Page 2 — Thursday, April 8, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Equalization report spotlights economic health – and pandemic problem
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
A couple of key Barry County property
sectors weathered the vagaries of 2020 very
well, Equalization Director Tim Vandermark
told the county board Tuesday.
“Residential and agricultural markets are
quite strong,” Vandermark told commission-
ers during their Committee of the Whole
meeting at Leason Sharpe Hall in the Barry
Community Enrichment Center in Hastings.
State constitution requires commissioners
to adopt equalization values annually in April.
And the board recommended doing so, after
hearing Vandermark’s report.
In his role with the county, Vandermark is
responsible for advising and assisting the
commissioners in equalizing property tax
assessments on a countywide basis. He also
conducts annual sales and appraisal studies
that are used to equalize assessed values for
each class of property in 17 local units of
government in the county.
His equalization report – despite the pan-
demic -- showed a year that “went pretty
smoothly,” with few appeals, he said.
The two classes in Barry County that
Vandermark highlighted -- residential and
agricultural – were at $2,646,028,920 and
$431,389,200, respectively.
The county’s commercial class came in
third at a much lower value of $169,101,500.
But the class that took a major hit last year
was industrial, Vandermark noted, and that
was because of the ethanol plant in Woodland
Township.
The appeal of the property value was last
year, he said. “Actually right during COVID.”
“They did a settlement; in that they reduced
the value by about two-thirds,” he noted.
Michigan Farm News last April reported
the crisis in the ethanol industry.
The industry was hit by a double whammy
as record low crude oil prices combined with
travel restrictions that reduced demand for
ethanol.
At that time, three of the state’s five ethanolplants had closed and the remaining two,
including the one in Woodland Township, had
scaled back production.
That plant, Carbon Green BioEnergy, con-
verted some of its capacity to producing
20,000 gallons of hand sanitizer daily,
Michigan Farm News reported.
“People were not driving a lot during
COVID,” Vandermark said. “It had a pretty
big impact on the business.”
As a result, the county’s industrial class
ended up at $62,049,700 in the equalization
report.
In other totals, real property was at $3.billion and personal property was $112 mil-
lion.
Commissioner Dave Jackson, supported by
Commissioner Vivian Conner, made the
motion to recommend acceptance of the
report.
Among other action items that will be on
the agenda for next Tuesday’s board meeting,
the commissioners recommended approving:- a request from Spectrum Health Pennock
Hospital to use the vacant county property
directly south of the Urgent Care facility for a
community garden. The mixed-use garden
will be for the public to use to hold education-
al classes and other gatherings at 1108 W.
State St. in Hastings.
Key collaborators in the project include:Main page 2
County Administrator Michael Brown
addresses commissioners Tuesday
during their first in-person meeting since
Nov. 17. (Photos by Rebecca Pierce)Commissioner Vivian Conner offers
her input during the meeting.County Commission Chairman Ben
Geiger welcomes two new commission-
ers, Bruce Campbell and Catherine Getty.
“I hope you guys feel right at home.”Barry County Undersheriff Jason
Sixberry answers a question during the
meeting.Commissioner Dave Jackson address-
es the chairman during Tuesday’s ses-
sion.New Commissioner Bruce Campbell listens to the proceedings while County Clerk
Pam Palmer keeps the minutes.Commissioners Catherine Getty and Jon Smelker confer after Tuesday’s session.Courts and Law Building revamp on a fast track
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
A year’s delay in the nearly $1 million
revamp of the Barry County Courts and Law
Building appears to already have had two
major outcomes.
One, the project is expected to cost the
county $613,290 – representing a significant
savings from what originally had been
estimated, County Administrator Michael
Brown confirmed.
And, two, the county must get started on
the work as soon as possible to ensure it
doesn’t lose a $129,000 state grant that will
further reduce the cost of the project. That
grant is good through the end of September,
Brown said.
Brown brought the information to the
Barry County Board of Commissioners during
its in-person committee of the whole meeting
at Leason Sharpe Hall in the Barry Community
Enrichment Center Tuesday.
Even though the item wasn’t on the
agenda, Brown noted, he advised
commissioners to consider acting next week
on a contract so work on the building could
get underway soon.
“We really want to be in compliance with
that September deadline,” he told the board.
A draft of the contract already has been
under consideration, Brown said, and the
project has been years in preparation and
planning.
The work, which originally had been
estimated to cost between $789,000 and
$957,000, will involve major renovations at
the 206 W. Court St. building.
Vander Kodde Construction Co. of Grand
Rapids has been retained for construction
management services. The architect is Tim
Spitzley of Lake Odessa.
The plans involve relocation of the Friend
of the Court and the public defender offices,
along with improvements to security
screening, adult probation reception and
lobby, district court magistrate hearing room,
and district and probate court holding cells.
The plan is to put Friend of the Court staff
on the first floor of the Courts and Law
Building in the space occupied by the
Michigan Indigent Defense Commission and
the public defender’s office. Then those
offices will move to the lower level of the
building.
Although the space previously occupied
by the Michigan State University Extension,
which moved to the Tyden Center, is
technically vacant, Brown said, “we’re in the
process of emptying out the lower level and
making it ready for construction ... That’s the
space that all of our used equipment went to.
We’re now going to have to figure out what to
do with it.”
The point people on the project are Court
Administrator Ines Straube and commissioners
Vivian Conner and Jon Smelker.
Some parts of the project will incorporate
a more open floor plan with a modular panel
office system, Brown said. But areas that
require confidentiality will be maintained.
Smelker has said that enhanced security
measures, videoconferencing and video
arraignments also were among technological
considerations in making these upgrades.
Bringing these court functions together ina secure setting at the Courts and Law
Building, which is set up to provide the
necessary screening and security, is really the
purpose of the project, Brown said.
Once commissioners ink the deal,
demolition would likely start within 30 days.
“Our intent is [for departments in that
building] to continue to operate,” he said.
“Fortunately, a significant portion of the work
takes place on the lower level, which is not
used by the public.”
When construction moves to the first
floor, “we’ll have to do our best to coordinate
with the court,” Brown said. “We may look at
evening or weekend work. ... It isn’t a small
project. But it’ll be a good project to get
done.”
The Friend of the Court department, whichwill be moving into the newly created space
in the Courts and Law building, is currently
housed in the building at 102 S. Broadway,
Hastings.
That building is in excellent shape, Brown
said, and exactly what will happen with that
space has not yet been decided.
At one point, county officials hadconsidered putting the health department
there, once the building is vacant. But, since
that space is not large enough to house the
entire health department, Brown said, it’s
unlikely that this idea would be feasible.
“We don’t have a plan at this point,” he
said Tuesday. “It’s still to be determined.”Barry County Friend of the Court offices, currently housed in the building at 102 S.
Broadway in Hastings, are expected to relocate to the Courts and Law Building.The interior of the Barry County Courts and Law Building at 206 W. Court St. in
Hastings will be under construction this summer. (Photos by Rebecca Pierce)Continued next page