Page 2 — Thursday, September 30, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Historic assessment appeal
succeeds on $6.67 million
Watson Drain project
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
A Florida man who has a summer cottage
on Upper Crooked Lake in Prairieville
Township has won an appeal of his assess-
ment for the Watson Drain improvement
project.
A three-member board of review last
Thursday upheld the apportionment appeal,
submitted by Thomas Fleckenstein of St.
Augustine, Fla., challenging the $16,
assessment that had been issued earlier this
month by Barry County Drain Commissioner
Jim Dull. The assessment was placed on
two lots Fleckenstein owns – one where his
cottage stands and a second vacant lot adja-
cent to the cottage.
On a unanimous 3-0 vote, the board elim-
inated the assessment on the vacant lot and
increased the assessment on the parcel
where Fleckenstein has his cottage to
$8,788, cutting the amount he will have to
pay by 47 percent, and allowed the lots to
be combined as a single parcel for the pur-
poses of the drain project.
The decision capped a more than three-
hour-long hearing in the courtroom of Barry
County Chief Judge William Doherty, who
appointed the three board members – Robert
Byington, James Kinney and Kerri Selleck.
The appeal is historic, not because it was
successful, but because it’s believed to be
the first-ever appeal of a drain project spe-
cial assessment district, Dull said.
Fleckenstein’s lots were among 1,
parcels being charged to share in the cost of
the Watson Drain project, which at $6.
million is reportedly the largest drain
improvement project in the county’s histo-
ry. The assessments are to be paid off over
a period of 20 years.
Fleckenstein’s two lots, which take up 80
feet along Upper Crooked Lake, had two
separate tax roll numbers. In his appeal, he
contended that three nearby property own-
ers who own more than one lot have only
one tax roll number for their properties, and
were being assessed about half of what he
was being charged.
“Our position is that Mr. Fleckenstein’s
property is not benefitted twice as much as
the [other properties],” said James Reed, a
Battle Creek-based attorney representing
Fleckenstein. “It is benefitted the same
amount. The apportionment of this assess-
ment should be based on the benefit accru-
ing to the property, not to the owner of the
property, but to the property.”
“All I’m looking for is a fair shake on
this. I want to be treated as an equal,” said
Fleckenstein, a retired nursing home admin-
istrator who has owned the property since- “I don’t want anything more than
anyone else; I don’t want anything less.”
But Dull argued that Fleckenstein’s lots
are indeed separate, as opposed to the other
parcels.
“Right now, they’re each buildable lots,
according to [Prairieville Township asses-
sor] Kevin Harris and [zoning administra-
tor] Eric Thompson,” he said. “Both of
them can be sold individually. None of the
other ones can be split and resold because
the zoning doesn’t fit it. That was our big-
gest basis – I understand his point ... but he
literally has two properties, whether they’re
side by side or they’re 100 feet apart;
they’re still two individual properties.”
Brian Cenci, an engineer who is working
with the drain commission on the project,
pointed out that on several properties where
lots have been combined, the home on the
property straddles both lots. Unlike those
parcels, he said, Fleckenstein could sell the
vacant lot.
“It could be sold tomorrow, and that
property owner that would buy that lot
receives all the benefits of the drain project
that all of these other people have, but
would not pay for it if it’s not assessed,”
Cenci said.
But while Fleckenstein has been
approached by a neighbor in the past
about selling the vacant lot, he has no
plans to do so.
“It would devalue what I have here ... I
have no intentions of wanting to sell that
lot. If I had, I would have done it in the
past,” he said.
Fleckenstein made a request to Harris to
have the two lots combined into a single tax
parcel earlier this month. Harris approved
that request in an email dated Sept. 13,
Fleckenstein said.
Kinney, a local attorney and former Barry
County planning commissioner, moved to
sustain Fleckenstein’s appeal.
“I think there is an inequality in that
regard, because I don’t see any additional
benefit that he gets by paying twice,”
Kinney said. “If that was just one parcel, he
would have one bill, and the drain would do
exactly the same thing, whether it’s one bill
or two, to be quite honest.”
Byington, a Hastings attorney who
chaired the meeting, called the assessment
on the two lots “a matter of inequality.”
“I think under the code, they are to be
assessed based on the benefit today, not
based on what the benefit might be tomor-
row, or next year, or 10 years down the
road, but what it is as it exists today,” he
said. “The fact the parcels may be split in
the future, to me, makes no difference what
the assessment should be today.
“I don’t see that Mr. Fleckenstein is any
different than any other property owner in
the area that has adjoining parcels. Some of
those adjustments have already been made
... I see no reason why that can’t be done in
Mr. Fleckenstein’s case.
