Magic Numbers
A report on the February 19, 2026, budget hearing and council meeting
((((((((( Audio from the meeting )))))))))
The meeting was set for 6:30 because of the budget hearing, but started at 6:45 because two trustees were late. Bill O’Dwyer was flying, so council had a quorum, of three. The turnout among the public was relatively high, including the Personnel and Policy Committee chair, some of but not all the new appointees, and Father Chip from St. Phillips (who is a resident), in addition to the usual suspects.
The clerk provided the packet materials referenced in this report very promptly after I submitted a FOIA request. Since all these documents are matters of public record, I can share them with you, so if there’s something you’d like to see that I haven’t shown here, let me know! Or you can put in your own FOIA request. Here’s the email I sent:
The Budget Hearing
The president opened the public hearing for the budget at 6:48 with council discussion on the proposed fiscal year 2026–27 budget. I provide here a tightened-up rendition of the ensuing remarks. Please listen to the recording above if you want the exact wording.
President: We’ve been through budget meetings with this [budget], we went line by line. The proposed budget includes projected revenues, expenditures, and capital improvements. The capital improvements this year are sidewalks, which are a definite need, the amphitheater, which is another need, and the potential for sewer televizing, but we’ll see about that. We’re going to get a new truck; working with [the treasurer] and [the DPW superintendent] on that. In the Water Fund there are lead replacements and hopefully water meters; I did get word that the state wants more information for the grant, so that’s a good sign that it could be funded. We also have the Village Manager department in here.
Holmes: [Inaudible; but something suggesting that he had no comment.]
The president opened the public comment period at 6:48 (there was no council discussion). She noted that each speaker would have five minutes and that lack of response from council should not be interpreted as disinterest or disagreement.
Arlene Sweeting: “I submitted my questions in advance, and you probably have them in front of you, [so I’ll summarize]. I know you’re facing the issue of ADA accessibility on your website; we’re going to be looking at it too with our nonprofit [, the Elberta Labor Heritage Center], having to comply; you might want to think about allocating some funds for that, and maybe there’s enough flexibility within a budget category that you don’t need to specify it; but I would hate for you to not be able to have an outside person help you with that. I think there needs to be a lot more discussion of the Village Manager position. One of the things I thought about is allocating funds for recruitment, and thinking more about how we’ll recruit for that position; sometimes relocation assistance is included in that. The major streets and local streets equipment charges: I was trying to understand that from the budget meeting I attended, but they seem to be significantly higher [in the proposed budget], so I just wondered what was behind that, and then there was some inconsistency with the way retirement funds and Social Security and Medicare seem to appear throughout the budget.”
Emily Votruba: [I also submitted questions in advance and asked a shorter (but not by much) version at the meeting.] “Nothing against the clerk, I think she’s doing a great job, but normally when someone gets a raise above the cost of living there’s some sort of justification for it. I haven’t seen anything in the Personnel minutes or anything that describes an increase of duties. According to this budget she’s going to be getting a 14% raise [from $55,920 (this is including health stipend) to $64,480]. I just want to see what the rationale is. I’m sure there is one. I just would like to see it. Also the utility billing clerk wage has gone down [$22,000 to $17,500] and I’d like to know why that is; are there fewer hours, was it discovered that the job doesn’t take as long…. It was mentioned in a budget meeting that the water fund is in deficit, I would like to know by how much. The Village is consistently cited in audits for having material weaknesses in segregation of duties and internal controls, and that was part of the decision to hire a full-time clerk and treasurer in December of 2024. I would like to know how the decision was made to go from a full-time treasurer to a part-time treasurer. I never understood how that decision was made. We had made a point of passing an ordinance to create a full-time treasurer, and all of a sudden we have a part-time treasurer, so how did that happen. If a contractor [such as the code enforcement officer, who is budgeted to receive $3,500] chooses not to accept payment for services rendered, how are those funds reallocated? And I noticed there’s no resolution in the packet to allow officials to draw a wage to perform employee duties, so I assume this means that will not be allowed in the case of an emergency; is that not going to happen anymore? And finally, it seems that the Village Manager is a new official position, and I believe you cannot do that without an ordinance, so I don’t see how this [new department] can go through on the budget tonight.”
