At the end of each year, Daily News staff takes a look back at the stories we covered the previous 12 months and chooses a Story of the Year and 10 more top stories to recap in the Dec. 31 issue.
But as it goes, it’s a little different in 2020.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the daily lives of people locally and around the world is obviously our Story of the Year but it isn’t really a topic that can be recapped in a single newspaper story. The Daily News wrote hundreds of stories on how COVID-19 affected the people of Montcalm and Ionia counties in 2020.
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Instead of reviewing COVID based on our past stories, the Daily News will tell four new stories about the year of COVID through the eyes of a few local residents, business owners and workers in our Wednesday and Thursday issues.
Today’s issue focuses on 2020’s top 10 Daily News stories that were not COVID-related. Even without COVID, there were plenty of important local stories — including a major fire, wind energy proposals, marijuana business growth and support for a sheriff’s department millage.
Following are the Daily News’ top 10 (non-COVID) stories of the year:
Voters approve Montcalm County Sheriff’s millage
In March, Montcalm County voters approved a 1-mill law enforcement measure to restore funding to the sheriff’s office.
The 6,954 “yes” votes to 5,311 “no” paved the way for a return to round-the-clock patrol one day, which residents haven’t seen since 2012.
For a department been gutted by repeated budget cuts and failed millages over the years, this was welcome news to many.
The five-year millage will generate almost $2 million in the first year, enough to bring back 14 full-time deputies to the department, with two to three always assigned to the road.
But the change won’t be obvious for a while, according to Montcalm County Sheriff Mike Williams, who says the public won’t see the millage until they receive their winter tax bills.
“It’s a long delay, and it’s frustrating for both us and the public at large,” Williams said. “I was getting phone calls within days of the millage passing, from people wondering why they haven’t seen their new deputies yet.”
While the money isn’t yet in the bank, Williams said he has been busy searching for qualified candidates, as well as getting equipment and infrastructure in place. He said the hiring process takes two to three months, then another 12 to 15 weeks once the new deputies get through field training. After that, they can work independently.
Because the department has only three specially trained field training officers, only three new hires can be trained at a time. As result, Williams is going through the hiring process in batches.
“I’m hoping to be able to field one-half of a shift — three deputies — by the end of February or early March,” said Williams. “As we get them hired and trained, we’ll plug them into general patrol shifts.”
Williams called the public support his department has received “very uplifting” in a job where it can sometimes feel like the whole world is against them.
“I can tell you that we don’t get that feeling from the citizens in Montcalm County,” Williams emphasized. “I’ll assure you that as we rebuild the sheriff’s office, we won’t take that support for granted. I’ll also assure the public that the millage money will go toward the exact purpose for which they voted.”
Second Amendment sanctuary
The idea of making counties “Second Amendment sanctuaries” was a hot topic in January and February.
The Ionia County Board of Commissioners voted to declare its county as such, while a similar motion failed before the Montcalm County Board of Commissioners.
The Ionia County board in February voted 6-0 to designate its county as a Second Amendment sanctuary. The resolution also affirmed support of the Ionia County sheriff and prosecutor “in the exercise of their sound discretion to not enforce against any citizen an unconstitutional firearms law.”
Ionia County’s movement was led by Scott Parmalee of Danby Township. He and other supporters of the proposal said the resolution wasn’t meant to be a binding document that supersedes state and federal laws but rather a symbolic statement in opposition to gun legislation being proposed and enacted in the state of Virginia and “red flag” gun laws in general.
Also in February, a similar motion failed before the Montcalm County board in a 4-5 vote, with a slight majority of commissioners believing it wasn’t their place to undertake U.S. Bill of Rights issues.
For the second time in two months, the third floor of the Montcalm County Administrative Building was packed with a standing-room-only crowd of Second Amendment supporters led by Jeff Gilmore of Fairplain Township, along with some opponents.
