Saugatuck Township starts new year with quick action

The participants in the third annual Shiver on the River on New Year's Day in Saugatuck.

 With the New Year’s holiday over, local governments started returning to their normal meeting schedules this week.

On Jan. 2, the Laketown Township board began considering the renewal of its single waste hauler contract with Chef Container. The contract expires March 31, 2014. Also at the workshop, the board set a meeting of 3 p.m. Jan. 16 to start work on the 2013-14 budget. http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1665857144/Laketown-will-consider-liquor-license-proposal-from-events-facility

The Saugatuck Township board hit the new year running. The board:

• Set up a committee to examine the need for additional legal counsel or a new attorney to handle the Aubrey McClendon development: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/newsnow/x1353229353/Saugatuck-Township-sets-up-committee-to-look-at-attorneys-role

• Announced plans to revive negotiations for cemetery maintenance with Saugatuck and Douglas cities: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/newsnow/x1353229414/Cemetery-maintenance-no-longer-a-dead-issue-in-Saugatuck-Township

• Put plans in motion to make the part-time manager position a full-time hire when the current manager retires this spring: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/newsnow/x1353229614/Full-time-manager-might-be-in-future-for-Saugatuck-Township

The crowd at the first township meeting of the year was a little sparse — five people. The meetings usually draw at least a dozen people if not 20 to 30.

And a New Year’s Day tradition brought 18 people out to kayak or stand-up paddleboard on the Kalamazoo River. It was cold with light snow falling, but the river was calm: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1233663874/Stand-up-paddleboarders-kayakers-welcome-new-year

Water levels in Lake Michigan hit a new low as the National Weather Service reported that 2012 was the warmest year on record in West Michigan: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/topstories/x1665857288/While-temperatures-hit-record-highs-lake-levels-at-record-lows