May Flowers
A report on the April 17, 2025, regular council meeting, and dead wood
As usual, the official draft meeting minutes are on the Village website, and this is especially impressive because our dear clerk, Rachel Perkins, was ill and missed the meeting. She’s better now.
((((((((( Audio of the meeting )))))))))
There was a collective mournful sigh as President Wilkins called the roll and Brett McGregor did not answer, because he was not there. We reluctantly voted to accept his letter of resignation later in the meeting—the McGregors have moved to Frankfort. We thank Brett for his tremendous contribution to the Village over the past few years on Parks & Rec and on Council. Jen cited his “teamwork approach,” in particular. His voice of reason was an important one as we navigated uncharted waters during the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy’s acquisition of the Elberta Land Holding Company property. In his letter, Brett said he was looking forward to continuing to contribute to Elberta on committees and working groups, and this we hope he does; he still serves on the Budget, Grant, Finance, and Audit Committee. The McGregors’ Elberta house has a long-term renter now, according to Bree McGregor, whom I ran into at another meeting.
So …
Council Seeks New Member!
According to our code, council trustees must be “qualified electors of the Village,” meaning they’re registered to vote in Elberta. If you meet that qualification and would like to apply to be appointed, please do, by filling out the committee application form. In addition to the application (which is pretty basic) Jen said she’d like council to meet with prospective candidates to give them a sense of what they’re in for before we vote anyone in. We need active board members! (Like Brett.) Brett was elected to serve a term that ends in 2028, but the appointee would serve only until the next election, which is in 2026—so you’re only committing to 18 months.
Even if you don’t vote in the Village or live here full-time, you can still get more involved. For one thing, I need someone to help with crafting and revamping policies and ordinances to present to council—if you’ve always wanted to legislate, join the Personnel and Policy Committee! The Historical Preservation Committee, which Brett served on, also needs members. We could probably use a Tree Committee (see below). Or maybe you have an idea for something brand new.
New Online Bill Pay System: Goodbye, Point&Pay. Hello, BS&A
Jon Ottinger, Utility Billing Clerk (and Planning Commission chair) had an in-person training on the Badger water meter system and how it works with our BS&A accounting software, as well as a training on the new online payment system. If you’ve been using the Point&Pay system to pay your utility bills or taxes online, now’s the time to switch to the new BS&A system. It’s live. Go to the Utility Billing page on the Village website to set yourself up. You can even make donations to Parks & Rec online!
Emergency Management Plan
We received a large packet of information about the need to plan for wreckage disposal during and after large-scale events such as the catastrophic ice storm in mid- and eastern Northern Michigan last month. Justin and Jen were to meet with Rebecca Hubers to discuss this. Justin said part of the plan includes identifying places to temporarily put downed trees and dangerous debris carried by wind and water (appliances, sheets of metal and glass, asbestos, concrete, other trash); for now those places will be Holmes Field, the existing brush pile (for vegetation), and behind the ball field. Jen said the plan will be incorporated into the emergency manual already posted in every well house and municipal building.
Fire & Safety
See Cederholm’s reports here. We received copies of the service contracts for fire and EMS that are to be approved (we hope) at Gilmore Township’s May meeting and lent them our support. This year Gilmore and Elberta will pay $18,583.00 for medical first response and $56,229.00 for fire response. I can show you the contracts if you want to see them.
The department had just watched a four-hour FAA aviation accident emergency response webinar. “There were people from all over the world in that training. We were talking, sharing notes. It was pretty good!” Chief Cederholm said. The onboard chest compressor had quit and a new one was on order. The battery for the backup controls on the ladder truck was out for repair, after an incident in which Cederholm had been up in the basket fixing the flag pole rope at Crystal Lake Township and started swinging about. April 8 saw a pre–Fourth of July planning meeting, which Justin also attended: Cederholm said he wanted to meet with Frankfort chief of police Mark Ketz and others to set up a transit system to get exhausted walkers and people with mobility issues back to their cars after the fireworks. The chief had done a lockdown drill at the high school that day—“never a fun event, but we have to have them anyways.” On the 23rd he was to meet with Anne Gwaltney at the elementary school to discuss the summer safety program; “I have to mix it up a bit because these kids are smart and they’ll say ‘Well, I saw that last year.’” Along with the thunderstorm preparedness materials (on the Village website), Cederholm included a pet checklist: “They’re scared to death. They don’t know what’s going on.” In his happy notes, he said, “As we experience the wrath of spring, it’s humbling to see the dedication of everyone coming out in the middle of the night, early in the morning, to help people; it’s snowing one day, raining the next, windy and nasty … we make that call.” Cederholm noted the splintered trees all over the county due to 45–50 mph wind gusts.
