Kinsey project last

month got approved for

$141,550 of funding through

the federal CARES Act. The

Grand Valley Metropolitan

Council approved the fund-

ing as part of an overall $3.

million allocation of COVID-

19-relief funding for road

projects around the Grand

Rapids metro area.

The project originally was

approved to receive $300,

from the Michigan

Department of Transportation

and the Metro Council for

the project, but the Metro

Council scaled back that

amount to about $283,

because of an overall fund-

ing decrease for MDOT’s

Grand Region.

“We have earmarked

funds that are ours, but until

we meet all their hurdles, all

their criteria, that’s when

they obligate the federal

moneys to us,” Moxey said.

The village first proposed

reconstruction of the entire

section of Kinsey, from

100th Street to Main.

However, it was later short-

ened to the section between

Maple and Main.

“That is by far the worst

section of Kinsey Street.

That’s why we focused on it,

as opposed to the other [sec-

tion] when we weren’t able

to get all the money that we

wanted,” Moxey said. “The

area along the elevator is

rated [one] of the worst roads

in Kent County. We definite-

ly wanted to get that taken

care of.”

Addressing drainage

issues also is a major part of

the project.

“When we put the new

pavement out there, if we

don’t take care of the water

somewhere, [the road sur-

face] is going to turn back to

what it is,” Moxey said.

Fleis & VandenBrink is

working with Caledonia

Township and its engineers

on the extension of the sani-

tary sewer between Maple

and Main, Moxey said.

Preliminary design plans

will be presented to MDOT

in the next week or two. A

project meeting involving

MDOT, the village, town-

ship, utilities and project

engineers is expected to take

place next month, Moxey

said.

Bids for the project will

likely go out this winter,

Moxey said.

In other business Monday,

the council:

• Authorized Village
  Manager Jeff Thornton to
  work out details of an agree-
  ment with Caledonia Farmers
  Elevator to lease out a por-
  tion of the village hall. The
  village would lease 2,
  square feet of the village hall
  to CFE. The elevator would
  do renovation work on the
  leased portion, with its costs
  to be deducted from the lease
  over a period of four years.
  “CFE has some large con-
  struction projects planned for
  their Caledonia operations
  which include their retail and

office space,” Village

President Jennifer Lindsey

said.

Chad Chambers, who just

took over as the elevator’s

new chief executive officer,

told council members the

elevator has an interest in

pursuing revitalization of the

downtown area.

“The intent would be to

move office space [to the

village hall], and then that

would allow us to expand

retail and do some of the

other things that we want to

do,” Chambers said.

The lease for the first year

would be $34,200, with

$10,000 credited to the ele-

vator for its work on the

renovation. A 2 percent cost-

of-living increase would be

added on in subsequent

years.

A special land use would

have to be approved by the

planning commission for the

CFE to use that portion of

the village hall. The final

lease must still be approved

by the village council,

Thornton said.

• Approved the hiring of
  Jennifer Eardley as the new
  village treasurer, replacing
  Jennifer Renegar, who
  recently resigned. Eardley is
  a Caledonia Township resi-
  dent whose past experience
  includes serving as a staff
  accountant at Stonehenge
  Consulting in Byron Center.
  She has held several account-
  ing positions for local com-
  panies.


• Scheduled a special
  meeting Tuesday, June 8, to
  work on the village budget
  for the new fiscal year that
  will begin July 1. During his
  manager’s report prior to the
  decision to set the special
  meeting, Thornton spoke of
  the village’s need to address
  street projects in the next
  budget.
  “We need to look at what
  we’ve done in the past with
  streets and what we need to
  do in the future,” Thornton
  said. “We did some repairs in

Glen Valley last year. This

year we’re targeting Kinsey

Street, but we’ve got a lot of

other streets that need

repairs. Last [winter] was

very hard on streets. The

frost did not go very far into

the ground, and it’s show-

ing.”

Thornton also spoke about

the village’s tax rate, which

currently stands at 7.

mills and hasn’t been adjust-

ed in several years. The vil-

lage legally can levy a maxi-

mum of 12.614 mills, he

said.

The budget is scheduled to

be adopted at the board’s

next regular meeting

Monday, June 14, at 7 p.m.

• Authorized Thornton to
  pursue an easement or poten-
  tial land purchase agreement
  for an undisclosed piece of
  property in the village, and to
  bring that possible agree-
  ment back to the council for
  final action. The action fol-
  lowed a nearly 30-minute
  closed-door session.