Cathy Anderson: [Cathy said she had also submitted her comments in advance.] “The Village has just come out of a 20-year deficit in its general fund; are there procedures or plans to rebuild a risk-tolerant fund balance, and is budgeting of the general fund, as proposed, to within $500, in accordance with that plan? Ideally, maintenance and capital improvement plans for the Village parks, buildings, and infrastructure inform the budget; I haven’t seen those plans, but the last time I saw them, I’m not sure they align with what the budget is, so I wanted to check on that and see what the council’s assessment is. When MDOT transferred the Life Saving Station to the Village, the terms and conditions of the agreement were that the rental income from the Life Saving Station be used for Waterfront Park and Life Saving Station maintenance, and the numbers do not balance out in this year’s budget, so I wanted to understand how that is being managed within the budget. And the final one, as other people said, the Village Manager position is a fairly big deal, to restructure and reorganize the Village government, and I think that should be taken on with a bit more consideration and discussion with the council and the public.”
President: “Anybody else? No? All right. Let’s see what we can do with this. If that’s it for public comment I’ll go back to recap with Council Trustees. I’ll start with Arlene’s questions.
“The increase in equipment charges reflects a change in how BS&A [software] records the equipment usage; because the major and local streets fund own DPW equipment, BS&A records both the usage expense and the matching revenue each payroll cycle. That’s different from how it was done in the past, so it creates an in-and-out entry that increases the total shown in the budget, but does not represent higher actual costs or increased equipment usage, but it probably is higher this year because of all the snow.
“The ADA compliance is definitely on our radar. We have it at the committee level right now. We will definitely allocate funds through the midyear on that, because we all have to be in compliance by April of 2027.
“The utility billing wage appeared to decrease this year because last year’s budget combined the wages of utility billing clerk and deputy clerk. This year represents only the utility billing clerk. The water fund as of February 18, 2026, shows a net position of $135,164.14; when you subtract the prior year [which was] in a deficit of $14,543, [it] reflects a surplus, but final figures will be confirmed in the annual audit. It was projected that we’d be out of it this year and it appears that we are.
“The Village has adopted several practices to rebuild a risk-tolerant general fund balance, including disciplined budgeting, improved internal controls, and more accurate cost allocations and multiyear planning. These practices helped the Village successfully exit the 20-year deficit, and further on down the agenda we have an RFP out for a five-year multi-budget operating and capital budget projection cash flow modeling that will allow us to project for the future and also include our capital projects and keep us above board moving forward.
“The General Law Village Act allows a village to employ a Village Manager, and appropriating funds for a potential position is both lawful and common practice. Budgeting for a possible future role does not create the position. It does not restructure the Village government and does not constitute any due process action. It simply reserves financial capacity should the council choose to move forward at a later date. If the council decides to formally establish the Village Manager position, that action would occur through a separate public process consistent with General Law Village Act and practice. The inclusion of the department in the draft budget is a planning mechanism and does not on its own establish the office or authorize hiring. It is simply to show that we can do it.
“I think we covered most of those. Council, would you like to bring up anything else?”
Ryan Fiebing: “In Arlene’s questions [sent ahead] she mentioned that the Village Manager position was budgeted at $33 an hour. Does that mean the salary in the budget is just for part of the year?”
President: “Yes, because by the time we’d get through all the processes of public hearings and creating the position, it would be a half year.”
Fiebing: “Is this costing us more overall?”
President: “It essentially will take us back to when we had a 32-hour full-time clerk and 32-hour full-time treasurer. The cost of the Village Manager is comparable to that. The difference is in how the duties are distributed. The manager provides professional administrative oversight, while the clerk and part-time treasurer handle the statutory and financial functions with clear separation of duties. So the proposed structure provides the best [inaudible] of cost, capacity, and internal controls. Most Villages, including even Lake Township, there’s material weaknesses in the audit because there’s not enough staff to cover the checks and balances.”
Fiebing: “I think the public brought up good comments and it does seem really important that there be more discussion, and as long as [its inclusion] in the budget is just a planning mechanism, that makes sense.”
President: “If we decide not to have one, we just reallocate.”
Holmes: “The only comment I have as far as the finances of the Waterfront Park and the Life Saving Station is that we’ve been doing the right thing with that as far as I can see.”
President: “And we’re going to get better. This is year one of being out of deficit. So we’re going to build that foundation and give back to that building that has so greatly deserved it for years.”
The public hearing was adjourned at 7:11.
