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The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 24, 2022 — Page 3

CITY OF HASTINGS

REQUEST FOR BIDS

2022 TREE TRIMMING, REMOVAL,

and STUMP GRINDING

The City of Hastings, Michigan is soliciting bids for its annual tree

trimming and removal. Bid proposal forms and specifications are

available at 201 E State Street.

The City of Hastings reserves the right to reject any and all bids, to

waive any irregularities in the bid proposals, and to award the bid

as deemed to be in the City’s best interest, price and other factors

considered.

Sealed bids will be received at the Office of the City Clerk/

Treasurer, 201 East State Street, Hastings, Michigan 49058 until

10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at which time they will

be opened and publicly read aloud. All bids will be clearly marked

on the outside of the submittal package “Sealed Bid – 2022 Tree

Trimming, Removal, and Stump Grinding.

Travis J. Tate, P.E.

Director of Public Services

176274

Family Owned and Operated

Serving Hastings, Barry County and Surrounding Communities for 50 years

• Traditional and Cremation Services


• Pre-Planning Services


• Large Parking Lot - Handicap Accessible


• Serving All Faiths


• Pre-arrangement Transfers Accepted

328 S. Broadway, Hastings, MI 49058

269-945-3252 • http://www.girrbachfuneralhome.net

Dale Billingsley

Owner/Manager

Ray Girrbach

Owner Emeritus

COVID case

numbers continue

to decline here

Taylor Owens

Staff Writer

Barry County saw another major drop

in COVID-19 this week, with 89 cases

reported by the Barry-Eaton District

Board of Health on Tuesday.

That’s almost a 50-percent drop from

the 160 cases that were reported last

week, which itself was a drop of more

than 50 percent from the 358 reported

the previous week.

The percentage of COVID tests that

were positive averaged 15 percent on

Tuesday. On Feb. 17, the number was

7.69 percent, the lowest single-day per-

centage since Sept. 30.

“That’s how fast the surge has been

coming down,” BEDHD Health Offi-

cer Colette Scrimger said at the health

board meeting in Charlotte on Friday.

“It rose very quickly and now its been

dropping very fast, so that’s good

news.”

The region saw a steep rise in cases

over the past several months due, in

large part, to the Omicron variant, but as

with previous surges from other vari-

ants, the decline in case numbers also

has been steep.

“We expect to continue to see that

decline,” Scrimger said. “Our outbreak

situation is improving as well in terms

of fewer outbreaks at the schools, fewer

outbreaks at our congregate care set-

tings. So that’s all good news.”

None of the county’s long-term care

facilities reported any positive tests

among their residents on Feb. 16.

Spectrum Heath Pennock had three

patients with COVID in the hospital on

Monday, one of whom was in the inten-

sive care unit.

One death due to COVID was report-

ed in Barry County last week, for a total

of 152 deaths since the pandemic was

declared in March 2020.

‘It can’t be moved by mere mortals’

Benjamin Simon
Staff Writer
When it snows, it piles up in downtown
Hastings.
These are not the piles of snow that kids
jump in or use to make snowmen. This is
dark, dirty, crusty snow that looks more like
rocks.
Currently, the Department of Public Ser-
vices clears the sidewalks and streets. But
when they do, it pushes together a mountain
of snow on the curb of sidewalk, creating a
barrier between parking spaces and sidewalk.
Then the snow sits there. Then it snows
again, piles up more and sits some more.
“Last week, you needed a snorkel to get to
your car,” Downtown Development Authori-
ty board member Terri Albrecht said.
The DDA wants to remove the snow that
lines the curbs. They want it gone, off their
curbs and away from their customers.
“It’s gotta be done,” board member Deb
Button said.
Thursday, the board of downtown business
owners unanimously agreed to pay up to
$10,000 in snow removal. If the Department
of Public Works cannot do it, they agreed,
they will find a private company.
“What I’m proposing isn’t as needed,”
board member Lynn Denton said. “This is: If
we get 3 inches of snow, the downtown is
clean, there’s no snow on the sidewalks what-
soever. And it’s built-in and they have to pay
overtime and that comes out of that – or they
hire another company.”

Really, they said, whatever it takes. It’s a

safety hazard and it’s discouraging business.

Customers trip over the snow as they hurdle

their way from their cars to the sidewalks. If

they try to avoid the mounds of snow, they

have to hazard out into the street and dodge

cars.

