entwater Township Zoning Administrator Keith Edwards presented a proposal for the historic Red Barn in Pentwater to the Oceana County Board of Commissioners at their Aug. 14 meeting. This proposal would see the creation of the Red Barn Outdoor Recreation Center and its inclusion as a destination along the planned Pentwater-Hart Rail Trail route. In this plan, the Red Barn structure would be repurposed as an education and event space, with the surrounding property host to outdoor activities such as canoeing, kayaking and fishing, with a garden, orchard and nature trails.
This plan follows a recent and well-attended meeting of Pentwater and Weare township residents over concern for the Red Barn’s future, which many see as an important local landmark and a historic building of great significance, built by lumber baron Charles Mears over a century ago. The greatest issue confronting this plan, and many other proposals that have preceded it, is the current ownership of the property. In the 1940s, Carrie Mears, Charles Mears’ daughter, sold the property under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, putting the Red Barn’s property under the jurisdiction of the DNR.
One possible solution for this issue made known at the meeting was the existence of a local property owner who may provide “a more attractive property” to be incorporated into Pentwater State Game Area for a land swap with the DNR. Due to the federal nature of the swap, the interested parties are seeking collaboration with the office of Congressman John Moolenaar, who was sent a video of the board meeting for further consideration.
Following Edwards and Doran’s presentation, Commissioner Paul Erickson reminded the board that about 15 years ago, there was a fund created by the Oceana Community Foundation for the Red Barn for purposes of making necessary restoration and that there is still money within that fund that the county may utilize for the Barn’s ongoing preservation. He also asked if the county commissioners “would be willing to step in and take some responsibility for the Barn in this interim period while we are finding a tenant that’s able to see this vision.”
The future of the Red Barn and its property was not an action item, merely a topic for the rest of the board to consider. Erickson did stress urgency, as “we have reached a point in this conversation, as to the wildlife area, in which there are… federal strings which have put the Red Barn on a demolition list. Time is of the essence when we look at the life of the Red Barn.”
Three other county community programs also gave expansive presentations at the meeting, many regarding future funding.
Troy Maloney of Oceana County Emergency Management presented the annual EMPG work agreement, which is essentially reimbursement pay for a partial amount of Maloney’s salary. At this time, the exact amount is unclear, as the State of Michigan has yet to adopt a 2025 budget, with the deadline to a avoid a shutdown Oct. 1. Despite this delay, Maloney is expecting the budget to pass in some aspect by the deadline. Chairman Robert Walker voiced concern to Maloney, asking if emergency management was affected by recent federal budget cuts. Maloney assured that “things seems to be settled,” but they expect a certain drop in the budget provided by the federal government every year. Walker went on to tell Maloney that “if the state doesn’t have the budget adopted by Oct. 1… I want to see us continue as ever. No changes… It’s a valuable resource we have, we need to keep it.”
Following Maloney was Julia Rupp of West Michigan Community Mental Health (WMCMH) with the program’s annual report. Rupp made it clear upfront that the program would be anticipating budget cuts going forward, as 80% of funding comes through Medicaid and Medicaid line items. Rupp said that though “80% sounds pretty high, it was actually one of our strategic goals to lower that, which we have, compared to a lot of the other community mental health programs in the state, some of them are at, like, 95-98% Medicaid funded. So we’ve actually done a pretty good job of bringing in additional funds that reduces our risk a bit and helps us serve more people.”
Rupp went on to explain, “as a CCHB [Community Care Behavioral Health provider], we are required to serve anyone that comes in through our doors, no matter where they live… right now, there should be no exclusionary criteria - anyone should be able to get in and see us for services.”
Rupp also gave an overview of WMCMH’s strategic plan, which includes the implementation of same-day appointment access by Oct. 1, expanding the array of prices and services offered, having the staff to provide service to crisis lines at night, and a “place to go” for each county served, where those who may be intoxicated or experiencing psychosis have access to a safe environment and medical staff to decrease the burden put on local jails and emergency rooms.
Rupp closed the annual report by asking the commissioners to consider what services they’d like to see for their communities and what they can contribute.
Phil Morse of the Oceana County Economic Alliance (OCEA) also gave a presentation detailing the strides the program has made for the community, its overall cost-effectiveness, and the security of future finances. As was topical during the meeting, the OCEA is also facing dwindling grant opportunities, a challenge they wish to “meet head-on.” The program desires to continue providing a full-time staff, and, in order to keep salaries “fair” and “competitive,” they are asking that 1% of Oceana County’s budget go towards economic development, a price tag of about $140,000. Morris, understanding possible trepidation, proposed phasing that concept in through several years.
The only funds up for approval at the meeting were through Oceana County Emergency Management’s work agreement, which was approved unanimously. All other action items were, likewise, approved by all board members, save for bids regarding the replacement of the Community Services Building’s HVAC system, as the board decided to send back the bids for further clarification before making a motion.
Two policy changes were made as well during the meeting. First was the revision of the Board of Commissioners' handling of conflicts of interest. The policy now states that any commissioner affected by a conflict of interest is not expressly required to abstain from voting; instead, the conflict will be made known to the board, and affected items must pass by a three-fourths supermajority. The second revision was clarifying the policy regarding the consultation of corporate counsel. The board elected to change the verbiage in the policy to say elected officials and department heads may “request” corporate counsel instead of “contact,” as the policy later notes the contact route in which to make said request, which made the policy confusing.
Both of these policy changes were passed unanimously.