Correspondence
The Elberta Dunes South Natural Area endowment fund has $149,281.26 in it. Last year $4,880 was disbursed to the Village to maintain EDNA, and the president said during the meeting that the money usually arrives in March. The letter from the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, which manages the endowment, said to expect a grant of $5,210.00.
Fire & Safety
The kids came by from the library on Monday and Chief Cederholm got to read a book to them. “It was great.” He said he would be streamlining the reports at the request of some of the entities. The pancake breakfast will be held Sunday, May 31, at 8 a.m. at Mayfair Burger Bar. A new resident in Lake Township called the department requesting their house be checked for carbon monoxide detectors; the department found only smoke detectors. The reason for the resident’s concern was the recent demise from carbon monoxide poisoning of a family of neighbors in their former location. The fire department advised the resident that the house’s smoke detectors were also over 10 years old and needed to be replaced anyway, with combination CO and smoke detectors, and told him where to put them. (This is a free service.)
Ten members of the Fire Advisory Board (Maryanne Goodman and Penny Georgevich of Lake Twp, Bruce Walton and Jill Marble of Crystal Lake Twp, Dan Carter and Dave Bissell of Gilmore Twp, Jennifer Wilkins of Elberta, and Dale Charters and JoAnn Holwerda of Frankfort) met on January 29 and approved the Fire and First Responder budget and services agreement for 2026-27, which will be brought to each service area board for final approval.
At the January 10 annual department banquet, firefighter Shawn Decker and Lt. Melanie Cederholm were recognized by their peers in the department for their exemplary service.
Approval of Bills
The president noted that she was recusing herself from the payroll vote “for the last time.” Council voted to approve the AP with no questions. Since there was just a quorum of three and the president was recused from the payroll vote, the payroll vote by just two members was not valid. But it went ahead anyway, with Fiebing and Holmes both voting to approve payroll. “I’m so glad this will be over,” the president said.
Revenue and Expenditure Report and MiClass Statement
Resolution to Adopt the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget
The president entertained questions on the resolution. “It’s pretty much the same one we do every year,” she said. There were no questions, and Holmes made the motion to adopt it.
Resolutions 2026-001 Wage and Compensation for Appointed and Elected Officials and 2026-002 Wage and Compensation Resolution for Employees
Regarding Resolution 2026-001, the president said the updated health insurance stipend “keeps the Village aligned with current benefit costs and supports recruitment and retention. That’s the only change. Everything else is the same.” The employee wages, she said, would be reevaluated at the 90-day review and any wage adjustments would be brought to council then. Both resolutions were adopted.
Annual Liability Insurance Renewal: Municipal Underwriters of West Michigan
The president said our cost was going up by about $2,000. “Municipal Underwriters continues to be a strong fit for the Village due to their municipal specialization, their responsive support, and inclusion of cybersecurity coverage,” she said. Holmes said he thought we were getting a pretty good price. The annual premium cost approved was $17,723.00.
USDA Resident Income Survey
The survey potentially activates (or deactivates) some funding opportunities. The president said she’d allow Ken Mlcek to explain the process.
“[Fleis & VandenBrink has] done projects with the Village over the years, and you have received grants from both USDA and EGLE. Over time the income of the Village has risen, as it has everywhere, but it rose pretty fast here. The last time we did applications the average income was in the high 30s, low 40s, and now, according to the 2020 census, it’s about $77,000 per household. That may be inaccurate, but it takes you out of grant contention for both those agencies. For USDA you have to be less than $67K to be eligible and for EGLE you have to be less than $58K. So we may find that the census information is accurate and appropriate, but the thought was to perform an income survey to verify that. There’s not much to lose [since we’re out of contention now on the basis of census data]. The survey has to be performed by an independent third party. Great Lakes Community Action Partnership performs these surveys for free except for the Village’s postage cost. The initial survey will be sent out by mail. If you don’t respond, there will be another mailing, and if you still don’t respond, you may get a knock at the door. It’s pretty important and there is a required minimum response rate [for the numbers to count], so keep your eye out for that in the next couple of months,” Mlcek said.
Several members of the public asked questions, which produced the following answers from Mlcek: Both homeowners and renters are asked to complete the survey. Nonpermanent residents will be surveyed, but the intent is to collect income information from residents; there will be a box on the form to note whether Elberta is your primary or secondary home. The income is the net income for the entire household for anybody over the age of 15. Jon Ottinger (former Planning Commission chair) said that during the master plan process the income numbers were similar, and that with only 200 or so households, “one or two households can really skew the line.”
