VOLUME 167, No. 37 Thursday, September 16, 2021 PRICE $1.

1

THE

HASTINGS

Devoted to the Interests of Barry County Since 1856

Loss of BISD would

diminish local education

See Editorial on Page 4

Saxons, Vikings, Lions

score conference wins

See Story on Page 14

County board OKs

Bay Pointe rezoning

See Story on Page 2

NEWS

BRIEFS

Watson Drain project

balloons to $6.67 million

Three residents appeal their assessments

Rebecca Pierce

Editor

Watson Drain, the most extensive and

expensive drain project in Barry County

history, suddenly got more expensive when a

cost computation added up to more than $6.

million – instead of the earlier stated $5.

million.

Drain Commissioner Jim Dull told The

Hastings Banner Tuesday this project cost is

now final – it will not exceed $6,675,000.

But that does not reassure property owners

in the district, who had been informed of their

estimated assessments earlier this month.

The $1,175,000 jump in the overall project

cost came as a surprise; then some learned

they would have to pay significantly more

over the 20-year life of the project.

After the Sept. 3 day of review, when

property owners had an opportunity to ask

questions about their individual assessments,

three actions were filed in probate court

within the 10-day period allowed for appeals.

“There has never been an appeal,” said

Dull, who is in his fifth year as drain

commissioner. “But there has never been a

project this big.”

Thomas Fleckenstein of St. Augustine, Fla.,

filed the first appeal Sept. 9, followed by

Samuel Newland of Delton and Daniel Farmer

of Plymouth.

Fleckenstein, who said he owns two 40-foot

lots in the district with all the structures on

one lot, posted remarks on Nextdoor, a

hyperlocal networking service.

“I have been informed the amount we owe

is $16,572 of the total amount over $6.

million!” he wrote. ... Single lots with a

quarter more property and at least a hundred

foot of frontage on the lake are paying

approximately $8,800. I’m not upset at these

people. I just want to be treated fairly.

“The yearly amount we are to pay is over

$1,150 and for 20 years. That makes our share

with interest over $23,000! Certainly, I am

appealing this [at a cost], but what choice do

I have?”

Dull said the appeals process requires

appellants to pay for a $1,500 bond, up front.

Plus, if they lose, they must pay for all legal

fees – even those of the drain commissioner’s

attorney.

These could be some of the reasons why

people did not pursue appeals before, Dull

said.

The process, which is handled in probate

court, was unfamiliar to court staff Tuesday,

so they checked first before releasing any

documents to ensure they were following

proper procedure.

The project is focused on installation of

about a mile of pipe to resolve a catastrophic

M-66 closed

next week

Total closures for railroad crossing work

will be in effect from 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21,

through 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, on M-66 north

of Lake Odessa.

The highway will be closed between Eaton

Road and M-50 (Brown Road/Grand Ledge

Highway). The detour will take motorists west

to Clark Road, returning east on Eaton Road or

M-50.

Up-to-date information on this project and

others can be found at michigan.gov/drive.

Local service clubs

tee off tomorrow

The 10th annual Golden Club Golf Outing

will tee off Friday, Sept. 17, in Hastings to raise

funds for local service clubs and their projects.

The event will get underway with a 12:

p.m. lunch program at The Legacy golf club,

1550 N. Broadway, followed by a par-3 golf

scramble, and shotgun start at 1 p.m.

The Hastings Kiwanis Club and the Delton,

Hastings and Middleville Rotary clubs are

hosting the fundraiser and vying to earn points.

The service club that collects the most points

for participation will be awarded The Golden

Club, a local traveling “trophy.”

Given the later date of the event, tee boxes

have been moved forward to create a par-

course.

The public may register as two- or four-

person teams. The fee for a team registration is

$75 per person, which covers lunch, 18 holes

of golf and a cart. A tee-sign sponsorship is

$100, and a gold sponsorship is $350, which

includes a sign at the golf tees, and a two-

person team’s lunch, with the ability to display

a company banner at the course entrance.

Service clubs can earn points by having the

tee-sign or gold sponsorships, or they gain a

point for each volunteer who helps out on the

day of the event. A point is awarded for the

lunch-only participants, and points also go to

those who golf at the outing.

For more information, call Troy Dalman at

269-945-3423.

Chamber hosting

‘Courageous

Conversations’

Barry County Chamber and Economic

Development Alliance will host “Courageous

Conversations for a More Equitable

Community,” a three-week online series

beginning Sept. 23.

The webinars will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays. Participants will be encouraged to

ask questions at the end or type them in a chat

box throughout each session.

The purpose of the presentations is to

promote a more equitable community, chamber

President Jennifer Heinzman said. Speakers

will include:

• Sept. 23, Ken James, director of inclusion
  at the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce,
  who will address diversity, equity and inclusion
  and the return on investment of these efforts in
  the workplace and communities.


• Sept. 30, Vicki Shumaker, counselor at
  Meadow Run Holistic Counseling, who will
  discuss the importance of mental wellness for
  teens and adults and how to address mental
  health challenges facing communities.


• Oct. 7, Dionardo Pizaña, diversity, equity
  and inclusion specialist with Michigan State
  University Extension, who will talk about
  equity versus equality and implicit bias, and
  how to work to better understand and overcome
  biases.
  Register at https:/ /business.mibarry.com/
  events/. A Zoom link will be sent to those who
  register or RSVP.
  Anyone may participate; those not affiliated
  with the chamber may register by emailing
  Jillian Foster, [email protected]. The
  conversations are being co-sponsored by the
  chamber, Leadership Barry County and
  Thornapple Arts Council.