Check Register, Payroll, and Financial Report
The new Lifesaving Station doors created by RJ Raven are done and were in the LSS waiting to be installed at the time of the meeting. “They are gorgeous,” Jen said.
“Weird things” were going on in the budget (things in weird spots), Jen said, and the BGFAC committee was to meet the following week to try to figure it out. Treasurer Jan Erlewein is preparing for the audit, and the sorting of weirdness will be part of that. Our investment accounts became more interesting by $1,617.21 this month. Jen is hoping to get an equipment fund set up in MiClass and to split the major and local streets funds (currently combined).
Jan had a milestone: She submitted the monthly DEP (deficit elimination plan) report and the ARPA report to their respective agencies and was waiting to hear back. “No news is good news,” Jen said.
Appointment of a New Planning Commission Member
We received two applications forms: one from Jim Barnes and one from Jim Baldwin, neither of whom were at this meeting. “Did they know it was going to happen tonight?” I asked.
Ryan Fiebing said the planning commission had discussed the applicants [Commission chair Jon Ottinger wrote with a clarification: the commission had not had a chance to meet and review the applicants ahead of the council meeting, so a formal planning commission recommendation had not been made. 5/2/25] Jim Baldwin is a nonresident but a current property and business owner (of 603 Frankfort Avenue, the former Conundrum Café, now a short-term rental); his “experience in commercial site development would be a benefit to us given the [waterfront] redevelopment property,” Ryan said. Baldwin also served in law enforcement in Maple Rapids, Corunna, and Livingston County, which made me wonder aloud whether he might fill our vacant code enforcement officer position. Jen suggested tabling and having the two come to our May council meeting, giving them an opportunity to attend the May planning commission meeting ahead of time as well. Ryan said it would be helpful to have someone as soon as possible given the ongoing and urgent zoning ordinance rewrite. Jen also wondered if Jim Baldwin would be able to physically attend meetings since he’s not a resident. I said he seemed to be in the Village fairly often tending to his business. We expressed our faith that Jim Barnes would still love us if we chose Jim Baldwin. “[Baldwin] put a lot of money into that [meaning 603 Frankfort]. Hire him,” Ken Holmes said. The council then voted to appoint Jim Baldwin to the planning commission. [5/1/25] Jen said she has plans for Jim Barnes.
Parks & Rec Membership Renewals: Bill Soper and Jennifer Wilkins
Both had written letters requesting to continue their membership for another three years (the standard membership term). Jen has been Parks & Rec secretary for six years and was a member for quite a while before that. Bill has been on and off, mostly on, Park & Rec for probably 25 years. (Someone should talk to him about that.) Jen mentioned that Arlene Sweeting (who was at this meeting) would be onboarded to the commission in May.
Beach Pavilion Rental Contract
Rachel is streamlining our rental contracts (thank God) (and Rachel) on the basis of her on-the-job experience dealing with Village facilities rentals so far. I suggested that we stipulate that balloons and other potential beach trash not be allowed during these beach pavilion rental events. Biodegradable glitter is maybe OK? I learned a new thing, which is that those picnic tables are bolted down, so the rule against removing Village furnishings may be superfluous in this case. Jan Erlewein asked if there would be surveillance cameras, and Jen said eventually yes. We tabled the contract approval, pending the lining of the streams.
“Most people would take a look at that contract and say forget it,” Ken said.
New Business No. 6: Tree Removal
This agenda item was added at the beginning of the meeting, and I didn’t notice the past tense. I think I still would have voted no if my brain had registered that the work had already been done, with the trees completely removed, and that we were just voting to approve paying for it.
