SN 5-18-2024

Page 10/The Sun and News, Saturday, May 18, 2024

Yankee Springs Twp. to look into options for trail

linking township park, state recreation area

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Yankee Springs Township
will look into the possibility
of building a handicap-ac-
cessible trail that would con-
nect the township park with
Yankee Springs State
Recreation Area.
The five-member board at
its May 9 meeting voted 3-
to support the concept of
building the trail “by explor-
ing grants, designs, permit-
ting requirements and part-
nerships available.”

Supervisor Rob Heethuis

said the action gives the

board the ability to approach

entities like the Department

of Natural Resources,

Michigan Department of

Transportation and the Gun

Lake Tribe to see if they have

any interest in working with

the township on such a proj-

ect. Heethuis was joined in

support of the motion by

Trustees Dave VanHouten

and Larry Knowles.

VanHouten said the move

doesn’t commit the township

to anything.

“We could come back

(later and find out) we don’t

get enough grants, it costs

too much, and we would

never support it,” VanHouten

said. “We don’t know at this

point if we’re going to sup-

port it or not. I don’t know if

I support it or not. We have

to get the details.”

Clerk Mike Cunningham

opposes the idea of building

a trail to connect the town-

ship park to the recreation

area.

“I do not support, nor do I

think this board should sup-

port making our township

park essentially part of the

state park system,”

Cunningham said. “That’s a

neighborhood park, it’s in a

neighborhood. There’s a lot

more people who come to

the state park every year than

we have as residents in our

township. If this trail is going

to be used and needed,

there’s going to be a lot of

people coming to use our

park and compete with our

residents for the use of it, and

I don’t know if they will treat

it the same as our residents

do.”

Cunningham added that

the township would have to

shoulder the burden of cov-

ering the costs for maintain-

ing the trail once it’s built.

“Sometimes when some-

body gives you a gift, you

need to say no because ...

long-term, maybe it’s not a

gift,” he said.

Treasurer Deb Mousseau

was absent from the vote.

In other action at the May

9 meeting:

— Cunningham presented

an update on the repair proj-

ect to the north wall of the

addition to the Township

Hall that was damaged in

early January when it was

struck by a car that had been

left running. “They’ve put

the base of the wall back in

place, the exterior brick has

been repaired and replaced,

the interior wall ... has been

painted. We need to have the

baseboard reinstalled, and

that’s it,” Cunningham said,

adding that the final cost of

the project is not expected to

exceed the estimate of more

than $7,800 from Mugen

Construction. Damage costs

are being covered by the

township’s insurance policy.

— Approved a revised

estimate for renovating the

kitchen at the Township Hall

from Koval Construction in

the amount of $30,860.

Koval had earlier estimated

the project cost at $23,860,

but a company that had been

subcontracted to build cabi-

nets for the renovation proj-

ect was recently destroyed

by a fire, resulting in the

contractor having to find a

new vendor to build the cab-

inets. Even with the higher

cost, Koval’s bid was 36 per-

cent lower than a competing

contractor and 48 percent

less than another,

Cunningham said.

— The board voted 3-

against accepting an estimate

of $9,900 by the engineering

firm Fleis & VandenBrink to

prepare engineering stamped

prints for a proposed addi-

tion to the township fire sta-

tion that would be used to

secure bids for the project. A

600-square-foot addition has

been proposed to the east

side of the fire station on

South Payne Lake Road for

fire department and elections

equipment storage.

— The board set a June 13

public hearing on whether to

establish a special assess-

ment district for a resurfac-

ing project on Evans Lane

from Cobb Lake Road to its

northern terminus. The proj-

ect involves milling and

resurfacing the road as well

as removing and replacing a

culvert. A total of 26 proper-

ties would be included in the

special assessment district,

sharing in the estimated cost

of $26,718, according to

township documents.

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TKHS BPA student is

national champion

The third time’s the charm
for Thornapple Kellogg High
School senior Kaden
Hamming. He was named
the National Business
Professionals of America
(BPA) champion in funda-
mental accounting this week
in Chicago.
His first national experi-
ence was a virtual event
because of the pandemic.
Last year he attended the
national event in Dallas. This
year was Hamming’s third
time qualifying for the
national finals and it turned
out to be not only his best
finish ever, but the best finish
for any TK student ever.
Hamming is the first TK stu-
dent to be crowned BPA
national champion.
Hamming actually quali-
fied for two events this year
at the national finals. In addi-
tion to his national champion
title, he also placed 10th in
digital media.
“I’ve always done digital
media production and then
I’ve added a different second
event that’s always been dif-

ferent every year,” he said.

Hamming and five other

TK BPA students competed

at the national event this

year:

— Evan Liu finished 12th

in Fundamental Word

Processing.

— Ryan Skidmore fin-

ished 23rd in Basic Office

Systems.

— Freshmen Raegen

Chapman, Carmen Reynolds

and Katelyn Chase also com-

peted and sharpened their

skills.

Hamming said BPA has

really helped him recognize

what he wants to do in the

future. He will be attending

Ross School of Business at

the University of Michigan

next year.

“I know I want to do

something in business. BPA

helped me meet new people

and make a lot of connec-

tions,” he said.

Before going to the

national contest in Chicago,

Hamming told his team-

mates to enjoy the time

there and make connec-

tions with other students.

He also encouraged them

to do their best but realize

they are competing against

students from all over the

country.

BPA advisor, Keith

Hamming, said having six

students compete at nationals

was nearly his largest group.

One other year he took a

group of eight students to the

finals, but four of them

worked together on a group

project.

“I’m just very proud of

this whole group,” Keith

Hamming said. “They all

achieved so much just to

make it to nationals. Then,

to have Kaden make it on

stage in two events, one as

a national champion, is

just awesome,” he said of

this year’s national final-

ists.”

Students took part in open-

ing ceremonies and contests

while also getting some free

time to visit attractions in the

city.

Keith Hamming said he

was so impressed with his

team — especially since

none had been to the national

finals before except Kaden

and three of them were fresh-

men.

“I had to remind myself

and the students that this is

nationals — the best of the

best — so all of the students

who competed should be

pleased and proud of their

accomplishments. The whole

weekend in Chicago was just

a very cool experience for us

all,” he said.

The BPA students received

a grant from the Barry

Community Foundation to

assist them with costs of

attending the national com-

petition.

The Yankee Springs Township Board is looking for

ways to connect a trail to the Yankee Springs State

Recreation Area from the township’s park. (File photo)

Kaden Hamming of Thornapple Kellogg High School poses with this national

award. (Photo provided)