Page 2 — Thursday, May 18, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
Barry County Chamber of Commerce
to host annual golf outing
The Annual Chamber Open Golf Outing will return for another year on Friday, June 2,
at the Legacy at Hastings.
The Barry County Chamber & Economic Development Alliance hosts the annual out-
ing, which serves as the organization’s largest fundraiser.
Although spots are filling quickly, a few more team spots remain open. Those interest-
ed must register before May 19 for the discounted registration price of $375. Those who
register after May 21 will pay $395.
Registration at the event begins at 7:30 a.m. on the day of the tournament. The tourna-
ment itself will begin after the 8:30 a.m. gunshot start. Lunch will be provided for golf-
ers, along with awards and prizes.
Visit mibarry.com/registration-for-annual-events/ for more information.Pre-orders being accepted for
native plant sale
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute’s annual native plant sale is underway, with online pre-or-
ders being accepted at CedarCreekInstitutePlants.com until Monday, May 29. An in-per-
son sale with a limited selection will take place on Saturday, June 3, from 9 a.m. to noon
at the Institute, 701 W. Cloverdale Road. Those who pre-order their plants online will
pick up their selections during the in-person sale.
The Institute, a nature preserve and outdoor education center in Hastings with over 850
acres of land, holds its native plant sale every year as a fundraiser for the preserve and to
promote native, pollinating plants in and around Barry County.
Fifty different individual species will be featured in this year’s sale, including eight
types of grass and 42 species of wildflower. Four curated garden plant mixes are also
being offered: a monarch waystation/pollinator mix, an urban garden mix, a native
shoreline mix and a shade garden mix. More information on these mixes, as well as a
complete plant list with prices, are available at CedarCreekInstitutePlants.com.
Staff and volunteers will be on hand at the sale to help answer questions and offer
suggestions. Stewardship Manager Mary Parr is available to field plant-specific ques-
tions at 269-721-4192 or [email protected].Moolenaar staff available in Sunfield,
Hastings to provide constituent
assistance
Staff members from the office of Congressman John Moolenaar are hosting meeting
times across the district this month where constituents can sit down to discuss personal
casework issues they are having with a federal agency.
Moolenaar’s office is offering help to constituents who need assistance with a federal
agency, including the VA and the IRS.
Staff members will be available locally in the coming weeks in Sunfield and Hastings.
On Tuesday, May 30, Moolenaar staff will be at the Sunfield Village Hall, 131 2nd Street,
from 10 to 11 a.m. On Wednesday, May 31, Moolenaar staff will be at the Hastings Pub-
lic Library, 227 East State Street, from 10 to 11 a.m.Managing concerns about falls
Michigan State University Extension and Corewell Health Pennock are offering a new
class, “A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls,” on Tuesdays, May 23
through July 25. The classes will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Spectrum Health
Wellness Center (main floor), 1009 W. Green St., in Hastings. There will be no class on
June 27 and July 4. The program has no cost, and a workbook is provided. Refreshments
will also be served.
Fear of falling can be just as dangerous as falling itself. People who develop this fear
often limit their activities, which can result in severe physical weakness, making the risk
of falling even greater. Many older adults also experience increased isolation and depres-
sion when they limit their interactions with family and friends. “A Matter of Balance”
can help people improve their quality of life and remain independent.
“A Matter of Balance” is designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity
levels among older adults. Participants learn to set realistic goals to increase activity,
change their environment to reduce fall risk factors and learn simple exercises to increase
strength and balance.
Those interested can register or find more information by calling Laura Anderson at
269-908-9803.NEWS NEWS BRIEFSBRIEFS
The YMCA offered to pay $750,000 for
the property. David Jackson, chairman of the
county board, recalled that the property was
previously assessed at $715,000, but the
board believed that, given the current real
estate market, the value might be a little high-
er. The YMCA’s bid came in comfortably
above the assessed value.
The county was also paying roughly
$11,000 in property taxes to Rutland Town-
ship, adding to costs associated with main-
taining a vacant building. Most often, coun-
ty-owned properties and buildings are prop-
erty tax-exempt, but county administrator
Michael Brown explained that current law
states that, if a building or property is unused
and inactive, it can be put back on the tax
rolls, which is what Rutland Township did.
“We felt there were several benefits to the
community by considering that offer from the
YMCA,” Jackson said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“In additional conversations with local real
estate professionals, asking them the value ...
it was hard to find comparables because it’s
in such a remote location.”
“It may have sat on the market for years
before somebody could find a use for a com-
mercial building out in the middle of nowhere.
That was the opinion of local real estate pro-
fessionals.”
Gary White, former president and trustee
for the Village of Nashville, was a voice for
opposition to the transaction, using his public
commenting opportunities to vocalize concern
about selling to a 501c3 non-profit organiza-
tion that is exempt from paying property taxes.