See WATSON DRAIN, page 10

McCarthy tapped for interim TK superintendent

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

The Thornapple Kellogg Board of

Education Monday voted unanimously to

make Craig McCarthy the district’s interim

superintendent while current Superintendent

Dan Remenap is on medical leave.

McCarthy, who has been the district’s

assistant superintendent since 2018, had filled

in as acting superintendent since Remenap

went on leave Sept. 3. In a letter to district

parents that day, school board president

Kristen Cove said Remenap was expected to

be on leave for eight to 10 weeks.

“We felt it was simple, [the] easiest path to

go during this temporary time,” said Matthew

Powers, vice president of the board and

chairman of its personnel committee.

In an interview earlier this month,

Remenap said he took the leave at the

recommendation of his doctor. He said he had

been struggling with ulcers and had lost 30

pounds since the death of his brother,

Thornapple Kellogg High School Assistant

Principal Kevin Remenap, April 9.

McCarthy will continue to retain his duties

as assistant superintendent while serving as

interim superintendent, Powers said.

“When Superintendent Remenap is back,

they’ll both resume their positions,” Powers

said.

McCarthy has 29 years of experience in

education. After working in the private sector

as an accountant, he joined the Kent Career

Technical Center as a business service

technologies instructor in 1993, working at

KCTC for 14 years.

In 2007, McCarthy became assistant

superintendent of Northview Public Schools

in Grand Rapids, and served in that role for

nine years. He then was director of business

operations at Cadillac Area Public Schools for

two years before joining TK in 2018.

McCarthy told the board that he can

adequately fill both positions for the time

being.

“I’m doing a little bit more delegating.

I’ve got a strong finance team ... they’re

picking up a little bit more of the slack on that

end,” he said.

“I want to thank the board for your

confidence in my ability to fill the role of

interim superintendent until Dan Remenap

returns. I’ll do my best to fulfill your

expectations,” McCarthy added.

McCarthy has an associate degree from

Grand Rapids Community College, a

bachelor’s degree in accounting from

Michigan State University, a secondary

teaching certificate and vocational teaching

certificate from Aquinas College and a

master’s in educational leadership and

professional development from Western

Michigan University.

Assistant Superintendent Craig

McCarthy will serve as TK’s interim super-

intendent while Dan Remenap is on med-

ical leave. (File photo)

Barry ISD ponders

the future

Benjamin Simon

Staff Writer

When Barry Intermediate School District

Superintendent Richard Franklin walked

into last week’s joint meeting with the

Hastings and Delton-Kellogg school board

members, he expected to talk about a mill-

age.

Two hours later, they were talking about

the two K-12 schools leaving the BISD alto-

gether.

On Tuesday, BISD board members held

their regularly scheduled monthly meeting,

where they recapped the recent joint board

conversation and confirmed that they want

the intermediate district to continue.

“I think [the BISD board is] genuinely

excited about things that are going on in

Barry County,” Franklin said. “But they

want to be sure that we’re telling that story

clearly and working with our partner school

districts to make sure everybody knows all

of their options.”

During their Sept. 7 special meeting,

members from all three boards decided to

form a study committee and spend six weeks

determining best steps forward.

They will look at the cost-benefit analysis

of the current system, Franklin said, choos-

ing between the option of a regional

enhancement millage request or dissolving

the intermediate school district altogether.

“I think our ISD does a good job with

what we have, but it’s just very limited

because of its size,” Delton Superintendent

Kyle Corlett said Sept. 7. “... It’s not a level

playing field when districts around us

receive millions in funding.

“It would be great to have access to a

career center and we’d like additional sup-

port with emotional and cognitive impair-

ments.”

For weeks, BISD officials had been pre-

paring for a millage request. They had

scheduled a meeting between the three

school boards in August. But that session

was canceled after Aug. 6, when the Delton

board of education met and voted against

seeking a millage, citing a desire for more

information.

A regional enhancement millage would

have levied 2 mills over nine years, generat-

ing an annual amount of roughly $1.5 mil-

lion for Hastings, $750,000 for Delton and

$20,000 for the intermediate district. It

would have covered special education and

Career and Technical Education programs.

Now the BISD is back to the drawing

board.

During Tuesday’s meeting, BISD board

members expressed their intention of keep-

ing the intermediate district intact.

Reform

gone

wrong

Thirty-three years ago, Jesus Arias suffered

a near-fatal car accident. Ever since, he has

needed 24/7 care to live – someone to take

him to the bathroom, someone to feed him

lunch, someone to care for him. In the past,

his medical costs had been paid for under

Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance law. That

changed July 1, when a new law cut reim-

bursement rates for in-home care providers by

45 percent. The reform was heralded as a

major milestone in Michigan. But something

went wrong. The Arias family in Hastings is

just one of thousands of families now facing

financial disaster as a result. They, like many

others, thought their case would be grandfa-

thered into the system. That didn’t happen.

Now it’s unclear how much longer Arias’

provider, A Moment in Time, will be able to

continue providing care for him. Their situa-

tion is precarious. To learn more about this

Hastings family and their fight to care for

their father, see Saturday’s Reminder. For

more coverage of the issue, follow The

Banner.

Jesus Arias is shown here with his family and medical provider after attending state Rep. Julie Calley’s office hours on Aug. 27 at the Tyden Center to discuss how the new

no-fault auto insurance law has had a devastating impact on their lives. From left are: Amy Henney-Planck, owner of A Moment in Time company, his in-home care provider;

Julia Arias-Pease, Arias’ daughter and his legal guardian; Arias; Becky Hricovsky and Rachael Smith, his daughters. (Photo by Scott Harmsen)

See BARRY ISD, page 5