Onekama Twp., village to merge?

Region

Related Photos

Onekama village president Robert Blackmore stands Wednesday in Onekama. Record-Eagle/Keith King
Robert Blackmore, Onekama village president, stands Wednesday in Onekama. Record-Eagle/Keith King

January 26, 2012

Cost-saving plan would do away with village government

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY bmcgillivary@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Thu Jan 26, 2012, 07:34 AM EST

ONEKAMA — Bret Mathieu believes in keeping things really simple, and one Onekama government works just fine for him.

He could get his wish, since village and township residents are working on a plan to dismantle the village government, and recently earned a $355,000 state grant to help do the job.

"It doesn't really matter to me; instead of Onekama Village and Onekama Township, lets just call it Onekama," said Mathieu, who owns a business in the village and lives in the township. "It's the village people who are having an issue with it."

The Michigan Department of Treasury recently awarded the grant to the Manistee County community as part of a program to assist local governments in collaborative efforts.

Onekama Township also will be among several townships in northern Manistee and southern Benzie counties that will jointly create new zoning master plans and work on ways to collaborate. That process will be funded by a separate state grant for about $157,000.

Onekama village and township officials have worked since October on disincorporating the village and merging all services under a single township government, but the process price tag had become prohibitive for a village of 400 people. The state money is expected to help.

"It's a long process and somewhat complicated particularly because no one else has ever been through it," said Tim Ervin of the Alliance for Economic Success, Manistee County's economic development group that's assisting with the process. "We don't know any other community in Michigan that has gone through this process."

A committee of village and township officials are working through a plan on how to distribute village assets ranging from office equipment, streets, parks and a sewer system to the village's long-term debt. Other questions range from what to do about snowplowing in the village to the cost of village street lights.

It wouldn't surprise township Supervisor David Meister if the legal work alone tops $40,000.

"It's an expensive process; it's not cheap," said village President Bob Blackmore. "The grant's greatly appreciated and I think it's going in a good direction. We're not the only one in Michigan who have to start thinking like this, consolidating efforts."

Ervin said officials with other communities in the state are closely watching Onekama's process to determine if they might pursue similar ideas.

Consolidation talk began during a joint planning effort. Combined, the township and village have just over 1,300 people, and residents questioned the need for two governments.

"It made common sense to consolidate, to streamline stuff and make it better," Meister said. "This has been completely driven by the public, not by the governing boards."

The committee should issue a final report on how to address disincorporation issues by the start of summer. Several information meetings will be scheduled before village and township residents vote on the issue in the August primary.

Township voters don't seem to have a problem with consolidation, several residents said, but the village is split on the change.

"The population in our village is going down, and there are a lot of older folks in the village. I think they are just resistant to the idea of change," said Lynn Mathieu, Bret Mathieu's wife and a member of the Onekama school board. "I think with more research and knowledge it will shift a little bit. I don't think there is any reason not to consolidate."

A vote likely will come down to how village residents weigh loss of village identity against the potential for economic savings, Blackmore said.

"They are looking at being consolidated back into a township and the identity thing is a hard, hard thing to swallow," Blackmore said.

The state grant includes a carrot for residents if they approve the dissolution: Part of the grant money will pay to expand either the township hall or village community center. Which one will be up to the township board elected in November, Meister said.