Page 8 — Thursday, September 30, 2021 — The Hastings Banner
Prepare yourself financially for illness...
just in case
All of us hope to live long,
healthy lives, so we do what
we can to take care of ourselves
through proper diet, exercise
and avoiding unhealthy
activities. However, none
of us can predict our future,
so it pays to be prepared for
anything – including a serious
physical illness or the onset of
some type of mental incapacity,
such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Of course, you may never
face these infirmities, but you
should be aware that they could
upset your long-term financial
strategy and place considerable
stress on your loved ones. What
steps can you take to head off
these threats?
First, make sure you know
what your health insurance
covers and how much you
might have to pay out of pocket
for treatment of illnesses
such as cancer or kidney
ailments. If you’re on Medicare
(supplemented with Medigap)
or Medicare Advantage
(Medicare Part C), you’ll want
to know all about deductibles,
copayments and coinsurance.
However, if Alzheimer’s or
another type of dementia is
involved, Medicare may not
cover the costs that could be
incurred in an assisted living
facility, so you may want to
consult with a financial advisor,
who can suggest ways of
protecting yourself from long-
term care costs, which can bequite high.
Your next move is to make
sure you have adequate
liquidity. It’s hard to predict
how many out-of-pocket costs
you could incur when coping
with a serious illness, but it’s
a good idea to have enough
cash readily available, rather
than dipping into your 401(k)
or other retirement accounts.
So, if you’re retired, you might
want to keep up to a year’s
worth of living expenses in a
liquid, low-risk account.
Here’s another important
step: Update your estate plan.
Hopefully, if you have a
serious illness, you’ll be able
to recover. But it’s still a good
idea to review your estate
plan to ensure everything is
in order, such as your will and
your living trust, if you’ve
created one. If you’ve kept up
your life insurance, you’ll also
want to ensure your premiums
are still being paid. And
don’t forget to review your
beneficiary designations on
your 401(k), insurance policies
and other financial documents,
since these designations can
supersede the instructions in
your will.
As part of your estate
planning, you may want to
include a durable power of
attorney for finances, which
allows you to name someone to
manage your financial affairs if
you become incapacitated, anda durable power of attorney
for health care, which lets
you name someone to make
medical decisions for you if
you’re unable to do so yourself.
You may also create a health
care directive or living will
to express your wishes if you
don’t have a power of attorney
for health care, or the person
named in a power of attorney
for health care can’t be reached
in an emergency. And since
estate planning can be complex,
you’ll certainly want to work
with a legal professional, and
possibly your tax and financial
advisors, as well.
You might think it’s
somewhat grim to prepare
yourself financially in case you
become seriously ill or if your
life is touched by Alzheimer’s
or another mental infirmity. But
it’s a positive move – you’re
protecting yourself and your
loved ones from whatever life
may throw at you.
This article was written by
Edward Jones for use by your
local Edward Jones Financial
Advisor.
Edward Jones, Member
SIPC
Edward Jones, its employees
and financial advisors cannot
provide tax or legal advice. You
should consult your attorney or
qualified tax advisor regarding
your situation.Kevin Beck, AAMS®
Financial Advisor
400 W. State St., Suite B
Hastings, MI 49058
(269) 945-Member SIPCFinancial FOCUS
Provided by the Barry County
offices of Edward JonesJim Lundin
Financial Advisor
2169 W. M-43-Hwy., Suite A
Hastings, MI 49058
(269) 818-Asphalt would have to cross in order to
access its property.
Karen Hayward handed out photos to com-
missioners that she says show a stake survey
proving the couple’s ownership of the strip,
as well as information from the county’s geo-
graphic information system website.
“JMK Realty or Jeff Kresnak do not own
the property that would give them the right-
of-way to the property of the proposed gravel
pit,” she said. “Barry County does not have
the right to grant this special-use permit
across my property line – and my attorney
has advised me of that.”
