SN 6-4-2022

The Sun and News, Saturday, June 4, 2022/ Page 5

drawn up this summer.
Township planners also
intend to design a related
future land use plan this sum-
mer. In addition, a separate
parks and recreation/trails
plan also will be devised later
this year.
Gaines officials are consid-
ering how best to use the
township’s ARPA money as
they gather input on where
residents feel that industrial,
commercial and residential
development should go.
Kent County
Commissioner Emily Brieve
represents District 10, cover-
ing Gaines Township and
much of Caledonia Township.
She said she would like to see
the county ARPA funds be
invested carefully in a couple
of large-scale community
projects.
“These are one-time dol-
lars,” she said. “We’re not
going to be getting this in the
future. We want to be wise
about spending these; that
we don’t incur additional
massive costs. So, if it’s a
project that’s going to be
able to generate revenue,
that’s even more exciting,
rather than a project that’s
going to use up revenue and
additional funding (in the
future).”
Brieve and Vanderberg
acknowledged that a pro-
posed $350 million
waste-to-energy plant in
Byron Township would qual-
ify as a transformational proj-
ect. The facility would anchor
a Sustainable Business Park
adjacent to the South Kent
Landfill south of 100th Street
and west of US-131.
In March, the county
Department of Pubic Works
asked the Byron-Gaines
Utility Authority to consider
extending pubic utility lines
from Gaines Township to the
250-acre site. It’s only in the
discussion stage at this point.
Among the stakeholders are
the City of Wyoming, Byron,
Dorr and Gaines townships,
the Kent and Allegan county

commissions, the respective

county road commissions,

DTE Energy and Consumers

Energy.

“Obviously, I feel strongly

about the sustainable business

park and would like to see

what we could do to get it

across the finish line,” Brieve

said. “And have it be funded

with the least amount of

impact on our taxpayers’

pockets. That’s something

that is definitely going to

impact our region.”

Brieve said she won’t favor

any specific projects for

ARPA funding until after she

listens to what the public has

to say at the community

forums. She would like to see

projects that are “already

developed, possibly shov-

el-ready, and just need some

additional funding to get

down the road.”

Vanderberg said he has

heard several ideas men-

tioned, such as an expansion

of the Van Andel Museum

Center.

“There’s a development in

Wyoming, too. I’ve heard

from healthcare and educa-

tion. There will be far more

ideas than the money we’ll

have to spend,” Vanderberg

said. “And that’s why it will

be somewhat competitive at

the end. And certainly, there

will be some evaluation on

where there is the most trans-

formation, where there is the

biggest bang for the buck,

that kind of thing.”

Another example of a

transformational project that

could be considered for

county ARPA funding is a

proposed redesign of the

U.S. 131 interchange at

Wealthy Street in downtown

Grand Rapids. The city

received a $10 million state

grant May 10 to draw up

designs for a new inter-

change.

“Yes, that has been dis-

cussed,” Vanderberg said.

“We put out a survey (May

19) and we had a pretty big

response: about 280 respons-

es in just a few hours. We

sent it to 90,000 stakeholders

by email. I think we had a

hundred ideas for funding,

too.”

An online survey about

how county ARPA money

should be spent can be com-

pleted at kentycountyarpa.

com. The deadline is June

24. Ideas can be submitted
    on that website, as well.
    “Knowing that organiza-
    tions may need more time to
    put partnerships together to
    put the bones around a pro-
    posal, we have a July 15 as
    the deadline for submitting
    proposals into the portal,”
    Vanderberg said.
    He added that all the pro-
    posals will be reviewed by an
    internal team and then given
    to the Kent County Board of
    Commissioners for review.
    The county board expects to

begin appropriating ARPA

funds for specific projects in

the period from July through

September.

The county commission

developed five main areas

for investment: community

health; long-term quality of

life improvements such as

parks and riverfront enhance-

ments, family and visitor

entertainment attractions;

infrastructure upgrades such

as broadband internet, storm-

water flooding mitigation

and countywide mobility;

economic innovations and

workforce development; and

improvement of county gov-

ernment operations, such as

facility improvement and

new technology.

“I really am excited about

the ideas that we might be

getting from our constitu-

ents,” Brieve said. “And,

hopefully, (municipalities)

can rally together. So, if there

is a way we can collaborate

and combine our funds, that

would be something to do, as

well.”

Meanwhile, Gaines

Township planners are gath-

ering public input for the

township’s master-planning

process through July 15.

Residents can fill out surveys

at the township hall or on the

township website,

gainestownship.org. Under

the News & Announcements

heading, click on the icon

labeled “Master Plan: Have

your say in the future of the

township”. You also can scan

a QR code to access the sur-

vey.

The first of two open hous-

es was held Tuesday, May 24

at the township library, 421 –

68th St. SE. The second will

be June 3 from 9 a.m. to 6

p.m. at the Dutton Fire

Station, 3471 – 68th St. SE.

Residents can place col-

or-coded dots on a public-in-

put map to show where they

think residential, industrial

and commercial development

should occur over the next

decade.

“Doing the master-plan-

ning process requires lots of

public involvement and I

hope the public comes out

and participates in all that,

too,” Brieve said. “The same

with our county ARPA forms

and the online sites where

people can provide ideas and

information. It’ll be interest-

ing to see how the (Gaines

interactive survey) works for

them.”

Gaines Community

Development Director Dan

Wells said the township

received about 70 responses

the first week the public sur-

vey went online.

ARPA, continued from page 1

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Gaines Township officials held the first of two open houses May 24 at the township library to receive pub-

lic input for the township’s new master plan. Citizens placed colored dots on this map to show where they

would like to see various types of development go in the future. (Photo by James Gemmell)