Page 6/The Sun and News, Saturday, April 17, 2021side and enjoy nature and see
other people and feel alive.”
The Paul Henry
Thornapple Trail will focus
prominently in the Spring
Spectacular activities, most
notably the Spring Safari and
Trivia Quest.
“You’ll check in at the
information booth, which
will be the stagecoach gazebo
by Main Street and the vil-
lage hall,” Schmidt said.
“You get this interactive map
and it gives you clues to go
on a self-guided tour up and
down the Paul Henry Trail
here in town and up and down
Main Street and find histori-
cal landmarks, things in
nature, observing things that
you find along the trail.”
People who solve the
clues can be in a drawing for
a grand prize basket.
Meanwhile, kids of all
ages will be able to take part
in a chalk art competition on
the sidewalks near the
Sesquicentennial Pavilion
and the Paul Henry Trail.
Categories are for kids age 8
and under, 9-12, and 14-18,
as well as individual adults
and a family mural category.
Each individual or family
group will be given a side-
walk square to decorate using
chalk that will be provided by
the DDA. All artistic work
must be completed by 3:
p.m. A vote of the public will
take place between 3:30 and
4:30 p.m. to determine the
winners, with the winner in
each category receiving a gift
certificate to the Cone Corral.Winners will be announced
from the DDA Amphitheater
at 5 p.m., and artists must be
present to win.
Artists may preregister by
emailing schmidtk@villa-
geofmiddleville.org. Those
who preregister may begin
creating at 11 a.m.
Other activities during the
Spring Spectacular include a
free plant exchange and ven-
dor fair at the pavilion from
noon to 5 p.m. and outdoor
karaoke from 3 to 5 p.m. at
the amphitheater. More than
25 vendors already have
signed up to be part of the
vendor fair, Schmidt said.
More details on the
Spring Spectacular are on the
Middleville DDA on
Facebook.Middleville approves TK senior parade downtown
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Seniors at Thornapple
Kellogg High School will get
to have a parade through
downtown Middleville next
month.
The village council
Tuesday approved an event
permit to allow the senior
parade to take place the night
of Friday, May 21, at 7 p.m.
The parade will begin on
Russell Street, just west of
the bridge over the
Thornapple River, then pro-
ceed east onto Main Street to
Grand Rapids Street, north
on Grand Rapids to Crane
Road, where the parade will
disperse. It’s the reverse of
the route s used for last
year’s senior parade, which
was set up in the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The route that was agreed
upon was not the original
route. The original route sub-
mitted with the permit appli-
cation called for starting at
McFall Elementary School
and concluding at Thornapple
Kellogg Middle School. But
event organizer Sara Boyd
then proposed a route that
would start at the middle
school and head east through
the downtown area.“This may bring more
people downtown to hang
out,” Boyd said. “Last year, a
lot of people loved being
downtown and cheering on
the seniors as they drove
through. It was really neat to
see our town come together
for that.”
However, using that route
would have meant using the
traffic signal at Main Street
and M-37, the only signal in
town. Department of public
works director Alec Belson
and Sgt. Tim Stevens, head
of the Barry County Sheriff’s
Department’s Middleville
unit, said prior permissionwould have been needed
from the Michigan
Department of Transportation
to stop traffic on M-37 at
Main to let the parade go
through.
Village officials then pro-
posed having the parade
within the downtown area
without having to cross
M-37, possibly using the
large parking lot of the for-
mer Metaldyne plant as a
staging area.
TKHS senior Mary
Hoogwerf supported having
the parade go through down-
town.
“We like the idea of down-
town because, not only as asenior did we grow up in
those schools, we also grew
up in the town as a whole,”
Hoogwerf said.
“Not only will parents of
students be there, I think
more townspeople will be
there downtown as well,
because it’s easily accessi-
ble.”
Hoogwerf said this year’s
class wouldn’t be able to do
the walk through all of TK’s
schools, which has been a
longstanding tradition with
seniors at the high school.
The walk was canceled last
year because of the pandem-
ic, and school administration
rejected a request by thisyear’s class to do the walk,
Hoogwerf said.
