SN 10-30-2021

The Sun and News, Saturday, October 30, 2021/ Page 5

GAINES CHARTER TOWNSHIP

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Gaines Charter Township Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to

consider the following request:

Summary of Request: Special Permitted Use for an Electronic Changeable Copy sign

in the RL-10 Single Family Residential Zone

Property Address: 2100 60th Street SE

Parcel Numbers: 41-22-04-200-

Applicants: Midwest Sign Co., for Pinewood Middle School

Date and Time of Hearing: November 18th, 2021, at 7 PM

Location of Hearing: Gaines Charter Township Offices, Board Room

8555 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Caledonia, MI 49316

Any interested party may appear and be heard on said proposal. Information related to this

request may be inspected, by appt., during regular business hours at the Planning Department

window located in the Gaines Charter Township Offices. For information related to this request,

contact Dan Wells at (616) 980-6188 or [email protected]. In order to be entered

into the public record, signed written comments must be received by 5:00 pm on November

18th, 2021.

Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations should contact info@gainestownship.

org or (616) 698-6640 one week prior to the meeting to request mobility, visual or any other

assistance.

170438

James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
In response to recent van-
dalism in and around the
community, Middleville lead-
ers are considering whether
the village’s current securi-
ty-camera system needs to be
replaced or upgraded.
The Middleville
Downtown Development
Authority board decided at
its monthly meeting last
week to table the discussion
until it gets more specific
information about the com-
munity’s technology needs.
“We’re just waiting to see
what the village [council]
decides. Because they have
existing infrastructure. And
so, before we determine what
to invest in, we want to see
what will play nicely with the
existing infrastructure, if we
need to get a whole new sys-
tem or just refurbish what we
have and extend that system,”
DDA Director Katherine
Schmidt said in an interview
after the board meeting.
Historic Charlton Park, a
Barry County-owned park
and recreation area southeast
of Hastings, reported on its
Facebook page that vandals
“broke windows and memo-
rial benches, drove through
fences, smashed doors, and
did many other destructive
things” Oct. 11 and 12. The
vandals left the park in a
white golf cart, but not before
causing thousands of dollars
in damage.
At least two other golf
carts were stolen from the
area around that time. Both
were recovered, but one had
been vandalized.
There have been some
recent burglaries, as well, in
Middleville.
Schmidt said the presence
of security cameras can help
deter crime and bring justice
after crimes are committed.
Protecting citizens and the
village’s assets and infra-
structure are high priorities,
she said.
A final decision on the
security system may not be
made until 2022. Part of the
reason for the delay is due to
parts-supply shortages related

to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re looking to see not

just what we can purchase,

but making sure those pieces

are actually available in the

marketplace within a reason-

able time frame, too,”

Schmidt said.

She said not much money

is earmarked in the current

DDA budget for a securi-

ty-system upgrade. Most

likely, it would be purchased

through a capital investment

or paid out of the DDA’s fis-

cal year 2022 fund balance.

One potential contractor the

DDA might consider for refur-

bishing its security system is

Ubiquity Technology, a

European-based company that

makes security cameras, Wi-Fi

systems and routers. The

DDA, the village and the

county each already own some

pieces of Ubiquity’s infra-

structure equipment. However,

the fact the company is based

overseas could be a concern,

given the supply shortages.

“The three larger-dollar

figure quotes that we have

[from other companies] are

for cameras that I think are

made in America,” Schmidt

said. The DDA has not

received a quote from

Ubiquity yet.

DDA Vice Chairman

Randy Eggers pointed out

that security-camera images

don’t always help identify

the vandals.

“I would love to be able to

have the cameras there to see

what’s going on, but at what

cost are you going to do it, if

you’re not able to catch any-

body?” Eggers asked his fel-

low DDA board members.

“For one, we’d have to

have better Wi-Fi than what

we have,” DDA Chairwoman

Kim Jachim said, adding that

the Barry County Chamber

and Economic Development

Alliance is still considering

countywide Wi-Fi.

But Schmidt noted that

some of the security-camera

systems are not dependent on

Wi-Fi, but use radio technol-

ogy instead. “And so, they

kind of create their own net-

work from camera to camera,

and it doesn’t need Wi-Fi.”

Before taking action on a

security-system upgrade,

Jachim said the DDA should

find out if it will be expected

to pay for the entire cost.

“Or, if it’s going to be paid

for by part of the veterans

memorial people in the vil-

lage,” she said. “I don’t want to

move fast on something like

this. It’s too big. It’s too much

money. We don’t want to be

buying something that doesn’t

flow with what the village has.”

“We certainly don’t want

to see anything happen to

those monuments that honor

those that have served,”

Schmidt said of the veterans

memorial. “That would be a

disgrace on their memory.

Whatever we can do to pre-

vent that is something every-

one is conscientious of.”

A security photo taken at Historic Charlton Park

shows what appears to be an attempt to gain access

to a closed office. (Photo from Historic Charlton Park

Facebook page.)

Middleville DDA discusses

security camera upgrade

Middleville Village Council

Trustee Tom DeVries brought

to the Downtown Development

Authority meeting a poster

board with winning entries

submitted for the first-ever

Middleville Trail Birds and

Nature photo contest.

People submitted photo-

graphs they took from the

Middleville trail, between

McCann Road in Irving and

Crane Road in Middleville.

The entry deadline was Sept.

30, and voting ran through

Oct. 16.

There were five entry cate-

gories and six cash prizes

awarded. The photos were

posted on the Middleville Trail

Birds and Nature Facebook

group page, and judged by a

panel of photographers and art

teachers. The People’s Choice

Award was voted on by the

public.

Bruce Farrell of Middleville

won the first-place People’s

Choice overall grand prize of

$150 for a photo of two adult

cranes and two baby cranes

walking on the trail. He also

won first place in the birds

category for a photo of swans.

Cathy Mulder of

Middleville took first place in

the nature (non-birds) catego-

ry, and received $100.

If the contest runs again

next year, DeVries said the

ideal time to start it would be

around April 15 “when the

leaves are starting to bud, and

the birds are starting to migrate

through. And we want to end it

sooner (around June 15),

because we got hammered in

June with mosquitos.”

Village Council Trustee Tom DeVries shared this poster with DDA members to

show the winning entries in the first Middleville Trail Birds and Nature Photo

Contest. The family of cranes walking on the trail, top right above, won the

People’s Choice Award. (Photo by James Gemmell)

DDA announces winning entries

Middleville Trail Birds and Nature Photo Contest is the first