Banner 09-30-2021

Page 16 — Thursday, September 30, 2021 — The Hastings Banner

BARRY TOWNSHIP BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN

RE-NOTICE OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENT PUBLIC HEARING

FAIR LAKE AQUATIC PLANT CONTROL SPECIAL ASSESSMENT DISTRICT 2021-

TO: THE RESIDENTS AND PROPERTY OWNERS OF BARRY TOWNSHIP, BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN AND ANY OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS:

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Barry Township Board, upon having received petitions to make certain public improvements as authorized by PA 188 of 1954, as amended, proposes to undertake an aquatic plant control project (with associated activities) on Fair Lake in Barry Township, as more particularly described below and to create a special assessment district for the recovery of the costs thereof by special assessment against the properties benefited. The Special Assessment District shall be known as the FAIR LAKE AQUATIC PLANT CONTROL SPECIAL ASSESSMENT DISTRICT NO 2021-

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the land and premises in the special assessment district within which the foregoing improvements are proposed to be made and within which the costs thereof are to be specially assessed are all parcels with frontage on and/or connection to channels and/or waterways connected to Fair Lake in Barry Township, which include the following parcel numbers:

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Township Board has received plans showing the proposed aquatic plant control project, associated activities, any proposed improvements and locations thereof, together with an estimate of the cost of the project in the amount of $45,235. The total project cost, including administrative costs, is proposed to be raised by special assessment. The Barry Township Board has passed a resolution tentatively declaring its intention to undertake such project and to create the afore-described special assessment district.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Township Board has placed the project plans and cost estimates on file with the Township Clerk and said plans, cost estimates and special assessment district may be examined at the Clerk’s office from the date of this Notice to the date of the public hearing and may further be examined at such public hearing. The Barry Township Offices are located at 11300 S M-43 Highway in Delton.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Township Board proposes to make a per-parcel special assessment each year for a period of two years ( through 2022 inclusive) of an annual assessment proposed to be $190.06 per year per lot. If the amount to be specially assessed increases by more than 10% in any one year, additional notice will be provided as required by law.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that a public hearing on the plans, district and cost estimates will be held at the Barry Township Hall, 155 E. Orchard Street, Delton commencing at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 11, 2021. At the hearing, the Board will consider any written objections and comments to any of the foregoing matters which are filed with the clerk at or before the hearing, and any objections or comments raised at the hearing; and at the hearing (or any adjournment of the hearing which may be made without further notice), the township board may revise, correct, amend or change the plans, cost estimates or special assessment district.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that if written objections to the project are filed with the Township Board at or before the hearing, signed by the record owners of land constituting more than 20% of the area within the proposed special assessment district, then the township board may not proceed unless petitions in support of the project, signed by record owners of more than 50% of the area to be made into a special assessment district, are filed with the township. Written comments or objections may be filed with the clerk at the address set out below.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that appearance and protest at the public hearing is required in order to appeal the special assessment to the State Tax Tribunal within 30 days after the special assessment roll is confirmed.

An owner or party in interest, or his or her agent, may appear in person at the hearing to protest the special assessment, or shall be permitted to file at or before the hearing his/her appearance or protest by letter and his/her personal appearance shall not be required. All interested persons are invited to be present in person or by representative and to submit comments concerning the establishment of the special assessment district, the plans and/or the cost estimates.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that if the Township Board determines to proceed with the special assessments, the board will cause a special assessment roll to be prepared and another hearing will be held, after notice to record owners of property proposed to be specially assessed, to hear public comments concerning the proposed special assessments.

Barry Township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired and audio tapes of printed material being considered at the hearing, to individuals with disabilities at the hearing upon seven (7) days’ notice to the Township Clerk. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the Township Clerk.