Residential development partner

sought for Towne Center project

James Gemmell

Contributing Writer

American Kendall

Properties LLC is trying to

identify a business partner to

help it develop a 54-acre sec-

tion of a proposed 83-acre

mixed-use property known

for now as the Gaines Towne

Center.

That’s a placeholder name

until American Kendall set-

tles on a permanent moniker

for the proposed project at

the southeast corner of

84th Street SE and

Kalamazoo Avenue, across

from the Gaines Charter

Township Hall.t

Tentatively, the town cen-

ter would feature a pedestri-

an plaza at the intersection,

with dining, laundry and

similar potential commercial

uses, along with apartments,

townhouses and single- and

two-family homes to the

south and east.

Representatives from

Indianapolis-based American

Kendall presented a draft

agreement for utility services

to the future development at

the May 10 township board

meeting. The memorandum

of understanding sets forth

parameters of the proposed

construction/management

relationship, financial

projections and a timeline for

beginning the project.

“We would like to get

started first thing when the

ground is soft enough to get a

shovel in next

year,” American Kendall

Properties principal Mike

Speedy told the township

board. “We would hope to be

approved sometime in

September, with a

development agreement that

would contemplate this

arrangement within it. It

would be a tri-party agree-

ment between the township,

ourselves and our single-fam-

ily [residential] partner, if

you will.”

The proposed town center

is still in the early stages, and

far from a done deal.

Township board members

expressed concern about how

the rural aspect of that part of

the community might be

impacted by the 550-unit

project, particularly close to

the farmland along

92nd Street.

The township’s future

land-use map anticipates

such development.

Township Engineer Jeff

Gritter said after the board

meeting, “It’s really a ques-

tion of land use and what the

township wants to see for

further development in the

area. The utilities have

capacity and can support

what the township’s decid-

ing.”

The draft agreement takes

into consideration informa-

tion that American Kendall

Properties’ civil design engi-

neers compiled after consult-

ing with Gritter, and projects

the future cost for water-

main and force-main installa-

tion.

Speedy said his company

is suggesting the township

cover installation costs relat-

ed to the nearly two miles of

water main that would have

to be extended along

Kalamazoo Avenue to

accommodate the project.

That is still being negotiated.

American Kendall would

like to be the construction

managers for the project, he

said, and have a “very hands-

on approach in extending the

water line.

“We’d control who the

contractors are, off an

approved list from the town-

ship,” he said. “We’d negoti-

ate or help them with the

subcontracting and contracts,

we’d review the work orders.

We’d work together before

that stage closely with the

engineers to get the plans ...

the way they should be.”

The memo of understand-

ing will be subject to review

from township attorneys to

see if it complies with

Michigan law.

American Kendall and

township planners are still

waiting official word from

the federal government when

federal economic stimulus

money for infrastructure

upgrades will be made avail-

able for such a project.

Speedy shared a memo

from his company stating

that funds from the American

Rescue Plan Act were to be

distributed to states by May

11, and that states have 30

days from that date to distrib-

ute those funds to local

municipalities. Final distri-

bution of the first half of the

stimulus funds would come

before the end of this year,

with the second half distrib-

uted in 2022. The funds can

be used for “necessary

investments in water, sewer

and broadband infrastruc-

ture,” according to ARPA.

Gaines Charter Township

was advised it might be allo-

cated an estimated $2.7 mil-

lion, based on a scale related

to its population numbers.

That would more than cover

the estimated cost to extend

municipal water to the

84th Street/Kalamazoo

Avenue intersection.

“I really don’t know when

the guidance is going to

come down [for the federal

stimulus money],” Township

Community Development

Director Dan Wells said. “As

soon as it does come out,

we’ll track it and follow it,

and see if we can apply for it.

“Obviously, there is this

project. And then Jeff

[Gritter] mentioned at the

meeting that there are some

other projects, too, that we

might want to use that money

for.”

Speedy told the township

board American Kendall

Properties is “working

through the final details of an

agreement” with an unnamed

residential developer on the

first 54 acres of the proposed

Gaines Towne Center.

“We’re working for a sub-

mittal, and we’re trying to

bring along a developer that

you all would know, once ink

dries this week or next

week,” Speedy said.

Seeking Vendors

Caledonia Library Outdoor

Craft & Vendor Show

Saturday, July 17, 2021 • 9:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Vault Cafe & Bakery

on site serving baked goods and lunch

Location: Journey Church’s Back Parking Lot

9185 Cherry Valley Ave SE,

Caledonia, Michigan, 49316

Interested in setting up a booth at our show?

Email: [email protected] or pick up

information at the Caledonia Library

Call 269-945-

for Sun & News

classified ads