Montcalm County Commissioner Betty Kellenberger of Carson City said she would vote no as the topic was not a county issue and was not under the authority of the county board; however, Commissioner Adam Petersen of Montcalm Township pointed out that Kellenberger was among six commissioners who previously voted in favor of an anti-recreational marijuana resolution in October 2018.
Montcalm County board violates Open Meetings Act
The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners were ordered to pay $31,587 after a judge ruled that they violated the Open Meetings Act by excluding the county clerk from multiple closed meetings.
Montcalm County Clerk Kristen Millard filed a lawsuit against the Board of Commissioners in January after commissioners ordered her to leave a closed session that same day. Varnum attorney Luis Avila had advised commissioners before a closed session in January that Millard should be excluded. When Millard spoke up that she believed this would violate OMA, Avila responded that it was up to “commissioner discretion.”
Millard’s lawsuit alleged that commissioners improperly excluded her from closed sessions of the county board on multiple dates over multiple years
In July, Mecosta County Judge Scott Hill-Kennedy ruled that the Board of Commissioners violated the Open Meetings Act and the County Board of Commissioners Act by excluding Millard.
Montcalm County was billed $16,315 by Varnum and $15,272 by Millard’s attorney, Joshua Blanchard, resulting in the county having to pay a total of $31,587 for violating the Open Meetings Act.
This sum of taxpayer money was in addition to an unrelated sum of $3,060 in taxpayer money that the county will pay Pierson Township in exchange for the township agreeing to drop a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed against the county in February involving the county’s non-response to the township’s request for lake sewer records.
The Board of Commissioners voted this month to pay Pierson Township’s legal fees after meeting in closed session with their attorney. This time, Millard was allowed to attend the closed session.
Ionia Township detention center still pending
A proposed detention center for Ionia Township continues to be in the works after nearly two years of planning and research.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security began looking at another location just outside of the city of Ionia as a possible site for a detention center in March 2019 — just one month after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer blocked the sale of a Michigan Land Bank-owned old prison property within Ionia city limits as the original proposed location to house alleged illegal immigrants.
A public comment period ended Dec. 21 regarding the draft environmental assessment of the proposed facility. The Daily News contacted U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) to ask what’s next in the timeline for the center, but ICE officials declined to comment.
“ICE does not provide comment on ongoing pending or proposed projects for contractual reasons to protect the parties involved from the appearance of favoritism or potentially breaching a proposal,” ICE Public Affairs Officer Shawn Neudauer said. “Generally speaking, ICE is continually reviewing its detention requirements and exploring options that will afford the agency the operational flexibility needed to house the full range of detainees currently in custody.”
The proposed center would house up to 600 male detainees and would be operated by Immigration Centers of America (ICA) on behalf of ICE. ICA is a private company that provides facilities to ICE to house adult male detainees who are facing civil charges and are awaiting processing in the immigration court system.
The proposed center would be on a combined 106 acres of undeveloped agricultural parcels owned by Jeffrey and Gloria Badder in non-zoned Ionia Township, as well as partially in Orange Township (which has a use-based zoning ordinance). Because Ionia Township is not zoned, local government officials don’t have much say regarding the proposal.
ICE did request that Ionia County commissioners provide information regarding any concerns, issues or other comments regarding an environmental assessment, and all seven county commissioners have spoken in favor of the proposed center — although they declined to vote on a resolution of support for the center this past May after public controversy on the matter.
Ionia County Road Dept. remains in flux
More than one year after the Ionia County Board of Commissioners voted to dissolve the Road Commission and fire the longtime managing director, the new department still doesn’t have a director and commissioners differ on how much or little oversight they should have over that department.
Paul Spitzley was hired as the new Road Department director in January, but by June he had resigned for another job.
Multiple candidates have been interviewed for the job since but without success. The interviews of candidates Marvin Hills and Troy Waterman in June took place in open public meetings, as did the interviews of Waterman (again) and Stacy Green in August.
After Waterman was interviewed a total of three times, the county’s Personnel Committee in August recommended the full board approve his hire; however, the vote failed 3-4 at the full board meeting.
