State Rep. Mary Whiteford invited local residents to join her for local office hours on Monday, Oct. 15, in Saugatuck, Fennville and Otsego.

She provides this opportunity for people to address her face-to-face with any questions or concerns about state government.

“I have so much respect for the people of Allegan County, and I am humbled that they selected me as their representation in Lansing,” said Whiteford, of Casco Township. “It is my responsibility to listen to their concerns, and help find solutions. I look forward to yet another opportunity to do so.”

Meetings will take place at the following times and locations:

• 9:30-10:30 a.m. at Saugatuck City Hall, located at 102 Butler St.

• 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Fennville District Library, 400 W. Main St.

• 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Otsego City Hall, 117 E. Orleans St.

No appointments are necessary.

Those unable to attend may share thoughts or ideas with Whiteford by contacting her office at (517) 373-0836 or MaryWhiteford@House.MI.gov.

FENNVILLE—Food, local beer, wine and cider and some “burnin” fun will bring thousands of people to downtown Fennville for the 34th annual Goose Festival Oct. 12-14.

“We are proud to have a low-cost, family-friendly showcase of what is great about Fennville,” said Amy Cook, festival organizer and chairperson of the Downtown Development Authority. “It is a celebration of our local entrepreneurs; food, beer, wine, cider and music—much of which is homegrown and locally produced—presented in a carnival/fair setting.”

Fennville’s downtown is transformed annually to greet more than 5,000 visitors for a celebration with games and rides, live music, vintage car show, arts and crafts and a 5K run.

New this year is the Goose Saloon, a fenced -in area with food and beverages along Main Street. It will include food vendors, alcohol sales and an entertainment stage.

“Instead of a separated area for alcohol, we decided to pattern the festival after many of our local wineries/breweries/cideries and create a space where music, food and beverages are shared and celebrated,” Cook said.

The Goose Saloon and carnival open at 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12. Opening ceremonies for the festival are 6 p.m. at the Main Stage downtown.

The community Goose Festival parade is 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, down Main Street.

“We are always excited about the parade and the wide selection of live music acts draws many fans,” Cook said.

At 9:15 p.m., the West Michigan Burnerz of Grand Haven will perform their own style of pyrotechnics with flames and sparks along Main Street. According to organizers, the show is best enjoyed close-up.

After a third hearing on the pros and cons of allowing chickens to be raised in the city, Wayland’s city council directed the city manager to move forward with drafting a new ordinance to regulate backyard birds.

On Sept. 17, All Species Kinship (ASK) of Battle Creek gave a presentation against allowing chickens in the city due to a lack of awareness by urban farmers of poultry health conditions and proper containment.

ASK rescues abandoned and neglected farmed animals and is seeing an increase in neglect, hoarding and illegal abandonment due to urban or “hobby” farming. However, ASK executive director Sophia DiPietro said if a chicken ordinance is approved by the city, she suggested strict regulations and permit fees to cover the cost to the city when dealing with disease, vaccinations, improper housing, unsanitary conditions, manure management, attraction of rodents and wildlife, inability to identify hens from roosters, enforcement of complaints and inspections.

On Sept. 25, a public meeting was held to hear comments for or against the legalization of chickens in the city. Five residents were for it, one was against and another was on the fence.

Diane Smith of South Main Street said she was not opposed but not all for it either.

“I would want to see lots of rules and regulations if passed,” she said. “I live in a small area with not much space on either side and don’t want them close to me.

“I don’t think the noise and cackling would bother me but in the summer when it gets hot and humid, I wouldn’t want the smell that would come with it.”

Seth Schafer of Geneva Drive attended the meeting with his daughter.

“My kids love them and they make really great pets—and then you get eggs from them which is a really big plus.

“They’re fun to have, have their own personalities and are not hard to take care of—like any animal you have to clean up after them so they don’t smell.

Nancy VandeVoord said not allowing chickens is limiting kids’ education and limiting the growth of the town since it is the millennials who are the growth population—the generation that is concerned with getting natural and fresh foods.

On Oct. 1, Michigan State University Poultry Extension specialist Zac Williams talked of the benefits of raising chickens, especially as 4-H and FFA projects. He said hens are great at bug control and provide fresh eggs eight to nine months of the year. Although after four to five years when no longer laying eggs the birds get old and tough—they’re great for soups and stews.

Williams recommended limiting the number of birds from two to six, which doesn’t generate enough waste to stink. He also recommended not buying chickens from local stores, due to the chances of getting a rooster instead of a hen. Online mail order hatcheries can determine the appropriate sex. He said it’s the roosters that are loud but hens only cackle for a minute after laying an egg.

The only reason not to allow chickens was if there was a commercial poultry operation within 4 miles.

“That’s for bio-security to prevent cross contamination,” he said.

City Council members have been considering an ordinance allowing backyard chickens for more than a year after being approached by residents requesting them. The ordinance was tabled until the new city manager Josh Eggleston could transition into his new job.

After hearing all sides to the issue, Eggleston asked the council what direction they’d like to take. Mayor pro-tem Jennifer Antel asked to start a new ordinance with all the regulations ASK specified for stronger rules, which would also cover the MSU Extension suggestions.

