B.I. News on the 'Net, November 27-December 2, 2012
CCCOA Changes Fare
CHARLEVOIX COUNTY TRANSIT NOTICE: Beginning January 1, 2013 the following change in fares will take place: Senior Fare (ages 60 and over) $0.50 per ride. Rides 15 miles and over from pick-up location to destination are double fare. For those with financial hardships, Commission on Aging will evaluate requests for fare assistance on a case-by-case basis.
"The Silent Killer," States The American Heart Association
Do you have high blood pressure? There's only one way to know, and that is to have it checked! Stop by the Beaver Island Rural Health Center for a free blood pressure check.
High blood pressure adds to your heart's workload and can damage your arteries and organs over time, according to the American Heart Association. People with high blood pressure are more likely to have a stroke, more likely to develop congestive heart failure and more likely to develop coronary heart disease, which can lead to a heart attack.
High blood pressure has no symptoms, which is why it is called the “silent killer.” High blood pressure can usually be controlled by diet, more exercise and medication.
Just call ahead to the BIRHC at 448-2275 to make sure a provider is available to take a free, quick, painless blood pressure reading. While you are at the Health Center, check on other diagnostic tests that are available to residents of the Island. Women who are ages 40 through 64 may qualify for free mammograms and Pap tests.
The BIRHC mission is to provide high-quality, low-cost health care to all on the island, regardless of ability to pay. Contact Managing Director Donna Kubic at 448-2275 for more information about our sliding fee scale. Depending on your income and family size, you may qualify for a discount of up to 75% on services provided at the Health Center.
Remember, call us at 448-2275 for a free blood pressure check.
BINGO News
Wednesday, December 5th and 19th, are Bingo nights this month at the Gregg Fellowship Center. Doors open at 6:15 pm and games start at 7:00 sharp!
Fire Damages Brian Cole's House
In the early, early morning of December 1, 2012, at approximately 12:30 a.m., the Beaver Island Fire Department and Beaver Island EMS were paged to the Brian Cole residence across the King's Highway from the Governmental Building for a structure fire. Two of the BIFD pumpers and one tanker were called to the scene. BIEMS was only there to standby in case of any injuries. All of Brian Cole family were out of the house and safe as the fire department arrived to fight the fire. Specific information about the cause of the fire and the amount of damage are not available at this time. The entire island is thankful for the safety of the Brian Cole family and their pets.
This morning, December 2, 2012, at approximately 8:15 a.m., the BIFD and BIEMS were called to this same residence for a re-kindled fire in the attic. The water damage is now doubled on the first floor along with the smoke damage. The BIFD used their new infrared camera for detecting hot spots, and every effort was made to cool down any of these.
Several people had been asking about the fire damage, and BINN got permission to post some pictures of the interior damage. These were taken on December 1st.
Other than water damage, most of the fire damage is in the upstairs. These are downstairs damage to ceiling.
These are some of the damage done to the upstairs of the Cole house.
Although you can't see much damage to the house when you drive by, the house has a great deal of damage to the inside. From the outside, if you look very closely, you can see the north and south end of the roof has slightly curled upward.
If you are interested in helping the Coles in their time of trouble, you can send a donation to:
Brian and Rose Cole
PO Box 455
37835 Kings Highway
Beaver Island, MI 49782
For those that would like to do something more immediate, the Beaver Island Christian Church will provide all donations from PayPal to the Cole Family. If you are willing to use PayPal, and your credit card or debit card, you can donate immediately using this PayPal button.
Thanks Bill and Jeff Cashman
There is a great multi page story and photos about winter on Beaver Island by Bill and Jeff Cashman in the December issue of Traverse Magazine. You can view the story and article at this link HERE
Christmas Cantata in Final Rehearsals
The Beaver Island Community Choir has been hard at work preparing the Annual Christmas Cantata. The final rehearsals will take place during this week and the performances will be next Saturday and Sunday, December 8th and 9th at 2 p.m. This year's cantata is entitled "Silent Night! Holy Night! A Ready to Sing Christmas." For those unable to attend either performance, BINN with attempt to live stream the program on both days at http://beaverisland.tv
Seniors' Meal Options
Besides the home delivered meals prepared by Dahlwhinnie, there are options currently at two restaurants, Dahlwhinnie's and the Shamrock. The menus are down below, but there are times where a picture is worth a hundred words. These pictures are not meant to depict the entire menu at either place, but just to give you an opportunity to see what some of the options look like. The editor can attest to the excellent meals that have been consumed over the last few months. The seniors, who have not participated, should seriously consider these wonderful meals. The seniors that have been participating should invite another senior to go with them.