Council approved the income survey proposal request.
Final Budget Amendment Resolution for Fiscal Year 2025-26
The following budget amendments were approved.
Appointments of Planning Commission and Council Applicants
Three people applied for the two open Planning Commission seats and three people for the one open council seat. In the packet were applications and interview scores for Dan Carter and Jill Fogg (Planning Commission) but no record of my application or interview for that position. There was an application and interview score for Tammy Radionoff, the successful council seat applicant, and applications but no interview scores for Charlie Thompson and Arlene Sweeting, who also applied. I don’t know for sure that Charlie Thompson was interviewed, but I was present at Arlene’s interview.
“This appointment recommendation was made using the Village’s newly adopted board, commission, and committee recommendation criteria policy, which provided a clear, consistent, and transparent framework for evaluating applicants,” the president said. “I really enjoyed the process, and I learned a lot about the people this way. We have Barb [Wirtz’s] recommendation, as chair [of the Personnel and Policy Committee]. The first candidate, for appointment to the planning commission, is Dan Carter. Dan brings to the table an extensive background in construction and engineering. He has worked on planning commissions in other communities and has significant experience in all aspects of decision making at this level. Dan is a longtime resident of this area and wants to bring his talents to help strengthen the Village. Dan’s in the audience if anyone wants to ask him anything.” Fiebing made a motion to approve Carter.
“The policy again proved effective with talking with Jill [Fogg]—with all the applicants, for that matter,” the president said. “Barb would you like to comment on the process at all?”
“We implemented this policy to try to bring some structure to getting people in the right positions at the right time. By pure coincidence we got far more applications* for the positions than we have in the past. It’s a good problem to have. It means that people are bcoming very invested in the community and looking to do what they can to make it better. Any one of the applicants would have done a great job for us, but we did make some choices. We had four people on the selection committee. We used a rubric to score them and we discussed the applications, so we had both objective and subjective data.”
[ * I gotta beg to differ here. This is not strictly true. It may have been coincidental that ultimately there were more applications than there were empty seats, but as of the packet deadline for the December council meeting (December 13), there were just enough applicants (Votruba, Carter, and Sweeting) to fill the vacant seats on PC and Council, and the candidates could have been interviewed and voted on at that meeting in the usual way. One of them could even have been rejected if they were deemed unfit. But if at least one PC applicant was seated, this would have prevented the Planning Commission from missing two meetings due to lack of quorum. But the president moved to table the decision at the December meeting and made a unilateral decision at the January meeting to wait to fill the positions until after the policy was adopted.]
The president said, “Jill Fogg is a relative newcomer to the community eager to use her skills to help Elberta navigate the challenges ahead. She is a retired attorney who was employed by major corporations and has experience working in contracts and with governmental agencies. Jill is experienced in proposal development and evaluation and contracts. In addition, she has used her talents working with low income residents and housing issues and negotiating with bank organizations and housing commissions. I noticed that Jill has a wealth of experience and an ability to absorb information, so I recommend Jill Fogg.”
Council Appointment
“Every candidate who applied was qualified. I really, really loved this process,”the president said. Tammy Radionoff was present at the meeting. “Tammy is a longtime resident of the area. After many years living in the county she has made Elberta her home. She has been a small business owner in Beulah and a barber as well as a nurse practitioner. In both her careers her efforts have touched people in personal and big picture ways. Tammy was serving on Beaver Island as the community health officer when Covid hit. During this crisis Tammy worked with government and other agencies to help navigate the challenging health landscape and keep her community safe. Does anybody have any questions for Tammy? Welcome aboard, Tammy.”
Council Renewed the Contract With Kristine Mills to Manage the ELSS
“Kristi has consistently met expectations for management, communication, and coordination with Village staff. The renewal terms remain aligned with both best practice and the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget. Kristi could not be here tonight because they’re both bowling coaches for Frankfort, her and Josh,” said the president.
On-Call DPW Resignation
The resignation letter from the on-call DPW worker was in the council packet. The president didn’t read it, and I wondered whether or not to include it here. It contains some spicy language, and states some reasons for resigning that differ from the ones given by the president during the meeting (the president said the on-call DPW staff person was simply too busy). The letter cites complaints from residents about plowing, poor communication within the department, and the “constant headaches and division the ‘so-called’ Elberta Alert seems to be causing.” Since he took the trouble to write the letter and express his strong thoughts, it seems respectful to include them. Council voted to accept his resignation.
