The Sun and News, Saturday, December 4, 2021/ Page 3Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The Caledonia Village
Council later this month will
consider changes to the vil-
lage’s zoning ordinance regu-
lating the storage of recre-
ational vehicles and trailers, as
well as accessory buildings in
residential neighborhoods.
The council is expected to
take up the proposed changes
at its next meeting at 7 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 13, at the vil-
lage hall, 250 S. Maple St.
The village planning com-
mission, at its Nov. 18 meet-
ing, finalized a recommenda-
tion to the council for the
proposed changes. They
include limiting to three the
number of recreational vehi-
cles that can be stored on a
property. In addition, no rec-
reational vehicle can be stored
outside for more than 30 days
in a calendar year if either the
vehicle is dismantled or inop-
erable, or is not currently
licensed or registered or is
incapable of being licensed or
registered.
Village officials had
received complaints in recent
months about motorhomes
and travel trailers being parked
in driveways for excessive
amounts of time, Village
Manager Jeff Thornton said at
an October planning commis-
sion meeting.
The ordinance changewould address such vehicles
as boats, motorhomes and
travel trailers, but would not
affect golf carts, which are
classified as motor vehicles.
The accessory building
amendments would limit the
number of accessory buildings
for a single-family or two-fam-
ily lot to two. The amount of
space that would be allowed
for an accessory building
would be based on lot size:
720 square feet for lots of
10,000 square feet or less;
1,000 square feet for lots rang-
ing in size from 10,000 square
feet to 2 acres; and 1,
square feet for lots greater
than 2 acres. Garages that are
attached to a home would notclassified as accessory build-
ings, attorney Jim Scales said
at the October meeting.Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
Students and staff at
Caledonia High School had
to evacuate the building
Wednesday morning after a
fire alarm went off in
response to a faulty sensor
in the duct work on the
school’s north campus.
The alarm went off about
9:45 a.m., according to a
letter sent out later in the
day by the district’s admin-
istration.
“Staff and students fol-
lowed emergency protocols
and were quickly and safely
evacuated from the north
campus,” the administration
wrote in the letter.
In addition, the school
resource officer contacted
Kent County central dis-
patch, which dispatched
patrol cars to the school. The
Caledonia Fire Department
also responded to the scene,
cleared the building and ver-ified the faulty sensor, which
was located near some of the
lab classrooms, Chief Scott
Siler said.
“The biggest thing was
figuring out what the prob-
lem was, then going in and
investigating it,” Siler said.
Once the sensor was
identified as the cause of
the alarm, students were
able to return to class by
10:30 a.m., district spokes-
woman Kelly Clark said.
“There was no cause for
alarm,” Siler said.
Also evacuated from the
building were third- and
fourth-grade students from
Paris Ridge Elementary
School, who were in the
school’s Fine Arts Center
practicing for their
Christmas concert, which
took place Wednesday
night, Clark said.
The letter went on to
state that “there was a lot of
speculation and falserumors being spread about
the cause of the evacuation.
In cases of a real emergen-
cy, this can cause confu-
sion, frustration and reduce
the effectiveness of imple-
menting safety plans.”
The letter went on to
define the district’s priori-
ties in dealing with emer-
gency situations:
“First and foremost, the
top priority of our staff is to
assess the situation and fol-
low the approved emergen-
cy procedures within their
respective building so that
our students and staff are
safe.
“Second, our staff willwork with and in consulta-
tion with emergency
responders on site to resolve
or address any immediate
concerns for safety at the
time.
“Finally, our administra-
tive team will gather the
accurate information once
the situation is under con-
trol so that communications
can be shared whenever
needed and appropriate.
“While each emergency
situation poses its own
unique set of challenges,
please know that the safety
of our students and staff
will always be our first pri-
ority.”40
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Staff Writer
A 36-year-old Alto man is
facing charges of breaking
into a home and leading
sheriff’s deputies on a high-
speed chase last weekend.
Joel David Boverhof is
being held on $50,000 bond
in the Kent County Jail after
he was arraigned Monday on
two counts of first-degree
home invasion, fleeing a
police officer, and resisting
and obstructing an officer
after the incident Saturday.
Kent County sheriff’s
deputies were called to a
reported home invasion in
Plainfield Township about 5
a.m. Nov. 27. The homeown-
er was at the residence when
the break-in took place.
Once alerted to the break-in,
the homeowner looked out-
side and recognized the sus-
pect vehicle and confronted
him as he entered the home.
After a brief confronta-
tion, the homeowner ran to
safety at a neighbor’s houseand the suspect took off in
his vehicle, Lt. Joel Roon of
the sheriff’s department said.
Responding deputies locat-
ed the suspect vehicle traveling
at “very high rates of speed,”
Roon said. Deputies did not
pursue the vehicle because of
safety concerns. Several min-
utes later, however, the suspect
vehicle was spotted again near
Boverhof’s residence in
Bowne Township. Deputies
tried to stop the vehicle, but the
suspect fled again, striking a
deputy’s cruiser before escap-
ing inside his home in the 8800
block of Summerset Woods
Drive, Roon said.
Deputies surrounded the
house, and specialty units were
called in, including tactical and
negotiator teams. Boverhof
was taken into custody around
9:20 a.m., Roon said.
Boverhof is scheduled to
appear for a preliminary
examination Dec. 13 and a
probable cause hearing Dec.
20 before 63rd District Court
Judge Sara Smolenski.Caledonia council considering RV,
accessory building ordinance changes
Faulty sensor triggers fire alarm,
evacuation at Caledonia High School
Alto man arrested
after high-speed chase