The Hastings Banner — Thursday, August 24, 2023 — Page 3a bit of a process,” Berlin said. “One of the
things on your board packet tonight is the
authorization of the bonds. We actually have
to go out on the market and sell the bonds, so
we probably will not have bond dollars until
sometime in October at the earliest.”
Board members approved the authoriza-
tion of the bonds and approved Stifel, Nico-
laus & Company, Inc. as underwriter for the
bonds. Berlin said the district was still look-
ing at potentially selling the bonds in two
series, although the goal was to get as much
funding as possible from the first series to
help secure lower construction costs for bond
projects.
While bond funds may not be available
until the fall, Berlin said the district was still
moving quickly on bond-funded projects.
School administrators and employees are
scheduled to meet with the architect and con-
struction managers early next week.
Berlin said he would have more informa-
tion available for local residents hoping to
purchase bonds at the next board meeting.
Goebel said making bonds purchasable by
locals was a priority for the district.
“We did have some local people who were
interested in investing in bonds,” Goebel
said. “We wanted to make sure that we had
that available for our local citizens.”
Berlin also addressed how the bond funds
would impact the school’s overall finances.
Using a “three legged stool” analogy compar-
ing the district’s debt service fund (funds
provided by bond proposals), general fund
and sinking fund, he said the district was
looking much more financially secure. Funds
from the Aug. 8 proposal would be able to
pay for the district’s immediate infrastructure
needs, like new roofs for the high school and
part of the middle school, that otherwise
would have significantly cut into the school’s
general fund.
Board members thanked school adminis-
trators, involved community members and
voters for their part in helping the district
secure the funds outlined in the Aug. 8 pro-
posal.
“(It was) a wonderful opportunity for our
community to come together, work tirelessly
and have a positive outcome,” Board Presi-
dent Luke Haywood said. “You know, we’ve
done it four or five times before without quite
the outcome that we had hoped for.”
Looking ahead, Berlin pointed toward the
district’s sinking fund as its next area of con-
cern. Set to expire in December 2024, Goebel
has said proposing a renewal of the sinking
fund in May is the district’s next hurdle.
Securing a 10-year-renewal of the fund wouldkeep the district financially stable for years to
come, he said.
Board member Brad Tolles said the
approved bond proposal showed promise that
trust in the district could be rebuilt after a
community survey conducted earlier this year
showed a public perception of fiscal irrespon-
sibility.
“I think we’re slowly building that trust
back that this board should have with the
public,” Tolles said. “I think a lot of the
momentum that we have now going forward
will hopefully continue with the financial
information and the transparency that we’re
trying to project. Hopefully we’ll get more
questions from the public and just continue to
build on what we’ve got now.”
Goebel, who made communication with
the public a priority following the survey
results, said the district’s work wasn’t over
yet. Continued transparency and communica-
tion would continue to be a priority for the
district, he said.
“I want to make sure that we remember
what we need to do to continue to gain that
trust,” Goebel said. “Yes, we made a stride to
get the community to trust more in our school
system. At the same time, we’ve got to keep
showing up, keep showing fiscal responsibil-
ity and keep that communication.”Over 150 chicks found dead inside
Lakewood High School greenhouse
Molly Macleod
Copy Editor
Over 150 chicks were found dead inside a
greenhouse at Lakewood High School earlier
this month.
Police reports obtained by The Hastings
Banner stated that a Barry County Sheriff’s
deputy was sent to the school to investigate
on Friday, Aug. 11 after receiving a tip that
over 150 deceased chicks were suspected to
be inside the greenhouse, located near the
science wing of Lakewood High School.
The caller, who does not work for the
school, told deputies that they believed the
chickens were neglected and left in the green-
house over the summer.
Upon arrival, the officer wrote that he
observed a large number of deceased chicks
across the floor of the structure.
Contact was made with Lakewood High
School Principal Stephen Williams, who told
deputies that a gas leak was suspected to have
caused the deaths. Williams said a teacher atthe high school purchases the chicks each year
and that this is the first year a casualty event of
this scale has occurred. The report states that
Williams said the chicks all died within two
hours of being placed in the greenhouse.
The Hastings Banner could not reach Wil-
liams for comment.
Though the remains of the chicks were
present when officers first arrived at the scene
on Aug. 11, they have since been cleaned up.
Williams told deputies should an incident like
this happen again, the animal remains will be
disposed of as soon as possible. As for why
the remains were not immediately taken care
of, the report states that “no one ever got
around to disposing of the chics (sic).”
It is unknown how long the animal remains
were left in the greenhouse.
According to the reports, the case is now
closed and the incident is being handled by
the school.
Staff writer Hunter McLaren contributed
to this report.Library installs new solar picnic
table funded by private donor
Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings library-goers have a new place to
beat the sun downtown.
The Hastings Public Library installed a
solar-powered picnic table on the north side
of the building Tuesday afternoon. Aside
from shade and shelter, the table also pro-
vides wireless internet connectivity, wireless
phone charging, LED lights, USB ports and
outlets for charging other devices.
