Work needed on workshops

Saugatuck City Councilman John Porzondek thinks the council’s workshop meetings could use a little work. And he doesn’t want to read about workshop discussions in the media before he hears about the topic from city officials.

Porzondek, who has missed recent workshops, asked his fellow councilmembers Monday night to reconsider how the workshop meetings are run, including how much time residents in the audience get to talk about issues.

“If this is a true workshop, three minutes isn’t enough,” he said at the council’s regular meeting.

Other council members said the workshops are informal enough that audience members get plenty of time to speak. Some also said that if Porzondek misses a workshop, he needs to check in with the city manager the next day.

The council has a workshop at 4 p.m. Thursday before the regular 7 p.m. Monday council meeting. At the workshop, council members discuss topics that might be more complex and take more technical knowledge and input from professionals than a regular meeting will allow. The topics can take weeks or months to come before the council at a regular meeting where all voting takes place.

No decisions are made at the workshops. The meetings are open to the public, but few people attend.

“I’m tracking with you to get more people involved,” said Councilman Barry Johnson. The council can look at ways to improve the workshop, he added, including recording them so they can be broadcast on community access television, as the regular meetings are.

The city now sends out the workshop agendas with supporting background, when available, to people who sign up on an email list. There are about 200 people on the list.

“If there’s something on it they are interested in, they’ll come,” said City Manager Kirk Harrier about the agendas.

What set off Porzondek’s comments was the Jan. 19 workshop during which an engineer presented plans for a half-acre park. One idea was for an 80-100 seat amphitheater at the corner of Butler and Water streets. Porzondek was not at the workshop and a story later appeared in The Sentinel then other newspapers.

“I don’t want to see another thing in the paper I’m not aware of,” he said.

The idea of an amphitheater was scrapped at a workshop last week after residents brought up concerns, said Mayor Jane Verplank.

Bathroom Break in Douglas

Beery Field in Douglas at last year's Oktoberfest. The infield — shown here in dirt — will be planted with grass this spring as part of the park renovation project. The dugouts, at left, will be refurbished and the backstop painted.

The grass will be greener on the other side of the Douglas public restrooms this summer — and maybe through the winter, too.

A new grass infield will be seeded in April at the Beery Field baseball diamond at Center and Main streets, Ryan Kilpatrick, director of community development for Douglas, told the city council Monday night. The work by Grounds Management Solutions will cost $7,800.

The upgrade will be paid for through the money raised in the last two Oktoberfest celebrations.

The dugouts will be refurbished and the backstop painted, Kilpatrick said.

The field is the home of the Douglas Dutchers vintage base ball team that plays 19th-century style baseball throughout the summer.

During the summer, those who watch the games or play on the adjoining playground have easy access to the public restrooms in the park, but not when the cold weather hits. The city closes the restrooms in the fall, a practice some city council members say discourages tourists in the off-season.

“If we want to promote Douglas as a city, having a restroom they can use is absolutely essential,” said Councilwoman Jane Mayer about tourists.

“We need to have the ability ... to have heated restrooms in this town,” said Councilwoman Martha Hoexter.

Mayor Jim Wiley suggested the council consider the year-round restrooms when the council draws up its budget for next year.

In 2006, the downtown development authority estimated the cost of improvements to the bathrooms, including making them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and adding a heating a system, at $40,000.

In Saugatuck

Bathrooms are also on the minds of Saugatuck council members.

The council is looking at renovating the park at the corner of Butler and Culver streets where the information booth is now.  A small unisex restroom facility is part of the plans — and would be cheaper to heat than the year-round facility several blocks away on Butler Street.

That facility used to rack up $600 to $700 monthly heating bills until the city made some modifications in the ventilation system and lowered the heat to about 60 degrees. Now it costs about $100 to $120 a month to heat.

The city has four public restrooms, two on the north end of downtown — one facility is at Butler and Main streets, another at Water Street at Wicks Park — one on the west side of the Kalamazoo River at the foot of Mount Baldhead and another at Oval Beach on Lake Michigan. Only the Butler Street restroom stays open in the winter.

In December, the council began looking at ways to finance a new restroom at Coghlin Park on Culver Street. The park is becoming more popular and is the site of jazz concerts and Waterfront Film Festival events. Estimates put the cost at $50,000 to $80,000.

Valentine's Day View

The window display at With Our Hands in Saugatuck.

Wendy Wise has again captured the holiday season with her new window display at her shop With Our Hands at 303 Butler St. in Saugatuck.