Council member Tim Rose was not in favor of fees up front, but fines for not registering.

“That would send a strong statement to follow the rules,” he said.

Eggleston agreed it should not be too cost prohibitive, noting 90 percent of the problems are by 10 percent of the people. He suggested starting with a limit of up to 10 permits so it didn’t become an administrative nightmare.

A process for review was also suggested.

Virginia Ransbottom can be contacted at vransbottom@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.

This is the second of a two-part series on 1953’s “Year of the Big Stink”

After an Oct. 5, 1953, issue of Life Magazine published  a photo of dead carp clogging the Kalamazoo River, it brought national attention to the plight of paper mill pollution. Locally, fingers were being pointed.

Observers in Otsego said the City of Allegan does not handle 100 percent of their sewage through their disposal plant and since several of their sewers empty directly into the Kalamazoo River, that could account for the dead carp found below Allegan.

However, the Water Resources Commission said the most significant portion of the pollution came from upriver at the Otsego Falls Mill. Stepping up production, they were increasing the organic waste dumped into the river, squeezing off the carp’s oxygen.

Leading up to big fish kill, warm temperatures and humidity mixed with the sulphites in waste from the mill and formed sulphuric acid that discolored the lead paint on houses. It stunk tremendously and was blamed on everything from atom bomb blasts in the west to “mysterious” fogs rising off the river.

Otsego Falls Mill was ordered to limit their oxygen demanding waste loaded into the river during summer months or shut down. Mill officials said the cost of land filling was too prohibitive and they were being unfairly treated since there were several other mills in the area.

However, Otsego Falls was the only company manufacturing wood pulp in the Kalamazoo Valley. Sulphuric acid is used to break down wood fibers and has its own distinct odor. Other mills used reprocessed paper and rag fiber.

To help keep the mill waste out of the river and jobs intact, the Sept. 24, 1953, edition of the Allegan Gazette, showed new Otsego city manager Peter Kurzy standing on East Dix Street experimenting with sprinkling the dark brown liquors from the Otsego mill on city streets as a dust deterrent. Kurzy said it had a moisture-absorbing quality and, when dry, was as hard as many asphalt bonds.

An estimated 45 million gallons was spread in Allegan County.

Virginia Ransbottom can be contacted at vransbottom@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.

ALLEGAN—A bicyclist involved in a crash with a truck was reported to have only minor injuries. The incident happened on M-40, south of Allegan, Friday, Sept. 28, at 4:22 p.m.

The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said the bicyclist, a 57-year-old Allegan resident, was brushed slightly by the truck and did fall over, but was not seriously injured.

The truck in the photo, driven by a 29-year-old man from Coldwater, did not see a passenger van ahead, driven by a 31-year-old Hopkins man, which was slowing down for the bicyclist. The truck rear-ended the van then left the roadway and bumped the bicyclist.

After emergency responders arrived to the bicycle/truck/ van crash near The Grill House restaurant, the highway backed up with traffic in both directions.

The truck driver was cited for failing to stop in an assured distance.

Substance abuse and obstructing justice are the two areas of crime that have seen the biggest increases for Allegan County.

Allegan County Prosecuting Attorney Myrene Koch, presenting her office’s 2017 annual report last week to Allegan County commissioners, said the largest category of concern were those felony obstruction of justice charges.

“That has increased approximately 115 percent since 2010,” Koch said. “That includes things such as fleeing and eluding the police, absconding—which means they didn’t show up to court, absconded on their bond and took off—witness intimidation, and resisting and obstructing the police.”

That breaks down to 49 felony obstruction charges in 2010 rising to 115 in 2017.

Substance abuse charges have been authorized 60.9 percent more than they were in 2010, rising from 335 then to 539 last year.

By comparison, larceny, fraud and identity theft cases have increased only 15 percent.

“Overall, the number of felonies have increased 43.7 percent,” Koch said. “So, our numbers are continually going up.”

That is all, she said, considered with the backdrop of the county’s quickly expanding population. She noted the county had 90,509 people in 1990, 111,408 in 2010 and an estimated 116,000 in 2017.

She said the county’s nine prosecutors were often not enough to cover the office’s many responsibilities.

“(We hope) you understand how much this takes to run this office, as far as making sure all the courts are covered, the cases are well taken care of and we do everything we need to protect the citizens of Allegan County, and to do all of those things, we have to be serviceable where we have enough people,” she said.

She also highlighted that drug felonies have risen dramatically, from 498 in 2016 to 538 last year.

“We do see issues with regard to methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, opioids and (a small percentage of) marijuana in some respects,” Koch said. “Primarily it’s methamphetamine and opioids.”

While the county’s rising population was bound to drive up many statistics for Allegan County, she said substance abuse had a ripple effect and caused more crime.

“Many users may break in to a place to steal or do other things,” she said. “When you see high substance abuse numbers, you typically see more assault. It goes hand in hand and becomes a chain reaction.”

The largest group of misdemeanors the prosecutor’s office sees is drunk driving, specifically operating while impaired.

“In 2017, out of 651 cases of drunk driving, we had over 78 percent—or 510 of those cases—of those charged with that actually pleaded straight to that (OWI) or to a one-step decrease to impaired driving. That still means they had license sanctions, fines, costs, probation, jail and treatment,” Koch said. “All of those cases are being treated very, very seriously.”

