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VOLUME 170, No. 9 Thursday, February 29, 2024 PRICE $1.

T HE

H ASTINGS

Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

Students explore their

futures at Career Fest

See story on page 3

Saxons mount thrilling

comeback in districts

See story on page 9

Tax tribunal sides with

TimberCreek Ranch

See story on page 8

Rotarians raising money

for Imagination Library

Voters approve operating millage proposals

and select presidential candidates

Jayson Bussa
Editor
Voters in Barry County have fallen in line
with the rest of the state by selecting both Pres-
ident Joe Biden and former President Donald
Trump to represent their respective political
parties in the upcoming race for the presidency.
The 2024 presidential primary election,
which concluded on Tuesday, offered few
surprises as county voters also passed a
renewal of an operating millage for Barry
County Central Dispatch that included the
restoration of 0.0584 mills that had been
slowly lost over the years due to the Headlee
Amendment, which requires a local unit of
government to reduce its millage when annu-
al growth on existing property is greater than
the rate of inflation.
With the approval of the operating millage,
Barry County Central Dispatch will again
levy 1.000 mill, an amount that was original-
ly approved back in 1992.
Stephanie Lehman, director for the depart-
ment, said in the days leading up to the elec-
tion that she expected the restoration of the
0.0584 mills to generate an additional
$164,860 – assuming all taxes are collected

• for the department, which would ideally be
  used to hire two additional dispatchers for a
  department that has seen its utilization steadi-
  ly grow over time but is not fully staffed.
  The department also faces persistent tech-
  nological needs to keep infrastructure up to
  industry standards.

While Central Dispatch has routinely

passed previous operating millages in the

past, Lehman admitted she was a little ner-

vous to see how voters would respond to this

year’s request, as it came with a small

increase with the Headlee override.

“I was pretty nervous about it because it is

an increase in cost to the residents of Barry

County, and we’re living in a society and a

climate right now where the inflation rates

and things, in my lifetime, have reached an

all-time high,” Lehman said following the

successful campaign.

“So, everything is continuing to cost more

and costs continue to rise and even though the

difference between the Headlee (override)

and the full mill was not a huge amount of

money, it is some.”

The increase will cost the average property

owner an additional $5 or $6.

Of the 12,756 voters who weighed in on

the topic, 8,166 voted yes (64 percent).

“In a time and age where everybody is

struggling and every household is making

some sort of concession with today’s infla-

tion, and just the cost of life in today’s

market, we are incredibly fortunate to do

the work that we do in a community that

continues to support their 9-1-1 center,”

Lehman said. “Not every community is that

fortunate.”

Sheriff’s office fully

staffed with addition

of new deputy

Jayson Bussa

Editor

Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf chalked it

up as a victory.

In what has become the hyper-competitive

field of law enforcement, the Barry County

Sheriff’s Office is mostly accustomed to los-

ing its personnel to larger agencies and juris-

dictions.

With the latest addition to the Sheriff’s

Department, it was the opposite.

On Tuesday morning, during a brief meet-

ing of the Barry County Board of Commis-

sioner, Leaf and Undersheriff Jason Sixberry

were in attendance to swear in the depart-

ment’s new deputy Caleb Skaggs.

Leaf joked about how his department was

finally able to “steal” someone from a larger

agency with Skaggs coming from the Battle

Creek Police Department.

“Usually they take from us and it was nice

to return the favor, you know,” Leaf said.

“It’s almost like a knife fight trying to get

people to work for you. It’s a battle of wages

and benefits and everything else.”

Leaf wasn’t necessarily overstating that

fact, either, as agencies across the state have

struggled to build solid talent pipelines to

keep their ranks filled. Only recently has the

city of Hastings been able to flesh out its

police department.

The Sheriff’s Department is now also

fully staffed, but only temporarily, as Leaf

referred to the dynamic on his force as a

“revolving door.”

The department plans to lose one member

to the Michigan State Police in the Spring

Hastings superintendent

retiring, district begins

search for candidates

Hunter McLaren
Staff Writer
Hastings Area School System Superinten-
dent Matt Goebel will be stepping away from
his role as superintendent this summer.
In comments made to the Hastings Ban-
ner, Goebel said he’s retiring to spend more
time with his family. Goebel joined the dis-
trict in 2012, working as assistant superin-
tendent of student achievement before mov-
ing into the role of interim superintendent in
2020 following the departure of former

superintendent Dan Remenap. Goebel was

appointed as the permanent superintendent

in 2021.

“Working for Hastings over the last nearly

12 years here in the district has been the

highlight of my career,” he said. “Working

with not only the students and staff, but the

community – and such a generous and giving

community – has just been just an awesome,

Rotarians across Barry County are

competing with each other to raise

money for the Barry Community

Foundation’s Imagination Library

endowment fund. Dolly Parton’s

Imagination Library is a national book

gifting program that mails free books to

children from birth to age 5. The endow-

ment fund helps financially support the

mailing of the books to Barry County

kids. The Delton Area Rotary Club chal-

lenged Hastings Rotarians to fundraise

for the program. So far, the two clubs

have raised $5,400, with the Delton

Rotarians in the lead. Community mem-

bers are invited to support the cause,

too. Those interested in supporting

BCF’s Imagination Library endowment

fund can visit barrycountyreads.org or

imaginationlibrary.org. More informa-

tion on the fundraising effort will be

found in the March 9, 2024, edition of

The Reminder. Pictured are (from left)

Delton Rotarians David Stoll and Kathy

Forsyth, along with Hastings Rotarians

Chelsey Foster and Michelle Skedgell.

(Photo provided)

Barry County went to the polls on Tuesday for the presidential primary election, which also featured a proposal to renew the

operating millage for Barry County Central Dispatch. (Photo by Jayson Bussa)

See VOTERS, page 2

Hastings Superintendent Matt Goebel

will be leaving the district at the end of

the current school year. (File photo by

Hunter McLaren)

See RETIRING, page 3

Caleb Skaggs, right, is sworn in as a member of the Barry County Sheriff’s Office

by Sheriff Dar Leaf during Tuesday morning’s Board of Commissioners meeting.

(Photo by Jayson Bussa)

See NEW DEPUTY, page 2