“As a store owner,” Denton added, “I’ll

make more money by having the front of my

parking open where customers feel comfort-

able about getting out of their car and getting

into my store. Short of that, we’re pushing

them out to the plaza and other big-box stores

for shopping because it’s just so much easier

for them to access the building.”

Once the snow freezes, members said,

there’s nothing the business owners can do.

“Believe me,” Button said, “I’ve tried to

move it...”

“You can’t,” Albrecht and Button said,

finishing the sentence at the same time.

“It has nothing to do with being lazy and

not getting the front of your store done,” But-

ton continued. “It can’t be moved by mere

mortals.”

Mayor David Tossava, who worked in

Department of Public Services for years, said

the city used to clear the curbside snow. They

would come in at 2 a.m., pull the snow into

the center of the road with a grader and plop

it in a dump truck.

“That’s what I’m saying. That’s what we

need,” Denton responded.

DPS can take care of the piled snow in the

future, but it’s just a matter of scheduling

with DPS. They’re already short-staffed and,

on top of that, they’re dealing with an influx

of water main breaks – over 10 this winter.

“They don’t have the manpower to do it in

one night like we used to,” Tossava said.

“We’d go out there with four trucks, a couple

pieces of equipment and be done with it.

Now, they’ll have one piece of equipment

and two trucks – it’s going to take them a lot

longer to do it.”

The job is not easy. On top of plowing all

of the city streets, City Manager Sarah Moy-

er-Cale explained that it would take DPS

seven hours to remove the piled snow.

“If they’re plowing all day, and then have

to remove the snow from the downtown at

night, and then show up for work again the

next morning – we don’t want to wear out our

staff either,” Moyer-Cale said in an interview

with The Banner. So it’s a balance.”

But the weather saved the city this week.

Temperatures reached the 50s, melting the

snow.

If snows again before the end of winter, the

city will re-evaluate. Community Develop-

ment Director Dan King plans to bring up the

topic again in the late spring/early summer to

coordinate a process to remove the piles of

snow.

But for now, King explained, they’re

“going to ride out the warm weather and the

rain.”

“We’re in a holding pattern,” he said,

“until we see how much Mother Nature does

the work for us.”

HHS hosting wind, percussion

competition Saturday

Kathy Maurer
Copy Editor
Students from several schools will be in
town this week for events at the Hastings
Performing Arts Center.
As in the recent past, the Hastings Area
Schools band program hosted the Michigan
School Band and Orchestra Association Dis-
trict 10 festival. That took place Wednesday,
with students from Allegan, Delton Kellogg,
Fennville, Grand Rapids, Hopkins, Ionia and
Lowell performing throughout the day.
A new event, however, is the Michigan Alli-
ance for Performing Arts indoor winds and per-
cussion competition, which is open to the public
Saturday evening, Feb. 26. Tickets are $10 per
person age 6 and up; free for those 5 and under.
Doors will open at 6, with performances begin-
ning at 6:15 and awards beginning at 8 p.m.
Hastings is hosting one of four MAPA
events in Michigan. Competing schools Sat-
urday will include Grandville, Kent City,
Comstock Park, Hudsonville, Wayne West-
land and Lake Orion high schools, as well as
the West Michigan-based Ascension Percus-
sion and Vortex Percussion groups.
“This is new for us this year,” said Jen
Ewers, co-director of Hastings school band
program. “These groups compete across the
state and some nationally.”
Spectators are welcome, and concessions
will be available for purchase.
“It’s like marching band, but indoors,” she
said.
The MAPA circuit services competitive
indoor percussion groups and indoor winds
(woodwinds and brass) where ensembles
compete state- and nationwide, Ewers said,

adding that MAPA is the state arm of the

national circuit, Winter Guard International.

“Both MAPA and WGI have been heavily

impacted by the shutdowns of the pandemic,”

she said, “and many ensembles are trying to

regroup and come back competitively where

they left off in 2019.”

Other schools hosting competitions in Feb-

ruary and March include Comstock Park,

Carlson and Lakeland, the latter two in south-

east Michigan.

The Hastings Middle School drumline will

play in exhibition at 7:45 p.m. just before the

awards ceremony. The middle school drum-

line formed about four years ago, Ewers said,

and includes seventh- and eighth-grade stu-

dents who practice Fridays after school. This

will be the young drumline’s first public per-

formance this season.