The lowest number of those misdemeanors in the last decade occurred in 2010, with 472 charges. It has stayed somewhat level since 2014, which had 638 charged.

She also highlighted the number of requests for domestic violence charges, which has steadily increased since 2014; there were 623 requests then and 819 in 2017.

“One of the things we know from statistics with regard to domestic violence,” she said, “Even though there are resources and shelter and treatment and other availability for victims, it is estimated nationwide—and this percentage does fall true for Allegan County as well—only 50 percent of those who are a victim of domestic violence ever report it as a crime. Most who go into Sylvia’s Place, the county’s domestic violence shelter, most will not report the crimes happening to them.”

Overall, in 2017, the office reviewed 4,827 adult criminal warrant requests, an increase of 519 over 2016.

Koch praised the court’s many diversion programs as well as the county’s two previous prosecuting attorneys. She said longtime prosecutor Fred Anderson and current Judge Roberts Kengis—who served most of 2017 as prosecutor before being appointed to the circuit court—had been great mentors.

Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.

A man accused of his shooting his stepfather, Robert “Mark” Hill of Casco Township, will be committed to the Michigan Forensic Center after entering a plea in Allegan County Circuit Court.

Tyler Daniel Smith, 28, entered the plea Monday, Oct. 1. The court accepted it and found he was not guilty by reason of insanity of one count of open murder and one count of felony firearms.

The hearing didn’t provide a very clear reason why Smith had shot his stepfather, but the psychologists who interviewed him stated he’d become paranoid and delusional.

“He was increasingly divorced from reality and was frequently obsessed with the belief others would harm him,” Judge Margaret Zuzich Bakker said, reading from a report authored by Michigan Forensic Center staff.

Bakker used the report from the Michigan Forensic Center and a Michigan State Police report to reach her ruling in the hearing.

“I do find both that the defendant committed the acts alleged and the defendant was legally insane at the time of the acts,” Bakker said.

The center wrote the report based on examining Smith and reviewing jail records and prior mental health records.

The doctor’s opinion was that Smith met the legal definition of insanity at the time he shot Hill.

The police report detailed that Hill and Smith’s mother had woken up and seen him parked in their driveway and then invited him inside.

Smith’s mother told police she’d come downstairs and saw her son come inside and walk upstairs to the bedroom where Hill was and then heard the gunshot.

“She heard a gunshot, saw the defendant in the doorway and then saw her husband laying on the floor,” Bakker said.

Smith had told a police officer he’d shot somebody, the report said, and given something of an explanation for the shooting.

“He said he’d thought his stepfather was trying to get his mother to think the wrong things,” Bakker said. “In his interview with the forensic examiner, he told them he didn’t say anything to his stepfather before he shot him.

“He doesn’t remember the previous night and day.”

The report said Smith had told examiners he was receiving coded messages in text messages from his mother and he’d become increasingly paranoid and had more and more violent thoughts.

“He started carrying a gun on his person and thinking of shooting his coworkers,” Bakker said.

Smith, the judge said, also said he believed his mother was somehow in danger from his stepfather.

Smith’s lawyer, Matthew G. Borgula, said he’d discussed the implications of the plea and his rights for a potential trial with his client before entering the plea. Smith appeared via video conference from the Allegan County Jail.

He was found competent to stand trial in March, in a separate process that assesses a defendant’s mental state and capacity to understand the charges against him and participate in his own defense. Competency to stand trial involves the defendant’s mental health status today, not when he committed the crime. Smith has been receiving treatment since his arrest.

After Bakker accepted the plea, she ruled Smith was committed to the Michigan Forensic Center for 60 days. During that time, Allegan County prosecutors will file a petition to have Smith committed indefinitely.

The Sylvia’s Place Fall Festival fundraiser is fast approaching, the annual event that supports the county’s only women’s shelter.

The festivities will be Thursday, Oct. 11, at The Silo in Allegan from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., featuring a silent auction, raffles and a photo booth.

The event is the nonprofit’s primary fundraiser for the year, and the theme is “Advocate. Donate. Celebrate.”

Sylvia’s Place president Christina Stegink said, in her letter to sponsors, “...the proceeds are vital for our organization to continue offering services such as safe shelter, individual therapy, legal advocacy, and case management help to find housing and employment.

“Last year alone we housed 102 women and children fleeing domestic violence and assisted over 198 individuals with non-residential services. We know that many are in need with over 1,025 cases of domestic violence being reported from Allegan County alone by the Michigan State Police and Allegan County Sheriff’s Office.”

The event is as old as the organization itself, 22 years. Since its founding in 1996, more than 63,666 safe bed nights have been provided to more than 2,842 women and children fleeing domestic violence. Its safe house offers emergency shelter for as many as six families simultaneously.

Sylvia’s Place executive director Heather Forrest said operation costs for the safe house continue to rise, while funding continues to decrease.

The centerpiece of the event is a raffle for a ladies fashion ring valued at $1,200 donated by Hart’s Jewelry in Plainwell. Tickets are on sale now for the diamond ring in 14k white and yellow gold.