Addressing Ken Holmes (our Village Lorax), Jen said, “I know this is not your favorite, but these were diseased trees. They will be replaced. It was budgeted, but it was over the $5,000 mark” meaning the expense triggered an approval process. I asked who determined the diseasedness. Jen said Dunscombe & Sons, the contracted tree removal service, did. Justin said a lot of the trees that were removed were already losing large limbs, and the one on Acre had a limb come down next to the house on the corner. He said they had determined after cutting dead limbs that the trees could not be saved. Ken said the trees on Cartwright seemed to him to be dead, but showed some pictures he had taken on his digital camera of sections cut from the maples on Acre and Lincoln, which he felt did not show any signs of rot. Justin said it wasn’t just the rot but the damage from woodpeckers that had inspired the removal. Holmes said in his experience, “especially with maple trees, if you cut a swatch out of the top of them it’ll come right back. My wish is that if there’s any way to trim them up, do it. A few years ago, a neighbor cut the whole inside out of a tree like this, and two years later it had rebranched and it’s been back in business for thirty years. That’s what makes our fresh air in Elberta. Those trees.”
“We took public safety as the biggest factor,” Justin said.
“The homeowners don’t own those trees,” Holmes said.
“We also considered the parked cars and people walking down the sidewalk,” Justin said.
“Look them over pretty good before you cut them,” Holmes said.
“It is true that trees will grow back from pretty drastic trimming,” I said (having done some very drastic trimming on my property). “I’m sure Dunscombe knows what they’re doing, but at the same time, it’s in their interest to cut the trees down [and make that paper].” I did hear after the meeting from a couple of concerned residents who were upset that the trees had come down and were not convinced they had needed to be completely eliminated.
I talked to Paul Gerhart (a local tree surgeon), and Ellie Johnson, the district forester, got a copy of the Benzonia tree ordinance, and talked to a few other residents about the issue, and I’m going to draft a tree policy and ordinance for review at our Personnel and Policy Committee meeting this week. If anyone wants to be part of a tree committee, please let me know! It might be fun and useful to do an inventory of our mature street trees, which are such a huge (literally) asset to our community, and come up with a protocol of regular checks and third-party inspection to make sure we keep our street trees effectively pruned for the health and safety of all Village species.
County Commissioner’s Report
“We had a long meeting on the first of April because we didn’t have any in March, so we were there a long time.… One of the things that stuck out was concerns about money cutbacks. The health department was told they were going to be reduced by about $300,000 and it was, I can’t remember what they call it—the community connections and those things. They were able to get a little bit ahead of it, one person’s going to retire early and a few other adjustments were made … there’s some money from other things they can use. The trouble with the health department, everything’s so siloed. The money only goes to certain things, you can’t jump around and use it for something else, so luckily, they were able to work it out. I was happy to hear that.” I asked what the cuts were. “I think it was DHHS cuts. A lot of things we’re doing are funded by DHHS. The reality is that’s their job, but they’re farming it over to the health department to get them to do it. I think it involves some of the school nurse things. Financially I think they can work it out.”
Yesterday I checked in with Jeff Tousley and Amiee Erfourth, superintendents of FEAS and Benzie schools, respectively, to see if their school nurse programs have been affected. Tousley said he was looking into it and would get back to me. In an email, Erfourth wrote: “Benzie has a School Wellness Program (SWP) funded by the state that provides a nurse and social worker for the middle school, high school, and Homestead Hills Elementary. Betsie Valley and Lake Ann Elementary share a nurse (they each get 2 days a week), and that program’s funding has been cut. We are looking for ways we might be able to fund this program as it is very valuable.”
