• Council Holds Workshop Meeting to Deal with Deficit Elimination Plan Shortfall

    August 28, 2014 • 7 PM ||| AUDIO |||   —DRAFT—  VILLAGE OF ELBERTA BOARD OF TRUSTEES WORKSHOP MEETING August 28, 2014 • 7 PM The Village of Elberta Board of Trustees held a special budget workshop meeting on Thursday, August 28, 2014, at the Community Building, 401 First Street, Elberta, Michigan, to deal with the deficit elimination plan shortfall. The meeting was called to order by president pro tempore Robin Rommell at 7:03 p.m. Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance Present:         Joyce Gatrell, Ken Holmes, Diane Jenks, Robin Rommell, Jennifer Wilkins Absent:           Reggie Manville (leave of absence), Linda Manville (resigned) Public:… More

  • Regular (and Special) Meeting of the Village Council August 2014

    VILLAGE OF ELBERTA BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR AND SPECIAL MEETING —DRAFT Minutes— August 21, 2014 • 7 PM ||| AUDIO |||  The Village of Elberta Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on Thursday, August 21, 2014, at the Community Building, 401 First Street, Elberta, Michigan. The meeting was called to order by president pro tempore Robin Rommell at 7:04 p.m. Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance Present:         Joyce Gatrell, Ken Holmes, Diane Jenks, Jennifer Wilkins, Robin Rommell Absent:           Reggie Manville Public: Mary Kalbach, Ken Bonney, Loy Putney, Cathy Anderson, Lois Schram, Rosemary Tanner, Max Kessler, Art Melendez, Jeannie Sikes, Don Tanner, Emily… More

  • Regular Meeting of the Village Council July 2014

    VILLAGE OF ELBERTA BOARD OF TRUSTEES REGULAR MEETING —Minutes— July 17, 2014 • 7 PM ||| AUDIO ||| The Village of Elberta Board of Trustees held its regular meeting on Thursday, July 17, 2014, at the Community Building, 401 First Street, Elberta, Michigan. The meeting was called to order by Village clerk Mary Kalbach at 7:10 p.m. Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance Present:           Joyce Gatrell, Ken Holmes, Diane Jenks, Jennifer Wilkins, Absent:           Reggie Manville, Linda Manville, Robin Rommell Public: Mary Kalbach, Ken Bonney, Loy Putney, Cathy Anderson, Lois Schram, Rosemary Tanner, Jonathan Kells, Max Kessler, Art Melendez, Jeannie Sikes, Don Tanner,… More

  • Swim for Mitch and His Favorite Places This Labor Day Sunday

    By Ann Sinclair UPDATE Greetings to All! In honor of my dear friend Mitch Stevenson, who passed on August 22, 2013, I thought I would go for a swim.  And since I’m still rehabbing my shoulder, I prowled around for a revised route, and have landed on crossing Little Glen Lake, located on the edge of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. My pal Marilyn and I scouted start and finish points along the lake shore this past weekend, and my Google map tells me my chosen route measures about 1 mile. WHAT IF…? So I’m thinkin’ that perhaps you… More

  • Elberta Business Owners Speak! On State Proposal 14-1

    By Emily Votruba Tomorrow, August 5, voters will decide whether to adopt a proposal to eliminate the personal property tax. The strangely worded measure doesn’t actually mention “personal property tax,” but instead says the following: Approval or disapproval of amendatory act to reduce state use tax and replace with a local community stabilization share to modernize the tax system to help small businesses grow and create jobs. (Read the full ballot language and more about the proposal here and here.) If you own a business in Michigan, you pay personal property tax (PPT) every year on equipment you use (machinery, vehicles,… More

  • Guerrilla Beautification Incursions

    By Emily Votruba  When the Michigan Department of Transportation began ceding M-168 to the Village of Elberta four years ago, they paid to improve the roadway with sidewalks, street lamps, and 60 new trees lining the old highway. The maples, thornless honeylocusts, and Callery pears alternated along the road, each with a huge pile of mulch at its base. Most residents I talked to were happy about the improvements (though wistful about the enormous elms that once towered here). But with near unanimity, the cry went up: “Now the Village has to maintain it! With what money!” Now in 2014… More