Forrest said, “We’ll draw the winner of that raffle that evening, but you don’t have to be present to win. People can purchase tickets that evening, online or at our downtown office, (269) 673-5742.

“We’ll also have some other drawings for those in attendance, like a heads-and-tails game where people can win gift certificates to local businesses.”

The evening includes heavy hor d’oeuvres, desserts and a cash bar.

The fall festival is also about raising awareness of domestic violence.

Sylvia’s Place president Christina Stegink said, in her letter to sponsors, “Every day in Allegan County a woman picks up the phone and calls the Sylvia’s Place 24-hour crisis line because she has decided that she doesn’t want to be hurt anymore. She doesn’t want to fear for her and her children’s lives anymore and she is taking that first brave step towards safety.”

Forrest said, “The Fall Festival is a celebration, but it’s also about awareness. Our biggest goal is to get information into the hands of the community—to make sure those in need of our services can know where to get them.

“They can call us; they can reach out. Many times, victims don’t have a support system and we want them to know we’re here.”

The reservation deadline is Oct. 5, and tickets cost $50 per person.

To register online, visit www.sylviasplace.com. For those who cannot attend but would like to donate, the website has a wish list and a current needs list available to purchase from Amazon.com that is updated regularly to reflect the highest priority.

Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.

Police have arrested a 58-year-old man they believe was responsible for a break-in and burglary at the Star of Saugatuck in September.

Edward George Allen has been arraigned on two counts of breaking and entering and two counts of safe breaking and is lodged in the Allegan County Jail.

According to the Allegan County Sheriff’s Office, detectives and the contract deputy assigned to Saugatuck city investigated and arrested Allen.

The sheriff’s office said, “Detectives are waiting on forensic evidence processing for the other breaking-and-entering cases in the area in which they believe the suspect is involved.”

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Silent Observer at 1-800-554-3633 or the sheriff’s detective bureau at (269) 673-0500.

Seven groups of performers will again compete in “The Lip Sync Battle,” a fundraiser for Wings of Hope Hospice and Wings Home in Allegan.

The event is loosely based on the TV show of the same name and will be Saturday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Allegan High School Performing Arts Center.

Tickets cost $20 for adults and $10 for students.

Each group will put on a show, lip syncing to one song and competing for People’s Choice Award. The audience will determine the winner by totaling up donations—$1 equals one vote.

The cast includes:

• Allegan Credit Union

• Allegan Event

• Diane Barton

• The Funky Hodge Trio

• Gals of Paw Paw

• Gorden Funeral Residence

• Otsego-Plainwell Chamber of Commerce

Voting can be done early for those who can’t make it to the event; contact the Wings of Hope office at (269) 686-8659 to do so. Otherwise, voting will take place during intermission and online at www.wingsofhopehospice.com/donate (put put the group’s name in the remarks/special instructions).

Last year, groups had fun and donned costumes; organizers

Proceeds from this family friendly event will benefit Wings of Hope Hospice and the Wings Home, an end-of-life care home, both in Allegan.

The Wings of Hope Hospice office is at 530 Linn St., Allegan. Tickets can also be purchased at the door the night of the event.

FENNVILLE—The status of the Pinnacle Foods Inc. plant in Fennville remains unclear ahead of the vote planned for shareholders Tuesday, Oct. 23.

They’re being asked to approve Conagra Brands’ acquisition of the corporation, announced in July.

Both sides expect the merger to pass and close by the end of the month.

The proposed $10.9 billion agreement will have Pinnacle Foods shareholders receive $43.11 per share in cash and 0.6494 shares of Conagra Brands common stock for each of their shares of Pinnacle Foods.

Conagra is best known for its brands such as Marie Callender’s frozen meals, Hunt’s, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim and Orville Redenbacher’s.

Pinnacle has annual sales in excess of $3 billion and is known for its Birds Eye, Duncan Hines and Hungry-Man brands.

Based on recent sales figures, combined net sales of both companies reach approximately $11 billion.

Pinnacle has nearly 5,500 employees across the U.S. and Canada; a media contact did not respond to a request to now how many the Fennville location employs.

Pinnacle said will continue to pay its quarterly dividend at the current annual rate of $1.30 per share until the transaction is completed.

The plant has been part of several acquisitions. Pinnacle purchased the former Birds Eye facility at 100 Sherman St. in 2009.

In 2010, The Allegan County News reported that the Fennville location produces approximately 14 million pounds of tart cherries, 3 million pounds of blueberries and 6 million pounds of fresh apples during the “fresh pack” season from July to October.

While results of residential well tests had not yet been announced at press time, municipal water systems near Otsego appear safe to drink.

The City of Otsego announced its results in September, with only one well showing a trace of contamination calculated to be 100 times smaller than the safe level.

More detailed results from tests of the water systems in Gun Plain and Otsego townships and Plainwell city showed much smaller traces.

Otsego Township supervisor Bryan Winn said the results were welcome news.

“You couldn’t drink enough water in a lifetime to get that contamination into your body,” Winn said. “It’s very, very low.”

An Oct. 5 announcement from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said it had “concluded there was no public health hazard associated with continued use of these municipal water supplies.”

