A public hearing Wednesday night on a request from mostly property owners in Hopkins Township turned out to be exactly that — a public hearing.
There was no “torches and pitchforks” action. Robin Beltramini and Richard Datema, representatives from the Michigan Boundary Commission, took comments from six people and made no decision in front of about 20 in attendance. So essentially it was a rehash of many comments that have been made publicly in the past.
Realtor Brian Silvernail, who represents a majority of property owners of affected properties along 12th Street, just west of the U.S.-131 expressway, was given the most time to speak because he was representing seven or eight people in expressing an opinion.
Silvernail maintained the property owners for at least 20 years have wanted to bring in water and sewer services as a way to create business and residential developments. He said Hopkins Township, specifically Supervisor Mark Evans, has been contacted often about the issue, but nothing was done. He further accused Evans of failing to take part in serious discussions with the city, Wayland Township and the Gun Lake Tribe.
Finally, he filed a petition to seek annexation into the city last January, noting the sewer and water facilities are virtually “across the street.”
Not long afterward, Hopkins Township moved to establish the properties as a downtown development district and use tax increment financing to fund improvement and development projects. Township officials then approached Dorr and Leighton Township to seek sewer services, to no avail.
Eventually, Township Attorney Seth Kotjes confirmed the Township Board came up with a 425 agreement with the Village of Hopkins to provide sewer to the district, even though the treatment facility is many miles further away than the city.
Silvernail estimated the cost of providing sewer service only to the DDA district will be as much as $15 million, while the expense for hooking up both sewer and water with the city will be just $10 million.
Evans has countered that the city has a local tax levy of 16 mills while the township has only one mill.
Citizen Bob Beck noted, “I heard the supervisor and township board called just about every name in the book” at public hearings on the proposed DDA. However, he asked the Boundary Commission representatives to keep the properties within the Hopkins Township borders because the loss of tax revenue would hurt local citizens.
Sarah Parsons, who represents the estate of Lillian Jager, said she submitted two rezoning proposals to the Hopkins Township Planning Commission, but was turned away.
“The township has not cooperated with the property owners,” she charged. “Our supervisor has one plan — his plan.”
Kalvin Schantz, one of the property owners, clearly came down on the side of annexation into the city.
“Hopkins Township said it wasn’t interested (in a 425 agreement with the city) and didn’t even look at the sewer plan (with Wayland Township),” he asserted. “We would like to see you (the Boundary Commission) axe this property.”
Wayland City Manager Josh Eggleston presented a very cautious approach to the issue.
“We will welcome any opportunities to grow, but it has to make sense,” he told the commission representatives. “We don’t want to do this just to spite our neighbors.”
He promised at least a $6 million price tag for the water and sewer extension project if it is approved.
The city for a long time has assumed a neutral position on the annexation issue.