At the Oct. 13 Pentwater Village Council meeting, the Village Treasurer/Clerk Rande Listerman’s notice of retirement was received with regret. Her last day in the office will be Jan. 2, 2026. Council member Kathy O’Connor thanked Listerman for the leadership and the mentoring she provided during times of personnel turnover and transition in the office. In addition to finding a replacement for Listerman, Manager Toby VanEss announced that he is looking for an experienced zoning administrator, and in the future he will be looking for a new DPW supervisor. Current Supervisor Jeff Gier’s last day with the village is very soon since he accepted an offer from the City of Ludington.
Correspondence to the village included a letter from Bill Fromm, who expressed concern about the increased costs to rental property owners. Dean Jessup sent a letter from the Pentwater Sportfishing Association with a gift of $1,000 for the upkeep of the fish cleaning station. During public comments, Ron Bach asked for action to be taken to remove three dead trees located on village-owned property that posed a serious threat to electric lines and the two homeowners on either side of village-owned easement. Via Zoom, Pentwater Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Eva Gregwer thanked the council and all village employees who had helped make Oktoberfest a big success on Oct. 11.
The treasurer’s report was received for information, and Listerman reported the audit was completed. The final audit information will be presented at the Oct. 27 council meeting. President Mary Marshall read a proclamation for Citizen of the Year for Bart Zachrich, which council approved. Marshall is also looking for two new appointees to the DDA to replace the two members who have resigned.
Since there were no further reports and no unfinished business items, the meeting was turned over to Chet Janik, consultant from the Michigan Leadership Institute, and members of the Steering Committee for the Strategic Plan (Amy LaBarge, Dean Gustafson and Kyle Jansen). The group shared with council their first draft of a Mission Statement, a Vision Statement, Guiding Principles (meant for an internal document for staff use) and five Goals. An hour was spent in listening to the drafted material, discussing the thoughts behind the draft and wordsmithing the phrases. There was council support for the list of potential goals, although a concern was expressed that the goals be strongly connected to the Pillars on which they are based. Janik reminded the group that pursuing the goals is a five-year process and quarterly updates with possible revisions are wise.
Community responses to the SWOT survey pointed to a lack of services for seniors, especially those who want to stay in the community as they age. O’Connor recalled that the community voted some years ago to dispense with the services Pentwater once had and to pay a millage for centralized senior services at the Oceana Council on Aging Center in Hart. She suggested, and several others agreed with her, that members of the Pentwater community are not aware of all the services and opportunities available in Hart. One step would be getting information and sharing it.
Marshall thanked Janik and the Steering Committee for their work. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Council attendance included Don Palmer, Karl Schrumpf, Marshall, Jared Griffis, and O’Connor. Dave Bluhm was absent and Dan Nugent missed the first half of the meeting.