Purchasing and Disbursement Procedures & Supplemental Policies Amendment
“This amendment updates the Village’s old procedure and reflects current practices, clarifies expectations, and ensures consistency with our broader policy framework, and as with all our Village policies, we run it through the committees, so it’s been through BGFAC and Personnel and Policy and then we run it through the attorneys and make changes that they suggest, and then we take it to Council, and this one has succeeded all three levels. The updates strengthen internal controls, improve transparency, and support staff in applying the procedures accurately,” said the president.
Wage, Timekeeping, Payroll, Overtime, and Leave Policy
“This one combined a lot of policies together from our old book. We combined wage, payroll, overtime. This policy has been through [BGFAC] and the Personnel and Policy committee and the Village Attorney as well. It includes the new ESTA formulas and all the things that have happened recently. It unifies the policy into one spot whereas they were all separate and not really cohesive. It’s a heck of a lot easier to understand. It will help the clerk tremendously in the payroll process. Over on page 3 where it says that overtime and excess hours must be approved in advance by the President or Pro Tempore, we can add ‘or Village Manager,’ and then if we get one, we get one, if we don’t, it doesn’t matter. Everything highlighted is what the attorney suggested.” Council adopted the policy.
President’s State Savings Bank and Honor Bank Access Change to View Only and Signatory
“This is me. I’m excited that we have people in the office that are qualified and familiar with the operational needs of the banking functions and this will appropriately shift things back to the clerk and treasurer and get me back as being only the president.” Council voted unanimously in a non roll call vote; it was unclear whether the president abstained or not, since she did not say “aye.”
RFP for Five-Year Operating & Capital Budget Projection With Cash Flow Modeling
“This will help us support long-term fiscal planning. It will strengthen the Village’s ability to prepare for future infrastructure needs, and it will ensure continued financial stability following the successful resolution of the general fund deficit. This RFP outlines clear deliverables, including transparent formula-driven models, scenario analysis, and a user guide to support staff and council in budget development. This was reviewed by the Village attorney and I’m looking for a motion to approve the request and have the clerk issue the RFP to licensed CPA firms,” read the president. “Side note on this is I will run it through State Treasury for funding. We’ve already done that with codification, so this will be another one.” Council voted in the affirmative. “When council selects a CPA firm, then the president will submit a request for funding to State Treasury,” the president said.
RFP External Audit Services
“It’s audit time. Same thing. This one, we’re going to pay for, because we usually do. I’m looking to get proposals for a multi-year contract. I have our grant information in here, because next year we’ll probably be doing a federal audit, which is a single audit, so that price will be different, so they will need to know that,” said the president. Council approved the RFP.
“Oh my gosh, we did it,” said the president.
County Commissioner’s Report
“Nice to see a lot of folks here. Gilmore and Joyfield and Benzonia are going to get together for early voting at the Benzonia Township Hall [the new one, at 2717 Benzie Highway]. You can still get your absentee ballot. I thought it was a good idea to save a few bucks. The health department was talking about a rural health transformation program and there’s $173,128,201 in funding statewide, so hopefully there’s some funding there because our programs were cut pretty good. We had to increase the fees because the lab costs went up on the water tests. Parks and Rec, we got approval from the DNR for the Crystal Lake outlet project; they had two requests: they want the project to be called a boat launch, and they want a separation between the parking lot and the Betsie Valley Trail, probably just a fence of some sort, an obvious separation. The Board of Commissioners have taken the advice of the tax reallocation committee or whatever you call ’em and in August you’ll be asked to approve or not approve an increase; currently we’re at 3.2399; we’re asking for it to go to 4.4399, so it’s a full mil, but they’re talking about throwing the SRO on to that and taking the animal control off that and TNT, so there would be some reduction. The administrator will be coming with us to help explain it. In the Village of Benzonia they’re looking for a clerk. They also said there’s an updated handbook for the village from the MML? Anyway, I just thought I’d mention it. And Brigit Hassig of Benzie Senior Resources has resigned, so they’ll be looking for a new person there.” (Jon Ottinger mentioned that the interim executive director is Kelly Ottinger.) “And you’ve probably read in the paper or heard the rumors that Benzie County is looking to purchase the old Benzonia Township Building there on 31 by the restaurants, and the objective is—now that the cat’s out of the bag—to move in an EMS station there and have at least one more full-time ambulance. In the summer we go to four, but most of the time we have three.”