Kresnak disagreed.
“We haven’t seen anything to show us that
[we don’t own that strip],” he said. “You
can’t stop anyone from accessing the right-
of-way.”
County Planning Director Jim McManus
said the dispute will have to be resolved by
the land owners who are involved.
Phil Corson, who owns an excavating busi-
ness based in Middleville, supported
Kresnak’s application.
“He’s trying to make a living like everybody
else is,” Corson said. “He needs resources. As
of right now, we’re running out of resources to
drain fields, driveway material, all aspects of
[building]. It’s all going way up in price. The
more [mining] spots we get opened up, hope-
fully we can bring those prices down.”
Opponents objected to the project for a
variety of reasons, including noise, dust and
safety. Jeff Kirkwood, who lives just east of
the proposed gravel pit, complained about the
noise from existing activity on Kresnak’s
property.
“It is constant. There’s no escaping it,”
Kirkwood said. “I can’t close windows –
nothing. There’s just no end to the noise when
they’re at it. It goes all day.”
“I’m just for community, my community,
my neighborhood,” resident Phillip Joseph
added. “I just can’t see any positive things
coming out of it for me. Obviously, for them,
they get paid, they get money. I moved out
here ... to Orangeville [Township] to raise a
family and have some peace and quiet, away
from the city, away from all that, to have that
lifestyle. Now that this is coming in, it’s a
15-year death sentence for me.”
Joseph went on to share the story of a
neighbor, an Afghanistan war veteran, who
wanted to buy the property proposed for the
sand mining operation, but was outbid.
“So now he loses out on his lifestyle, his
peace, his quiet,” he said.
Meyers promised several measures to try
to mitigate noise and sight concerns, includ-
ing planting trees as a buffer on the southeast
side of the property, near a residence to the
east; creating an extra 50-foot setback beyond
county standards to the far north end of the
property, again abutting residential properties
to the north; and conducting mining work
below grade.
“Being below grade, it acts as a barrier for
that. It helps [mitigate noise],” Meyers said.
Orangeville Township Supervisor Tom
Rook said the mining operation will contrib-
ute to increased wear and tear on Keller and
Norris roads. Last year, the township spent
$69,000 on Keller Road alone, and the town-
ship is spending $319,000 on road mainte-
nance this year, supported by a township
millage, Rook said.
“A 40-cubic-yard semi with a trailer behind
it weighs 160,000 pounds, as compared to a
half-ton pickup that weighs 7,100, gross vehi-
cle weight,” he said. “That equals 22 1/
vehicles, times 16 1/2 trips per day, is equiv-
alent to 371 extra vehicles on that road.”
Rook asked that the board require Superior
Asphalt to begin its operations at 7:30 or 8
a.m. for safety concerns.
Another resident, Roger Smith, expressed
concern about the impact of the project on
local tourism and recreation.
“You’re going right through a big major
tourist area,” Smith said. “It’s almost 365
days a year now through Gun Lake and the
Yankee Springs [Recreation] Area. You have
everything from pedestrian traffic, hikers,
bicyclists, horseback riders, motorcycle rid-
ers. They’re coming up and through on Norris
Road. To me, that’s a huge danger, running
those big construction trucks up and down.
I’m wondering, is there even an alternate
route that they could be taking that would be
less dangerous?”
Larry Heslinga, a Hope Township resident
who has been actively involved in efforts to
block a gravel pit operation on Wilkinson
Lake in that township, spoke of what he saw
as a bigger concern about a proliferation of
properties in Barry County being sold to
gravel pit operators. He called for the board
to “push the pause button” on consideration
of mining operations.
“We can’t just look at one in isolation,” said
Heslinga, who is part of the Healthy Waters
Alliance. “We have to take a step back and say
how do we want to manage gravel pit applica-
tions appropriately within the county. There’s
going to be lots of [applications] coming up.”