The interviews of new candidates Heath Brinker and Mark Borden took place in private on Dec. 14.
Commissioners discussed the director vacancy at length on Dec. 15 — including how much or little oversight commissioners should have over that department — but they didn’t take any action on the matter.
Ionia County Administrator Stephanie Fox plans to give an update on the director vacancy at today’s county board meeting, which is scheduled for 3 p.m.
The lack of road and budgetary experience of candidates for the job remains a concern, especially in light of an audit of the Road Commission/Road Department this past spring.
The audit revealed crushed concrete measurements off by nearly 2,000 cubic yards (a difference of more than $12,000), gravel measurements off by more than 6,500 cubic yards (a difference of more than $27,000), road salt measurements off by nearly 1,000 tons (a difference of more than $65,000) and 186 truck scraper blades missing (worth $17,586), among with many other issues related to payroll, conflict of interest, personal use of county equipment and an inadequate surveillance system.
Montcalm County administrator goes AWOL
This year got off to an odd start for Montcalm County government when Controller-Administrator Bob Clingenpeel unexpectedly stopped showing up for work — for three weeks with no reason provided. He abruptly resigned in February.
The months leading up to Clingenpeel’s resignation had been bumpy ones.
He hired a new maintenance director in October 2019, but after the Daily News questioned why commissioners didn’t vote on the new hire, the maintenance director resigned in December 2019. Freedom of Information Act requests from the Daily News revealed issues with county leadership — including Clingenpeel’s admission that maintenance director job résumés had been shredded; as well as the fact that commissioners have not evaluated their controller-administrator for 12 years now.
Even though Clingenpeel resigned in February, it wasn’t until March that he submitted a resignation letter citing “health issues” and “constant stress” as the reason for his departure.
Commissioner Ron Baker made a motion to pay Clingenpeel six months worth of salary and health insurance (equating to about $60,000), but the motion failed 3-6. Commissioner Tony Sorensen made a motion to pay Clingenpeel three months of salary and insurance (about $30,000), but the motion failed 4-5.
Commissioner Adam Petersen then made a motion to give Clingenpeel health insurance benefits through the end of the 2020 fiscal year (about $9,000). This motion passed 6-3.
After a lengthy interview process — including assembling a committee of community members to help narrow down candidate resumes — commissioners voted in July to hire Chief Financial Officer Brenda Taeter as the new controller-administrator.
Wind touts opportunity, but also leads to concern
As Montcalm County municipalities consider partnering with Apex Clean Energy for a proposed wind energy project with anticipated economic benefits, some community members are less than pleased.
Virginia-based Apex is nearing the completion of a wind farm in Isabella County consisting of 136 turbines over 55,00 acres. Over the past year, Apex has also turned its attention toward Montcalm County.
So far, Apex has erected four meteorological evaluation towers (MET) throughout the county, with three more on the way. The MET towers don’t indicate where future wind turbines will be constructed; rather, they’re there to gather wind data for planning the project, according to Apex.
Apex has already signed more than 100 leases with individuals or families involving 15,000 to 20,000 acres of land. The company’s ultimate goal is to lease up to 50,000 acres of land. The company hopes to produce 375 megawatts of energy and bring more than $600 million into Montcalm County when all is said and done.
Touted as an economic opportunity that will create jobs and sources of long-term revenue for local government, schools, farmers and residents in general, Apex is currently focused on 11 townships. Presentations from Apex or discussions about the company have occurred at Douglass, Maple Valley, Montcalm, Pierson, Pine, Sidney and Winfield township board and Planning Commission meetings throughout the year, among others.
The project would take several years to complete and the turbines are estimated to have a 30-year lifespan. This fact and Apex’s presence in Montcalm County in general is a cause for concern for some residents, which has led to the creation of Montcalm County Citizens United.
