The Pentwater Village Council met Nov. 10 with all members present.
President Mary Marshall said, during correspondence, that due to an unexpected move for a job, Dan Girvan submitted a letter of resignation from the planning commission to which he was recently appointed.
Since there were no committee reports, council moved on to unfinished and new business.
Village Manager Toby Van Ess’ proposal to contract with Fresh Coast for the village’s open zoning position was tabled at the last meeting. Fresh Coast proposed staffing the village office two days a week but being available by phone or computer as needed the rest of the week. Van Ess had been asked to seek additional bids for the purpose of comparison and advertise the position more broadly in an attempt to find a qualified local person full-time. Van Ess complied with the requests, contacting the two firms suggested to him and listing the job on LinkedIn. One firm never responded, and the other sent back a proposal that gave less information and more contingencies than the Fresh Coast proposal. Three individual applications were received, but two were from out of state, and the third had no experience.
Given the circumstances, council unanimously approved a proposal to contract with Fresh Coast for one year and then evaluate whether or not to renew the contract. The position will still be marketed in hopes of finding a full-time, experienced zoning administrator who could perhaps work with Fresh Coast on a rewrite of the most important and outdated zoning ordinances.
New business included renewing a short-term rental policy adopted last year, which put a cap on short-term rental licenses at 80 and raised the license fee to $750. Currently there are 86 licenses in effect; the cap of 80 will be reached through attrition. Any current license holders can renew their license, but no new licenses will be issued until the total is less than 80. There are approximately 15 persons waiting for a license. The previous license fee had been $300, which was insufficient to cover the cost of administering the program and enforcing rental unit codes.
During discussion, council agreed there should be a separate account to document fees received and specific costs involved with administration and enforcement so the licensing fees can reflect the true cost. On the vote to renew last year’s policy, Don Palmer, Karl Schrumpf, Marshall, Dan Nugent, Jared Griffis and Kathy O’Connor voted yes. Dave Bluhm, a rental unit owner, abstained from voting.
A formality neglected at the last meeting was council’s acceptance and approval of the audit report, which was presented at that time. Council gave unanimous approval at the current meeting.
Regarding the Strategic Plan, Marshall reported the steering committee will meet prior to council’s Nov. 24 meeting to incorporate recent input. Their final proposal will come before council at the Dec. 8 meeting for approval.
A lengthy discussion followed on selling the former village hall at 327 S. Hancock St. Van Ess reported on his interaction with the Sandi Gentry team. Before signing a 6-month listing contract with them, council wanted to be sure they have all the information collected over the past 10 years about the property’s Brownfield development qualification, the engineering reports about the condition of the building and what remediation would be required, the wished for uses of the building that the community expressed, the suggested height restrictions and façade appearance formulated by the DDA and whatever else can be found to give them. A proposal will be acted on at the next council meeting.
Under manager’s comments, Van Ess listed all the stats on lead lines that have been replaced by Gustafson and how many remain to be checked. The biggest challenge has been getting access to 140 homes for inspection. He is meeting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nov. 26-27 to discuss their work plans for the channel. He reported he had interviewed one applicant for Michelle Bieri’s Deputy Clerk/Treasurer position. He praised the quick response of Hallack Contracting, Ken Adams & Sons Excavating and the DPW to fix a water main leak at Hancock and Hanover that occurred when Frontier Communications apparently drilled into the line.
Chief Laude Hartrum responded to a resident’s question regarding the Flock camera test period. Since the intent was to piggyback on the county sheriff’s Flock program and they have yet to install their cameras, Pentwater’s official test period will not officially begin until May 2026 and run for 90 days following. Hartrum said "we are using the system when needed, but on a non-official basis." He affirmed a report would be given after the official test run.
Hartrum also reported that representatives from the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police would be inspecting and evaluating the Pentwater Police Department on Dec. 9 and 10 for their accreditation with the organization. This is an accreditation they have been working to achieve for four years.