Ken Vermeulen, a Grand Rapids-based
attorney representing Kresnak, said there are
limits to a local planning commission’s abili-
ty to deny a mining permit application.
“With natural resources extraction, you can
only mine it where Mother Nature put it,”
Vermeulen said. “That’s why you’ve got a
whole bunch of mines in this area, because
Mother Nature has blessed you, or cursed
you, with a lot of gravel. That’s why all the
gravel companies that I represent ... are buy-
ing up property out here because you have
very rich gravel.”
Superior Asphalt owns a 230-acre sand and
gravel mining operation in Ionia County’s
Danby Township, near the Grand River andthe city of Portland. The planning commis-
sion received several letters of support prais-
ing the company and Kresnak as a good
neighbor in that community.
“The mine has the most beautiful, land-
scaped entrance I have ever encountered in
all the mine inspections that I do on a yearly
basis,” Danby Township Zoning
Administrator Jeanne Vandersloot wrote.
“Everything on the property is kept neat and
well taken care of. Any neighbor inquiry is
[dealt] with immediately. He strives to
always meet all of the approval conditions
of the permit.”
Vandersloot went on to say that Superior’s
facility is next to an upscale housing develop-
ment. She wrote that Kresnak planted thou-
sands of pine trees to serve as a buffer
between the mine and the housing develop-
ment, and undertook other measures to miti-
gate blowing sand and noise from the mine.
She added that a study by their planning
commission found there was no loss of prop-
erty value for those homes.
“Your planning commission will not regret
approving a mining permit to Jeff Kresnak,”
Vandersloot concluded.
A neighbor of that site, Ben Spitzley,
echoed Vandersloot’s support.
“They are stewards of the land and have
only improved it,” Spitzley wrote in his letter.
“Jeff has allowed his neighbors to use the
property for walks, access for servicing their
own property and cutting firewood. He paved
a road to keep dust down and he operates at
appropriate times of the day so noise is a
non-issue. He has employed neighbors to
help in maintaining his farm and has improved
wildlife habitat.”
Commissioners put several conditions on
their approval of the special land use, most
notably hours of operation. Commissioner
Joyce Snow moved to allow Superior
Asphalt to operate between 7:30 a.m. and
6:30 p.m. weekdays and between 7:30 a.m.
and 1:30 p.m. Saturdays during its prime
mining period. Operations in the off-season,
between December and February, will be
dawn to dusk. The machine that will crush
the rock will be allowed to operate between
7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays. In addi-
tion, sensors will be required on vehicles
that back up.
The special land use passed on a 4-1 vote,
with Commissioner Jack Nadwornik voting
no. The site plan passed on a 5-0 vote.
Commissioners Vivian Conner and Bob
Vanderboegh were absent. Conner was
attending the Michigan Association of
Counties convention on Mackinac Island.TKHS teacher dies in car crash
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The Thornapple Kellogg Schools commu-
nity is mourning the loss of a longtime high
school special education teacher.
Heidi Prior, who had taught at TKHS since
August 1995, was killed early Tuesday morn-
ing in a car crash in Gaines Township while
on her way to school. She was 57.
According to the Kent County Sheriff’s
Department, Prior was in a car that was
struck from behind on 100th Street at East
Paris Avenue. Four cars were involved in the
crash. The driver who struck Prior’s car from
behind was injured and was airlifted to a
Grand Rapids hospital.
A resident of Grand Rapids, Prior played
an instrumental role in putting together the
Hearts and Hoops Special Olympics basket-
ball tournament, which involved students
from TK as well as neighboring school dis-
tricts.
In an interview printed in a 2019 edition of
the “TK Key,” the official publication of the
school district, Prior spoke of the connection
she had with her students.
“I get emotional when they graduate and
move on,” she said. “They always laugh at
me because I’m crying, but it’s hard to give
them away. They are my world.”
Prior also spoke of never giving up on any
of her students.