Breakfast at Dahlwhinnie's is an excellent opportunity to sit down and socialize. The #1 breakfast at Dahlwhinnies was sampled by the editor and it received a two thumbs up, once the thumbs were done proving help to the hands in consuming this excellent meal. Here is a picture of the meal:
Eggs, hashbrowns, toast, orange juice, milk or coffee, and pears
Dahlwhinnie's is also participating in lunch. Breakfast runs from 7-10, and lunch from 11-2. The honey mustard chicken salad is another wonderful meal as is the tuna melt.
Downtown at the Shamrock Bar, there is no breakfast, but an excellent lunch is awating all seniors for a reasonable cost. These same senior menu items are available to the general public for $7.00. Here are a few pictures of the lunch items available at the Shamrock: Again, the senior lunch and dinner menu is posted below.
Soup and Salad is a wonderful combination of homemade soups and fresh salad with dressing, bread, and butter, Add coffee, tea, or iced tea as a beverage and a fruit cup and you have one excellent lunch.
This wonderful chicken salad is also available as one of the lunch or dinner items for seniors.
A hot beef sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy, cole slaw, and fruit cup along with your choice of three beverages can't be beat.
So, there are plenty of Dining Out menu options and, at this time, at least two places to go for lunch. What are you seniors waiting for? Meet you for lunch?
The Shamrock is also offering these same menu choices for dinner for all seniors. The Dining Out program is part of the services offered by the Charlevoix County Commission on Aging.
Dahlwhinnie's Dining Out Menu
The CC Commission on Aging's representatives have approved the menu submitted by Dahlwhinnie's to offer seniors an additional option when deciding to dine out. The addition of a a breakfast menu to a lunch menu provides another option for Dining Out seniors. The menu was available as of Monday, October 8, 2012, and is presented below exactly as presented to BINN with only one thing added. The thing added was the word 'and' in front of the word 'milk.' The following menu items are available from 7-10 a.m.:
#1 1 egg, hashbrowns, orange juice, fruit cup, toast with butter, and milk
#2 1 egg, hashbrowns, orange juice, fruit cup, oatmeal, and milk
#4 Egg sandwich with cheese, orange juice, fruit cup, hashbrowns
#5 1 egg vegetable cheese omelet, hash browns, orange juice
The Dining Out Lunch Menus available from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. is:
#1 Fresh spinach salad with grilled chicken, red onion, honey mustard dressing, fruit, bread with butter, and milk
#2 Chili--(beef, chicken, or turkey) with tomatoes, beans, peppers, and onions, fruit cup, crackers, and milk
#3 Meat loaf, potatoes, vegetable, fruit, roll with butter, milk
#4 Open face pulled pork sandwich, vegetable, sweet potato, fruit, and milk
#5 Hot turkey or beef sandwich and potatoes with gravy, vegetable, fruit, and milk
#6 Tuna melt on wheat with cheddar, fruit, mixed vegetable
Shamrock " Senior" Menu Available to ALL!
After a discussion today, September 26, 2012, with Dana Hodgson, it is possible to replace mashed potatoes with French fries, so this makes the possibilities on the Shamrock menu a total of thirty possible combinations for food and three possibilities for drinks.
Lots of options and choices...
Dana and Eric Hodgson announced this morning, October 16, 2012, that the senior menu posted above will be available to all ages. If paid in cash, the cost of these menu items, all thirty possible combinations, will be $6.60 plus tax. This means that the menu, listed as the senior menu, is available for anyone for $7. This is a wonderful possibility for all! Thank you, Dana and Eric!
The BINN editor arrived at the Shamrock for lunch today, and suddenly realized that the senior vouchers were not in his pocket, but at home. With this new option, the same lunch was received without any issues and the $7 price was paid instead. This will allow several of the old gang who used to meet at the Community Center an opportunity to congregate again for lunch. Thank you again, Dana and Eric!
Mark Your Calendar for the 2013 Winter Free Fishing Weekend
Are you looking for an opportunity to take someone out fishing this winter, perhaps someone who has never been before? Consider scheduling your outing for February 16 or 17 as part of the 2013 Winter Free Fishing Weekend!
As part of that weekend, all fishing license fees will be waived for those two days. Residents and out-of-state visitors can enjoy fishing on both inland and Great Lakes' waters for many different species of fish. Please note all fishing regulations will still apply during that time.
For many, the annual Winter Free Fishing Weekend is a tradition – will it become one for you as well?
