The Sun and News, Saturday, June 5, 2021/ Page 3Caledonia exploring cost
control via solar panels
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Caledonia Township
trustees will consult with a
U.S. Department of Energy-
backed organization to help
them evaluate proposals
from three vendors to install
solar panels on the township
hall roof.
It’s only in the discussion
stage at this point, but since
last year, the township board
has been evaluating such
things as the size and
potential longevity of solar
panels that might be placed
on the roof, their capabilities,
and the costs for the hardware
and installation.
SolSmart provides
no-cost technical assistance
to municipalities seeking
recognition for taking steps
to reduce costs through solar
power.
The township hall, at
8196 Broadmoor Ave., SE, is
a large industrial building
with a flat metal roof that
was recoated two years ago
by The Garland Company,
based in Cleveland. Township
Administrator Richard
Robertson said the contractor
told him the roof is ideal for
solar panels. The township
office and fire department
are housed inside the
building.
“[The roof] has raised
seams, so you can mount a
solar array without doing any
kind of roof penetration, and
it’s got [good] exposure to
the sun,” Robertson said.
The three vendors
bidding on the proposed
project are Muskegon-based
Chart House Energy, Grand
Rapids-headquartered
Michigan Solar Solutions,
and West Michigan-based
Solar Winds Power Systems
LLC.
Robertson told the
township board at its June 2
meeting that he asked the
vendors to include in their
proposals separate arrays for
the fire department and the
township office, because
they have separate energy
meters on the outside of the
building.
“That way, each side of
the building could pay their
fair share, their benefit
amount from whatever was
being provided on the roof.”
Harrison said the vendors’
bids range from $117,000 to
$203,000 for the solarinstallation. The contractors
figure the township would
recoup installation costs
within 10 to 12 years,
roughly.
Robertson said he was
told by vendors that, within
the projected 25-year lifespan
of the solar panels, “the
township would be [saving]
hundreds of thousands of
dollars.”
Those figures are based
on utility-rate projections for
energy costs rising over 25
years. Each vendor gave a
slightly different estimate on
how much the costs may go
up. Factored into the bids
were such considerations as
West Michigan’s cloudy
weather, snow cover and
degradation of the panels
before their 25-year lifespan
expires.
The Sun and News
reported last December that
Caledonia Township pays
about 15.2 cents per kilowatt
hour to Consumers Energy
for power. A solar-panel
system would reduce that
amount considerably,
depending on its size and
other factors. Chart House
said it could use federal tax
credits to finance the
proposed project.sheriff protection, we have to
have.”
The township board
passed a measure in February
to seek a special assessment
to help defray public safety
costs, instead of asking the
public to vote for a millage.
Township Treasurer Laurie
Lemke said the 1.5-mill
assessment would cost the
owner of a $182,000 house
an extra $136.50 per year.
Gaines has a generating
operating levy of 0.
mills.
“Our goal is to raise
about one-half of our public
safety investment into our
community each year with
this special assessment,”
Lemke told the Sun andNews.
Byron Township also
uses a special assessment to
pay for public safety.
Gaines Township
officials have said their
township will need to add
three full-time firefighters to
meet the growing demand forservice. DeWard said areas at
or near the Gaines
Marketplace, Pine Rest
Christian Mental Health
Hospital, and East Kentwood
High School have been “hot
spots” in terms of the
frequency of public safety
calls out to those locations.Gaines Chamber hosting events,
hoping to increase membership
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Gaines Chamber of
Commerce is hoping to dou-
ble its membership in the
near future to coincide with
its increasingly busy events
schedule.
The activities list for the
remainder of 2021 contrasts
starkly with 2020, when
many scheduled activities
had to be canceled or scaled
back due to COVID-
restrictions. But, with several
of the pandemic limitations
now lifted, it is full-throttle
ahead, according to the
chamber’s Executive
Director Barb Nauta.
“We want to build our
memberships and build our
chamber,” Nauta said. “We’re
willing to help all of our
businesses to progress ... and
really make a positive impact
in building this community.”
One example of raising the
township’s profile is the
“Who is Gaines?” marketing
campaign, featuring yard
signs placed along major
roadways in the township
asking that cryptic question.
The chamber is scheduled to
divulge details about that
campaign at its June 8 quar-
terly luncheon on the
FireRock Grille outside patio
at 7177 Kalamazoo Ave. SE.
Jay Mahabir is the cham-
ber board vice president. He
said the quarterly luncheons
are some of their most signif-
icant events. He said the
gathering brings board mem-
bers together to learn about
each other and ways the
chamber is helping to advo-
cate for businesses.