“There are 1,001 ways to do one thing – I
just have to find the right one that fits with
each student,” she said. “I am never willing to
give up on any of them.”
TKHS art teacher Barb Maring knew
Prior for more than 25 years. Maring’s
daughter, Maggie, was a student in Prior’s
cognitive impaired class all four years in
high school.
“I think the thing that describes her best
was her passion for the students,” Maring
said of Prior. “She cared for the person thatwas in the classroom as well as outside class.
She wanted to make their lives wonderful.”
Ray Rickert, band director at TKHS, spoke
about Prior’s impact on her students.
“The thing that stood out for me was that
she loved those kids like they were her own,”
Rickert said. “She defended them, she went
to bat for them.”
Prior also was a class advisor at TKHS and
helped planned homecoming events, proms
and graduation exercises, Rickert said.
Before joining the TK district, Prior had
taught in the Grand Rapids Public Schools
and Lawton Public Schools districts. She was
a graduate of Grandville High School,
Western Michigan University and Grand
Valley State University.
Her husband, Jim, is a custodian at
Discovery Elementary School, part of
Kentwood Public Schools.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable at
press time.State funds for Downs infrastructure upgrade OK’d
Project to repair crumbling sewer lines will cost $900,
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
For the second time this year, the Michigan
Strategic Fund has approved funding for a
project in Middleville.
The MSF board Tuesday approved a
$750,000 community development block
grant through the Michigan Economic
Development Corporation to help pay for
replacing sewer lines and water mains in The
Downs subdivision on the village’s west side.
“We are good to go,” Village Manager
Patricia Rayl said Tuesday night as she
informed the Village Council of the grant
approval.
The Downs are located just south of West
Main Street and east of Bender Road. The
grant is through MEDC’s Water-Related
Infrastructure Program, which is designed to
assist local municipalities in making needed
water, sewer and wastewater infrastructure
improvements. Funding for the program
comes from the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development.
The project will entail installation of sewer
main lining with cured-in-place pipe to repair
the crumbling clay tile mains that were
installed when The Downs was developed in
the 1960s. The sewer main will also be
replaced on Greenwood Street between
Whippoorwill Court and Greenwood Court,
and the water mains under Greenwood and
Whippoorwill courts will be replaced.
The project has an estimated cost of
$900,000. The village is providing a $150,
local match, which is being used for engi-
neering work. The project is expected to go
out for bids in January or February next year,
with construction expected to be completed
during the 2022 season, Rayl said.
Middleville is one of 11 Michigan commu-
nities that were approved for grant funding
through the Water-Related Infrastructure
Program on Tuesday, totaling nearly $15 mil-lion in funding. Other communities that
received approval for grants included Bangor,
Escanaba, Fowlerville, Hart, Hartford,
Houghton, Morenci, Rogers City, Shelby and
West Branch, according to the MEDC news
release.
“As we accelerate Michigan’s economic
growth, it’s absolutely critical that we make
investments in our infrastructure to support
that growth and ensure a bright future for all
Michiganders,”MEDC chief executive offi-
cer and MSF board chairman Quentin Messer,
Jr. said in the news release. “Today’s grants
will allow these communities throughout our
state to make the improvements needed to
remain vibrant and attractive places for busi-
nesses to invest and where talent wants to
live, work, visit and play.”
A total of 61 communities applied for the
grant program, with applications totaling
about $87.5 million, according to the MEDC
news release.The Michigan Strategic Fund board earlier
this year approved a $990,000 Michigan
Community Revitalization Program low-in-
terest loan request from the village to be used
for the 112 E. Main mixed-use development
to be built east of the village hall.
Groundbreaking for that project has been
delayed several times, and is now expected
early next year.
