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The Hastings Banner — Thursday, February 3, 2022 — Page 5

Nashville plan board debates, OKs proposed housing project

Taylor Owens
Staff Writer
Nashville's planning commission voted 6-
Tuesday to approve the first stage of a planned
unit development to convert the former Kel-
logg School into an apartment building.
Dogwood Community Development, a
nonprofit company based in Hart, Mich.,
showed a plan to create 20 units in the build-
ing, including five two-bedroom, 13 one-bed-
room and two studio apartments.
Allan Martin, a consultant with Dogwood,
said market research indicates senior citi-
zens, young professionals and new families
will be the primary tenants.
The renovation is estimated to be a $6- to
$7-million project, Martin said.
The proposal will go to the Nashville Vil-
lage Council and, if it’s approved, it would
go back to the planning commission for a
second round of approval, before it would
come back to the council for a final decision.
Four council members were in the audi-
ence at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The planning commission and village
council had previously approved the first
round of a PUD for a different apartment
project at Kellogg under the current property
owner BDD LLC.
Barry Community Foundation President
Bonnie Gettys said one of the key people
involved in the project with BDD recently
died of cancer, and the project was canceled.
Afterward, BDD entered into an agreement
with Dogwood, which agreed to purchase the
property if the village approves the new
PUD.
Dogwood had proposed picking up the
approval process from where BDD had left
off, but the village said they needed to start
over from the beginning.
The building was sold by Maple Valley
Schools about eight years ago and, while
there have been various proposals to reno-
vate it, none have come to fruition.
The apartments would be low-income
housing. The amount of annual income each
tenant could earn if they lived in the building
would be capped, with a different amount for
each size of room.
The income cap for a family of four would
be $59,680 a year, and the rent for the
two-bedroom units would be $1,000 a month.
The cap for a one-bedroom unit would be
$47,760 a year, with a monthly rent of $850.
Dogwood Executive Director Kittie Tuin-
stra pointed out the village is hiring for a
position at the department of public works,
and the pay for the position is within the cap
for a one-bedroom housing unit.
The building would have an alternative tax
payment system, in which Dogwood would
pay the village and Castleton Township a
total of about 4 percent of the tenants’ rent, in
lieu of taxes. Martin said that amount would
increase slightly each year, according to
inflation.
To be financially feasible, the payment
pilot would need to run the same length as
the income restrictions for tenants, which
would be 45 years, Martin said. That amount
would be more than the village is currently
receiving for the property.
Dogwood also would be able to make the
project financially viable through federal tax
credits, which puts the income cap on the
building, but also adds an extra layer of over-
sight.
Michigan State Housing Development
Authority would have oversight of the build-
ing for about 35 years, Tuinstra said. In addi-
tion to credit and previous landlord and
eviction checks, tenants would need to pass
criminal background checks, which would
screen for criminal sexual conduct, along
with violent crimes and drug-related felo-
nies, she said.
The planning commission meeting, which
lasted about 2? hours, involved more than an
hour of public comment, during which about
a dozen people voiced their opinions and
asked questions of the presenters from Dog-
wood.
“I am a huge proponent of this project,”
Maple Valley Schools Superintendent Kath-
erine Bertolini said. “It’s something that I’ve
been striving for in the four years that I’ve
been here to give our teachers an affordable
place to live so they can call Maple Valley
not only their workplace, but their home.
“I want them to stay and I want them to
raise their families here, because invested
teachers that live in the district tend to make
a much stronger district, and I think housing
is one of the critical missing components for
our young teachers now.”

Bertolini said one of her first tasks after

coming to Maple Valley was raising pay for

teachers, but the district is still struggling to

retain teachers because of the lack of housing

available for them. She said the district has

teachers who commute for more than an hour

or hour-and-a-half, each way, from places

like Grand Rapids or East Lansing.

“What I’ve heard consistently from the

community is a real grief that our teachers

are not residents of our community,” she

added. “So when they do that commute for

two to three years, eventually it wears on

them, and they say, ‘You know, I can get an

equally or a better paying job elsewhere.’”

The district recently hired about a dozen

teachers to replace those it lost, largely

because of those issues.

“It’s a circular mill,” Bertolini said. “...

It’s a huge cost to our taxpayers as well,

because we invest anywhere from $4,000 to

$6,000 in training our teachers.”

Bertolini added that she lived in low-in-

come housing when she first became a

teacher.

Gettys also spoke in favor of the apart-

ments.

“This is about vitality; this about the abil-

ity of your village to grow in some capacity,”

Gettys said.