Sauer continued his report, with the Maples: “They’re about as close to 100 percent occupancy as you can get,” with 80 beds and 87 percent local residents. “Road Commission has a virtual presentation, I’m sure they’ll be coming here.… They’re starting the trail from Beulah to Case Road. Elmer’s did the dirt work. If they ever do away with the load limits we’re going to pave that.… The tax advisory committee was set up and they should meet starting in May.… Joyfield is working on a CREO for green energy. They seem to have a lot of opposition to certain things. They want to do the green energy thing in only one area of the township. The CREO is, basically, that you agree with the Michigan public service commission and their rules and you’ll do nothing more stringent than their rules. That’s still going to court. Attended the MAC conference in Lansing. They discussed the juvenile bed shortage; they’re trying to get the funding to make a brick and mortar facility up here, because right now a lot of these kids are going to Tennessee and all over the place because we don’t have anything in the state of Michigan anymore. Our office was asked to talk about a ransomware attack we had; we were ahead of the game, so we didn’t get into the trouble that Wexford did.… They talked about a constitutional convention coming up in 2026, it’ll be on the ballot again. It’s an opportunity to change some of the things in the state constitution if it passes. It’ll be similar to the redistricting thing. It’ll be a group of individuals and they’ll bring things forward. Last time anything was done with our constitution was in the ’60s. If the right things are done it might be a good thing. They talked about the roads quite a bit. [The House proposes to] take the sales tax for gasoline and put it directly to roads. If it all went to roads, it would almost double what we got last year. Ours would go from $5 million to over $10 million. So there’s quite an opportunity there. I’m sure you’re going to get some opposition from the schools because a lot of that sales tax goes there, but, just my opinion, what you pay in gas tax should go to our roads. The AXMITAX thing is coming again, so those petitions should be coming out shortly.” (I had to ask, because I had never heard of this.) “They want to do away with property tax and require the state to fund counties and villages. The reason we have property tax in this state is strictly because the legislature made it the only way to fund the counties. It’s kind of a tax that’s only directed at certain individuals. It would require the legislature to do their job if it ever passed. They tried it last time but it never got on the ballot.… EGLE finally approved the Pt. Betsie project. Finally! That’s a group I think they could cut the funding out of. And Evan Warsecke resigned, so we need a new commissioner from Colfax and part of Inland. I think it’s District 6.”
Zoning Administrator’s Report
A house was demolished on, and there’s new construction on, the end of First Street.
Planning Commission
The commission had gotten through three articles of the new zoning ordinance but Ryan said there is still a lot to do.
DPW Team Meeting Report
Jen said spring planters will be coming out soon, along with a couple of dozen new water meters. As of this weekend, the kayak launch at Penfold was operational again for the season. A new radar speed sign will be installed near Van Brocklin. Other signs lost in the wind will be replaced. Justin reported on clearing upturned sod in the wake of the road commission’s snowplowing efforts, as well as sand and other debris in gutters. They met with Bob Kerby to discuss the potholes on Bigley at “Bills Corner” (these holes are, yes, bigly; but are they worthy of the Pothole Payback Contest?). Justin will be getting a letter from EGLE soon about his water license test days. They had a training in East Jordan on turning hydrant valves, took a tour of the East Jordan Iron Works casting plant, and witnessed the storm destruction in Almira: “Yikes.”
They met with a rep from a company that makes monitoring instruments for well houses and lift stations, in particular an infrared sensor that would eliminate the need to reach down into the well to pull a chain up to measure the flow; the sensor can measure the high and low water levels and it interfaces with the SCADA system. “You reach down a foot instead of way down, in the gross, and it will eliminate some future maintenance.”
The beach: “All the handicapped markings in the parking lot are gone. The ones by the benches are still there, it’s just the parking area. It might have been too cold when they painted it…” A couple of people have tried to drive up the hill (dune) to the beach, so they’re looking to extend the split rail fence. And someone drove up to the Beach Pavilion and back, so a bollard may go there; “they took the parking block with them. It’s one thing after another. And we’ve also got the issue of people doing donuts around the parking circle. Once we get the cameras in, we can catch a couple plates.” Justin said Police Chief Ketz mentioned a federal grant to fund an officer here. Holmes said, “Keep up the good work. Things are looking damn near better here than they have in a long time.”
BLUA
I had attended my first BLUA meeting that very morning, and I will be posting something on it soon. One thing I learned is that the capacity is 500,000 gallons per day, but we’re only using 380K–400K, according to superintendent Chad Marshall. The renovations we agreed to fund with Frankfort via a bond will bring capacity to 1 million gallons per day. This loan will fold in the last loan, which is not paid off yet. One thing I’m curious about is the percentages of use that come from residential, commercial (Graceland, Stormcloud, etc.), the hospital, schools, and septage hauling. BLUA takes septage from a ways away. There’s a canning company in East Jordan that wanted to haul waste water to BLUA; they’re currently taking it somewhere in the middle of the state; Chad said BLUA could give them no joy as of now.