The mannequins, which have previously been draped in patriotic colors and Yuletide wear, are now covered — barely — with hearts.

The changing window displays draw in people to the shop, Wise said in earlier interviews.

Saugatuck Township mum in Dugout Road debate

Dugout Road in Saugatuck Township. The Kalamazoo River is on the left.

The entrance to Dugout Road.

The Saugatuck Township board remained mum on its plans for Dugout Road, though some residents made their views clear at Wednesday night’s meeting.

“This is a big issue,” said Dayle Harrison, a member of township planning commission.

For more background, visit http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1354948821/Hearing-set-on-fate-of-Dugout-Road

Property owners adjoining the road have asked the Allegan County Road Commission to vacate the road.

A hearing on the topic is 1 p.m. Tuesday at the Allegan County Area Technical & Education Center, 2891 116th Ave. in Allegan. Saugatuck Township will get the first offer to acquire the land after the hearing and decision by the road commission.

The dangerous unpaved road hugs the north side of the Kalamazoo River and dead-ends at private property. Road maintenance trucks and fire trucks cannot safely navigate the stretch the township calls “perilous.”

For a look at the road, visit http://www.hollandsentinel.com/videos/x301189104/Dangerous-Dugout-Road?page=1

Area residents have asked the township to acquire the road and keep it open as a pedestrian path.

Russ Harris told the board Wednesday he’d like to see the road turned into a walking trail. He also suggested the township get other groups, such as the Nature Conservancy, involved to make it a linear park.

“It’s the most spectacular view of the river in the township,” said Harrison. He urged the township to make a statement to the road commission about acquiring the land.

Board members declined, saying they cannot comment on the issue until after the hearing because the board has no authority over the road.

Trustee Chris Roerig said he wants input from the planning commission and parks commission before he would discuss it.

Township representatives will be at the hearing, said Supervisor Bill Wester. The township will discuss the issue at its March meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 7, at the township hall, 3461 Blue Star Highway.

Pine Trail Camp originally filed a request to vacate Dugout Road in March 2010, then suspended the issue two months later among fears the camp would be pulled into the lawsuits between the township and developer Aubrey McClendon, who owns land around the road, also called Singapore Road.

In May, the request to close the road was again made.

Toilet talk in Saugatuck

This park in Saugatuck could be the site of new restrooms.

Few topics in Saugatuck city get council members going like public restrooms, and when the topic came up of adding new toilet facilities at the corner of Butler and Water streets, some members became, well, flushed with excitement.

“A lot of businesses say we need another toilet downtown,” said Councilman Henry VanSingel at last month’s study session.

The council is considering changes to a half-acre site to include a memorial to a former police chief, picnic tables and an amphitheater for 80 to 100 people.

And a bathroom.

“I’d like to see something designed around a couple of restrooms there,”  said City Manager Kirk Harrier.

The city has four public restrooms, two on the north end of downtown — one facility is at Butler and Main streets, another on Water Street at Wicks Park — one on the west side of the Kalamazoo River at the foot of Mount Baldhead and another at Oval Beach on Lake Michigan. Only the Butler Street restroom stays open in the winter.

In December, the council began looking at ways to finance a new restroom at Coghlin Park on Culver Street. The park is becoming more popular and is the site of jazz concerts and Waterfront Film Festival events. Estimates put the cost at $50,000 to $80,000.

The city council also wants a unisex restroom with two separate toilets worked into the renovation of the park at Butler and Water streets. Each room would have a changing table, toilet and sink.

(Here’s a link to a story with more details about the park proposal: http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x690035342/Park-design-could-include-amphitheater)

Mayor Jane Verplank suggested a restroom for men and two for women.

Harrier was looking at costs, noting that small unisex bathrooms would be easier to heat than the current facility several blocks away on Butler Street.

The facility used to rack up $600 to $700 monthly heating bills until the city made some modifications in the ventilation system and lowered the heat to about 60 degrees, said Treasurer Peter Stanislawski.

Now it costs about $100 to $120 a month to heat, he said.

Harrier would like to shut down that restroom in the winter and have a smaller — and cheaper — facility to maintain throughout the snowy season.

Bathrooms have always been a high-profile topic in this tourist town.

In 2008, Saugatuck made international news when a business owner got frustrated at the number of customer complaints about the dirty restrooms on Butler Street. He cleaned the restroom and submitted a bill to the city. The city thanked him by presenting him with the Golden Plunger Award.

Here’s a link to that story:

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/news/x1678071002/Saugatuck-merchant-receives-Golden-Plunger-Award-for-cleaning-bathrooms