Hastings Department of Public Services
workers placed a cement pad for the table
earlier this month, connecting it to the neigh-
boring sidewalk and making it completely
wheelchair accessible. Library staff even
reused some of the animal-themed stencils
used to create tracks and footprints in thelibrary rain garden’s path, making the new
addition fit right in.
David Edelman, the library’s assistant
director, said the table is completely free for
the public to use.
“It will be nice for people to be able to play
cards, they can read, they can work here,”
Edelman said. “They can do whatever they
want.”
The table was completely paid for by an
anonymous donation, which allowed the
library to finally tackle the project after think-
ing about it for a long time.
“All paid for from an anonymous dona-
tion,” Edelman said. “They wanted us to use
it for something we couldn’t normally do.
This has been on our wishlist for several
years.”concerns?’ As well as being part of a team
trying to get these projects approved,”
Isabell explained biodigesters and com-
pared them to septic tanks.
Manure is allowed to decompose in a
sealed silo, producing biogas, which she said
is a fairly common farming practice.
Where the setup diverges from standard
practice, is in what is done with that biogas.
Isabell said they plan to collect the biogas
and put it into their system, to be purchased
by customers who want renewable natural
gas, at an additional cost.
She said this is beneficial for the farm, and
the manure solids left over can be used as
fertilizer or dried and used as bedding for the
cows, “but there’s also a benefit for Consum-
ers Energy to capture that renewable natural
gas and put it back into our system. There are
customers that would voluntarily pay for that,
to have that renewable natural gas.”
If they were not planning to capture the
gas, it would simply be flared off and lost into
the atmosphere, she said.
She also addressed a couple of concerns
she has heard frequently and said are myths:
that digesters smell bad and that they are bad
for the environment. Isabell said that contain-
ing the decomposing manure in a digester
reduces the amount of methane that is
released, which she stated is healthier for the
environment than manure ponds.
The risk of spills and leaks is also reduced,
she said, and this method “reduces the odors
significantly.”
Isabell said this project is a showcase, “It’s
a way to maintain agricultural, farming com-
munities while bringing in renewable energy,
as a way to show how we can continue to
support operations of our ag community in
this township... while bringing in biodigesters
to support renewable natural gas and helping
support those operations of the existing
farm.”
Several representatives from Bowne Town-
ship-based Swiss Lane Farms came with the
team from Consumers to provide information
on their involvement in the project.
Swiss Lane Farms is located in Alto,
Michigan, where they are also working with
Consumers on a $17 million biogas project.
Swiss Lane Farms CEO Matt Oesch said a
couple of years ago, they took over the Hal-
bert Dairy Farm in southern Barry County, in
collaboration with Consumers, which had
bought the property from the owners, who
were retiring.
Oesch said, “the challenge that my genera-
tion has is how do we transition the owner-
ship and the success that the dairy has had in
the past to this next generation ... I think it’s
only 30 percent of family businesses make it
to the second generation, and only about 12
percent make it to the third. We’re in the
fourth, looking toward the fifth.”
In 2019 and 2020, Oesch said he started
seeing a trend of large dairy farms perusing
renewable natural gas projects.
“We believe that 20 years from now, any
dairy in the 2,000-cow range is going to have
a methane digester, and they’re going to be
bedding on manure solids ... that’s the sus-
tainable way to care for cows,” he said,
Consumers Energy typically prefers to
lease land or utilize easements and “work
with participating landowners on making it
work for them, on their farm,” said Carrigan.
In many cases, he said, farmers have
offered to let them put in solar panels on less
productive parts of their land, which provides
a more stable source of income than crops. In
this case, however, the property in question is
owned by Consumers.
The dairy farm on the Halbert property will
remain operational, along with Consumers’
Spring Creek renewable energy project.
Carrigan said Consumers is “not going to
do anything on those properties that impact
their ability to have a viable dairy farm.”
The township board encouraged people at
the meeting to submit written questions for
the team from Consumers.
Most of those who gathered for the meet-
ing said they are opposed to the solar farm
and are concerned that there may be various
repercussions.
Some of the concerns
included crop loss, due to the
conversion of crop fields to
solar fields; silt runoff, from
construction; and rumors that
eminent domain could come
into play, although after some
discussion, it appeared that
those rumors stem, at least in
part, from a misunderstanding
regarding an existing 80-foot-
wide ITC utility easement.
Township Treasurer Kar-
men Nickerson expressed a
sentiment that was echoed by
many others in the room.
“I know you say that what
you’re putting solar panels on
is a very small percentage of
farmland, but in our township,
it’s not a very small percent-
age; it’s almost all of our farm-
land here ... and it’s going to
change what our township
looks like, when we see those
solar panels,” she said.Nashville resident Gary White quoted
from the Barry County Master Plan, which
states that the county’s natural beauty and
agriculture must be protected, and he said,
“restrictions must be in place to control the
unbridled sprawl of experimental energy.
