Page 4/The Sun and News, Saturday, April 17, 2021
Thornapple Township seeks
improvements to Duncan Lake drain
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Property owners along a
drain that connects Barry and
Kent counties may soon be in
for some relief from flooding
issues.
The Thornapple Township
board Monday approved a
resolution calling for
improvements to the Duncan
Lake Intercounty Drain,
which serves Barry, Kent and
Allegan counties.
The township’s action fol-
lows a similar petition
requested by the Barry
County Road Commission in
February.
“In the springtime, when
we have heavy rains, the
water goes over 108th Street
between Patterson [Avenue]
and Noffke [Road], in that
low area where that drain
goes through,” road commis-
sion Operations Director
Jake Welch said. “We looked
at trying to fix it ourselves.
We looked at moving the
culvert, increasing the size of
the culvert.
“Our impetus for doing
that petition was that there’s
a county drain that’s impact-
ing the road, we’d like to get
it maintained and have it stop
coming over the road all the
time.”
But flooding isn’t the only
problem tied to the inter-
county drain, according to
Barry County Drain
Commissioner Jim Dull.
“We have a lot of water
coming into [Duncan Lake]
from upstream that is bring-
ing in a lot of sediment, and
it’s raising the lake level con-
siderably,” Dull said. “So,
we’ve got options. We can
either head off the water
before it gets to the lake or
we can open up the outlet of
the lake. If you open up the
outlet of the lake, basically
you just push the problem
down the road.
“My thinking is if we can
find a detention area
upstream, so the water can
still pass and just give it
some time to get out of there
before all the rest of it getsthere, we could be money
ahead,” Dull added.
He had two engineering
companies study precipita-
tion levels in the area of the
drain, and they told him that
the amount of the water
going through the drain over
the past decade has increased
by about 30 percent on aver-
age.
“Not only are we getting
more water, most of it is in
the spring and the fall. We’re
still having dry summers, so
that makes it even worse,”
Dull said. “You can look at
Barry County Road
Commission. They’ve added
a whole lot of new culverts
under roads because there’s
more issues.”
Dull will send the petition
to Kent County Drain
Commissioner Ken Yonker,
Allegan County Drain
Commission Denise
Medemar and a representa-
tive from the Michigan
Department of Agriculture
and Rural Development,
which would comprise the
intercounty drain board, call-
ing for a meeting to address
the issues raised in the peti-
tion.
“Everybody in the districtgets a letter saying you’re
invited to this meeting. We
want you to come here and
voice your opinions,” Dull
said. “People show up –
some people will say there’s
not a problem, other ones
will say this is a problem,
this is a problem, this is a
problem. We vote to decide if
the petition, as written, could
take care of all the issues.”
If the drain board agrees
with the petitioners, it would
then bring in an engineering
firm and a lawyer to look at
the problems in the inter-
county drain and craft possi-
ble solutions. Those findings
would be brought back for a
second meeting where prop-
erty owners along the drain
can attend, Dull said.
Township Trustee Curt
Campbell said he went into
Monday’s meeting with con-
cerns about the resolution,
tied to what he saw as a poor
resolution to recent problems
tied to the Duncan Lake No.
2 drain. But after hearing
Dull’s presentation to the
board, Campbell changed his
mind.
“I think it’s pretty reason-
able what they’re looking for
with this resolution, to con-trol what and how fast water
comes in from the high side,
which is primarily Kent
County. There’s definitely
some from Allegan County,
as well, and some from Barry
County, too,” Campbell said.
“I think it’s worth doing
this intercounty drain proj-
ect, and I think what will
happen, what I hope will
happen, is that Kent will take
the lead in opening it up,
engineering it and so forth.
They’ve got a much larger
operation ... the ability to
take leadership on something
like that,” Campbell added.EXECUTIVE
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Must be able to pass physical, drug screen &
background check.Resumes may be sent to:
Middleville Housing Commission,
500 Lincoln St, Middleville, MI 49333
or emailed to:
[email protected]158582VILLAGE OF MIDDLEVILLE
POSITION OPEN
PLANNING COMMISSION
The members of the Planning Commission attend monthly meetings, review
meeting packets from the Village Planner prior to each meeting, consider and act
on zoning ordinance text amendments, special land uses, site plans and requests
to change property zoning. The Commission operates under the Michigan Planning
and Zoning Enabling Acts. A member of the Planning Commission must become
familiar with these laws. Annual attendance at a training seminar is required and
paid for by the Village.