The board’s upholding Fleckenstein’s
appeal is expected to have a “minuscule”
impact on the final assessments for the
remaining properties in the drainage dis-
trict, drain commission attorney Doug
Kelly said.
With the conclusion of last Thursday’s
hearing, the assessments for each property
owner in the Watson Drain district are
now set.
The project is meant to alleviate flooding
of properties in the area of Pleasant, Upper
Crooked and Lower Crooked lakes in
Prairieville and Barry townships. Two years
ago, portions of M-43 in Delton were
impassible because of flooding over the
road surface.
In May 2018, a board of determination
ordered that a project was needed to allevi-
ate the flooding in the Watson Drain dis-
trict.
“We had engineers go out and got a lot of
surveys, gathered a lot of data, to figure out
some way of curing the problem,” Dull told
the review board.
The Watson Drain project entails the
installation of 684 linear feet of 12-inch
storm water force main at an average depth
of 5 feet; a little more than 4,000 linear feet
of 18-inch storm water force main at an
average depth of 5 feet; grading, excavation
and construction of two pump station build-
ings, including intake and distribution lines;
installing of pumps and pump filters in
those buildings and bringing the system
on-line for initial operation.
“[It’ll] essentially take the water to the
nearest water course, to get it out of the
district so these people are not flooded,”
Dull said.
Construction is slated to begin after Oct.
15, with the project required to be complet-
ed by April 1, 2022.“We’re going to wait until a superior offi-
cer gets here, and understands the law that
has just been read,” he announced.
Geiger said he would end the meeting, and
audience members shouted at him.
“If Mr. Miller is not going to uphold the
law that has been required and requested of
him at this time, to take Ms. Scrimger into
custody, from my custody, then we will stay
here,” Heikkila said, “and I will stay here
until his superior comes in and informs him
of the law that he needs to follow.”
“The board will stand in recess at this
time,” Geiger said. He pounded the gavel on
the table, threw up his hands and stood up.
“She’s under arrest, she’s not allowed to
leave the premises,” one woman called from
the audience.
“She’s not under arrest,” Geiger replied.
“Yes, she is!” several others shouted.
Health board members and Scrimger
remained at the front of the hall, talking to
each other as they waited for more police to
arrive.
Over the county’s livestream of the meet-
ing, one of the commissioners could be heard
saying they would need a police escort out of
the building.
A Barry County posse member walked
over and stood between the audience and the
table where Scrimger was sitting.
Some people continued to call out that
Scrimger was under arrest.
“I don’t have handcuffs,” Geiger told them.
At one point, members of the audience
started saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and
some of the commissioners stood, turned to
the flag, and held their hands over their hearts
as they recited the pledge.
Afterward, some people in the audience
began shouting “USA! USA!”
Then a woman led the group in prayer.
“God, we come to you again, with anger
and frustration and righteous fury, against
one person...,” she began.
Heikkila left the podium, and came back a
few minutes later with an announcement.
“At this time, we do have some further
information in what’s going to happen,” he
said, “and there is an investigation that has
been underway and so we are going to release
her under her own free will at this time, bar-
ring this investigation.”
“Why?” several audience members shout-
ed out.
“I want to see it happen,” one man said.
Heikkila turned to the officers.
“So, you guys, I am no longer requiring
you ... I am no longer going to arrest her at
this time.”
Heikkila said he had spoken to Sheriff Dar
Leaf.
Later, during an interview with The
Banner, the sheriff summarized his conversa-
tion Thursday with Heikkila: “I contacted
Adam and told him to un-arrest her.”
Scrimger walked out of the building, a
member of the Barry County posse accompa-
nying her.
Leaf, Hastings interim Police Chief DaleBoulter and Barry County Prosecutor Julie
Nakfoor Pratt arrived at Leason Sharpe Hall
and spoke to commissioners, as audience
members, including Heikkila, slowly began
to leave.
Scrimger was never really in Heikkila’s
custody, Leaf told The Banner Tuesday. If
Scrimger had gotten up and walked out of the
building, Heikkila would have been power-
less to stop her, he said.
Leaf also said he was not aware of any
investigation of Scrimger by the sheriff’s
office, although they had received a petition
signed by about 200 people requesting one.
The sheriff said he would have to check with
his deputies.
On Tuesday, Heikkila told The Banner he
was referring to that petition to the sheriff’s
department when he announced at last
Thursday’s health board meeting that there
was an investigation underway.
Heikkila said he expected that petition to
trigger an investigation into Scrimger’s
actions. He declined to discuss his actions
further, due to that ongoing investigation, he
said.