White also wondered if the board did its due
diligence in marketing the property to devel-opers or potential commercial buyers since it
never formally put the property up for bid.
Brown cleared the air on the procedural
legalities of the transaction, saying that the
board could choose to sell surplus property
without putting it up for bid if they saw fit.
Jackson acknowledged that selling to the
YMCA does take a sizable property off of the
tax rolls.
“We like the community aspect of working
with the Y continuing to develop the resourc-
es that are going to benefit the community
immediately versus hoping for something in
the longer term,” Jackson said. “I can certain-
ly see the point (White) made on that – but Ithink it’s a win-win for us.”
Mike Callton, who returned to the board
this year after previously serving as both a
county commissioner and Michigan State
Representative, applauded the move, regard-
less of the tax hit.
“A mentor of mine once told me, when you
have a tough decision, do what’s best for
children and people and you’ll never regret
that decision,” Callton said at the conclusion
of the meeting.
“Maybe we can make a few bucks on taxes
if we sold it to a private developer but this is
a lot of children – hundreds of children and
it’s an investment in them,” he added.Hastings school board accepts $600,
bid for HVAC equipment for CERC, will
use bond or sinking fund
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
The Hastings school board accepted a bid
to replace a piece of HVAC equipment at the
Hastings Community Education and Recre-
ation Center.
The $616,519 bid went to Hurst Mechani-
cal for the purchase of an Innovent Air Han-
dler. The equipment would replace the build-
ing’s current system, which is rapidly
approaching the end of its lifespan, board
member Mike Nickels said.
“This thing is 25-plus-years-old. It’s as old
as the CERC. The people maintaining it and
looking at it regularly are absolutely amazed
that it’s still functioning, but it is on borrowed
time,” Nickels said. “It is certainly a necessi-
ty at this point that we replace it, unfortunate-
ly it is a high dollar item.”
While the equipment comes at a hefty cost,
the board was able to secure it for a lower
price than expected. An initial estimate for
the equipment came in around $800,000, but
the board looked for alternative options to
find a lower price. The equipment is special-
ized to circulate, heat, cool and dehumidify
air at buildings with pools, like the CERC.
Nickels said the district caught a break on
the cost because of the way the current equip-
ment was installed. The current system is
placed on top of the roof, while some other
similar HVAC systems are installed in their
own room inside the building.“We actually did get a break because when
the CERC was designed and this thing was
placed on the roof, it wasn’t placed in its own
(room),” Nickels said. “Many are built inside,
which makes it way more difficult to replace.”
Funds for the air handler have been includ-
ed in the scope of the district’s upcoming
bond proposal that will be on the ballot in
August. If the bond proposal fails and the
district does not receive those funds, board
president Luke Haywood said the districtwould use its sinking fund instead.
“If the bond passes, we will use bond
funds. If, unfortunately, the bond does not
pass, we will use sinking funds,” Haywood
said. “But it would deplete more than an
entire year’s worth of the sinking fund.”
The next Hastings Board of Education
meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 26 at
Hastings Middle School, with a public hear-
ing on the district’s 2023-24 budget sched-
uled before the meeting at 6:45 p.m.MICHAEL KINNEY
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Lavell said that, for years, she has
researched how arts and economic and cultur-
al development co-mingle with one another,
looking at other cities and towns with thriving
arts scenes and how they can leverage that for
the betterment of their entire community.
“I’ve just been doing some research on
what it is these other communities are doing
well – they are other rural communities – andwhat they’re doing to bring people to them.
With Hastings Live, we know that has a pret-
ty local draw. Lots of communities have out-
door concert series in the summer, and I’ll
argue that ours is a really solid lineup, but it’s
not, in and of itself, a unique thing.”
Lavell has high hopes that The Fair Ground
Festival will be that unique thing that attracts
droves of visitors from other communities.Lavell said that the community already
has many of the pieces in place to draw in
outside visitors. “We have great restaurants,
we have the trails, we have the cute down-
towns, we have the live music and we have
some outdoor art,” she said. “It’s really just
an issue of how do we tell that story better?
What do we have the capacity for that we
aren’t doing?”ARTS COUNCIL, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The Accidentals have appeared in concert as part of the Hastings Live concert series in the past, and they will return to perform
at The Fair Ground Festival in August.YMCA, continued from page 1 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Michael Brown speaks with the county’s Committee of the Whole on Tuesday morn-
ing about the sale of the county-owned property to the YMCA of Barry County. (Photo
by Jayson Bussa)Superintendent Matt Goebel (right) addresses board members next to board presi-
dent Luke Haywood (left) at their meeting Tuesday in Star Elementary School. (Photo
by Hunter McLaren)