Council Trustee Kevin
Smith praised the seniors for
their perseverance in a diffi-
cult situation.
“The seniors graduating
this year and the ones that
graduated last year are amaz-
ing,” Smith said. “The sacri-
fices that you are making to
the most important year of
school is really tremendous.
Quite frankly, I wish I had a
magic wand to just approve
anything that you wanted.
You guys have soldiered
through a pretty crazy year.”158763NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Please be advised the Village of Middleville Planning Commission will conduct a
PUBLIC HEARING to seek comments on the 2021 Village of Middleville Master
Plan. The hearing will be conducted during a regularly scheduled meeting that will
be held virtually on Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83311869017 Meeting ID 833
1186 9017, Passcode 211517 on Tuesday May 4, 2021 at 7:00 PM. The public
hearing will provide interested parties the opportunity to comment on the proposed
2021 Village of Middleville Master Plan, a guide for the use, development, and
preservation of land within the Village.
Copies of the proposed Master Plan are available for public viewing on the Village’s
website at https://www.villageofmiddleville.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/
Middleville-Master-Plan-2020- DRAFT-FOR-VILLAGE-COUNCIL-REVIEW-02.21.
pdf and during regular business hours at the Middleville Village Hall located at 100
E. Main Street, Middleville, MI 49333. Phone: (269) 795-3385.
Any interested person may offer comments to the Planning Commission. Any
interested person may attend the public hearing to obtain information about the
2021 Village of Middleville Master Plan or to offer comments to the Planning
Commission. A copy of the proposed 2021 Village of Middleville Master Plan is
available via email a request to the Village Clerk, at ayalag@villageofmiddleville.
org. Persons with special needs who wish to attend should contact the Village
Clerk no less than 72 hours prior to the public hearings. Written comments will
be received up to and until the day of the hearing and may be addressed to the
Planning Commission at PO Box 69, Middleville, MI 49333 or by email to ayalag@
villageofmiddleville.org.Respectfully submitted,
Rhonda Van Polen, Village Deputy Clerk158764NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Please be advised the Village of Middleville PLANNING COMMISSION will hold a
PUBLIC HEARING on May 4, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as possible
to consider an application for ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT. This hearing will be
held via zoom teleconference during the regular Planning Commission meeting,
which an interested person can participate by through the following link: https://
us02web.zoom.us/j/83311869017 Meeting ID 833 1186 9017, Passcode 211517 at
7pm on Tuesday May 4th, 2021.
The Zoning Text Amendment application to be considered seeks Planning
Commission recommendation for approval to Village Council to amend Sec. 78-
of the Zoning Ordinance to allow the increase of height of light poles to 23 feet from
20 feet, and up to 35 feet in the I-1 Light Industrial and I-2 Heavy Industrial zoning
districts.
Any interested person may offer comments to the Planning Commission. Any
interested person may attend the public hearing to obtain information about the
Zoning Text Amendment request or to offer comments to the Planning Commission.
A copy of the Zoning Text Amendment application is available via email request to
the Village Clerk, at [email protected]. Persons with special needs
who wish to attend should contact the Village Clerk no less than 72 hours prior to
the public hearings. Written comments will be received up to and until the day of
the hearing and may be addressed to the Planning Commission at PO Box 69,
Middleville, MI 49333 or by email to [email protected].Respectfully submitted,
Rhonda Van Polen
Village Deputy ClerkTHORNAPPLE TOWNSHIP BOARD
200 E MAIN ST.
MIDDLEVILLE, MI 49333
SYNOPSIS OF MEETING MINUTES
Monday, April 12, 2021
Meeting called to order at 7:
p.m. by zoom and in-person.
Seven members present.
Items approved:- Printed Agenda approved as
presented. - Consent Agenda approved
as presented.
3.Approved motion to authorize
Treasurer Buckowing to open a
new bank account in preparation
of receiving funds through the
American Rescue Act.
