MONTAGUE — White River Township's board unanimously approved a bump in its zoning site review fees during its regular meeting Tuesday, raising them to more closely match what is charged by nearby municipalities.
The fees are charged as part of an overall construction permit cost. The township had previously been charging a $30 fee for the permit, $70 per square foot for the project, and no one-time administrative fee. To line up with what others, particularly Montague Township, are charging, the board agreed to raise the site review fee to $75, the per-square-foot fee to $85 and to enact an administrative fee of $30.
The board also unanimously approved using $450 of its senior millage allocation to offer two $5 vouchers to the Montague Farmer's Market for each senior household in the township for both summer and fall seasons, beginning May 27. The vouchers will be first-come, first-serve.
The mystery of the American flags that were placed at veterans' gravesites, which the board discussed at its April meeting, was not solved, but the immediate future of the flag-placing was determined. Jerry Doran of the White Lake VFW post reached out to the township since that meeting and offered to make sure the organization takes care of the flag placements at cemeteries for this year. The township intends to take up the job in 2026.
The board continued discussions about its recently enacted short-term rental ordinance. There is an issue with STRs that are located on shared driveways or private roads, some of which technically are violating the ordinance right now because the roads are not equipped for fire trucks to reach them. The board did not take any action on the matter Tuesday, but suggested possible middle ground solutions for the properties in question, such as requiring road improvements be made or insurance policies to be taken out on the properties to account for the lack of access for emergency personnel. The issue will be further addressed later.
There will be a change to the board desks for the next meeting as deputy clerk Patti Sargent tendered her resignation, effective June 1. Sargent has been in the deputy clerk position since the 2024 election to aid Julie Goericke in her transition to the clerk role. Everyone agreed Goericke is doing well, and Sargent will step down after six years as clerk and six months as deputy clerk.
The board unanimously approved a $296 expenditure to purchase updated Michigan Building Code books. The township had been using 2015 code books, but new codes took effect in April, necessitating the purchase.
Two upcoming public hearings were mentioned. Lakeside Solar, which previously had scheduled an April 17 open house-style meeting to present a proposed solar project to the community and satisfy requirements in Public Act 233, has rescheduled the meeting for July 17 from 5-7 p.m. All township residents are encouraged to attend. Also, a public hearing is set for Tuesday, May 27 at 6 p.m. on Zoom that will allow the public to get more information regarding a Chemours proposal to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to dredge the lime deposits in Mirror Lake.
The White Lake fireworks committee has, reported treasurer Mary Kriesel, collected $15,500 of the needed $20,000 for the July 4 fireworks show as of their last meeting in April. She said she expects they have collected more since that meeting.