Debra Knight, Barry Township Clerk P.O. Box 705 Delton MI 49046 (269) 623-

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The sting of a bee

Dr. Universe: What happens when you get stung by a bee? And what happens to the bee? Fatima, age 9, Nigeria

Dear Fatima, A few different things happen when a bee stings you, and a few things happen to the bee, too. When I got your question, I called up my friend Brandon Hopkins, who works as a honeybee researcher at Washington State University. Just as bees have a defense system that helps them sur- vive in the world, humans have a defense system of their own. If you get a bee sting, it’s likely your body’s immune system – which works to protect you – will kick into gear. The body will detect unusual invaders, or the molecules in the bee venom. As the immune system responds to these invaders, you might experience some redness, itchiness,

swelling or, rarely, a severe allergic reaction. When Hopkins was first working with honeybees and got stung, he would swell up and itch a lot. But now when he gets stung, it just looks like a little bug bite. The sting still hurts, though. Over time, his body’s immune system has recognized the venom in his body isn’t really going to do any harm. Of course, everyone’s body is a little different. The reaction from a bee sting in one person might be quite different from a reaction in another person. Now, for the bee’s perspective. Hopkins reminded me honeybees, wasps, bumblebees and yellow jackets sting in different ways. Wasps, bumblebees and yellow jackets can sting you multiple times. They don’t lose their stinger when they fly away. But honeybees can only sting once. Part of the reason for this has to do with the body parts the honeybee uses to sting. First, there is the honeybee’s stinger. It isn’t exactly like a needle, but rather a pair of saws that work side by side. Then, there are the muscles. A honeybee uses its muscles to slide those saw-like parts back and forth. Meanwhile, the muscles help pump venom from the bee’s venom sack into the animal it wants to sting. All of these parts work together to help the honeybee defend itself.

After the honeybee flies away, it leaves behind this little packet of stinger, venom, and muscles in your skin. This causes so much damage to the bee that it can no longer live. But the stinger packet can keep on stinging. As Hopkins put it, it’s a kind of “self-operating stinging machine.” Before they fly off and die, honeybees also will release some chemicals called pheromones into the air. The pheromones set off a kind of alarm to let other honeybees nearby know what’s up. If another honeybee picks up on the chemicals, it also might go into stinging mode. But for the most part, bees don’t really want to sting you, Hopkins said. Usually, they are busy taking care of their family or moving pollen around which helps us pro- duce everything from flowers to fruits to vegetables. For the honeybee, a sting is truly the last resort.

Dr. Universe

Do you want to help support Science Education and get an awesome STEM-inspired mask? Find out how at ask- DrUniverse.wsu.edu/masks. Do you have a question? Ask Dr. Universe. Send an email to Washington State University’s resident scientist and writer at Dr.Universe@ wsu.edu or visit her website, askdruniverse.com.

Yankee Springs

part of large DNR

energy project

In a step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has signed a power purchase agreement with South Lyon-based Utopian Power, LLC to supply almost 1 megawatt of clean energy to seven state parks and offices in southwest Michigan. That’s more than 100 times as much power gener- ated through the Oden State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center pilot program. The agreement covers the installation of solar systems totaling approximately 884 kilowatts, with the first systems (capacity of 300 kW) installed and active throughout fall 2021. The DNR anticipates saving $1.4 million through a discounted utility rate, as the 25-year agreement allows the department to save on utility costs over several locations without the capital investment or ongoing mainte- nance for the solar arrays. Individual projects (and expected completion year) for awarded solar installations in the southwest region include the headquarters building (2021) and campgrounds (2022) in the Yankee Springs State Recreation Area as well as:

DNR Customer Service Center, Plainwell
(2021).

Fort Custer Recreation Area, Kalamazoo
County – Headquarters building and beach house
(2021); east and west campgrounds (2022).

Holland State Park, Ottawa County – Lake
Macatawa campground (2021) and Holland Beach
building (2022).

Ionia State Recreation Area, Ionia County –
Headquarters building, campgrounds and cabin
rentals (2021).

Muskegon State Park, Muskegon County –
Headquarters building and cold-storage building
(2021) and Muskegon Channel campgrounds
(2022).

