Page 2 — Thursday, September 16, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
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OPEN POSITIONS in Barry County:- GSRP Lead Teachers• GSRP Assistant Teachers
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Community Action is an equal opportunity employer, equal opportunity provider.Nephews donate memorial
display, other items to library
Presentation made on anniversar y of uncle’s death
Dibble presentation: Hastings Public Library Assistant Director Diane Hawkins,
Teddy Dibble (center) and Jim Dibble display items donated to the library by the broth-
ers, illustrating the life of their uncle, Lt. James Dibble, a U.S. fighter pilot who died in
World War II. These and other memorabilia will become part of the library’s history
collection. The presentation was made Sept. 9, the anniversary of Lt. Dibble’s death in
Italy in 1943. He graduated from Hastings High School in 1939. A similar plaque was
donated to the high school in 2006.
Dibble items: Memorabilia from the life of Lt. James P. Dibble is displayed in the
Michigan Room of Hastings Public Library. Dibble’s nephews, Jim Dibble of Hastings
and Teddy Dibble of Kansas City, Mo., donated the items, with plans to contribute more
material on the life and service of their uncle who was killed in World War II. (Photo by
Bonnie Mattson)Barry County employees receive honors and applause for their years of service during the county commissioners’ meeting
Tuesday. They are, from left: Sheryl Overmire, 25 years; Jack Ward, Claudia Andler-Rose and Rebecca Prowdley, all five years;
and Mary Bassett, 10 years. (Photo by Rebecca Pierce)County board OKs Bay Pointe
rezoning to allow for more cottages
Rebecca Pierce
Editor
In a rare reversal, Barry County commis-
sioners overturned their planning commission
Tuesday and OK’d a rezoning request that
will allow more development at Bay Pointe
resort complex.
In a 5-1 vote, the board approved changing
the zoning on 3.7 acres on Oarie Drive from
rural residential to mixed-use.
Commissioner Vivian Conner, who vehe-
mently opposed this action, was absent.
Commissioner Jon Smelker cast the lone “no”
vote.
The decision, which will allow for the con-
struction of five two-story cottages on the
private drive that serves the Orangeville
Township resort, capped months of debate in
which the planning commission decisively
rejected the request twice.
When that first denial came before the
county board, commissioners sent it back
with a request that the planners reconsider it,
only to have the planning commission deny it
again in a 6-1 vote.
Last week, Conner argued against the
rezoning request, saying the concerns of resi-
dents, who objected to the noise and parking
congestion, should be given priority over the
request from Bay Corp. Inc. owner Mike
Powers.
Smelker said commissioners should not
disrespect the recommendation of the plan-
ning commission.
There was no county planning document
that could serve as a basis for the denial, how-
ever, other county commissioners pointed out.
A denial cannot be based on a future plan or
one hat has not yet been enacted, they said.
During the first public comment portion of
the meeting Tuesday, Joyce Snow of Hope
Township, who is a member of the Planning
Commission, addressed the board.
“You guys have a difficult decisions to
make,” Snow began. “...I wanted to let you
know I serve on the planning commission.
You appoint people to serve on those various
boards that you can trust to make decisions
and to make recommendations to you.
“There were seven on our commission that
made a decision regarding the Bay Pointe
rezoning. The first time it came to the board,
you didn’t like the decision. So you sent it
back. The same decision was brought forward
to you a second time and this board has decid-
ed to overturn it. And that’s your prerogative.
But the perception is that maybe money talks
or, you know, the threat of a lawsuit maybe
talks. And that perhaps that makes it difficult
to hear the people.
“I can tell you the individuals on the plan-
ning commission did their due diligence and
did look at their manuals and did talk to the
people and did listen to the people.
“With that said, I just want to give you
some words from Joni Mitchell ...: ‘Don’t it
always seem to go? You don’t know what
you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. They’ve paved para-
dise and put up a parking lot.’
“Just some words for thought.”
A short while later, just before commission-
ers voted on the rezoning request, Chairman
Ben Geiger addressed the audience: “I do
want to make some comments. First of all, it
is insulting to the members on this board and
the members of planning commission to opine
that we make decisions because of some-
body’s wallet. That is not the case.
“This map change was not about anything
else but rule of law. We called it like we saw
it.”
“Am I happy that we overturned a Planning
Commission decision?” Geiger asked the
gathering. “No. But we are deciding this on
the merits of the case. I’ve served on the
Planning Commission; admirable people that
work hard. I’ve served on this board for 12
years and, I can tell you, not once have we
ever been influenced by money. We call it like
we see it and we’re moving on with this deci-
sion.”
Before the meeting concluded, Snow got
up and offered an apology to the board. “Mr.
Chair, I apologize to you and all board mem-
bers if they took my comment ... as a person-
al offense.