Heikkila, who lives in Battle Creek, served
two years as Bedford Township supervisor.
He was recalled in November 2018, after
more than 1,000 people petitioned for his
removal from office.
According to the Battle Creek Enquirer,
the recall petition accused Heikkila of “fail-
ing to keep business hours at the township
office, telling township employees to dismissan ordinance violation case pending against
him, being threatened with arrest for disor-
derly conduct toward township employees
and establishing ‘a pattern of intimidating
and threatening behavior which has created a
hostile environment for both township
employees and residents.’”
The petition was filed by Kraig Dingman,
a Hastings City police officer, who ran against
him and was later appointed to the board to
fill the post of the trustee who defeated
Heikkila.
Geiger said he could not comment on the
incident that disrupted the health board meet-
ing because of the investigation.
Boulter said he could not say how long that
investigation would last, but that any recom-
mended charges would be turned over to
prosecutor’s office.
He could not recall any citizen’s arrest
incident since he has been with the depart-
ment, he added.
Leaf said the last instance of a citizen’s
arrest that he could recall occurred before he
was sheriff – and that did not result in any
arrest either.
The way the law is written, some people
may think they can make a citizen’s arrest of
anyone who they believe broke a law, “which
is dangerous,” Leaf said.
Both Leaf and Boulter said there are few,
very specific instances during which a person
can legally make a citizen’s arrest. One
example would be in a case where a citizen
witnesses someone committing a serious fel-ony when no police officers are present.
It’s not the first time Leaf has spoken about
the law regarding citizen’s arrests.
In October 2020, the sheriff suggested to
news agencies that the men who were charged
in a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
may have thought they were attempting to
make a citizen’s arrest. Leaf had been photo-
graphed standing next to William Null, one of
the men later charged in the plot, at a Grand
Rapids rally that was organized to protest
Whitmer’s executive orders on COVID-19.
Heikkila later told news agencies that he
was the one who invited Leaf to the rally.POLICE, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sheriff Dar LeafBEDHD Health
Officer responds
Colette Scrimger
Barry-Eaton District Health Officer
At yesterday’s (Sept. 23) Board of
Health meeting, we listened to nearly
five hours of public comments regard-
ing the two emergency public health
orders I issued regarding school mask-
ing and quarantine/isolation in schools.
After public comment, I read a state-
ment clarifying my position on these
orders, followed by our staff who pre-
sented data and facts regarding COVID-
19 in Barry and Eaton counties.
During the second public comment
period, the last person to speak stated
that he was placing me under citizen’s
arrest for impersonating an officer. He
then demanded that law enforcement in
the room take me into custody. Law
enforcement officers determined that
they would not take me into custody.
The BOH meeting was adjourned with
no further action/comment from board
members. Law enforcement has stated
that they would continue to investigate
the person’s claim. I have been informed
they have no basis for arresting me and,
in fact, they could be charged for false-
ly conducting a citizen’s arrest.
While we support the right for people
to peacefully protest, as well as people
to provide feedback and public com-
ment at public meetings, it is important
that folks do that civilly and responsi-
bly. The safety of everyone concerned
is at the top of my mind. While many
people have differing views on the nec-
essary mitigation measures, as a public
health officer I base my decisions on
the best science available, patterns in
the local spread of disease, and the
opinions and recommendations of
experts in the field of public health.
For the last 18 months, Barry-Eaton
District Health Department staff have
been working diligently to fulfill our
duties as the local public health depart-
ment responding to a global pandemic.
In the 23 years I have worked for
BEDHD, we have never experienced a
crisis of this size, duration, and with
this level of chaos. I am incredibly
proud of the work the staff have done
during this time. We have strived to
base our actions on the best information
available to us as public health experts
during a time when information has
been politicized, misused, and/or con-
stantly evolving.
Misinformation has been one of the
greatest challenges we have faced
during the last 18 months. With infor-
mation easy to come by through the
internet and social media, false infor-
mation circulates quickly, creating con-
fusion and mistrust among many.
Under the Michigan Public Health
Code, State Law, I have a statutory duty
to prevent an imminent danger in the
community that could cause disease,
death or physical harm. The Public
Health Code gives me the authority to
issue orders that help mitigate spread of
disease during an epidemic. This duty is
assigned to me, not the Board of Health
or the Board of Commissioners.
Over the past couple of months, I
have spoken to many, many people in
our community regarding masks in
schools–both for and against. I have
had numerous meetings with school
officials to discuss the same. I have
consulted with our health care systems.