The Village Council Tuesday approved
two contracts tied to The Downs project. The
council approved a $5,000 contract with
Lansing-based TriTerra for an environmental
protection study that is required under the
grant program, and a $12,000 third-party
grant administrator contract with Portage-
based Abonmarche Consultants. The two
contracts will be paid for with funds out of
the state grant. The village earlier contracted
with Williams & Works to develop engineer-
ing plans and specifications for the bidding
process.Hastings to receive
$765,127 in ARPA funds
Benjamin Simon
Staff Writer
Hastings officials announced Monday that
the city will receive $765,127 in American
Rescue Plan Act funds.
The first half of the money will arrive in
about 30 days, and the second half will come
within 12 months.
Mayor David Tossava said the city has
about three years to spend the money, and he
is unsure how the funds will be used. The city
council will schedule a workshop to deter-
mine the best path forward.
The news was shared with council mem-
bers during the Sept. 27 meeting.
“I think we have to be pretty smart about
how we spend it,” Tossava said. “... We want
to make sure however we invest that money,
it’s going to be worth it.”
Before making any decisions, the city will
need to become familiar with regulations on
how it can disperse the funds. The city will
start by filling out a formula with the
Government Finance Officers Association to
determine revenue loss. If any revenue loss is
found, the money can go toward the city’s
general fund and can be used for anything. If
there is no revenue loss found, the funds can
only be used for specific projects, such as
water, sewer or broadband infrastructure.
City Manager Sarah Moyer-Cale said she
does not know when they will receive the
answer to that, but it will affect how much
they’re able to accomplish.
“It’s not going to be a massive project if we
were to use it for infrastructure,” she said. “If
we were using it towards some kind of aneconomic development project – and I’m
saying this very broadly because I don’t have
one particularly in mind – it’s more money in
that context than it would be strictly for infra-
structure. So, it kind of just depends on how
you look at it.”
Both Tossava and Moyer-Cale discussed
the possibility of leveraging the city’s ARPA
funds. The city could work with other public
and private organizations receiving ARPA
dollars, such as the state, county or Barry
Community Foundation, to combine money
for a mutually beneficial project.
“There may be a way that we can leverage
our ARPA funds with some of their funds to
do a bigger project,” Moyer-Cale said. “So
that’s certainly worth at least looking into,
just to see if we can stretch our dollars fur-
ther, essentially, keeping all of our options
open at this point.”
In other business, the council agreed to:- Suspend the downtown social district,
which permits the open carrying of alcohol,
during the Barry-Roubaix gravel bike race
this Saturday. - Close Green Street from Broadway to
Cass Street 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31, from
for trick-or-treating. - Close Fish Hatchery Park Oct. 9 for tree
removal. If canceled due to inclement weath-
er, the tree removal will be pushed back to
Oct. 16. - Go into closed session for an undisclosed
reason. Moyer-Cale and Tossava said they
could not comment on what was discussed
during the closed session. No action was
taken following that session.
‘Mother Nature has blessed you, or cursed you, with a lot of
gravel. That’s why all the gravel companies that I represent ...
are buying up property out here because you have very rich
gravel.’- Ken Vermeulen, the attorney representing
Grand Rapids-based Superior Asphalt Inc.
ORANGEVILLE, continued from page 1 ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Hastings fatal crash
Greg Chandler
Staff writer
Hastings Police are investigating a
two-car accident late Wednesday after-
noon that left one person dead.
Police were called to the crash scene
at North Broadway Avenue and Benson
Street at 5:11 p.m. The crash involved a
white Ford Explorer and a navy blue
Buick.
One of the two drivers was pro-
nounced dead at the scene. That person
has not been identified. No one else was
reported injured in the crash, according
to Rick Krouse, assistant chief of the
Hastings Fire Department.
Broadway was closed in both direc-
tions at Benson while investigators
sought to find a cause for the crash.
Responding to the scene were Hastings
Police, Hastings Fire Department, Michigan
State Police, Barry County Sheriff’s
Department, Mercy Ambulance, AeroMed
and Michigan Department of Transportation.
An investigation was in progress at
press time.