The Sun and News

Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas

No. 28/July 10, 2021 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 143rd year

Caledonia Twp. approves tax

break for Aspen Surgical

Twenty new

jobs expected

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

A surgical products manu-

facturer based in Caledonia

Township plans to add at

least 20 new jobs in the next

two years as a result of con-

struction of a new

70,000-square-foot building

in the Southbelt Industrial

Park.

The township board

Wednesday unanimously

approved a 10-year, 50 per-

cent industrial facilities tax

abatement for Aspen Surgical

Products Inc. on the nearly

$6.2 million project, current-

ly under construction at 5145

Beltway Drive SE.

Founded in Caledonia

Township in 1999, Aspen

Surgical produces both

branded and private-label

disposable surgical products,

including scalpels, blades,

needle guides, surgical mark-

ing pens and basic wound-

care products. The company

currently employs about 240

workers locally, Jeff Stephen,

vice president for operations,

said.

“The primary driver was

office space, as well as

expanding our distribution

operations,” Stephen told the

board during a public hearing

prior to approval of the tax

break.

About 25,000-30,

square feet of the facility is

planned for distribution

expansion, with another

14,000 square feet to be used

for office space, Stephen

said.

“The remainder is [for]

growth for the business,

whether that’s growing for

distribution, whether we

grow in bringing more prod-

ucts in to produce, or wheth-

er we grow in office space,”

he said.

The new facility will con-

nect to a nearby manufactur-

ing facility on Southbelt

Drive, Stephen said.

Aspen Surgical was spun

off two years ago by its pre-

vious owners, Hill-Rom

Holdings, in a $170 million

deal with Audax Private

Equity.

“In the period since the

spinoff in August 2019,

we’ve acquired five compa-

nies ... with a big focus on

consolidation,” Stephen said.

“We’re consolidating those

individual facilities, whether

it’s the distribution of those

products, the manufacture of

those products, or both, into

one of our existing North

American facilities.”

Aspen Surgical’s most

recent acquisition occurred

last month, when the compa-

ny acquired Stork, a division

of Briggs Healthcare, which

produces sterile disposable

obstetrics products.

Under Public Act 198, the

Michigan law that allows

local governmental units the

ability to grant tax breaks for

new or expanding manufac-

turing facilities, a municipal-

ity can grant a 50 percent

abatement on property taxes

for the building, machinery

and equipment for up to 12

years. Aspen Surgical asked

for a 12-year exemption, but

Clerk Joni Henry said the

township’s legal counsel

advised a 10-year exemption

instead.

“That’s what we have done

in the past,” Henry said. “Our

attorney said it would be in

our best interests to continue

with the precedent we have

already set.”

In addition to the facility

in Caledonia Township,

Aspen Surgical also has man-

ufacturing operations in

Puerto Rico and Mexico.

In other business, the

township board approved:

• A 2.5 percent midyear

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68th Street construction

to get underway next week

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
A $1.65 million project to
rebuild 68th Street, between
Cherry Valley Avenue and
Thornapple River Drive in
Caledonia Township, will get
underway Monday after the
project was delayed a week
by area flooding.
The project was scheduled
to get underway July 5, but
was put on hold because of
emergency repair work on

Thornapple River Drive,

between 60th and 68th

streets, where heavy rains

June 24 through 26 caused

flooding leading to erosion

of the bank and roadbed,

according to the Kent County

Road Commission.

The 68th Street project

involves reconstruction of

the road to a two-lane all-sea-

son road standard. The proj-

ect includes earthwork,

ditches, culvert replacement

and paving, including the

addition of a paved shoulder,

according to the road com-

mission.

The project is slated for

completion Oct. 1. During

construction, traffic will be

detoured to 84th Street

between M-37 and

Whitneyville Road, Road

Commission spokeswoman

Maura Lamoreaux said.

Kentwood Excavating is

the contractor for the project.

Dispute continues over illegal towers in Caledonia Township

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
An ongoing legal dispute
between Caledonia Township
and a telecommunications
company appears no closer
to being resolved. The com-
pany, Michwave
Technologies Inc., erected
four communications towers
without getting prior approv-
al from the township.
Township Supervisor
Bryan Harrison and
Treasurer/Administrator
Richard Robertson updated
their board colleagues
Wednesday night on the dis-
pute between the township
and Michwave. The town-
ship earlier this spring issued
19 civil infraction complaints
against the company over the
towers – located at 6203
Whitneyville Ave., 7225
Snow Ave., 9281 84th St.
and 8450 96th St.