Numerous activities in communities throughout Michigan will be going on as part of the 2013 Winter Free Fishing Weekend. Maybe you would want to plan one of your own in your community? For more information, or resources to help you participate, please visit www.michigan.gov/freefishing .
BITA Meeting, Tuesday, December 4, 2012
BEAVER ISLAND TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
TUESDAY DECEMBER 11, 2012 (Note change in date)
BEAVER ISLAND TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY BUILDING
12:00 PM
AGENDA
Opening of Meeting
• Call to Order
• Determination of Quorum
• Approval of Minutes
Minutes Approved ______ Minutes Approved with Corrections ________
Additions to Agenda
Treasurer's Report
Director's Report – Project Updates
End of Year Budget Adjustment
FY 2013 Budget
RFP Waiver Request
Letter of Understanding
2013 Schedule and Fares
Correspondence
Other Pertinent Business
Public Comment
BICS Sports This Weekend
The BICS Basketball teams will be headed off the island to play at Hannahville. Plans to live stream these games were dashed by the fact that the Hannahville School does not have Internet access anywhere within 200 feet of their gymnasium. There is a possibility that a couple of BICS ball players might do some video that can be shared next week.
Good luck to the Lady Islanders and the Islanders!
Santa Paws at Power's Hardware
Saturday, December 15, 2012, Power's Do It Best Hardware will be open for a special holiday event! Santa Claus will be here! You can have your pet's photo taken with Santa, for a donation to the Beaver Island Animal Fund.
SANTA will be here from 10 am to 2 pm on the 15th and special refreshments and cookies will be available for your enjoyment.
We lowered prices on many items for this one day only, so you'll want to get in to take advantage of the deep discounts! Boat loads of savings on Tools, Electronics, Stocking Stuffers and many many holiday gift items. In addition, all Gift Shop items will be 35% off! On top of that, we'll return 10% of your purchase price on all Hardware items to you in the form of a Gift Certificate: spend $100.00, get a $10.00 Gift Certificate to tuck into someone's Christmas stocking!
Merry Christmas, Everyone, from the Staff at Powers' Do It Best Hardware!
BI Airport Commission Meeting Scheduled for December 3rd
The BIAC Commission Meeting has been schedule for December 3, 2012, at the Peaine Township Hall at 9 a.m. The main purpose of this meeting is to choose an architect for the designing of a new terminal building at the Beaver Island Airport.
Beaver Island Human Services Commission 2013 Meeting Schedule
At 2 p.m. at the Beaver Island Community School
The Commission is a collaboration of organizations that advocates for the emotional and physical needs of island residents and visitors of all ages.
January 17, 2013
February 21, 2013
March 21, 2013
April 18, 2013
May 16, 2013
June 20, 2013
September 19, 2013
October 17, 2013
November 21, 2013
Members: _______(Char-Em Human Service Coordinating Body), Adam Richards (BIRHC), Alice Belfy(BICS), Judi Meister (Food Pantry), Ann Partridge(COA liaison/Community Center), Lois Williams (Hospice/Helping Hands), Kathy Tidmore(St. James Township Rep.), Pam Grassmick (Peaine Township Rep.), ______ (AmVets)
Joint Township Meeting Live Stream and On Demand Video
BINN is all set up at the Peaine Township Hall for the Joint Township Board Meeting. This meeting was requested by the BI Airport Commission. Mead and Hunt, consultants for the BIAC will be present and will make a presentation at this meeting that begins at 7 p.m. The Live Streaming Video can be viewed at http://beaverisland.tv
Recorded video of this meeting will be posted once it is processed. The basic idea of this meeting was to have Meae and Hunt do a presentation "Airports 101" with explanation of the grant received by the Beaver Island Airport in the amount of $650,000 to build a terminal building. After the presentation, there was an opportunity to ask questions and get answers.
You can watch the video HERE.
Internet Down on Beaver Island
24 Hours of Internet Deprivation
(7:15 pm) At approximately 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 27, 2012, the Internet went down on Beaver Island island-wide. There simply was no one with TDS DSL that had any Internet access at all. As this is written, the Internet has been down for eight hours, which is two hours more than the outage eight days ago. The TDS phone representative on Beaver Island stated that the problem was one of AT&T, which is the connection to Chicago and into the rest of the world from there. This is supposedly the same issue that occurred eight days ago, but no one know that for sure. The News on the 'Net service is like a motorboat dead in the water due to an engine failure.
Plans to live stream the Joint Township Meeting may not materialize without the Internet connection to allow that to happen. Perhaps the issue will be resolved in the next 24 hours, and the live streaming of the meeting will still be able to take place. At this moment, this information cannot be posted because there is no Internet to upload the story. This, then, is a diary of the Internet deprived population of Beaver Island.
