WHITEHALL — Three recipients of Whitehall Township's senior millage funding spoke during Monday's regular township board meeting, detailing some of the programs the senior millage funds help to support.
Pastors Donna Morton and Tim Dibble of the White Lake Congregational United Church of Christ and the White Lake United Methodist Church respectively, and White Lake Senior Center director Christi Marsh, each expressed gratitude for the township's millage support.
Morton and Dibble discussed the millage's support of free meals that are distributed at their churches. The White Lake UCC periodically hosts the Feeding America mobile food pantry through the millage, and the pantry distributes food to those in need whenever it visits. Any leftover food remains in the community through partnerships with White Lake UMC and Lebanon Lutheran Church. At the White Lake UMC, community free meals, known as The Gathering, are hosted Mondays and Thursdays, with local organizations, businesses and schools sponsoring the meals. Bag lunches are also distributed on Saturdays.
Marsh said the Senior Center sees, on average, 45-70 people per day, and activities include games, meals and much more, promoting social interaction among a group of people often vulnerable to isolation. She added that the Senior Center activities are self-funded; the millage support pays for insurance on the building, which the city leases to the Senior Center.
The board approved an initiative that will allow Muskegon County to create a Tax Increment Financing district at the in-progress Hickory Place Planned Unit Development, which will help fund current and future infrastructure at the site. The county board would then handle oversight of the TIF district. The county board, if it approves the creation of the district, would then refer it back to the township board for final approval.
Supervisor Dennis Kroll said the TIF districts are a common mechanism used by municipalities to make new business initiatives like the Hickory Place development affordable for developers, reducing the barrier to entry. He added that by the county overseeing the TIF district, it would provide more continuity than if oversight was left to the township, given the increased turnover at the township government level by comparison. Jennifer Hodges, Muskegon County's housing coordinator and also the supervisor of Muskegon Charter Township, was present at the meeting and said she would be involved with the oversight.
During public comment, a question was raised about what sort of homes were being built at the Hickory Place development. Kyle Zack, developer of the site, was at the meeting and noted that the development will be single-family homes of 1,200 square feet or more (homes near the Hickory Village Golf Course will be larger), and the intended price point of the homes will be between $325,000-$340,000.
Also during the meeting, White Lake Ambulance Authority director Jon Degen gave a year in review presentation to the board, similar to one he gave to White River Township's board earlier this month. Degen said the WLAA is doing very well financially and if Fruitland Township voters approve an August millage request to rejoin the authority, everyone's millage rate should be able to be reduced in coming years due to the increased tax base. He added that the authority is pleased with its current lease arrangement at the Suburban Propane station and plans to continue it as long as the company would like.
