MONTAGUE — The White River Township board unanimously agreed to provide a letter of support to the Chemours Environmental Impact Committee to aid CEIC in its pursuit of a grant during its regular meeting Tuesday.
The grant CEIC is pursuing, said organization member Claire Schlaff, is through the Michigan Coastal Management Program and would, if received, enable the organization to hire engineering and design experts who would study possibilities for the restoration of Sadony Bayou and present potential solutions to local people. The grant, which is for $85,000 and requires a dollar-for-dollar match by the recipient, would fund, among other things, two public meetings - one to introduce the community to the experts and another at the end of their research, presenting potential options.
There was some discussion about the wording of the letter, and the board agreed that if Marty Holtgren, CEIC's project manager, deemed some tweaks to the letter to be necessary, he would be welcome to request them and revisions would be made.
Schlaff also reported that CEIC recently met with Sathya Yalvigi of Chemours to ensure that logging taking place at the Chemours site was following proper procedures; she said after the meeting that the organization was satisfied it was being done properly.
The board unanimously agreed to move forward with a public hearing to approve its revised parks and recreation plan for the next five years. The hearing will take place as part of the planning commission's regular meeting Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m. The revised plan is available to view on the township website, whiterivertwp.com, under the 'parks' tab. The board noted that planning firm Williams & Works aided in review of the plan.
The board unanimously approved its annual senior millage allocation of $12,018, a slight increase from last year. The allocation will be similar to last year, with funds being used to pay for senior memberships at the Viking Athletic Center, at the White Lake Senior Center, and to contribute to AgeWell's Safe Seniors program, which helps combat elder abuse. Township seniors were reported to have checked in to the VAC to use their facilities over 1,500 times over the past year, which is up 450 from the year before.
Clerk Julie Goericke reported that 82% of the $595 in senior vouchers that were distributed for township residents' use at the Montague Farmer's Market were utilized, which was second only to City of Montague residents' 92% among participating municipalities. She said the township may be able to increase their use even more if there is a one-time distribution of the vouchers instead of the two the township had last year, though no action was taken on that idea at this time.
The township plans to welcome the Muskegon Area District Library to the township hall three times this year to host programming. Supervisor Ron Bailey said he'd been approached by MADL district manager Patricia Crosby about bringing library programming to residents. The programs would be free, and in turn the township would not charge MADL for using the hall. The programs, which are scheduled on three Saturdays - March 7, April 4 and May 2, all from 10:15 a.m. to noon - will revolve around astronomy. The board did not take any action but expressed approval of the idea.
Bailey shared that the state Department of Transportation is seeking public comment on a proposed road improvement at the weathervane park in downtown Montague. Comments can be submitted via the MDOT website. During public comment, a resident suggested that those choosing to submit comments should also address the crosswalk near that intersection, which connects the park to the Weathervane Inn across the street. The commenter said it could also be improved for safety reasons, stating drivers are often not as careful as they should be in yielding to pedestrians or bicyclists.