This extensive water testing is an effort to parallel residential well testing near Otsego in the wake of public outcry over suspicions of increased cancer rates from decades-old contamination from the paper mill industry.

Preliminary results of tests of 56 private wells showed some levels of some dioxins in 17; those homes are currently receiving bottled water.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, dioxins can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and can interfere with hormones.

Town hall planned

According to the Oct. 5 announcement thanking the public for its patience for the private well testing—results were originally expected last month—and said, “The remaining private well laboratory analysis results... for all 56 private wells will be received soon, and those residents whose wells were tested will be notified of the results via phone and letter by MDHHS toxicology by mid-October.

“...if the laboratory results indicate that urgent action is required, MDHHS and Allegan County Health Department will contact private well owners directly and provide recommendations.”

A town hall meeting is currently scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 20, at Otsego Middle School, 540 Washington St., Otsego, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to allow the agencies involved to address concerns of the community, share results and discuss next steps.

PPQ

The traces of dioxins found in some of the municipal wells are exceedingly small, measured in fractions of a picogram.

One unit of that measurement is equal to one quadrillionth of a gram. A quadrillion is 1,000 trillions. So, in measuring amounts at this level, it’s a ratio of 1 part per quadrillion, or ppq.

Another way state officials have described 1 ppq is that it is similar to 1 drop of water in 20,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The traces showing up in the municipal testing are small fractions of even that single drop of water.

The safe level of dioxins in drinking water is 12 ppq. MDHHS said that level is understood to still be safe for anyone—pregnant women, children, or adults—to drink daily over their lifetime and not expect harm.

City of Plainwell

The city has three wells, located in the southeast corner of the city, but is not currently using one.

City manager Erik Wilson said the backup well, which had generally only provided approximately 5 percent of the city’s water, had been shut down after safe traces of PFAS contamination had been discovered in the spring.

While two showed no contamination, one of the wells in use tested at 0.00051 ppq TEQ, more than 20,000 times below the safe limit.

The “TEQ” designation means that, as with the rest of these test results, the measurement is actually the result of a standard calculation state toxicologists made based on the different toxicity levels of the 29 types of dioxin-like chemical included in the test.

Kory Groetsch, environmental public health director at MDHHS, said the testing is exceptionally thorough.

“If you tested like this everywhere, I would not be surprised if you found detections like this or more in most locations. It’s as close to nothing as is really expected.”

“I think we’re happy with the safe level,” Wilson said. “Testing like this is going to be a common theme moving forward. Michigan, like other communities, has these emerging problems with contamination. We have to be vigilant.

“So, we’re doing above what’s required, and I envision the city continuing doing that moving forward. Water quality is of the utmost importance for our community. We’re going to do what we can to make sure our water is of high quality.”

Wilson did not provide the costs of the testing by press deadline.

“Not for one minute did cost come into consideration,” he said. “We’re going to spend what we need to spend.”

He said it was more than the city spends on standard, annual testing, though it was money well spent.

“At this point the city has received good news,” Wilson said. “And, obviously, we’re happy with the other communities’ results.

“But that in no way means we aren’t going to do due diligence going forward in going above and beyond minimal testing required in the past.”

Otsego Township

Otsego Township has three wells, all near the water tower. It serves a total of 225 customers, commercial and residential, all in the area of the Strip.

Well 1 tested at a 0.0069 ppq TEQ of dioxins. That is more than 1,700 times below the safe limit.

Wells 2 and 3 showed 0.00048 ppq, 25,000 times below the safe level.

Speaking at the township board meeting Monday, Oct. 8, Winn said, “The big scare was that we’d come back contaminated and we’d have to serve four communities with bottled water.”

He said he’d heard just that day from someone who was anxious about the water because he was trying to sell his house.

He said everyone was interested in the testing results.

“Where I live, they tilled in a bunch of that solid stuff,” Winn said.

Gun Plain Township

Township supervisor Mike VanDenBerg said the test results were good news so far. They are posted to www.gunplain.org.

Gun Plain has one line from the City of Plainwell that serves a group of residents, but it also has its own pair of wells on Mid Lakes Boulevard that serves more than 400 residences near Lake Doster.

“One was a non-detect,” VanDenBerg said, noting that no contaminants showed up in the testing. “The other showed a small amount.”

It tested at 0.0018 ppq TEQ, more than 6,000 times below the safe limit.

“We’re still waiting on testing eight more compounds,” he said. “But these were things the DEQ was recommending we test for; they haven’t been found yet even in the residential testing.”

He also said the township had ordered retesting for PFAS.

“When the DEQ came out to test a couple months ago, they only tested one of the wells,” he said. “So we’re retesting both and waiting on that.”

VanDenBerg said the results had been mailed to all residences served by the township wells and the city water.

The testing has cost $5,550, handled by Pace Analytical.

“We didn’t pay to expedite the results. That would’ve cost three times as much, as I recall,” he said.

Residents with questions about their water can call the Allegan County Health Department’s Hotline (269) 686-4546 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Staff writer Daniel Pepper contributed to this article.

Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.

Should the City of Allegan move forward with a study to determine whether a single hauler refuse service would be more economical for residents? That was a question discussed at length by the city council during a pre-session meeting on Monday, Oct. 8.