Proceeds from Saturday’s event will go

toward the purchase of new drumline equip-

ment for the Hastings band program.

Delton-Kellogg lays out

superintendent search timeline

Taylor Owens
Staff Writer
The Delton Kellogg Schools Board of Edu-
cation is starting the process of finding its
next superintendent.
The board is partnering with the Michigan
Association of School Boards to collect
input from staff and community, create a
candidate profile and conduct interviews to
hire a new leader for the district. The super-
intendent is expected to start with the new
school year on July 1.
A community stakeholder input survey
has been posted on the district’s website,
dkschools.org, and will be open until Mon-
day.
Community members also can voice their
input during a Zoom session with an MASB
consultant at 7 p.m. tonight (Feb. 24). A
Zoom link will be posted on the website.
Board members will not attend the session so
that attendees will feel more comfortable
speaking freely.
The position is planned to be posted this
week, and the district will accept applications
until March 22.
During a special meeting Tuesday evening,
the board scheduled a workshop at 6:30 p.m.
March 8, in which board members will use
the input from community and staff to build a
candidate profile to guide the selection pro-
cess.
Another workshop, during which the board
will review and select candidates for inter-
view, is planned for 6:30 p.m. April 11.
Board president Jessica Brandli said she
expects they will interview about six candi-

dates during the first round, which is sched-

uled for April 25 and 26. The second-round

interview is planned for May 9.

All in-person meetings will take place in

the board’s regular meeting place, the multi-

media room of the elementary school. Inter-

views are planned for the high school cafe-

teria.

The board is looking to hire a replacement

for Kyle Corlett, who resigned after more

than four years with the district to accept a

position at Ludington Area Schools.

Retired Hastings Area Schools Superinten-

dent Carl Schoessel is currently serving as the

interim until a new superintendent is hired, a

role he also held at Delton Kellogg before

Corlett was hired.

In other business:

• During a regular meeting Monday, the
  board accepted a $15,000 grant from Blue
  Zones to improve the district’s garden. The
  grant money will go to the Delton Communi-
  ty Garden Club, which manages the garden,
  and will be managed by the Delton Rotary
  Club. The funding will be used to purchase a
  compost bin, shed, weed trimmer, insect nets,
  water timer, push mower and more improve-
  ments.


• Paraprofessional Sharon Holroyd and
  media center specialist Kim Finup resigned.
  The board approved hiring media center spe-
  cialist Delanie Aukerman, parapros Tracy
  Spaulding, Chuck Dumas, Jody Jones, Cathy-
  rae Mishoe and food services staff Cassandra
  Jenkins.


• The board voted 5-0 to table a decision
  on whether to grant Amber Barton an early

graduation at the end of her first semester of

her senior year. According to Schoessel, Bar-

ton applied for early graduation to enter a

special program in the military. Board mem-

ber Kelli Martin expressed concerns that

Barton meet all the district’s requirements for

graduation according to the school handbook,

and Craig Jenkins said Barton should attend

the next meeting, possibly with her parents or

military recruiter, to explain the situation.

• Trustees Robert Houtrow and Rodney
  Dye were absent from Monday’s meeting.


• The district’s unaudited spring enroll-
  ment count was 1,147.


• The board voted 5-0 to hang on to a
  29-acre section of land it owns behind the
  Delton District Library, at least for the time
  being.
  Board members decided to turn down a
  proposal from the library to purchase part of
  the property, and a proposal from the Barry
  County Chamber of Commerce for the land
  to be the first parcel placed into a new land
  bank. The district also has received interest
  from the Barry Township Board regarding the
  possibility of turning the land into a public
  park.
  Sarah Austin said the building of a new
  water tower, which will encourage more eco-
  nomic development in the area, also would
  have an influence on the board’s eventual
  decision.


• Schoessel said the bid process for the
  district’s bond proposal projects has been
  successful, and more than 40 contractors vis-
  ited the school to learn more about the work
  being planned.

Hastings will host a Michigan Alliance for Performing Arts indoor winds Saturday

evening at the Hastings Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 each for anyone age

6 and up, with proceeds going toward the purchase of new drumline equipment for the

Hastings band program. (MAPA photo)

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