ROTHBURY — With Electric Forest now in the rear-view mirror for 2024, the Rothbury Village Council’s monthly meeting Tuesday night returned to more regular business matters.
The council discussed the Greenlawn Mobile Home Park, which has received some recent attention from village residents regarding the condition of the land. Trustee Mike Harris said he sent a letter to the owner of the park, who was not named, on the council’s behalf in hopes of addressing the issue. He also made a call to the owner, but neither communication was returned. It was noted that the owner lives in Pierson in Montcalm County and is not regularly in Rothbury. The council said it will send a certified letter to the owner so it knows the letter is received and will consult its legal counsel to determine how it can address the issue without violating private ownership rights.
Multiple public commenters asked what to do with the brush in their yards that came down as a result of the June 25 storm. Village president Vern Talmadge said it was possible residents could take the brush to the grass pile adjacent to the bike trail; although there is a sign there forbidding brush, Talmadge said it was originally put up because a village contractor was dumping brush there during a job that is now completed. The council discussed, but did not vote on, enacting some sort of brush pickup day similar to the ones done in Montague and Whitehall.
Treasurer Deborah Murphy brought up two issues regarding the community center. She said she discovered “an ant invasion” there over the weekend, and the area has since been treated. While investigating that, she said she noticed two separate times that the refrigerator there was left on without anyone being signed up to use the center. She suspects someone duplicated a key to use the center, and the village is now taking steps to have the locks changed to deter such use.
After some debate regarding the village’s contribution to Oceana County’s hazardous waste disposal day, this year scheduled for Aug. 17, the council unanimously voted to contribute $184.80 to the event. This was done despite, according to the council, no one from the village participating last year. Early discussion of the issue seemed to lean towards the village not contributing, but ultimately it was decided to continue supporting the event. The disposal day will again take place at the Hart Department of Public Works on State Street from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