The group’s private Facebook group currently has more than 1,500 members and describes itself as a “coalition of citizens advocating against the irresponsible and invasive placement of industrial wind turbines in Montcalm County.” The group’s concerns include turbine noise and flicker and bringing an unwanted change in scenery to the local landscape, among other issues.
Marijuana businesses take off
A handful of municipalities in Montcalm and Ionia counties saw marijuana businesses open this past year, while many others are in various stages of the approval process.
Crystal Township was the first municipality to allow recreational marijuana sales in Montcalm County after the Crystal Township Board opted to allow certain types of recreational and medical marijuana facilities in December 2019.
While the Crystal Township Board has since accepted one license for a medical marijuana dispensary which hasn’t yet opened, the first retail marijuana business to open in Montcalm County was in the village of Edmore.
Agri-Med celebrated the grand opening of Edmore Provisionary at 202 E. Main St. in Edmore in early July. The location sells both recreational and medical marijuana.
Right around the same time, the city of Ionia saw its first medical marijuana provisioning center open its doors as ArCanna opened for business at 29 Beardsley Road on June 29.
The city of Ionia is also potentially in the process of opting in to recreational marijuana, as the Ionia City Council held the first reading of a proposed recreational marijuana facility ordinance on Dec. 1.
Other municipalities in Ionia County, such as Easton Township, have begun accepting applications for recreational marijuana licenses. The city of Belding approved a recreational growing license for Botanical Biologics, which opened in April 2019 as a medical marijuana grow facility, at 1331 W. State St. in September.
As some Montcalm County municipalities like Stanton and Greenville continue to consider passing medical and recreational marijuana ordinances, the Edmore Village Council has granted a license for Pinnacle Emporium to open as a recreational and medical provisioning center and two other growing licenses for HBSCru of Ada and Grower Consultants LLC of Wyoming.
Other municipalities, such as Sidney Township, decided not to opt in to recreational marijuana at this time following a local voter survey.
Trail bridge set ablaze, remains unsolved
A summer fire that blazed over the Flat River in Greenville served as one of the largest, most perplexing structure fires in recent memory for area firefighters this year.
At approximately 3 a.m. June 11, firefighters from the Greenville Department of Public Safety (GDPS) responded to a fire that had engulfed one of the two Fred Meijer Heartland Trail bridges that span over the river in the city, located adjacent to Water Works Park.
With assistance from the Belding and Montcalm Township fire departments, the fire was extinguished before sunrise and following a study by engineers, the century-old former railroad bridge was determined to still be structurally intact and remains usable today.
According to GDPS Director Dennis Magirl, more than six months later, the cause of the fire remains undetermined.
“It is still a fire of interest to us, but right now, it’s still unsolved — it’s a cold case,” he said. “Lab results that we sent in from the scene didn’t come back conclusive on anything. We still get the occasional lead, but nothing has been concrete to this point.”
Development booms in Greenville area
If 2020 was known for anything outside of the coronavirus pandemic, it should be known as a booming year for commercial and housing developments in the Greenville area.
This year, Greenville saw a formerly-vacant Kmart store redeveloped into four new storefronts — Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, Five Below and Skechers. Three of those four stores have opened since construction finished, with Marshalls currently the only store which has yet to open its doors.
Additionally, the developer of the project, K2 Retail Construction & Development, acquired property south of the shopping center off of M-57 and is in the process of constructing a new three-store building, with one of those stores to be a new Starbucks.
Also in the city, the new 216-unit Central Park Apartments complex developed by Krimson and located south of Meijer has neared completion, with the last two of the nine three-story buildings now in the final stages of construction.
In surrounding Eureka Township, the township’s Planning Commission approved numerous special land use requests, including for expansions at Frugthaven Farm on M-57 that include an indoor market, tavern/cidery, and retail store. Frugthaven Farm will also be pursuing approval to turn a renovated century-old barn into a new event venue in 2021.
Additionally, another proposed business — the Black Lab Tavern — was presented to the Planning Commission this year for potential approval in 2021 to be located on M-91 south of Tractor Supply Co.