(8:15 am, November 28, 2012) Internet is still down. This fact puts a huge cement block wall in front of the plans mentioned above for live streaming. It took eleven minutes to be able to post an outage notice on the forum last night using the cellphone data plan. With the TDS DSL out, the island has moved backwards in technology to Beaver Island Internet Project days, but there is no dialup to use. It is amazing how the Internet has become this important in our lives. We had to use the telephone yesterday to order a Christmas gift instead of the ease of online ordering.
BINN was notified at approximately 10:30 a.m. on November 28, 2012, that the Internet is back up and working. How did we survive without it?
Links
B I Airport Commission MeetingSaturday, November 17, 2012, beginning a little after 9 am, the Beaver Island Airport Commission met at the St. James Township Hall. Upon arrival at the hall, both new township supervisors were being briefed by AC Chairman Mike Scripps and committee member Don Vyse. This was a two on two discussion of the current history and previous history of the Airport Committee and its conversion to Airport Commission. The discussion continued until the arrival of all the other AC members. Questions were asked, and answers were given. Then the regular meeting began. Video of this meeting may be viewed HERE
2012 November 14 Peaine Township MeetingThis meeting video should be able to be viewed on any electronic device with Internet access. It has been tested on desktop, laptop, Ipad, and Iphone 4.
2012 November 7 St James Township Meeting Video
St. James Township Board Meeting VideoThis meeting took place on October 4, 2012, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the St. James Township Hall. The meeting video is available at the link below:
Bird Festival Feasibility Study and Comments
Airport Commission Announces Funding for New Terminal BuildingThe chair of the Beaver Island Airport Commission announced today, October 29, 2012, that Mead and Hunt had told him that the BIAC was to received a grant to fund the building of the new terminal building at the Township Airport. Video of the announcement and comments can be viewed HERE
Invasive Species SummitVideo of the summit can be viewed HERE
Beaver Island Veteran's MemorialView the Tribute to Veterans Video
Freedom of Information Act and Open Meeting Act PresentationThe scheduled presentation covering the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Open Meeting Act (OMA) took place at Peaine Township Hall, yesterday, May 23, 2012. The presentation was scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and end at 4 p.m., but the questions extended past 4:20 p.m. This presentation was given by Robin Luce Herrmann. Ms. Herrmann is a lawyer who represents the press in FOIA and OMA court actions. She had previously represented the Petoskey News Review (PNR) in a court case after the PNR was denied a FOIA request from the Charelvoix County Prosecutor. The PNR won this court action. The Charlevoix County Prosecutor had been asked to come give this presentation, but no mutually acceptable date had been determined. Robin Luce Herrmann provided a large amount of information about many aspects of both of these acts and answered several questions related to these specific pieces of law including court decisions and Attorney Generals opinions. Video of the Presentations Can Be Viewed HERE
WMC LinksNew Prices for Transfer Station |
Hunter's SnowTen days after the beginning of the firearm deer season, the tracking snow or hunter's snow appeared overnight here on Beaver Island. Welcome,Winter! The outside activities taking up most of the islanders time now will include cutting wood, continuing construction work, hopefully inside jobs; and the beginning of activities only done on snow--snowshoeing, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling. There's not enough snow for any of these yet. Although the island has had a dusting of snow a couple of times, this is the first time that there has been a snow covered deck railing with about 1.5-2.0 inches of snow. The blanket of snow covered the limbs and needles of the pine trees and junipers weighting them down in smooth curves of green and white. The pure white sits in the the crooks of the branches of the maples making the stark beauty more realistic.
Turkeys in the snow
Beauty dressed in white Some of the Islanders are ready for the snow and the activities that contribute to making wintertime on Beaver Island an amazingly beautiful place.
More Low Water PicturesHaving worked for Phil Gregg and Walker Hill, the builders and creators of the Beaver Island Marina, formerly Beaver Haven Marina, the editor is amazed at these pictures showing the low water level in the harbor.
The stone wall in the picture above representsprotection from the high water in years past. When it is viewed now, it seems like just one more landscaping project, but it was necessary when the water level was higher.
Still at the same location, but standing out away from the houses near the edge of the water showing the current low water level. It's a long way to that stone wall from here.
Looking from west to east, showing the pilings for the old lumber milldock, gives some perspective to the lowered water level. Perry Gatliff used to fish off the Beaver Haven fill dock and out of his boat for some of the best bass fishing anywhere.
