The Wayland City Planning Commission Tuesday evening approved a site plan to upgrade the Goodwin Distribution Station location for Great Lakes Energy at 1049 133rd Ave.
Joe Hughes and Elizabeth Wetherell, representing Wolverine Power Cooperative, which supplies Great Lakes’ power, outlined plans to expand the facility and upgrade electricity from 69.000 to 138,000 vote. The plant will be expanded to 80 by 120 feet on a 12-acre site where it has been for the past 15 years.
Site plan approval is still subject to meeting drainage standards for retention ponds.
The substation facility is named after longtime lineman and superintendent Wayne Goodwin, who still lives in Wayland at age 91.
The Planning Commission also was told there will be a public hearing at 7 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers on the subject of a dwindling number of wetlands in the city and nearby. Some citizens insist recent city approval for extension of the Village Green apartment complex only exacerbates the problem.
Some believe that a shortage of wetlands make flooding troubles much worse and they have expressed opposition to the expansion approved last year because already they are experiencing flood problems.
City Manager Joshua Eggleston noted the hearing has nothing to do with official city business and is being conducted by the Michigan Department of Environmental Great Lakes Energy, formerly known as the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Lori Castello, zoning enforcement administrator from Professional Code Inspections, also reported the commission may have some work to be done on a sign ordinance in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that forbids taking down signs because of content, in violation of free speech.
“We can’t regulate signs based on content,” Castello told commissioners. “This is probably the most challenging ordinance we have, so let’s make it clear, content neutral and easy to read and interpret.”