For more information regarding Commission member duties and responsibilities,
please contact the Assistant Village Manager/Zoning Administrator at 269-795-
3385 or [email protected]. The term of the Planning Commission
service will begin upon approval and swearing-in of the member and run until April
30, 2024. A Planning Commission member must reside within the Village limits.
Qualifying individuals should submit a letter of interest to:
Amanda Fisk, Village President
Village of Middleville
PO Box 69
100 E. Main Street
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Attn: HR Dept158676PUBLIC NOTICE
CHANGING MEETING TIME
The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will
meet at 6:00 pm, a change from its regular 7:00 pm,
the following dates:- APRIL 20
- MAY 18
- JUNE 15
- JULY 20
- AUGUST 17
- SEPTEMBER 21
- OCTOBER 19
- NOVEMBER 16
These meetings will be held in the Council Chambers
of the Village Hall at 100 E. Main Street. All interested
persons are invited to attend these open meetings.
Posted: April 14, 2021
Rhonda VanPolen
Deputy Clerk
SYNOPSIS
VILLAGE OF MIDDLEVILLE,
MICHIGAN
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
March 23, 2021
The regular meeting of the Vil-
lage Council of Middleville, Michi-
gan, was called to order at 7:00 pm
by President Fisk. Present: Cram-
er, DeVries, Lytle, Ronning, Schell-
inger and Smith. Absent: None.
ACTIONS TAKEN- Motion by DeVries, supported
by Smith, to approve the agenda
as printed. Roll Call Vote. All Yeas.
Motion Passed. - Motion by Cramer, supported
by DeVries, to approve the Con-
sent Agenda as printed:
a. Approval of Minutes for the
Regular Council Meeting of
March 09, 2021
b. Approval of Bills for March
23, 2021 for $181,875.
c. Special Event Permit – Char-
lie Pullen’s Memorial
d. Special Event Permit – TVC
Easter Egg Hunt
e. Appointment of Matthew
Richmond to Housing Com-
mission
Roll Call Vote. All Yeas. Motion
Passed - Motion by DeVries, support-
ed by Smith, to adopt Ordinance
2115, To Amend the Zoning Ordi-
nance of the Village of Middleville
- Rezoning of Lands to R-1 Low
Density Residential – 3316 Bender
Road. Roll Call Vote: All Yeas. Mo-
tion Passed.
- Motion by Smith, supported
by DeVries, to approve Resolution
21-09, Approving the Sale of Cer-
tain Village-Owned Personal Prop-
erty and Matters Related Thereto.
Roll Call Vote: All Yeas. Motion
Passed. - Motion by Schellinger, sup-
ported by Ronning, to approve the
quote from Welton’s Heating and
Cooling to replace the furnace for
Council Chambers for $3490.00.
Roll Call Vote. All Yeas. Motion
Passed. - Motion by Cramer, supported
by Ronning, to approve the pur-
chase and installation of enhanced
crosswalk signs and signals at
Grand Rapids St and Lafayette
St for $8000.00. Roll Call Vote. All
Yeas. Motion Passed. - Motion by Cramer, supported
by Lytle, to approve the proposed
change to the Financial Policy to
comply with federal grant require-
ments. Roll Call Vote. All Yeas.
Motion Passed. - Motion by Cramer, support by
Ronning, to approve a contribution
of $8500.00, to TAPRC for design
and evaluation of the Village prop-
erty at Sheridan Street for a sport/
ballfield complex. Roll Call Vote. All
Yeas. Motion Passed. - Motion by DeVries, supported
by Lytle, to adjourn the meeting at
8:16 pm. Roll Call Vote. All Yeas.
Motion Passed.
Respectfully submitted: Rhonda
Van Polen, Deputy Clerk, Village
of Middleville. The complete text of
the minutes is posted on the Village
Website http://villageofmiddleville.
org or may be read at the Village
Hall between the hours of 9:
am and 5:00 pm, Monday through
Friday.
VILLAGE OF
MIDDLEVILLE