Looking out from the the stone protection wall.
This is the Beaver Haven fill dock where Perry Gatliff used to tie up his boat. This fill dock was built because of the high water level. The water was up close to the top of the logs, high enough that it might actually cause your feet to get wet when there was a southwest wind. The fill dock is high and dry right now as is a portion of the barge placed at the end to provide access to fuel the visiting yachts. About half of this barge is aground, (And it's supposed to go down nine more inches?)
Beaver Island's Black Friday Event
This event appears to be the only Black Friday sale taking place on Beaver Island. The Island Treasures Resale Shop is open today from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. today. The BIFD Auxiliary has been hard at work organizing and preparing for today's event. There are lots of refreshments and dtrawings. Get to the resale shop today! Early Birds> Donna Stambaugh> The preliminary results of this sale for Carol's Barn suggests that approximately $1000.00 was raised at this special sale.
Community Thanksgiving Dinner(Pictures with Iphone by Andrea Moore) Fifty-five people arrived at the Gregg Fellowship Center to partake in the Thanksgiving Dinner put on for anyone in the community. Lots of people working to complete this dinner made the dinner wonderfully relaxing even for those doing their part of the work. To give just one example, carving turkeys with one person carving takes between two and a half and three hours. Two people carving turkeys cuts the time down considerably to one hour and twenty minutes. Potatoes for mashing, after they are cooked, normally takes about one hour, but with two people working on the project, it took about twenty minutes.
Desserts and a long table of food items
A wonderful meal and wonderful company, but we missed you!
How Low Is the Water in the Harbor?If you stopped at Doug Hartell's house and walked from the normal shoreline location to the edge of the water that was only one inch deep, you would walk approximately 96 yards. That's not measuring vertical distance, but horizontal distance. That's a lot of wet sand and stones that used to be covered by water.
Panoramic view from edge of water toward Whiskey Point
Panoramic view from Dahlwhinnie to Martin dock from eddge of water
Gull Harbor swans and shoreline
Car wash from older edge of water looking out.......Points formed from low water-car wash toward Gull Harbor >
Recreation Survey, Please Respond By December 16NRESC SURVEY An on-line Peaine Township Recreation Survey has been approved by the Natural Resources/ Ecotourism Steering Committee (NRESC), and it is now available online. The deadline for responding is December 16. The NRESC is in the process of preparing a Peaine Township Recreation Plan at the request of township board. When a plan is completed it will be available for public review prior to approval. The plan will be submitted to the Peaine Township Planning Commission, the Peaine Township Board and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. (DNR). An approved recreation plan is a requirement prior to receiving grant funding from the DNR for recreation projects. The survey is one of the steps in preparing a Recreation Plan. Full-time and summer residents and visitors are asked to assist the NRESC by taking the Recreation Survey. It is not necessary to live in Peaine Township to take the survey. The survey is confidential and the results will be tabulated and provided to the NRESC by Survey Monkey. Printed copies of the survey will be available at the library and community center for those who do not want to use the online survey. To take the survey on-line, the address is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/55YQQHF .
Why Does a Man Squeeze the Tube in the Middle?Since the political season is over, some of us have time to sit down and think about the really important issues of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Today's issue and future issues involve the last one of these, the pursuit of happiness. Sitting around on the cloudy, windy, and rainy days of fall, these profound thoughts caught up with me as I was trying to run away from serious thought. I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth and noticed a very neat tube of toothpaste by my wife's sink. Yes, we resolved the toothpaste issue years ago by having two tubes of toothpaste and two sinks, hers and his. I was looking at this tube and then I looked at my tube. Her tube was folded neatly from the bottom and folded over and over, pushing the toothpaste from the bottom of the tube to the top, where the tube was expanded all the way. My tube had two reservoirs of toothpaste-- one above the indentation in the middle, and one below the indentation in the middle. I am absolutely certain that the simple difference in shape is one of the reasons for the arguments that can be very serious about the toothpaste tube. The man's shape looks something like this, with the bottom of the tube on the left: 00o—ooo. The man will continue to squeeze in the middle pushing harder until there is no more paste coming out of the tube. The woman's shape looks something like this: ------000. The woman wants to know how much paste is left. Not that it makes any difference, but the sounds of these shapes would suggest that the man's would start very loud and become very soft. The woman's shape would be silent and then very loud. These shapes allow the woman to know exactly how much toothpaste is left in the tube as she would continue to roll the tube up after every time the teeth were brushed (-------oO). The woman will go out and buy another tube of paste when the tube looks like this. The man's shape suggests that there will almost always be some toothpaste left until the entire tube is flat, and then you can roll it up to get just one more glob of paste out for the last time of brushing before the next tube is purchased (-----o-o). Eventually both the man's and woman's tubes are completely