The Sun and News

Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Middleville and Caledonia Areas

No. 23/June 12, 2021 Published by J-Ad Graphics, Inc. • 1351 N. M-43 Highway, Hastings, MI 49058 143rd year

Renovation cost jumps to $1.2 million

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

The price tag for one of the

options being looked at for

the renovation of the Yankee

Springs Township hall just

went way up – to $1.2 mil-

lion.

The Grand Rapids-based

engineering firm Fleis &

Vandenbrink Thursday sent

an updated cost estimate to

township officials for the

proposed renovation and

expansion of the 50-year-old

hall that had been approved

by the township board in

October 2019.

The new estimate puts the

project cost, including reno-

vation of the township offic-

es and the hall meeting room,

along with a 1,700-square-

foot addition to the office

section, at $1.2 million – a

33.6 percent increase from

the $898,500 cost Fleis &

Vandenbrink had estimated

in 2019.

“Personally, I was sur-

prised it wasn’t more,” said

Township Clerk Mike

Cunningham, who, along

with Township Supervisor

Rob Heethuis, met with Fleis

& Vandenbrink officials on a

Zoom call June 3 to discuss

the hall project.

“They’ve been telling us

that material costs are up by

30 to 40 percent,”

Cunningham added.

Fleis & Vandenbrink also

provided a cost estimate for

expansion and renovation of

the township offices without

renovating the hall meeting

room. That estimate came in

at $883,000, Cunningham

said.

The township board at a

special meeting May 26

requested Fleis &

Vandenbrink develop a new

cost estimate for the 2019

plans, as well as put together

a separate conceptual design

and cost estimate based upon

a prioritized list of office

needs determined by a

10-member renovation com-

mittee.

The 2019 estimate, accord-

ing to project documents,

included restoration of the

exterior masonry, addition of

a new exit door on the south

side of the building, creation

of a conference room, a wide

ramp that would be compli-

ant with the Americans with

Disabilities Act, a new heat-

ing and cooling system, a

new closet to house the town-

ship’s information technolo-

gy server and ceiling-mount-

ed monitors for the public

and the board to see informa-

tion presented at board meet-

ings.

Topping the list of needs

for the new conceptual

design was creating five

offices – for supervisor,

clerk, treasurer, zoning offi-

cial and assessor. The current

See RENOVATION, page 11

“They’ve been telling

us that material

costs are up by

30 to 40 percent.”

Mike Cunningham,

Township Clerk

IN THIS ISSUE...

• Middleville waives amphitheater
  fees for school bands


• ORV ordinance hearing set


• Caledonia OKs village budget plan


• Scots lower three school records at
  D1 Track Finals


• TK’s Hilton medals at D2 Finals

Caledonia High grad

ready for Naval Academy

Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Brayden Folkersma recalls
the first time he visited the
United States Naval Academy
in Annapolis, Md.
“I visited in my sopho-
more year summer, around
Fourth of July weekend,” the
recent Caledonia High
School graduate said. “That’s
when I made it my goal to
attend.”
After a high school experi-
ence that included serving as
a National Honor Society
officer, a tutor and an offen-
sive lineman on the Fighting
Scots football team, all while
taking a battery of advanced
placement classes, Folkersma
is getting ready for his big-
gest adventure yet.
On June 30, he will report
to the Naval Academy to
begin training as a midship-
man.
“It’s called Plebe Summer.
It’s basically six weeks of
boot camp. You go through
that. You don’t have a phone

or anything, and you start

college right afterwards,” he

said.

During Plebe Summer,

Folkersma will learn basic

skills in seamanship, naviga-

tion and sailing, as well as

how to shoot 9-millimeter

pistols and M-16 rifles. He’ll

also go through martial arts,

swimming, basic rock climb-

ing, obstacle, endurance and

confidence courses. He will

be taught infantry drill and

take part in formal parades.

Folkersma is one of 1,

freshman, or “plebes,” that

have been admitted to the

academy for the fall of 2021.