“These events are really
tailored to spend the time
with individuals you may or
may not know, but also
broaden your spectrum
around connection and rela-
tionship, so we can move
Gaines Township forward,”
Mahabir said.
Streetscaping along the
South Division Avenue in
Cutlerville is another project
the chamber will be working
on this summer. It is collabo-
rating with Cutlerville busi-
nesses between 84th and 60th
streets to provide new ban-
ners and, possibly, new
benches along that corridor,
Nauta said. The banners
might have the Gaines or
Cutlerville name or logo on
them.
The question along that
corridor, Mahabir said, is:
“How do we bring all the
businesses together to make
that area more fluent, so the
businesses can reap the bene-
fits around having a very
enriched area?”
As for some of the planned
events, the Gaines Chamber
Golf Outing will tee off at 8
a.m. June 28 at Briarwood
Golf Club, 2900 92nd St. SE.
It’ll be the first time the tour-nament will be played under
the Gaines Chamber of
Commerce’s newly-short-
ened name which, until
recently, was the Cutlerville
Gaines Area Chamber of
Commerce. Online registra-
tion (gaineschamber.org/
events) for the golf tourna-
ment will end June 14. The
outing will raise funds for
college scholarships, Nauta
said.
This year’s $500 scholar-
ship winners, their high
schools and the colleges they
will be attending, and the
funding organizations,
include:
· Gracie Patterson, South
Christian; Calvin University;
Gaines Chamber Scholarship.
· Henry Dai, East
Kentwood; University of
Michigan; Gaines Chamber
Scholarship.
· Anna Orr, South
Christian; Northern Michigan
University; Thornapple River
Orthopedics.
· Matthew Garbarino,
Byron Center; Purdue
University; Preferred Homes.
· Monica Kinzie,
Caledonia; Pepperdine
University; Chick-Fil-A.
The Gaines chamber has
scheduled a fundraising corn-
hole game event from 2 to 5
p.m. Sept. 25 at Railtown
Brewing Company, 3595
68th St. SE, Dutton. Nauta
said this year’s beneficiary
has not yet been determined.
The chamber’s other quar-
terly luncheons will take
place Sept. 14 at Kentwood
Community Church, and
Dec. 14 at the Pine Rest
Postma Center.Barb Nauta is executive
director of the Gaines
Chamber of Commerce.parade, which had been orga-
nized by the Middleville
Lions Club. When a trolley
carrying Gold Star Families- those families who have
lost a loved one while serv-
ing their country – passed by,
many stood up and applaud-
ed to show appreciation for
the sacrifice.
Once the parade reached
Mt. Hope Cemetery, a brief
service was conducted.
Commander Rich Jenkins of
American Legion Post 140 in
Middleville commended
those who came out for the
parade and service.
“[This is] 63 years that
you folks, as a community,
have come out to celebrate
those who have paid the price
and are not allowed to be
here to enjoy the benefits [of
freedom],” Jenkins said. “I
am so impressed by your
gratitude to my fallen broth-
ers and sisters in arms, that I
am almost speechless.
“This day is sacred, with
the almost physical presence
of those who have gone
before us,” Jenkins added.
“We honor the memory of
those who gave their lives in
their service to this country,
who have dropped their bur-
dens by the wayside of life
and are gone to their eternal
rest.”
The honored veteran of
the day was Cpl. Ivan Ploeg,
a longtime Middleville resi-
dent who served as a rifle-
man in the United States
Marines from 1955 to 1958,
first in Japan and later in
Beirut, Lebanon.
Scouts from Boy Scout
Troop 105 folded the
American flag into a triangle.
Pilots from the Hastings
Flying Association flew over
the site just as Tara Kehoe
started to lead those in atten-
dance in singing the national
anthem, a cappella. An honor
guard conducted a 21-gun
salute, followed by the play-
ing of taps.
Jenkins spoke of the 13
soldiers, sailors and airmen
from the Middleville area
whose names are etched for
all time at the veterans
memorial for having paid the
ultimate price while serving
their country. They are, byname, military branch, and
year of death:Arthur Finkbeiner, Army,
1918
Robert Corson, Navy,
1942
Bernard Fighter, Army,
1943
Raymond Lewis, Army
Air Corps, 1943
Melburn Donovan, Army,
1944
John Strumberger, Army,
1944
Steve Hula, Army, 1945
Patrick Reynolds, Army,
1945
James Johnson, Army,
1950
Allen DeVries, Army,
1969
Rogers Gordon, Army,
1969
Dane Carver, Army, 2005
Nicholas Roush, Army,
2009“Please do me a favor.
Let’s not put any more
[names] on this wall,”
Jenkins said. “Thirteen is
more than enough, and 13 is
13 too many.”10197 Garbow Rd., Middleville
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