empty. Eventually both the man's and the woman's tubes look exactly alike. A man will unroll the toothpaste tube and re-roll it to just make certain that all of it is completely gone. Does this have something to do with an environmental influence or is this purely genetic? Does this have to do with experience in the world or is this just the result of chance? Is one way the right way, or are both ways equally correct? If the result, the tube is empty, is the same, does it matter which way the tube is used? If you are still sharing the same tube of toothpaste, is the disagreement continuing in your household? Does this same disagreement happen in male-male or female-female relationships? Does it matter whether the male-female relationship has been legalized by marriage? I look forward to gaining some understanding of these serious issues of relationships. I look forward to the research and explanations of the research of this issue, so please send your comments to the editor at medic5740@gmail.com . In your email, please answer all the above and these questions. Are you male or female? Do you squeeze your tube in the middle or from the end? Does this important situation cause arguments in your household? Do you have your own tube of toothpaste or do you share? By the way, your help in resolving these simple questions will help me get a federal grant to study this in more depth. January 2013: (Because it takes more than a month to compile the important statistics) Is the toilet seat up in your house or down? What are the problems caused by this toilet seat issue? Do you have cats in your house that enjoy playing in the toilet water? We will explore this issue in depth.
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Bliss Fest Music Organization Seeks Artist Design of Logo Contest
News From the Beaver Island Community School
November 19, 2012
For more information, contact Kitty McNamara, 231.448.2744, kittym@bics.us
BICS Recognizes Academic Achievement
Forty percent of the secondary students earned a 3.5 or higher grade point average in the first marking period. These students are being recognized for Consistent and Exceptional Academic Performance: Forrest Avery, Sarah Avery, Emily Boyle, Erin Boyle, Ryan Boyle, Olivia Cary, Marissa Crandall, Tessa Jones, Simeon Richards, Hannah Robert, Alex Williams and Nick Williams. Students Emily Burton and Meg Works are being recognized for Commended Academic Performance and Achievement for earning a B- average or better for the first marking period. All of the students are enrolled in a rigorous course of study and most of these students are also involved in student council, athletics, and other school and community activities. Congratulations!
BICS School Board sets Annual Goals
At its October board meeting, the school board adopted four annual goals:
• Develop a district-wide Communications Plan, including development of a unique BICS ‘Dashboard' that will be used to report on the status of school accomplishments & achievements compared to determined targets.
• Continue to update board policies, making sure those policies support the intended culture of the school and are flexible enough to allow the use of common sense and good judgment in implementation.
• Continue to work on implementation of the graduate profile requirements which help build a solid path to career and college readiness.
• Develop and follow a timeline for transition from the current administrator to a new administrator.
A More Active Winter Forecast
AccuWeather. com reports Sandy is a sign of what is to come for the East during winter of 2012-2013 with an active coastal storm track expected, AccuWeather meteorologists agree.
In reviewing the original winter forecast, meteorologists now expect more weak, fast-moving snowstorms and cold for the Midwest than previously forecast. Meteorologists originally forecast a near-normal season for lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes, but they now forecast above-normal snow for some areas.
In reviewing the original winter forecast, meteorologists now expect more weak, fast-moving snowstorms and cold for the Midwest than previously forecast. Meteorologists originally forecast a near-normal season for lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes, but they now forecast above-normal snow for some areas.
"[Sandy] gave us an idea of what can happen off the East Coast if we get phasing to take place," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok explained. "And we also saw a couple storms, not as extreme as Sandy, but have a similar impact. So, that is a little bit of a prelude of what we think can happen."
Phasing refers to a northern branch of the jet stream meeting with the southern branch of the jet stream, allowing big storms to impact the East. Think of it as two smaller rivers merging together into one larger one.
Originally a weak El Niño, which is classified by above-normal water temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean, was forecast. Now meteorologists expect a neutral phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) for the winter, which is characterized by near-normal water temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean.
More Clippers, Cold Shots for the Midwest
A higher frequency of clipper systems is expected for the northern Plains and Midwest compared to what meteorologists were expecting early in the fall. Clipper systems are fast-moving storms, originating from Alberta, Canada, that carry little moisture. Light to moderate snow usually falls on the northern edge of the clipper system track. Below-normal snowfall was previously forecast for eastern portions of the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Illinois. AccuWeather meteorologists now expect near-normal snow in this zone due to more frequent clippers. Cold shots following the clipper systems will hold temperature departures down more too. With more cold crossing the Great Lakes, this change also impacts the forecast for lake-effect snow in some areas.