Your county commissioners are neglecting
their sworn responsibilities to protect the
best interests of the land, and most impor-
tantly, the people of Barry County.”
Several also questioned whether producing
more energy in Johnstown Township would
have a direct effect on their energy bills. The
answer was no; that energy would go into the
grid and be used by their community.
“Any electricity takes the shortest path
from where it’s generated to where it’s used,
so if you are connected closer to the source,
where it’s generated, I can guarantee you that
you will have a priority to use that electricity
that is generated here, not because we regu-
late it; it’s pure physics,” said El-Gafy, but
the bills will not go down in Johnstown
Township until they are able to lower them
across the state.ENERGY, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Notice of Public Hearing
on Increasing Property Taxes
Woodland will hold a public hearing on a proposed increase of 9.2556 mills in the operating tax millage rate to
be levied in 2023.
The hearing will be held on Tuesday, September 12, 2023 at 7 p.m. at 156 S. Main Street, Woodland, MI 48897.
The date and location of the meeting to take action on the proposed additional millage will be announced at this
public meeting.
If adopted, the proposed additional millage will increase operating revenues from ad valorem property taxes
5.25% over such revenues generated by levies permitted without holding a hearing. If the proposed additional
millage rate is not approved the operating revenue will increase by 4.35% over the preceding year's operating rev-
enue.
The taxing unit publishing this notice, and identified below, has complete authority to establish the number of mills
to be levied from within its authorized millage rate.
This notice is published by:
Woodland Township
156 S. Main St., Woodland, MI 48897
269-367-4915^204610PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION
PUBLIC HEARING NOTICETO: THE RESIDENTS AND PROPERTY OWNERS OF THE TOWNSHIP OF PRAIRIEV-
ILLE, BARRY COUNTY, MICHIGAN, AND ANY OTHER INTERESTED PERSONS:PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a public hearing will be held on September 14, 2023
commencing at 7:00 p.m. at the Prairieville Township Hall, 10115 S. Norris Rd., Delton MI,
49046 within the Township, as required under the provisions of the Michigan Zoning En-
abling Act and the Zoning Ordinance for the Township.PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that, In addition to participation during an public hearing,
members of the public may also provide comments for the Planning Commission’s consid-
eration by emailing or mailing those comments to the Planning Commission for receipt prior
to the meeting, in care of the Township Zoning Administrator, Eric Thompson (ethompson@
pcimi.com) or by leaving a phone message prior to the meeting with the Township Zoning
Administrator, Eric Thompson at 269-948-4088.PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the item(s) to be considered at said public
hearing include, in brief, the following:- A request from property owner, Michael Golembiewski, 4416 Bridgeport Ct Hud-
sonville, MI 49426, for a Special Land Use/Site Plan Review to allow for the con-
struction of an accessory building failing to meet the required setbacks pursuant
to section 4.20 “Accessory Structures”. The subject site is located at 11345 Oak
Dr., Parcel # 08-12-240-021-00 and is currently zoned R2 –Medium Residential. - A request from Michael and Pamela McBride on behalf of the property owner
Deborah Young Trust, 12120 Southgate Dr., Plainwell, MI 49080, for a for a par-
tial parcel re-zoning. The subject site is located on Lindsey Rd adjoining Handy
Ln, Parcel # 08-12-008-018-36 and is currently zoned A -Agricultural. The appli-
cant is requesting a re-zoning to R2-Residential. - A request from Nick Richmond on behalf of the property owner, Jonathan and
Christine Petro, 10220 N 24th St. Plainwell, MI 49080, for a Special Land Use/
Site Plan Review to allow for the construction of Storage Units on C1-Commer-
cial property pursuant to section 6.4 “C1 Rural Area Convenience Commercial
District”. The subject site is located at 12209 M89 Hwy, Parcel # 08-12-031-013-
10 and is currently zoned C1 – Commercial.
The Prairieville Township Planning Commission and Township Board reserve the
right to make changes in the above-mentioned proposed amendment(s) at or following the
public hearing.All interested persons are invited to be present at the aforesaid time and place, or,
if an electronic meeting is held, to participate via the electronic meeting.Prairieville Township will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services,
to individuals with disabilities at the hearing upon four (4) days’ prior notice to the Township
Clerk. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the
Township Clerk at the address or telephone number listed below.
PRAIRIEVILLE TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION
By: Fritz Bork, Chairperson
Prairieville Township Hall
11015 S. Norris Rd.
Delton, Michigan 49046
204796BOND, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Over 150 chicks were found dead earlier this month inside a greenhouse belonging
to Lakewood High School. A gas leak is suspected as the cause of death for the young
fowl. (Photo by Molly Macleod)David Edelman, assistant director at
the Hastings Public Library, said the new
solar-powered picnic table was com-
pletely funded by an anonymous donor.
(Photo by Hunter McLaren)