It appears that the proposal for a county-wide ordinance permitting and regulating off-road vehicles has been stalled.
County Commissioner Rick Cain told the Martin Township Board Wednesday night that the County Board recently voted 7-0 against proceeding any further with crafting such an ordinance.
“The county will help them (proponents) to get some kind of consistency (with rules throughout the county),” Cain promised. “But this is something that’s going to take some time.”
Monterey Township residents led the charge on behalf of the idea, taking their case to township boards, cities and villages. They were able to secure the blessings of some townships such as Watson, Leighton and Dorr, but Wayland and Gun Plain townships balked, as did the Allegan County Road Commission.
Cain also noted the Nov. 3 county-wide ballot proposal is confusing enough for voters to put its chances of passage in jeopardy.
The essence of the proposal is to restore the original 5.7-mill levy for Allegan County, which has been rolled back by Headlee Amendment provisions to just 4.5 mills. As a result, Cain said, the county has been forced to cut services, particularly in public safety, estinating that the equivalent of between 15 and 17 officers’ positions have been eliminated over the last 25 years.
Though he agreed the language on the ballot was confusing, he said, “We have to do this in order to move forward.”
In other business at Wednesday night’s meeting, the Martin Township Board:
- Approved the hiring of Mark Simpson as cemetery sexton. Simpson now serves as Watson Township’s sexton and is semi-retired. Because his hiring takes effect immediately, he already has begun working on a few projects.
Current Sexton Cody Visser has been sidelined by health issues and now has recovered, but has a full-time job Monday through Friday. He is only available on weekends.
- Agreed to buy markers for corners in Section L of the new East Cemetery, after Simpson gave an explanation.
- Agreed to a bid from DTW Services for snow plowing the township hall and Wheeler Library parking lots at $55 per time and $70 per time for salting.
- Was told by Clerk Rachelle Smit that 525 absentee ballots have been sent out for the Nov. 3 general election and she expects the total eventually to be almost 600. That’s nearly double the number of 311 used in 2016.