The answer they came up was to put the study on hold until construction season was over, possibly in February 2019.

City manager Joel Dye explained that one of the goals outlined by city council for the fiscal year July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, was to look at what the costs and benefits would be if the city went to a single service provider.

Dye said it was common for municipalities to go to a single service provider to be able to negotiate a cheaper price for residents, save on road infrastructure costs due to lessening multiple heavy truck usage and having a tidy appearance with receptacles picked up only one day a week in each area.

Since setting the goal, licensed service providers in the city went from three to two after Republic Services purchased Chef Container. Arrowaste is the other provider.

Councilman Mike Manning asked to discuss the recycling and garbage issue after hearing from residents who were concerned whether recycling was still be offered in the city.

Charles Tripp explained that the city voted to eliminate the county recycling program because only 20 percent of the residents were using it and the other 80 percent were paying for services they weren’t utilizing.

“We did it to allow folks to pick and choose with their own service provider,” said mayor pro tem Rachel McKenzie.

Traci Perrigo said residents choose to pay extra for an extra recycling receptacle. (See note below)

DPW director Aaron Haskin said he spoke to Republic about how they were handling recycling. While Chef Container offered an easy-to-use yellow recycling bag for recyclables that was placed inside the garbage receptacle, Republic will continue to provide that service for another year but will be requiring a second receptacle for recyclables afterward.

“They said they didn’t like the bags because if they get ripped, the recyclables go in the trash anyway,” Haskin said. “They like two dumpsters.”

Haskin suggested adding to the study, the option of offering recycling weekly, bi-weekly or even monthly. He also said while he owns property in both Valley Township and the City of Allegan, his Valley Township single refuse service bill is one-third the cost it is the city.

Dye said he’d also like the study to include a choice of receptacle sizes since 90-gallons is a bit large for many residences. He would also recommend direct billing from the provider instead of adding it to utility bills.

Nancy Ingalsbee said in the 15 years she has lived here she has changed her service three times because of escalating costs.

“You would have to prove to me that it would be cheaper because I’m on a fixed income and don’t want to get stuck,” she said.

Ingalsbee also asked that preference be given to a local provider who knows the area.

Patrick Morgan said he was initially against going to a single hauler because he liked the competition to get his business; however, with the competition merging, it’s basically becoming one service anyway, except without a negotiated contract. He asked what the process would be.

Dye said currently it’s not hard to get a license to provide services in the city.

“It’s basically a one page form but if we went to a single hauler system we would have to rewrite the ordinance to include the bidding process and contracts, which are usually at least five years,” he said.

City staff will look at what rates other cities or townships are paying by going to a single service provider. Along with affordability, they will look at what providers could offer for user-friendly, city-wide recycling service.

But first, a new city hall will be renovated.

**(Editor's note: A clarification has been made to this story in Traci Perrigo's comment, changed from saying residents must pay for an extra recycling receptacle to residents choosing to pay for the receptacles.

Virginia Ransbottom can be contacted at vransbottom@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534.

Police have charged a parolee released in February after more than 40 years in prison with four counts in connection with the Sept. 23 burglary of the Star of Saugatuck.

Edward George Allen IV, 59, was arrested by Allegan County Sheriff’s detectives and a deputy assigned to the Saugatuck city contract Oct. 5 and charged with two counts of breaking and entering with intent and two more of safe breaking in connection with the incident.

He is currently lodged at the Allegan County Jail while detectives wait on forensic evidence processing for other area breaking and enterings of which Allen is suspected. 

Allen was sentenced Dec. 10, 1976, to serve 40 to 50 years in prison for assault with intent to commit murder in a July 14, 1975, case in Oakland County. That sentence is now inactive.

He has still active sentences of life for assault with intent to rob while armed in 1975 incident; 16 months to two years for attempted larceny in a building Dec.1, 1983, in Ionia County; and one to two years for attempted prison escape Nov. 22, 1986, in Branch County.

Allen was reportedly living in Saugatuck near Star headquarters at the time of his arrest.

The Star office, 716 Water St., and iconic paddleboat docked behind it were broken into the night after a similar overnight burglary at Uncommon Roasters, 127 Hoffman St., also in downtown Saugatuck.

Methods of operation in both crimes were similar with the suspect or suspects seeming to have knowledge of the business’ operations, having unplugged the registers, phone lines and Internet connections; plus dismantling the camera systems, taking cash left in registers and leaving the premises in fairly good order, so it would not first appear to next-day openers a robbery had taken place, hence employees might unknowingly destroy evidence.

The public is asked to submit any tips and information to Silent Observer at 1-800-554-3633 or the Sheriff’s Detective Bureau at (269) 673-0500.

Allegan County Sheriff's deputies are searching for a man who went missing on Saturday, Oct. 13. Justin Michael Brown, 39, from the Grand Rapids area, was last seen at a bar in Saugatuck City around 1:15 a.m. Brown was wearing a gray Columbia jacket, dark color baseball hat, and blue jeans.

Deputies, family, and friends searched the area extensively and could not locate him. There has been no activity on Brown’s cell phone and the last known location of the cell phone was still in the Saugatuck area.

Family and friends said Brown does not have any health or mental concerns and this behavior is not normal for him.