“I wasn’t referring to any commissioner
taking money. I was referring to the moneythat would be generated by the taxes and that
sort of thing. So please don’t misconstrue
what I said. I don’t think anyone on this board
is someone that would do something like
that.”
The final public comment of the session
was offered by Powers, the owner of the Bay
Corp. resort complex.
“I just want to thank this board for their
decision on the rezoning,” he said. “We will
certainly continue to make you proud.”
In other action, commissioners
approved:- Public Act 116, Farmland and Open Space
Preservation applications, for Edward
Behrndt/Behrndt Farms Inc. in Section 32 of
Castleton Township and sections 4, 5, 16, 22,
27, 32 and 35 of Maple Grove Township.
The county Planning Commission reviewed
the request Aug. 23 and unanimously recom-
mended that it be approved. - Extending the current heating and air con-
ditioning three-year service contract with ESS
for an additional year for the original annual
cost of $22,870. - Contract renewal for Professional Code
Inspections for five years retroactive to Aug.
1, with no change in fees. - The 2022 grant contract between the state
and county for the continuation of Indigent
Defense Services in Barry County at a total
cost of $824,445 for the annual continuation
of state grant support of $595,406 with a local
share of $229,039. - The addition of an appendix, entitled the
“Barry County Security Camera Policy,” to
the Barry County Information Technology
Policy, to regulate the use of video surveil-
lance in the historic County Courthouse and
the Courts & Law Building. - Awarding the Historic Barry County
Courthouse parking lot replacement bid to the
low bidder, Katerberg VerHage, at a cost not
to exceed $ $162,030, with funds to be paid
from the Building Rehabilitation Fund. - Scheduling a public hearing during the
regular meeting of the Barry County Board of
Commissioners at 9 a.m. Oct. 26 to consider
the 2022 Barry County Proposed Budget,
possibly followed by action to adopt of the
budget, general appropriations act and mill-
age after the public hearing. - A Municipal Employees’ Retirement
System defined benefit plan adoption agree-
ment amendment for members of Division
23-Central Dispatch Telecommunicators,
hired between May 1, 2011, and Dec. 31,
2020, to increase the employee contribution
from 0 percent to 1 percent, effective Jan. 1,
and a separate MERS plan adoption agree-
ment for Central Dispatch Telecommunicators
hired on or after Jan. 1 to establish a new
linked division 23, with an employee contri-
bution of 2.5 percent, effective Jan. 1. - Approved pre-paid invoices of $5.7 mil-
lion, claims of $85,558, and commissioner
reimbursements of $294.
Middleville area foundation
postpones Hometown Hero dinner
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The Thornapple Area Enrichment
Foundation has postponed its annual
Hometown Hero dinner that was to have
taken place Sept. 23 at the Barry Expo Center.
In an email issued Monday, TAEF board
president Kristen Cove said several factors,
including increases in COVID-19 cases
locally, led to the decision by the foundation’s
board of directors to postpone the event.
“We intend to host this event in the spring
of 2022 or possibly the fall of 2022,” Cove
wrote in the email.
The dinner was to have honored Mike
Bremer, former Thornapple Township
supervisor and longtime community volunteer.
TAEF announced earlier this summer that
Bremer would be the recipient of this year’s
Hometown Hero honor.Bremer served as supervisor of Thornapple
Township from 2012 to 2020. He was also the
founding program director of the Thornapple
Area Parks and Recreation Commission when
the organization began in 2001.
Bremer also has been involved in such
organizations as TAEF, the Middleville Rotary
Club, YMCA of Barry County, Middleville
Downtown Development Authority, Spectrum
Health Pennock Hospital Foundation, and
Middleville Village Players. He also played
an integral role in events such as Heritage
Days and the National 24-Hour Challenge.
For those who already purchased tickets
for the dinner, the Barry County Chamber of
Commerce will process refunds.
“It may take a billing cycle for your
refund to come through,” Cove wrote.
Established in 1992, TAEF is a geographic
affiliate of the Barry Community Foundation.Barry County Planning Commission member Joyce Snow of Hope Township dis-
cusses the Bay Pointe rezoning request with the county board at its meeting Tuesday.
(Photo by Rebecca Pierce)Never forgotten
Harry Herbstreith, 90, of Battle Creek, served in the U.S. Army infantry from 1950 to- He drove a heavy tank in Korea. On Saturday, Herbstreith was in Hastings with
his daughter, Deborah, who was born and raised in Hastings. As they drove by the
courthouse, they noticed a gathering on the courthouse lawn to honor those who per-
ished in the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001. So they stopped to pay tribute. The
Herbstreiths, like many Americans, honored the day. And, as the nation pledged 20
years ago, they will never forget. (Photo by Scott Harmsen)