Upcoming Events
Jeez, you can tell winter is over because there’s way too much going on all of a sudden.
Events Inside Elberta
Now Hydrant flushing near George McManus Street
Soon Elberta Pizza Co. Grand Opening. Stay tuned for an exclusive interview with the owners! EPC is located in the old Elberto’s/Carried Away Gourmet location near the Duck’s Head on Frankfort Ave./M22.
May 7 High School service project: sand removal at Elberta Beach; Planning Commission Meeting, 5:30 pm
May 8 Parks and Recreation Meeting, 7 pm, Penfold Park
May 10 Community Dinner
May 15 Council Meeting
May 22 Farmers Market Opens, 8 am to noon, Penfold Park. Sue Oseland, our former market master and a broadcast professional, will be interviewing people at the Market as part of her WUWU Thursday show. Maybe she can find out whether tariffs, funding freezes, and department cuts have affected area farmers. Do any of our market vendors hire migrant workers?
May 24 2nd Annual Elberta Turtlefest! 10 am to 4 pm. Mark and Carol Carlin have already spotted someone helping a turtle cross on 115 between the Betsie Valley Trail and Grow Benzie, so fertile turtles may be on the move. For Turtlefest we’ll install the official MDOT turtle crossing signs, and repurpose some political lawn signs with colorful paint to remind drivers to slow down and watch for turtles (and their human helpers) in the Village and elsewhere. We’ll have a visit from a representative of Sleeping Bear Wildlife Fund rehabilitation center and learn about the lifecycle and incredible resilience of these ancient creatures and how to safely help them on their way. All materials and some healthy beverages provided. If you’d like to volunteer or send a suggestion, send me an email at emilyvotruba@yahoo.com.
Everybody’s doing it! Photo by Pat Stinson of the Freshwater Reporter.
Events Outside Elberta
May 1 Benzie Dems post office rallies in Frankfort, Benzonia, and Honor, from 4 to 5 pm. Clothing swap at Grow Benzie, 4 to 7 pm. Live raptors from Skegemog Raptor Center at the Mills House, 7 pm.
May 4 A Jane’s Walk and a Northwest Food Coalition Event in Traverse City
May 8 A talk by Alan Luedtke on the history of Luedtke engineering at the Mills Community House, at the summer time of 7 pm! (It’s also on Zoom.)
May 17 Spring Open House at Grow Benzie, 1 to 4 pm
May 21 Learn about lawns as Plant It Wild begins its spring programming with a talk at the Mills House. Practice Ecological Lawn Care AND Shrink Your Lawn. To register for the Zoom, email plantitwild2day@gmail.com. Wild planter Cheryl Gross wrote a quite beautiful letter to the Record-Patriot in April exhorting us to “leave the leaves” (and other plant material) until temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees both day and night. That’s when our smol friends stop needing those cozy hiding places.
Ephemera Section
Does anyone remember Found, the magazine started by Michiganders Davy Rothbart and Jason Bitner? Well, I was and am a big fan. The first item was actually handed to me, so I’m not sure it counts, but I still wanted to share it. The second was in the Elberta post office, and is no more!
Other Stories of Possible Interest to Elbertians
Trump Administration budget ends funding for Michigan Sea Grant and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Detroit Free Press
“Health Department Faces Federal Funding Cuts, Low Measles Vaccination Rates.” Glen Arbor Sun
Piracy on the Great Lakes may never have gone away, but these tariffs make me wonder if it won’t make a big comeback. Eric Meier has considered this in an article for a site with terrible pop-up ads (fair warning). There are 18 official ports of entry in operated U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Michigan (and many, many unofficial ones). At these ports, agents use the international harmonized system to apply codes to goods, review paperwork, perform audits of goods, and collect levies (money), which is then deposited into the treasury’s general fund. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to go.
May marks the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Resource Center, a Traverse City institution that has served survivors of domestic violence of all sexes and genders throughout our region since 1975. Gretchen Carr of the Traversecityist did a great episode on the history of the WRC, interviewing some of the founders and current staff. Take a listen.