The Pentwater Village Council met on Monday, Sept. 8, with all members present. After perfunctory approvals of the agenda and the treasurer’s report, the council considered a report from the personnel committee.
The committee had met with Toby Van Ess, currently the village’s zoning administrator and interim village manager, who applied for the permanent position of village manager. The committee suggested the council interview Van Ess at the Sept. 22 council meeting. The public would be invited to attend the interview, and questions for Van Ess could be submitted prior to the meeting. Council endorsed the suggestion.
Moving into New Business, the council looked at six items. Ryan Williams from Port View Wine, current president of the DDA, sought council approval for the second phase of the Petal Project. The first phase entailed planting 20,000 daffodil bulbs from the south entrance of the village up to St. Vincent's Catholic Church. The second phase proposes to plant 35,000 daffodil bulbs from the north entrance of the village up to Park Street. Because the cost exceeds $10,000, Williams needed council approval to proceed. Williams assured council the funds are available with $7,000 remaining in the Oceana Community Foundation Petal Project Fund, $1,100 in the DDA account and the offer of a match fund in the amount of $4,000. Council gave unanimous approval and thanked Williams for the beauty added to the community by the project. Williams said it is hoped the bulbs will arrive and be planted in early October.
The second item was a request to use Park Place for yoga classes formerly held at EnerG Fitness, which has closed. Class participants would pay for the classes. A decision was delayed until a policy is clearly articulated regarding building usages that are for the profit of an individual or group. Park Place was intended to be used free of charge by residents and groups for the benefit of the community. For several years all other requests have been denied. It was obvious to council that a use policy needs to be made that can be applied and might involve deposits to avoid repair costs.
The third item was a second presentation regarding a service dog program. Officer Darwin Mitchell provided information that had been requested at the first presentation regarding costs and value to both the school and the police department. Pentwater Public School Superintendent Craig Barter was also present to discuss the value to the school. Although costs could differ slightly according to the dog actually purchased, the initial costs were projected to be $6,600 and the annual expense was estimated to be $6,924.75. The request from the police department was for the council to approve $2,000 from the village budget to match another $2,000 from the school, with the balance coming from the community. Manager Rachel Witherspoon said a pledge of $1,000 had already been committed by a local donor. Although expressing a bit of discomfort with the unknown costs that could arise and with the possibility of the community not raising the balance of costs, the council voted unanimously to approve the request for $2,000.
The fourth item was a request from Van Ess to extend the deadline for receiving RFQ (Requests For Quotes) for purchasing the old village hall. He said thus far only two had been received, one local and one from Southfield, and neither one was promising. Council was very willing to extend the deadline, and Van Ess was sure he could market the RFQ elsewhere successfully.
The fifth item was a request to reconsider the purchase of a new DPW truck, this time without borrowing funds from an outside source and incurring interest costs. Van Ess had formulated and distributed an inventory of all the DPW trucks with their age, their mileage, their condition and their uses. He explained the current need for another truck and the wisdom of purchasing the new one that had been proposed previously. A motion was made to purchase the new truck with $60,000 in funds borrowed interest-free from the General Fund. The loan would be paid back at $10,000 a year for six years with money put into the equipment fund and redirected to the general fund. The motion passed with one dissenting vote from Don Palmer.
The sixth and final item was related to the village manager position. Witherspoon thanked the council members for their role in making her 11 months as manager an amazing learning experience. She said that their insight, support and encouragement contributed greatly to her accomplishments. She thanked Van Ess for his work as interim manager and told council she thought they had a real treasure in him. She is confident in his ability to move the village forward. Van Ess also shared that in his five months as zoning administrator and working with Witherspoon, he was deeply impressed by her capacity for challenging work and her ability to get things done.
There were more than a dozen visitors present at the meeting. During the time for public comment, one resident remarked on the need for painting the street signs, which they said are barely readable and another resident shared concern about getting into the area of mental health with the service dog program. He wondered about the possible consequences of the dog biting someone.
Council President Mary Marshall closed the public part of the meeting with a positive comment, telling Witherspoon, “We are better because of you, and we will be better because of you.”
Then visitors were asked to leave while the council went into a closed session to discuss a memorandum of advice from the village attorney.