He received nominations for

the academy earlier this

spring from U.S. Rep. Peter

Meijer, R-Grand Rapids, and

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters,

D-Michigan.

Folkersma graduated 12th

in this year’s Caledonia High

graduating class with a grade

point average of 4.1848. He

Brayden Folkersma in

his cap and gown after last

week’s Caledonia High

School commencement

exercises.

Yankee Springs honors Biggs

for 50 years of public service

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Chuck Biggs had owned a

bait-and-tackle shop in

Yankee Springs Township for

more than a decade when he

starting taking an interest in

township government.

In 1969, Biggs began

working in the township as

deputy clerk. A year later, he

decided to run for township

clerk, sensing that the town-

ship needed a change in lead-

ership.

“We were all gravel roads

out here at that time,” Biggs

said. “There was no modern

[services]. That time is when

everything started develop-

ing.”

Running on a Democratic

Party ticket that included

supervisor candidate Andy

Downing, Biggs won elec-

tion to the township board,

and went on to serve as clerk

for the next 10 years.

But that was just the begin-

ning of a longstanding com-

mitment Biggs had to the

township. On Thursday

night, Biggs was honored

after the township board

meeting for his 50 years of

service to Yankee Springs.

Now 89, Biggs still regu-

larly attends township meet-

ings. He said he likes what he

has seen so far from the

township board, which has

four new members who were

elected in last fall’s election.

“We’re finally coming

around to what Yankee

Springs should be,” he said.

During Biggs’ service on

the township board, the pres-

ent township hall at 284 N.

Chuck Biggs, 89, who was honored by the township

for his longtime commitment to local government, just

celebrated 65 years of marriage to his wife, Nancy.

(Photo provided)

Caledonia rejects offer

to buy village property

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

The Caledonia Village

Council is sending a mes-

sage to anyone who might

be interested in purchasing

any portion of the vil-

lage-owned property north

of the Glen Valley develop-

ment.

The message is this: “It’s

not for sale.”

At a special meeting

Tuesday night, the council

unanimously rejected a pro-

posal to have Village

Manager Jeff Thornton

negotiate the sale of a 3-acre

section of the property at

8701 CherryValley Ave. SE,

north of the Metro Health

Outpatient Center, and a

25-foot-wide strip along

North Rodgers Court, west

of the Metro Health facility,

to Foundation Real Estate.

The village had been con-

tacted recently by Michael

Mikesell, an agent for

Foundation Real Estate,

about possibly selling the

land.

Mikesell submitted an

offer of $321,000 for the

property north of Metro

Health and a second offer of

$18,423 for the strip along

North Rodgers Court,

according to buy-sell agree-

ment documents provided

to the Village Council.

Thornton said Mikesell

was representing another

entity, but he could not pub-

licly say who that was.

It was not known what

the possible future use of

the property might be.

Thornton proposed that the

council have an appraisal

and market study done on

the land to determine its

value before any decisions

were made on whether to

sell.

“I don’t want to rush into

anything. I want to make

sure we do our due dili-

gence,” he said. “You are

the stewards of the village

property. You do have the

final say.”

Council Trustee Dan

Erskine said he had no inter-

est in selling.

“It’s always been the

standard practice of this

Farmers Elevator may lease

office space at village hall

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

Caledonia Village Hall

may soon have a new tenant.

The Village Council

Tuesday voted to authorize

Village Manager Jeff

Thornton to sign a lease

agreement with the Caledonia

Farmers Elevator. The co-op

will lease 2,850 square feet

of the Village Hall at 250 S.

Maple St. to be used as office

space.

The lease is contingent on

the elevator getting approval

for a special land use from

the village planning commis-

sion. A public hearing on the

special land use is planned

for 7 p.m. Monday at the

Village Hall.

The village will charge

CFE $12 per square foot for

the first year of the lease,

which would add up to

$34,200, with the lease to be

renewed automatically for

five years.

The lease amount would

See SERVICE, page 4

See OFFER, page 4

See LEASE, page 4

See ACADEMY, page 8