Site Plan for Lot Between Post Office and Lane Plumbing
It’s not in the packet materials I received, but the zoning administrator reviewed a site plan for what I have been told is a food truck and craft vending area for that space. The president mentioned the site plan and special use application but didn’t say what it was for.
Planning Commission
Fiebing said the commission unfortunately hadn’t met this month but during the next meeting would continue reviewing the final draft of the zoning ordinance and decide if they’re ready to hold a public hearing.
DPW Report
The superintendent said there had been a water leak on an old line to a building that’s no longer on the north side of Frankfort Avenue and Crapo; they were able to shut it off. During the windstorm the door of the loader was blown open and shattered, so they spent one morning plowing with no door; it’s now fixed.
Clerk’s Report
Short-term rental contracts are coming in; there are 13 complete so far. She’s continuing the process of moving processes and filing from paper to digital; there’s been progress with making payments through ACH. There are always more modules to learn in BS&A and ways to take advantage of that system. She will be attending the clerk’s training in Mt. Pleasant; the program is once a year for three years.
Treasurer’s Report
She had submitted a written report, which was not in the packet materials I received. The president said that obstacles to getting into state reporting systems have now been overcome.
BLUA
Holmes said a surge (?) on a power line had burnt up one of the pumps. The pump station was just about complete. Most of the material that was on order has been received.
Development Committee
The president said she’d received word that the pre-development agreement with Artemis might be signed the following week.
Historic District Study Committee
Arlene Sweeting is trying to get the word out that there’s a historic homes survey up on the Village website. She had copies at the meeting. “We’re trying to collect as much information as we can as we try to put together an inventory of Elberta’s historic resources. We also found that the Life Saving Station right now does not have any historic designation even though it was deemed eligible for National Landmark Status back in 1990. There was a little hiccup with the application and it didn’t get approved. So we would like to update it and resubmit it, so I kind of got Jen’s blessing to do that but I did also prepare a memo and I’d like to have the whole council endorse that. We meet the first Tuesday of the month if anyone wants to hop on a Zoom call or come to our house and join us.”
Final Public Comment
Arlene Sweeting said, “I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of our Village president and our staff in doing the day-to-day work that keeps this Village moving forward. I also want to thank Cathy Anderson, who really did a quite detailed presentation on the budget that helped me and I think others who were able to attend understand where the money comes from, where the money goes; that presentation is now available on the internet for anyone who might be interested in checking it out. Elberta has a lot of important decisions coming up this year with the development, with the Village manager, with the new park, all kinds of things happening; I think it’s very important that we create spaces where people feel heard and encouraged to contribute, and most importantly, that we remember that we’re neighbors first. And in light of that! I want to invite everybody to Winter Friday tomorrow. What started last year at the Life Saving Station is now at the Elberta Heritage Center and from 6 to 9 tomorrow night we’ll be playing games and sharing conversation and just hanging out, so come hang out with us. And I did notice that the church is having their community dinner Saturday from 4 to 6.”
[Sorry I didn’t get this report out sooner :) ]
Ramble On!
Benzie Shores Library Hosts Fellowship of the Ring Reading Group
The Village of Benzonia Is Also Looking for a Planning Commission Member, I Hear
Send an email to clerk@villagebenzonia.com.
Monument to the Passenger Pigeon
Here’s a story I just saw that warmed the very cockles of my heart, or perhaps the beechnuts in my craw: a monument dedicated to the memory of the passenger pigeon will be unveiled in Petoskey on June 19. You can read the article in the Petoskey News-Review. I thank Yahoo! for coughing it up to me. I am now a loyal subscriber to PNR at $1 per month!
You can read more about this beautiful bird (which wasn’t really a pigeon, by the way) in this article in the Freshwater Reporter from 2021, or take in the incredible lecture by Jess Piskor at the Inland Seas Education Association Cafe lecture series on March 3: “Beech Trees & Passenger Pigeons: A Love Story.” I heard an earlier version of this talk last year at Nerd Nite at Tank Space and it has never left me. Someone else on a text thread put it best: “It changed my life. The gold standard in presentations. Probably better to say the wood standard: cozy, adventuresome, durable, useful, gorgeous, a balm.”
[Edited evening of 2/23/26; numerous typos fixed]