WHITEHALL — The Whitehall City Council approved an $11,920 expenditure for facade and painting work at City Hall and the Scene Shop at its regular meeting Tuesday, though there was some discussion regarding what fund the city would use to pay for it.
The approval was 6-1 to pay for the work out of the energy fund, but public commenter Tamara Horne of the White Lake Area Climate Action Council and council member Tanya Cabala (the lone dissenting vote) disagreed with using that fund for the work, believing it did not sufficiently fulfill the intended use of the fund for energy efficiency. Both cited the city's past climate emergency declaration and climate audit plan that was commissioned in 2023 and expanded upon in 2024.
The decision to use the energy fund, said City Manager Dan Tavernier, was based on the project including the sealing of the soffit on the underside of the roof, which will assist in keeping the air in the building and improve energy efficiency. Cabala, though, said she was not in favor after learning that the bid, from North End Painting in North Muskegon, did not itemize how much of the figure was for the facade/soffit work and how much was for painting.
Council members Roger Squiers and Bryan Mahan said they favored approval, and Squiers said while he didn't have numbers, he was confident the soffit work comprised the majority of the $11,920. Jeff Holmstrom concurred and added that the work should not be delayed. Scott Brown suggested tabling the motion to get further details, but Tavernier echoed Holmstrom's belief that delaying would not be advisable.
Also during the meeting, three public comments addressed the Thriftwood Drive "paper road" issue that generated discussion at the previous meeting July 14. One of them came from Megan Aney, whose property was at issue in the discussion. She shared her frustration that, in her view, the council discussion at the meeting implied that she and husband Zach had done something underhanded by constructing the fence that drew Mayor Tom Ziemer's ire. Aney noted that they requested and obtained a building permit to construct the fence. She added that the fence was there so the family dog would be able to run around the backyard without concern of running away.
Two neighbors of Aney's also spoke in favor of the city leaving the "paper road" alone, noting the area does not lead anywhere anyway. Ziemer said the city had not taken any action on the area and that none is planned at this time.
The council unanimously approved a change to the city's health insurance opt-out benefit, allowing city employees who turn down the city's insurance to receive a cash benefit of 50% of the city's share of the premium that would have been paid. Previously employees could get 20% of the city's share. Tavernier said at previous meetings the move was made to encourage employees who had access to insurance through a spouse to turn down city coverage and lower the city's overall insurance obligation.
Police chief Brandon Mahoney gave a summary of the past fiscal year of police activity, sharing that arrests were up about 15%, largely as a result of increased traffic stops turning up warrants or other criminal history upon going through driving records. He added that it's been the standard for police to respond to a site within 2-3 minutes when receiving a call.