P.J. Hoffmaster State Park, Muskegon County

Headquarters building (2021) and campgrounds
(2022).
“This agreement is in line with our commitment
at the state level to strategically deploy solar power
across state-owned land where it makes sense, and
to pursue clean energy solutions that protect public
health, boost efficiency and make us more effective
stewards of our natural environment,” said Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer. “The projects also demonstrate
how a move toward renewable energy creates
investments in local communities and good-paying
jobs. I will work with anyone who wants to put
Michiganders first and help usher in a new era of
prosperity for our state by building a clean energy
economy that works for everyone.”
The annual production of the installed solar
arrays in the southwest region will be enough to
power roughly 90 residential homes, or equivalent
to reducing 159 passenger vehicles’ greenhouse
gas emissions or the carbon dioxide emissions
from 82,000 gallons of gasoline.
Utopian installed the solar array system at the
Oden State Fish Hatchery Visitor Center. DNR
Director Dan Eichinger said that system and the
arrays planned for the southwest region will help
the department demonstrate clean energy in action.
“A lot of people think ‘clean energy’ sounds like
a good thing to do, but maybe haven’t seen many
examples of what that really looks like or how it
works,” said Eichinger. “Going forward, visitors of
all ages to these state parks and facilities will see
firsthand that renewable energy can be easily inte-
grated into everyday operations.”
Eichinger said the southwest Michigan project is
the latest in line with Whitmer’s goal of bringing
renewable energy to state-owned facilities and
leveraging the power of state-managed lands in
climate-friendly ways. Others include:
The previously mentioned pilot program to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and convert to
renewable energy by installing solar panels at the
Oden State Fish Hatchery Visitors Center in Emmet
County.
The development, via a 25-year land lease
agreement, of large-scale solar arrays on state for-
est land at two former mine sites: Groveland Mine
in Dickinson County, a former 347-acre iron mine
tailings site gifted to the state, and 7 Mile Pit in
Crawford County, a 169-acre property previously
use for sand and gravel mining.
The Bluesource/Michigan DNR Big Wild Forest
Carbon Project in the Pigeon River Country State
Forest, the first of its kind in the nation, to leverage the
carbon storage capacity of trees on state forest lands.
A pilot program to mitigate climate change by
promoting mass timber construction, an environ-
mentally friendly building technique that allows
construction of tall and large buildings using engi-
neered wood. Projects include the DNR’s own
planned mass timber building in the Upper
Peninsula town of Newberry.
The Utopian project will be developed, financed
and constructed by Michigan companies with a total
investment of $2.5 million into the Michigan econo-
my over the next six months. Utopian is partnering
with several companies, including an energy-specif-
ic financier based out of metro Detroit and The
Green Panel based in Brighton and Grand Rapids.
Utopian Power President Forrest Cohn said the
company was founded with the goal of accelerating
renewable energy development in communities
throughout Michigan and beyond.
“We believe in the impact that clean energy has
in maintaining Pure Michigan,” Cohn said. “These
solar systems will provide economic, environmen-
tal and social benefits to our communities and
neighbors, and we are proud to lead that effort. We
thank the state for the opportunity to provide
renewable energy to these DNR state parks and
facilities.”
To celebrate the first region completed as part of
the DNR’s renewable energy efforts, a ribbon-cut-
ting at Holland State Park is slotted for spring 2022
as an opportunity to showcase the installed solar
arrays. More information to follow as plans are
finalized.
The DNR utilizes a vendor prequalification pro-
gram to solicit proposals for each region, with
requests for proposal published at Michigan.gov/
SIGMAVSS. Vendor response to the bid solicita-
tion for southwest Michigan yielded six vendor
proposals. Currently, there are 11 registered, quali-
fied vendors in the system.
The department expects the next RFP, for the
northern Michigan region, will be issued this fall,
with site visits scheduled in late October. The
northern region will contain state parks and DNR
field offices estimated at a total of 1 MW of clean
energy for all locations.
Those interested in becoming prequalified ven-
dors for future solar power purchase agreements
should contact Laura Gyorkos at GyorkosL@
Michigan.gov.

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