"With more clippers, we may see a moderate season [of lake-effect snow] predicted overall for the Great Lakes, but there could be a few areas that could be a little bit heavier off of Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan," Pastelok said. Above-normal snow is forecast for the typical snowbelts across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northern portions of Lower Michigan as a result.
Wildlife Club Dinner Raffle Results
The Beaver Island Wildlife Club Raffle winners for 2012 include the first winner of the gun was Jim McDonough. The winner of the binoculars was Tom Kludt. The winner of the GPS was Mark Deaudoin. There were additional prizes. Carol Creasser won bird shot shells. Pat Nugent won a spur knife. Bob Welke won a $100 gift certificate. Rex Dowling and Andy Kohls each won an engraved knife. The Swearingen camp won a spotlif and a knife. Don Tritsch won a head lamp. Sally Fogg won a knife and bird shot shells. Fred and Marty Walstrom won a knife and a spotlight. Bruce Wildie won a filet knife. Butch Holgarth won a spot light and a filet knife. Paul Johnson won a spur knife. John Haggard won a spotlight. Larry McDonough won a filet knife. The winner of the 50/50 raffle was Leroy Schwandt.
Lots of prizes and an excellent dinner make for an absolutely excellent Wildlife Club Dinner and Raffle!
Who Is This?
Beaver Island Cultural Arts Association board members are not eligible for this contest. This is a contest with a prize. If you are the first person to send an email to the editor of BINN, and if you correctly identify this person AND his connection to Beaver Island, you will be able to give someone else a six month subscription to Beaver Island News on the 'Net as a Thanksgiving or Christmas present. Can you identify this Puerto Rican Bass? Can you explain how he is connected to Beaver Island? If so, send an email to the editor of BINN at: medic5740@gmail.com
The two people who correctly identified Martha Guth's husband, Ricardo Lugo, were Donna Stambaugh and Sally Pryce. Congratulations!
BICS Christmas Caroling Announced for December 18th
The elementary staff at BICS is excited to announce that we will be trying something new for the annual Christmas Program this year. We are planning to take all of the elementary students Christmas Caroling out in the community and share their beautiful voices and songs with those who otherwise may not have been able to attend the program at the Community Center. A wonderful group of parent volunteers have taken this idea to the next level and decided to make some treats to deliver along the way.
Caroling will occur, starting at 3:30 on Tuesday, December 18th.
ALL ARE WELCOME TO JOIN IN!
Contact Debbie Robert at 448-2744 (school) or 448-2048 (home) if you would like more information.
Come, join in as we remind these students and ourselves of the Reason for this Season!
If you know of someone who would appreciate having carolers please let me know. We will make every effort to visit as many as we can!
BICS After-School Program Professional Development
Flights of fancy and understanding the care of the environment are just two things the students at BICS have been learning about since the 21st Century after school program began its fourth year on September 17, 2012. Tours of the planes at Island Airways graciously provided by Paul and Angel Welke and cleaning the Walleye pond with Tom Klutz provided opportunity for our students to expand their academics beyond the reading and math they work on daily. There have been trips to the library and for a few lucky young ladies a trip to Camp Hayo-went-ha for sights on success training.
Happily, there is more yet to come including the chance for BICS students to see the adults that administer the after school programs doing some learning of their own. On November 29-30, 21st Century coordinators and their PALs will be heading to beautiful Beaver Island, instead of Kalamazoo, to have a day of professional development. PAL stands for Program Activity Leader, and here on Beaver Island we have two of the best: Patti Cull and Jacque LaFreniere. The PALs will be having training in classroom management and motivating the unmotivated student.
Program Coordinators like me, Jenna Wilk, will be looking at statistics and data analysis for program improvement strategies. What a great way to show off our beautiful island home and keep economic growth going in northern Michigan! A hat off to Christie Cloud-Webb and Kitty McNamara for leading others with such insight and remembering that keeping things close to home helps all of us in the long run.
Carol's Barn
We miss you, Carol. Our group of dedicated volunteers is lost without you. We have been trying hard to keep things going at Island Treasures Resale Shop this week , but gosh, we miss you Carol. Packing the money pouch with exactly the right denominations, recording the daily earnings, writing up the sign so that we could continue our friendly competition- you did so much for our beloved Resale Shop. You paid the bills, prepared the deposits, and ordered the stickers and vacuum cleaner bags. You called Timmy to update him on our earnings and to remind him to buy things for the fire department.
