MONTAGUE — The Montague city council voted 6-0 to approve its senior millage allocation from Muskegon County in three different ways at Monday's regular city council meeting. Lisa Kiel was not present, and the council voted 6-0 to excuse her from the meeting.
Of the $14,136 Montague was allocated, the bulk of the money - $10,930 - will be allocated to the Healthy Initiatives food program, which will provide vouchers to seniors to use at the Montague Farmers Market in 2025. Seniors will be able to register at the start of every month to receive four $5 coupons for use at the Farmers Market. The rest of the money will be used for Senior Center facility insurance and general operations, with up to $2,000 allocated for replacing the front doors, which have had faulty locks of late.
The food program will represent a slight departure from its administration in the past, when seniors received their entire allocation for the year up front. The new system is a result of feedback seniors gave and will make it easier for them to budget for products they are interested in throughout the year; in past years some seniors were finding they had spent their entire allocation by midsummer and would miss out on being able to apply voucher money to products not available until later in the season. Council member Susan Newhof added that she's found it surprising, during her volunteer work at the White Lake Area Food Pantry, how many seniors come through, despite the allocation, and believes spreading out the food vouchers will help the situation.
There was some council discussion about work that needs to be done to the Senior Center building. All appeared in agreement that the city should pay for that work as it owns the building, but the council did approach the topic of how much support is desired for the Senior Center from surrounding townships, as it is not only Montague city residents who use the building.
The council also approved a revised parks and recreation plan 5-1, with Paul Schultz dissenting. The only revision, according to city manager Jeff Auch, was that some pages that were in addendums at the end of the plan were moved into the plan proper by request of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Schultz shared his disagreement with some facets of the plan at the January council meeting.
Auch shared an update on a planned unit development, a duplex, that has been proposed on Bowen Street. The proposal will be further refined at the planning commission level before being presented to the council. Another proposal, for duplex developments on Old Channel Trail, was rejected by the commission.
During the work session that followed the council meeting, the council discussed the July 4 fireworks, as the fireworks committee has decided to again use the boat launch area for the annual show. Multiple council members shared their disagreement with the city's spending on the show, which will include a $2,500 allocation from the city and an additional $2,500 from the Downtown Development Authority. Schultz said he viewed the cost of the show - it costs $20,000 in all, with area municipalities providing funding - as "the biggest waste" in the city budget, and Newhof agreed. Mayor Tom Lohman noted that the council has discussed potential July 4 alternatives and to date has not settled on one that would replace the fireworks. The issue will be further discussed at the March meeting.
The council also continued its discussion on the future of the Ferry Street lots adjacent to the Ferguson Family Dentistry office, which currently consist of green space. The city previously had a developer lined up for those parcels of land before they backed out due to a lack of clarity in the city's plan, hence its desire to have a clear plan to present.
No more than half of the potential development would include residential buildings. While plans are not finalized, Auch said the city would likely prioritize keeping some of the green space in any development plan, which would also include an access alleyway next to the Ferguson office. The council continued to stress its desire for patience and care to be taken with the development, and Schultz said he'd like to see a town hall meeting scheduled for the specific purpose of gathering public feedback on the matter. No such meeting was set, with the council floating the possibility of hosting one in May.