The Barry Community Foundation loaned

the developers to create the application for

tax credits from the State of Michigan, which

Gettys said is similar to the assistance the

foundation gave to the Royal Coach apart-

ment project in Hastings.

Nashville resident Kassandra Mudge told

the commission she attended Maple Valley,

but she had to move outside of the district for

several years because she couldn’t find a

place to live in Nashville after graduating.

Robert Strotheide, who lives closest to the

building, said he is mostly neutral on the

project, but he’s concerned about the apart-

ment degrading over time if they cannot find

enough tenants.

“I want to believe in your project, but I

need confidence given to me,” Strotheide

said.

Several people expressed concern that the

apartment would be subsidized and rented

out to drug users.

Ivan Hannah said he grew up in a subsi-

dized housing area, and it was a dangerous

environment.

Hannah also said he did not believe the

issue was the lack of affordable housing in

Nashville, but a lack of quality housing. He

said there are many cheap rental housing

options available in the village, but the land-

lords do not maintain them – a point several

people agreed on.

Joshua Guthrie spoke out against the proj-

ect, and said a large majority of Nashville

residents do not want growth.

Barry County Commissioner Ben Geiger,

who lives near the building, said he wants to

support the project, but he has concerns.

Geiger asked why the building didn’t have

more two-bedroom apartments for families,

adding that he did not believe the apartment

building should still look like a school.

Sherry Hummel expressed skepticism that

there would be enough people who could

afford the rent, based on what Nashville

businesses pay. She acknowledged that the

apartment may house teachers, but asked

where the rest of the tenants would come

from.

Gail Chaffee said the apartment may

attract people from the Grand Rapids area

who are looking to move to a small town.

“You can’t think negatively on it,” Chaffee

remarked.

Nashville Village Council Trustee Mike

Callton said he is not confident about the

project. He lives across the street from the

building, and was the only council member

to vote against approving the previous apart-

ment project there.

At the time, Callton said he did not believe

the village should put an apartment building

in a residential area, and change the popula-

tion density, a concern that he repeated to the

Dogwood representatives.

Architect Kendra Thompson said the

apartment is within the village ordinance

limit for density of housing population. If the

property was changed to residential lots, it

would fit 12 houses, which could work out to

about the same number of people living in

that area as an apartment building.

When every apartment is occupied, it

would hold between 20 and 50 occupants.

Callton also expressed skepticism about

the low-income housing nature of the build-

ing, and voiced concern it would become

subsidized housing.

Dogwood representatives repeated sever-

al times, emphatically, that the project

would not be subsidized, “section eight,”

housing.

A Nashville resident of more than 50

years, Mike Beachnau was one of the last

people to speak.

“We can’t keep saying no, no, no, to

everything,” Beachnau said. “We must at

least open our minds to the possibilities...

Do we always want to be 1,700 people? Do

we always want to have the same people that

live here, and nobody ever leaves? Or do we

want to attract somebody else?”

He suggested that these apartments could

attract people who work in Hastings who

would like to live in a smaller community.

“There’s something that we have to do

with that building,” he added. “I feel like we

either have to develop it or bulldoze it – one

of the two – because it’s just going to sit

there and do nothing for the community, or

for anybody else, except sit there and rot and

fall over.”

After more than an hour of public com-

ment, the members of the planning commis-

sion voiced their opinions.

“It looks like a good plan,” Ben Page said.

While Page said he does not like tax

arrangement, he liked the plan for criminal

background checks, adding that something

needs to be done with the building.

Chairperson Patti Branham agreed.

“We are all wanting something to happen

to that building,” Branham said. “Not only is

it starting to look trashy, but, once it gets to

that spot where the windows are broken out,

then it becomes a danger to the community.”

Tom Taylor made the motion to approve

the first step.

“I was shocked by the negativity, but,

really, I am appalled by the negativity,” Tay-

lor said of some of the responses from the

public.

“What’s the alternative to this?” he asked.

“I don’t think there is one. It’s just sit there

and watch the building deteriorate like it is

now.”

The village cannot afford to demolish it,

he said.

Bud Elliston said the village has struggled

to grow throughout its history, but this proj-

ect shows potential for the community.

“What you folks are doing is probably the

best thing that ever happened to Nashville,”

Elliston said to the Dogwood representa-

tives.

Trustee Jim Irwin was absent.

The Nashville Village Council will take

up the issue at a special meeting on Feb. 24.