If anybody has any information about Justin Brown, please call the Allegan County Sheriff's Office at (269) 673-0500, or silent observer at 1-800-554-3633.

The body of 39-year-old Justin Michael Brown was discovered Monday morning, Oct. 22, in the Kalamazoo River near the area where he was last seen.

Police have sought to find the Grand Rapids man last seen alive at a Saugatuck bar early Saturday morning (1:15 a.m.), Oct. 13.

The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said Monday the investigation into his disappearance is ongoing.

During the search, there was no activity on Brown’s cell phone. Family and friends had told officers Brown did not have any health or mental concerns and this behavior was not normal for him.

A man has been charged with four felonies after a July crash that killed a newly married Allegan couple.

Logan Thunderland, 24, and Hannah Mae Kwekel, 22, were killed in the crash at 128th Avenue and M-40 in Heath Township Tuesday, July 17.

Police and prosecutors allege Jacob Scot Damron, 21, of Wayland was driving drunk and driving recklessly when the crash happened.

Damron was arraigned Tuesday, Oct. 22, on charges of operating while intoxicated causing death and reckless driving causing death for both Thunderland and Kwekel. Damron is also charged with operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and reckless driving causing serious injury in the case of third driver involved, Duane McDonald, who survived. Damron was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon because a handgun was found in his vehicle.

Damron pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Police said that crash happened about 3:45 p.m. and was caused when Damron didn’t yield at the stop sign at M-40 while he was driving on 128th Avenue and struck Thunderland and Kwekel’s car. Their northbound vehicle was knocked spinning into the southbound lane of M-40 where it was hit by the southbound vehicle, driven by McDonald.

A request from JML Real Estate to purchase six municipal parking spaces from the City of Allegan was unanimously approved Monday, Oct. 22, after a public hearing.

JML Real Estate recently purchased the building previously known as Montage Market at 137 Brady St. The parking spaces face the building and are positioned on the slant of a hill that descends to the riverfront. JML Real Estate (Jim and Michelle Liggett who own Allegan Event and Rope Courses Inc.) submitted concept designs to develop a sports bar and grill with an outside patio on the parcel being purchased. The city agreed to sell the property for $1.

The deed includes a provision allowing the city to repurchase the parcel from JML for $1 if the buyer does not complete construction of the outdoor restaurant deck with a public access ramp to the riverfront within 18 months from the date of closing.

Council member Patrick Morgan questioned how the $1 price tag was decided and said the city recently spent money to repave the parking spaces only to throw it away, which had been done in the past and doesn’t sit well with the community.

City manager Joel Dye said the city looked at the investment JML was bringing to the table and the current benefit. He said one year ago the spaces were repaved as part of a USDA grant but the focus was the entranceway and the parking spaces behind the buildings.  He said the city did not need those spaces.

“They are the six most dangerous parking spaces in the city at such a steep angle that gravity helps you get out of your car,” he said. “We looked at the cost to build an outside deck and what the parking space value was to the city, which didn’t have much value and brought in no taxes

“This will bring a tax increase.”

A sports bar with outdoor seating also lines up with the city’s vision for downtown, bringing activity and creating something to do downtown, Dye said.

Morgan also questioned if the city would allow other bars to build patios on city property for $1; however, Dye said he didn’t believe in precedence.

“The council should look at each request on a case-by-case basis,” he said, adding that a parking space study was recently completed that counted every parking space in the city during its busiest time and 40 percent (about 400) of the spaces were vacant.

“I’m not that concerned about six spaces now, but if development continues we’ll have to be concerned—six months from now the response will be JML was here first,” he said.

Council member Nancy Ingalsbee said JML’s construction manager told the council it could take five years before they build.

“That’s another downtown building that will be vacant for five years and sold for $1, which is not helping what we want to be doing downtown,” Ingalsbee said. “This is the second restaurant they were supposed to do—they said they were going to do a restaurant on Hubbard Street and that didn’t happen.”

Dye said that in his discussions with JML, the five years was for all six or seven buildings the Liggetts have purchased to be developed. The agreement for the sports bar and grill has an 18-month time frame or else it can revert back to the city.

“Their other businesses were growing—Allegan Event opened at the old Rockwell plant and business work orders changed a bit, the Ropes Courses business doubled in the past year and they had to purchase the old Hascall Steel on Lincoln Road—so other business industries started growing and employing more Allegan residents,” Dye said. “That’s one reason why 217 Hubbard was pushed back but they’ve gutted the building and removed the back patio so they are making some progress on that.”

Downtown business owner Phil Siegler was the only person commenting during the public hearing. He said he keeps hearing about a downtown parking problem and he couldn’t wait until Allegan had one.

“What a marvelous problem to have but I fail to see a problem now,” Siegler said. “Anywhere they go other than Allegan they don’t expect to park in front of where they walk in.

“For years I’ve heard we want change; I’ve seen change coming; I’ve seen change come and go; I see change and we say that’s not really the change we want. he said. “I’m thrilled to be here and see this going on. We’ve been waiting for this to happen for years. Embrace the change because change is happening.”

Council members approved the purchase agreement by a 6-0 vote with Mayor Pro-Tem Rachel McKenzie absent.