4.Approved motion to authorize
TTES to purchase several
items including: a 55-gallon
foam barrel, spanner wrenches,
hydrant wrench, gate valves
and a Haligan bar not to exceed
$3000.00. - Approved motion to
authorize TTES to purchase a
smaller 1 1/16” bore nozzle with
pistol grip and a shut off valve for
a cost of $529.20. - Approved motion to
authorize TTES to hire four new
candidates as on call firefighters
and send them to fire school in
the fall. - Approved Resolution 08-
2021 Petition for maintenance and
improvement of an intercounty
drain. - Approved motion to appoint
Jeff Kenyon to the TAPRC board. - Approved motion to appoint
Elaine Denton to the general
ordinance committee. - Approved motion to amend
the 2020-21 budget as described
in the April board meeting packet.
Meeting adjourned at 9:52 p.m.
Prepared by deputy clerk Amy
Brown. Approved by Township
Supervisor, Eric Schaefer.
Copies of the meeting minutes
are available upon request from
the Township Clerk or by visiting
our website at https://thornapple-
twp.org/meeting-minutes/ Office
hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday
through Thursday.
158679
PUBLIC NOTICE
GAINES CHARTER TOWNSHIP
BOARD MEETING SYNOPSIS
April 12, 2021
The Gaines Charter Township
Board held a regular meeting
on Monday, April 12, 2021 in the
Gaines Township Boardroom and
took the following actions.- Prayer was offered by Clerk
Brew. - Approved the agenda.
- Held a public hearing on
Cook’s Crossing major PUD
amendment. - Held a public hearing on
6658 East Paris PUD amend-
ment. - Approved invoices and ex-
penditures for payment in the total
amount of $299,585.46 for 03-02-
2021 and 03-26-2021. - Approved the Cook’s Cross-
ing major PUD amendment reso-
lution. - Approved the Cook’s Cross-
ing major PUD amendment ordi-
nance. - Approved the OTP PUD
amendment resolution and ordi-
nance for 6658 East Paris. - Approved the definition of
high tech industry for Mobile De-
fenders’ Industrial Facilities Tax
Request. - Approved the Mobile
Defenders request for building not
defined as speculative. - Set the Public Hearing
for Mobile Defenders to establish
an Industrial Development District
(IDD) for May 10, 2021 based on
Public Notice posting deadlines. - Approved the platted
lot combinations of 6487 College
Avenue SE – Lafayette Acres,
6820 Rosecrest Drive SE – Dut-
ton Dales, 6916 Union Avenue SE
- Fennema Plat No. 1, and 6940
Union Avenue SE – Fennema Plat
No. 1.
- Approved the Tentative
Preliminary Plat review for 2307
68 th Street. - Approved the $12,
expenditure to Byron Center Tele-
vision (BCTV). - Set the Public Hearing
for the Proposed Streetlighting
Special Assessment District for
Preservation Lakes Phase III to
May 10, 2021. - Approved the language
of the Township Manager Employ-
ment Agreement. - Set the Public Hearing
for proposed changes to the Li-
quor Control Ordinance for May
10, 2021. - Set the Public Hearing
for the Resolution to establish and
set cost for proposed Township
wide Special Assessment Dis-
trict for Public Safety for June 07,
- Adjourned the meeting
at 9:13 p.m.
A complete copy of the minutes
of this meeting and any resolu-
tions or ordinances adopted at the
meeting are on file and available
for review at the Gaines Charter
Township office, 8555 Kalamazoo
Avenue SE, Caledonia, Michi-
gan 49316. Ordinances, meet-
ing schedules, meeting minutes,
and other Township informa-
tion are also available at http://www.
gainestownship.org.
Michael Alex Brew
Gaines Charter Township ClerkMiddleville
TOPS 546
Middleville TOPS will
resume its meetings May 3.
All club members will have
been fully vaccinated against
COVID-19 by then and will
have completed the two-week
waiting period.
Weekly weigh-in will be
from 4 to 4:15 p.m., followed
immediately by the meeting.
A mask must be worn when
in the building. Social dis-
tancing will be practiced.
TOPS, a weight-loss group,
meets every Monday at
Lincoln Meadows in
Middleville. Press Apt. 205
for entrance. The first meet-
ing is free.
Anyone with questions
may call Chris, 259-953-
5421.MIDDLEVILLE, continued from page 1