“I was pleased with the presentation,”

Nashville Village Council President Mike

Kenyon told the Maple Valley News on

Wednesday. “I’ve been unsure with how I

was feeling about it, but, after last night, I

feel a lot better – and I think council will,

too.”

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Delton:

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Community input provides

guidance for federal funds

As part of the Elementary and Secondary

School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, pro-

gram, Hastings Area School System has

received a portion of the funding being

allocated to public school districts nation-

wide to address the impact of COVID-

on elementary and secondary schools.

In the near future, HASS expects to be

awarded the remaining portion of these

funds to assist our students with allowable

expenses.

Throughout the process of applying for

the ESSER funding, HASS has been inten-

tional about gathering data from multiple

community members via surveys and par-

ent and staff meetings, regarding the use of

the funds. The data collected has provided

considerable guidance for HASS adminis-

tration in terms of planning and budgeting

for the best ways to use this funding.

The priorities ESSER funds will address,

as communicated through the data gath-

ered, include providing social emotional

learning opportunities, such as counseling,

mental health and wellness resources;

extending instructional learning time by

providing tutoring; adding instructional

support for interventions before and after

school; and implementing key components

of reading, language arts and math.

Further, the funds will help deliver inter-

ventions for struggling students and pro-

vide small-group instruction; provide sum-

mer learning opportunities; engage families

(attendance, support, classes, resources and

other activities); offer technology (connec-

tivity, hardware and software); address

facility improvements, such as air quality

and safety; and provide activities to address

the unique needs of low-income students,

children with disabilities, English language

learners and students who are homeless.

ESSER funds are restricted by the feder-

al government, allowing local schools to

spend this grant money specific to address-

ing the impact of COVID-19.

Last year, Hastings Area School System

was provided $278,922 in ESSER I funds.

Of that funding, $124,141 was spent on

virtual learning licenses, instructional

devices and support workbooks; $109,

was spent on hotspots to provide Wi-Fi

services throughout the district; and

$45,573 was spent on personal protective

equipment such as wipes, pump sprayers,

hand sanitizer, masks and partitions.

HASS was then approved to budget just

over $1,109,411 in ESSER II funds. Cur-

rently, we have received 90 percent of these

funds, of which, $1,050,755 was spent on

Chromebooks/laptops/iPads, interactive

short throw projectors/newline interactive

systems and an update to our high school

television production computer; $31,

was used to purchase a Screencastify sub-

scription for all teachers and Securly soft-

ware for all students K-12 to protect all of

our users with the increase of technology

use; and $26,734 was spent on leveled

books to use with students K-12 to address

learning loss.

Finally, we have been approved to budget

$2,493,353 in ESSER III funds, which we

are still waiting to receive. Of that funding,

$1,402,706 will be allocated over a three-

year period to help bridge the gap for aca-

demic sustainability for HASS’ more than

2,600 students and district employees. Fur-

ther, those funds are budgeted to help main-

tain our current programming (including

expanded virtual learning) through the

uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, $469,789 has been provided

to all staff as hazard pay during the

COVID-19 pandemic (full-time received

$1,500, three-quarter time received $1,

and half-time received $750). Also,

$157,106 was committed for an elementa-

ry math coach and $134,764 for an addi-

tional kindergarten teacher to reduce class

size over a three-year time span; $206,

was budgeted for high school tutoring,

summer school, credit recovery and after-

school programming over a three-year

period; $22,188 was budgeted for technol-

ogy; $70,000 was budgeted for student

safety; and $30,000 was budgeted for after-

school social-emotional programming.

HASS administration feels extremely

fortunate to receive these ESSER funds to

assist with the COVID-19 pandemic. We

also are grateful to be collaborating with

the Hastings community to determine the

best allocation of this funding to benefit

our outstanding students, district and com-

munity.

HASS Headlines

Matt Goebel, Superintendent

Hastings Area School System

Nashville resident Mike Beachnau suggested these apartments

could attract people who work in Hastings who would like to live in a

smaller community. ‘We can’t keep saying no, no, no, to everything.

We must at least open our minds to the possibilities. ... There’s

something that we have to do with that building. I feel like we either

have to develop it or bulldoze it -- one of the two -- because it’s just

going to sit there and do nothing for the community, or for anybody

else, except sit there and rot and fall over.’

‘I am a huge proponent of this project. It’s

something that I’ve been striving for in the

four years that I’ve been here to give our

teachers an affordable place to live so they

can call Maple Valley not only their

workplace, but their home.”

• Maple Valley Schools Superintendent Katherine Bertolini