I have read emails and listened to pub-
lic comment at various meetings. I
have worked with staff to explore alloptions in search of the most effective
way to reduce the spread of this dis-
ease in our community. I have studied
the data of our local community, our
region, the state of Michigan and the
country. In the end, I determined the
issuance of these two orders was in the
best interest of our district and was a
necessary step to increase the likeli-
hood our schools will be able to stay
open AND reduce the spread of disease
and the incidence of severe illness/
death in our community.
This was not an easy decision to
make. However, I take my duties as a
Health Officer seriously. I have worked
in the district for 23 years, I am a resi-
dent of this district and my youngest
child attends school in the district. I
have witnessed the harm COVID has
caused for individuals and families. I
have heard the concerns of our health
care partners regarding climbing num-
bers and the impact on their systems. I
too would like COVID to be over so we
can go back to normal. But we aren’t
there yet. Individuals and families con-
tinue to be impacted and the virus con-
tinues to evolve. This is a disease that
doesn’t just affect individuals. If that
was the case, individual choice would
make sense. However, this disease is
spread easily from person to person.
One person expressing their individual
choice to not wear a mask can have a
devastating impact on the individuals
surrounding them.
We constantly review a variety of
data points in order to track the impact
and spread of COVID-19 in our com-
munity. Our team of case investigators
and public health data experts investi-
gate outbreaks and examine community
conditions and disease trends.
As the pandemic has evolved, we
have adapted our methods to consider
case counts and population rates, geo-
graphic, age, and setting distribution,
hospitalizations, deaths, health system
capacity, vaccination rates and patterns,
and testing data.
We will evaluate the community situ-
ation across the district using all avail-
able information to determine when
masking and quarantine/isolation orders
are no longer necessary for educational
settings and at that time, I will rescind
the orders.Colette Scrimger‘Conversations’ focus on
mental health tonight
The second program in the Courageous
Conversations series, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
tonight via Zoom, will feature local mental
health specialist Vicki Shumaker.
“We as a community need to be able to
address and discuss these hard topics,” said
Jillian Foster, director of Leadership Barry
County, which is co-sponsoring the three-part
series. “It’s important to have these conversa-
tions now with everything that’s happening
nationally and locally.”
Foster said mental health – especially while
the community is still dealing with COVID-- is a particularly timely topic to address.
In this second Courageous Conversation,
Shumaker will address mental health and well-
ness in teens and adults and the current mental
health challenges facing our community.
Shumaker, who has been a social worker in
Hastings since 2011, is a certified trauma spe-
cialist and neuro-emotional technique practi-
tioner. She has a private practice at Meadow
Run Holistic Counseling and provides help to
children, families, individuals and couples.
The program is a free discussion series
designed to engage community members in top-
ics that can be tough to discuss. Anyone wishing
to register may email Foster, jillian@barrycf.
org, or visit business.mibarry.com/events.
The third and final program in the
Courageous Conversations series will take
place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7 via Zoom.
Donors needed
for blood drive today
Individuals who are at least 17, weigh a
minimum of 110 pounds and are in generally
good health may be eligible to donate blood,
and American Red Cross officials say the need
is urgent.
Anyone wishing to roll up a sleeve to
donate blood may do so today, Sept. 30, from
noon to 5:45 p.m. at the First Presbyterian
Church, 405 N. M-37 Highway, Hastings.
Caledonia Christian Reformed Church, 9957
Cherry Valley Ave., SE, Caledonia, also is host-
ing a blood drive from noon to 5:45 p.m. today.
All blood types are needed. A blood donor
card or driver’s license or two other forms of
identification are required at check-in.
Appointments are preferred and may be
made by downloading the American Red
Cross Blood Donor App, visiting
RedCrossBlood.org or calling 800-RED
CROSS (800-733-2767).
Donors can save time by using RapidPass to
complete their pre-donation reading and health
history questionnaire online, on the day of their
donation, before arriving at the blood drive.Local women’s club
meets next week
GFWC Hastings Women’s Club meets the
first Friday of most months at the Barry
County Commission on Aging building, 320
W. Woodlawn Ave., Hastings. However, since
members are helping with Saturday’s Barry-
Roubaix Gravel Road Race, the October meet-
ing has been moved to Oct. 8.
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs
is a 130-year-old organization dedicated to
community improvement by enhancing the
lives of others through volunteer service.
Meetings begin at 11:30 a.m. and feature
speakers presenting information on local volun-
teer projects and topics that affect the communi-
ty. Lunch and fellowship follow the presentation.
Prospective members are welcome to
attend.
More information can be provided by club
President Kathy LaVictor, 269-945-0745.NEWSNEWS
BRIEFSBRIEFS