The Sun and News

Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas

No. 19/May 15, 2021 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 143rd year

Yankee Springs committee reviewing

township hall renovation plans

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

A committee studying

proposed renovation of the

Yankee Springs Township

Hall has been busy over the

past month reviewing plans

and looking at similar offices

in neighboring townships to

try to get a handle on what

should go into the project.

Township Clerk Mike

Cunningham gave an update

on the work of the 10-member

committee at Thursday’s

board meeting, and

recommended the board hold

a special meeting later in

May or early June to go over

the committee’s

recommendations.

“I believe that the

committee members have

worked really well together,”

Cunningham said. “The four

resident members asked a lot

of good questions to learn

about the workflow in the

office and how the building

needs to change, both to

expand and get renovated to

meet our current and future

needs.”

The committee looked at

12 project areas in a 2019

proposal for the renovation

project and prioritized them

to emphasize the greatest

needs. Increasing the number

of offices in the building

from four to five and creating

secure access to the office

were identified as the top

priorities, Cunningham said.

The renovation could be

done in two phases, he said,

emphasizing the office

portion of the building as a

higher priority.

“To save money, we

focused on the office and

pretty much left the hall

alone as something that can

be done later, in one or

multiple smaller projects,” he

said. “It kind of lends itself to

that approach, if that’s what

we want to take.”

The township board in

March approved setting aside

$300,000 out of the township

budget for the project and

voted to create the committee,

which consists of six

township officials and

employees and four residents.

The board had voted in

October 2019 to hire the

engineering firm Fleis &

VandenBrink to provide

design development services,

construction documents and

bid documents for expansion

and renovation of the

township hall at a cost of

$95,500. Only one member

of the board remains from

that decision – Trustee Larry

Knowles, who had advocated

for the project.

At the time, the project

had an estimated cost of just

under $900,000.

Sally Smith, one of the

residents who serves on the

committee, spoke out in

support of those plans, saying

township employees and

officials have been working

under “less than optimal

conditions.”

“After talking with those

who work in the building and

looking at other township

offices in the area, it appears

that those plans are not

outrageous, as some have

suggested,” Smith said. “I

hope we can move forward to

do the renovation soon, so

that those who serve our

township will have better and

safer working conditions.”

Smith praised the

employees and officials for

being transparent and willing

to accept input from the

community.

“I am hopeful the

community will support the

renovation and the board will

choose to do that renovation

now, since there are so many

needed repairs and security

IN THIS ISSUE...

• Gaines Township ponders future
  land use along booming corridor


• Caledonia’s Kinsey Street
  construction shelved until next year


• TK breaks ground on
  learning center


• Caledonia has many contributors
  in win over TK

Middleville ORV owners

push back on proposed ban

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Some off-road vehicle
owners in Middleville aren’t
happy about a proposal to
ban ORV use on village
streets.
Two residents and a busi-
ness owner spoke out
Tuesday against the proposal
by village council Trustee
Mike Cramer, presented at
the council’s May 4 commit-
tee of the whole meeting, to
prohibit ORVs from being
operated on streets in the vil-
lage. The ban would apply to
dirt bikes, quads and side-by-
sides.
Andrew Beck, a side-by-
side owner who lives in the

Misty Ridge subdivision,

called for the council to cre-

ate a committee “to research,

understand and consider all

options before unnecessarily

requiring families to alter

their vehicles to meet” the

requirements of the proposed

ordinance change.

“While I do agree with

Mike that the present ordi-

nance is as clear as mud, I

believe we can come together

as local government, com-

munity members and side-

by-side owners to find a safe,

reasonable solution,” Beck

said.

The new ordinance would

allow certain side-by-side

ORVs, such as the John

Deere Gator and Polaris

Ranger, to be retitled as an

assembled vehicle that can

be driven on the street, but it

would have to be retrofitted

to include such features as

street-legal tires, headlights

and taillights, turn signals

and windshields, according

to the Michigan Vehicle

Code. It also would require

anyone operating an ORV in

the village to have a driver’s

license.

One of the issues Cramer

raised in his comments last

week was insurance and lia-

bility concerns with the oper-

ation of ORVs on the street.

Some parents, students reach

their limit on masks, quarantines

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Frustration over mandates
for wearing masks and quar-
antining has led some parents
and students in Thornapple
Kellogg Schools to call on
the school board to fight for
increased local deci-
sion-making power in man-
aging the COVID-19 pan-
demic.
Five parents and a
Thornapple Kellogg High
School sophomore spoke out
against the mandates at
Monday’s Board of
Education meeting, citing
concerns about the impact of
the requirements on the men-
tal health of students.

“Our children are suffer-

ing,” said Julianna

Gelderloos, a mother of two

boys, 17 and 10.

Gelderloos said she pulled

the younger child out of

school at the start of the

school year. Her older son, a

junior at TKHS, asked her to

allow him to remain in school

so he could play on the

Trojans’ baseball team.

But, she said, “I don’t

know if we’re going to make

it to senior year.”

“Our children have lost

their purpose. If parents iden-

tify a concern with their

child’s mental health, there’s

no real help available,”

Gelderloos added.

“Behavioral health is over-

whelmed. I’m a [registered

nurse]. I can tell you that.

There’s no place for children

with mental health (issues) to

go. Children are hospitalized

just to thwart their efforts at

suicide.

“Children are our future.

In 20 years or less, these chil-

dren are supposed to be run-

ning our country, our world.

How can they? They’ve suf-

fered significant isolation

and been beaten into submis-

sion with ongoing rhetoric.”

“I’m tired of hearing what

can’t be done. It’s time to

make healthy decisions for

See OWNERS, page 4

See REACH, page 11

See PLANS page 10

TKHS announces

top students in

class of 2021

Thornapple Kellogg High
School is preparing for the
graduation of the 217 mem-
bers of the class of 2021. The
commencement ceremony
will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday,
May 27, at Bob White
Stadium.
Each graduate is allowed
four tickets for guests to
attend. The event will also be
livestreamed. More informa-
tion about the livestream will
be made available at a later
date.
The graduation will fea-
ture high school teacher
Danny Thompson as the key-
note speaker and Megan
Chinavare giving the senior
class address. Other students
having roles in the ceremony
will include Caedon Zube
giving the opening remarks,

Carly Snyder introducing the

keynote speaker, Emma

Fabiano offering closing

remarks, and Benjamin Van

Hoven leading the tassel cer-

emony.

The top academic stu-

dents in the Class of 2021

were announced recently.

Listed here in alphabetical

order, the top 10 includes:

Haven Beyer, daughter

of Dan and Shawna Beyer.

Her school activities

included basketball, where

she served as captain for

three years, cross country,

National Honor Society,

youth basketball coach,

Special Olympics referee,

and Teens Against Tobacco

Use.

The top 10 students in the class of 2021 at Thornapple Kellogg High School are (front, from left) Carly Snyder,

Paige Zellmer, Haven Beyer, Ellie Rogers, Emma Fabiano (back) Sam Morton, Benjamin Van Hoven, Gavin

See TOP 10, page 6 Denman, Michael Willshire and Caedon Zube. (Photo provided)