Township officials say

Michwave erected the towers

without getting prior approv-

al for special land use

through the planning com-

mission, which is required

under the township ordi-

nance. At previous township

board meetings over the past

couple of years, Michwave

representatives said the tow-

ers were needed to address a

lack of internet service in the

Caledonia area.

“While we certainly rec-

ognize the need, the practice

was undertaken without pull-

ing permits, and [without]

also being able to show, once

it came to our attention, to

show that they were built to

building requirements – to

state requirements and our

[township] construction

requirements,” Harrison

said.

Among the violations

cited in the township’s com-

plaint are a lack of evidence

that the towers have a proper

cement foundation, as well

as violation of a setback that

requires a tower to be at least

the same number of feet

away from the property line

as the height of the tower –

for example, a 100-foot-high

tower would need to be at

least 100 feet away from a

property line.

The township asked the

contractor to certify that the

towers were installed proper-

ly. Harrison said the contrac-

tor refused, saying he would

rather remove the towers

than comply.

“If he was doing [installa-

tion] under the legal and

authorized process, it would

be a matter of course, similar

to you building a garage or

any other structure under

code,” he said.

The township retained

Soils and Structures, an engi-

neering and consulting firm

based in Norton Shores, to

evaluate the foundations of

each of the four tower sites.

“Not to any surprise on

our part, [the evaluation]

confirmed that the founda-

tions do not meet the manu-

facturer’s recommendation.

In fact, they don’t even come

close,” Robertson said. “For

an example, that foundation

should be 32 inches into the

ground, and one of them was

16 inches into the ground. It

wasn’t that they barely didn’t

make it. They didn’t come

close to making it.”

The Kent County Circuit

Court could direct Michwave

to take down the towers, but

no decision has been made. A

court hearing in the case was

to have been held next week,

but that has been postponed,

Robertson said.

“We have not been sued.

We’re not in the process of a

lawsuit. We haven’t been

served. We haven’t served

[Michwave]. We’ve simply

cited the tower contractor on

a number of violations, both

the safety violations ... as

well as a failure to get the

special land-use approval

from the planning commis-

sion,” Robertson said.

Township Trustee Tim

Bradshaw expressed unease

about the safety of those who

live in the area of the towers.

“My concern is what lia-

bility do we have, now that

we know more about the

foundation?” Bradshaw

asked. “I think we want to

act quickly [to remove the

towers], knowing that I think

they are unsafe structures. [I

want to make sure] the pub-

lic is protected.”

Robertson doubted wheth-

er the township could be held

liable for any future damag-

“Not to any surprise on our part, [the evaluation] con-

firmed that the foundations do not meet the manu-

facturer’s recommendation. In fact, they don’t even

come close. For an example, that foundation should

be 32 inches into the ground, and one of them was

16 inches into the ground. It wasn’t that they barely

didn’t make it. They didn’t come close to making it.”

Treasurer/Administrator Richard Robertson

See TOWERS, page 11

See TAX BREAK, page 11

Middleville considers

eliminating rental fees

for nonprofits, others

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Nonprofit organizations,

religious groups and schools

would not have to pay a fee

to reserve a Middleville

park facility under a pro-

posed change being consid-

ered by village leaders.

The village council,

meeting as a committee of

the whole, Tuesday voted

6-0 to move the change onto

next week’s council agenda.

“Any organization that’s

working for the good of the

community would not be

charged a rental fee,” said

Council Trustee Mike

Cramer, who moved for

passage of the policy

change.

The council last month

decided to look into the

park rental policy after

Thornapple Kellogg

Schools band director Ray

Rickert complained about

village officials putting up

roadblocks to high school

students who wanted to per-

form outdoor concerts at the

downtown development

authority amphitheater on

two separate occasions over

the past nine months.

In one instance, a TK stu-

dent was told the amphithe-

ater needed to be reserved

several weeks in advance,

while in another instance, a

student was told a $

security deposit was needed

to access power at the

amphitheater. After hearing

Rickert’s complaint, the

council voted to allow

members of the TKHS jazz

band to play at the amphi-

theater at no charge.

Currently, a resident

wanting to reserve the

amphitheater has to pay a

$100 reservation fee. A non-

profit based in Middleville

would pay a $50 fee.

Someone from outside the

village wanting to reserve

the amphitheater would pay

a $200 reservation fee,

while a nonprofit outside of

the village would pay a

$150 reservation fee. A

See FEES, page 11

“I feel comfortable with

that, because everyone

(who is part) of those

organizations is a resident

that pays into the

general fund. I feel like

we’re double-dipping.”

Mike Cramer,

council trustee