A license agreement with JML was also approved for balcony overhangs on city owned property.

Council member Charles Tripps said with 18 new downtown apartments being constructed in the next six months, the DDA and Planning Commission are developing a parking program to designate where downtown residents can park, while creating regulations to prevent non-downtown residents from leaving their cars overnight in these spaces. The two municipal parking lots being designated for overnight parking are the lot adjacent to Chestnut, Cutler, and Water streets and the lot adjacent to Water Street between the Perrigo Outlet Store and Myers Bumper to Bumper.

At a long-awaited public announcement Saturday, Oct. 20, state health officials said residential wells near Otsego showed relatively safe levels of dioxin contamination.

The news was tempered, however, by concerns over extremely high levels of another contaminant near the site of the former Menasha Paper industrial landfill.

Angelique Joynes, health officer for Allegan County Health Department, said, “At this point, the wells are not contaminated.”

Of the 62 tested in Otsego, Otsego Township and Alamo Township, 17 tested positive for dioxin, a highly toxic contaminant that causes cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and interference with hormones.

The sampling was done in July. Preliminary results were announced in early September, when those 17 homes, 14 in Allegan County, were given bottled water out of an abundance of caution while the dioxin levels were still being determined.

Officers with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services discussed testing results with each of the wells’ owners over the past week.

Dave Heywood, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Kalamazoo district supervisor, said, “We sampled for about 200 individual compounds. With regard to dioxin, we had some detections, but they came in—the highest was one result that was a little over 13 ppq.”

The rest were at or below 12 ppq—the level at which water is considered safe to drink for all purposes throughout a lifetime, even for those who are pregnant or have compromised immune systems. Higher levels prompt local health officials to help a well-owner understand how that level may influence their health. Only at 30 ppq is the water considered unsafe.

Those measurements are of overall toxicity, a calculation called TEQ, from the group of roughly two dozen types of dioxin. It is measured in parts per quadrillion, or ppq. A quadrillion is 1,000 trillions. State officials have described 1 ppq as being similar to one at zero.

Another clue came from the first lab’s own practices. As a way to ensure accuracy, labs typically include some clean samples in with the actual samples. No dioxins should be detected in these “blank sets,” yet some traces were.

That suggested that something in the lab environment may have contaminated the results—either residual dioxin from previous tests that had been not washed completely out or some other source.

Crider said, “So, we do think this is a laboratory issue, but we’re waiting for the data to come in on that.”

Twenty-one wells are being retested; each of those showed at least 1 ppq TEQ of dioxins. Those samples will be sent to different lab than that which handled the first round of testing. Split samples will be sent to yet another lab.

Chris Lantinga, with the DEQ Kalamazoo District office, said, “We’ve sampled 19 of 21 of those wells as of (Saturday).”

He said the expedited results are expected within a week.

Menasha’s landfill

Flawed though they may be, the data so far shows that the residential wells showed very little of a different contamination: PFAS. None, including several monitoring wells, tested at higher than the safe limit of 70 parts per trillion, or ppt.

However, ponds near the former Menasha landfill tested at higher than 1,000 ppt for PFAS.

PFAS are per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says are likely carcinogens and also are linked to other illnesses.

Lantinga said, “We did a survey of all the remaining houses in the area surrounding the landfill. And we’ve identified 25 additional wells we’re going to be sampling specifically for PFAS in the next few weeks.”

That work had not been scheduled with homeowners as of Saturday.

Next steps

Before the state agencies are prepared to recommend any steps to evaluate the current health of the population, there is more research to be done.

Officials with the DEQ are in the process of determining what else to sample, particularly for the soil.

Among the options:

• fields that have been identified through the DEQ’s research and public input where industrial paper waste sludge was spread

• locations where residents have reported another industrial waste, fly ash, was spread

• within the former Menasha landfill

• the soil beneath roads where yet another type of industrial waste, called liquor, was spread as dust control

Lantinga said, “We’re still working with our consultants on how to actually perform (the soil testing)... specifically where to collect the samples, and how deep do you collect the samples? How many do you collect to get a statistically valid set to evaluate?

“All of those we’re still working on, (so) soil sampling will not be occurring in the next month or so. It could be two or three months.”

Aside from that, he said the public could expect the second round of water testing results to be posted to the county website, www.allegacounty.org, where other documents have been posted from the ongoing investigation. Individual well owners would be contacted and another public meeting would be planned to explain the results and answer questions.

Filters

For those concerned with filtering out the low levels of dioxin from their water, there are no options that provide guaranteed protection.

Crider said the MDHHS had contacted filter manufacturer NSF to find options to contend with the contamination.

“I had a meeting with their international experts. If it is a particulate filter, followed by a carbon-based filter that targets PCBs, is their best estimation of what will work,” Crider said, but noted that that method is by no means certified to work. “At these low levels, there’s nothing demonstrated that will remove it, because it is such a small level.”

For now, the testing will continue and the county health department’s hotline remains open for residents to call for more information: (269) 686-4546 daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Find a complete version of this story online at www.allegannews.com.

Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.

[Under construction; parden our dust]

Collected here are our previews of local races and ballot proposals for the Nov. 6, 2018, general election.

Within each race, candidates are presented in alphabetical order.