WHITEHALL — The Fruitland Township board unanimously approved a May 2026 election resolution at its regular meeting Monday that will leave the decision of whether to join the White Lake Ambulance Authority to township voters.
Trustees Christopher VanOosterhout and Mike Holman were absent, but the remaining board members unanimously approved adding the ballot item, with treasurer Justin Roggero saying, “This aligned with the overwhelming majority of people saying it needed to go to a public vote...leave it up to the people to decide.”
Clerk Alexa Steffes agreed, "The best way for us to not take control out of the hands of the residents is to put it into the hands of the residents.”
This decision comes after debate among residents over whether the WLAA is a necessary addition to services provided in Fruitland, and whether it is worth the resultant property tax increase.
The WLAA previously hosted a September open house meeting to assure residents that the organization could handle the 350 calls it estimated Fruitland would make per year were it a WLAA member.
Currently, Fruitland is serviced by Trinity Health EMS, which sees response times ranging from 22-48 minutes. WLAA previously offered a year-long trial run of the service, which was estimated to cost $200,000, which would have been paid through the township’s contingency fund and then assessed back to the township for $56.27 per parcel. However, after community feedback, the board tabled the idea.
In an email from WLAA, the township was advised that the ballot should include a millage up to 1.9 mills, which is the current rate paid by other municipalities; however, if Fruitland joined, the cumulative revenue increase could enable the rate paid by all participants to drop to between 1-1.5 mills.
However, WLAA disclosed that these were estimated numbers and that a firm amount could be determined if the millage passed. Should it pass, the increased millage would not go into effect until winter 2026.
Several public commenters, both in person and on Zoom, expressed dissatisfaction that the trial run option was no longer presented.
Also at the meeting, Sabrina Huizenga led a presentation on behalf of the Muskegon Conservation District on the end of the Sustain Our Great Lakes grant provided through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which funded efforts to treat hemlocks in Muskegon County parks for Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, an invasive insect threatening the trees.
In total, the MCD treated thousands of hemlock over the course of three years, with almost 6,000 individual trees assessed in Fruitland Township alone. MCD also planted a variety of 2,600 seedlings of native Michigan trees to replace where hemlock were unable to be saved and subsequently removed.
The board agreed to suspend Robert’s Rules to allow question and answer between Huizenga, the board and the audience on the topic of hemlock protection. Huizenga advised residents on how to identify HWA (the insect appears like white spider egg-sacs which sticks to the needles) and referred contacts for local arborists and MCD forester Lance McCarty, who may assess trees and provide spraying.
The board also discussed the recent DNR Passport grant the township received, which will fund the construction of accessible pathways at Nestrom Park. The grant is for $82,300, with the township providing a $27,000 match, with the total construction cost quoted for $109,000. The board has received no word yet on whether that initial quote has increased following the initial application. Regardless, the board unanimously approved the receiving of the grant, with trustees commending supervisor Jeff Marcinkowski on his work organizing and applying for the grant.