You and I talked often about the fact that neither of us knew what we were doing, but that we must be doing something right - we were making money and people love the place.
We miss your wit and, Geez, Louise, your willingness to sub in anytime we needed your help.
We just want you to know, Carol, that when we get that building built out back, it will be because you were the mover and shaker on that project. It will be easy for you to recognize the building because we are calling it Carol's Barn.
Donna
Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center hosts
'Wildlife of Michigan in Winter' photo contest
The Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon today announced a “Wildlife of Michigan in Winter” photo contest. Entrants are asked to submit favorite photos from last year or take a trek through the woods, fields or wetlands this winter and capture the beauty of wildlife in a wintry scene.
Photos must be of Michigan wildlife photographed in nature during winter. Entries are limited to two photos per person. Photos must be securely matted without a frame or glass, with a minimum size of 8 x 10 and maximum size of 11 x 16. Laminated photos or those without a matte will not be accepted. An entry fee of $4 per photo must accompany each submission. Please include photographer's name, address, email, phone number and name of wildlife and location photographed on the back. This contest is intended for amateurs only; the works of published photographers will not be considered.
The deadline for submission is 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25. An impartial team of volunteers with knowledge of photography will judge the photos. Winners will be announced Feb. 2. Three winners will be chosen. First-, second- and third-place winners will receive a gift card and/or prize with a value equivalent to $50, $35 or $25.
Photos may be submitted by mail or delivered to:
Gillette Nature Association
6585 Lake Harbor Road
Muskegon, MI 49441
Winning photos will be on display at the Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center through Feb. 28. Entries may be picked up on or after Feb. 28; those not picked up within two months will become property of the Gillette Nature Association.
Questions may be directed to Elizabeth Brockwell-Tillman, park interpreter, at 231-798-3573 . The Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center is one of 10 visitor centers managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Visit www.michigan.gov/ dnrvisitorcenters for more information.
BIMF Artist Submission for 2013
Dear BIMF Friends and Artists, It is that time of year again when we start searching for artists to perform at the Beaver Island Music Festival. I am sending this out to all of our active emails this time because so many have asked us after the deadline or have that group that they know and would love to have submit. This year you will have that chance and have all the requirements to submit to BIMF. We will continue to have Thursday as an evening of music, so there are more opportunities to have fun and enjoy. The dates for this year are July 18, 19, & 20. If your group is interested in performing at the 2013 festival the deadline for applying is January 15, 2013 and any applications received after this date will only be considered for the 2014 festival. It is very important in our selection process that you include, information about your group, size and list of all ban d members that would be attending if selected, and a CD . Due to the large amount of applicants it is crucial in our selection process that we have an actual CD from your group. Please send all of your press kits to: BIMF Selection Committee PO Box 23, Beaver Island, MI 49782 . Our committee will be making all of their selections by January 31, 2013 We select based on quality, originality, diversity, personality, desire to perform on Beaver Island, and try to have only one group from each musical category. We have also established a performing rule that no band can play the festival more than 2 years in a row (no exceptions) and must wait at least 1 year before reapplying. This rule has been put in place so that we can continue to bring a diverse and new festival to Beaver Island each year. If your group is chosen to perform for this year's festival you will be contacted shortly after the final selection date. We will try to have our final line up posted by March 1, 2013 .
*If you are not selected this y ear please continue to submit for future years and remember that we have an open-mic session that is open to all performers during the festival. You can register for a slot any time after February 1, 2013 . A special note to all artists that have applied to or performed at our festival before:
If we have received all of this information concerning your group from past years, everything about your group remains the same, and we have a current CD, all you will need to do is e-mail me at bimfburton@yahoo.com to reactivate your application. We continue to keep all submissions to our festival each year for the convenience of your group and our selection committee. We look forward to hearing from your group and wish you good luck for this year‘s selection!
Sum Goooood Caaake?
by Kate Garland
Once again this year, I've had requests for my Vodka Christmas Cake recipe so here goes. Please keep in your files as I am beginning to get tired of typing this up every year! (Made mine this morning!) 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 cup water, 1 tsp. salt , 1 cup brown sugar, Lemon juice, 4 large eggs, Nuts, 1 ...bottle Vodka, 2 cups dried fruit.
Sample a cup of Vodka to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Vodka again to be sure it is of the highest quality then Repeat. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point, it is best to make sure the Vodka is still OK. Try another cup just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 eegs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the fruit up off the floor, wash it and put it in the bowl a piece at a time trying to count it. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit getas stuck in the beaterers, just pry it loose with a drewscriver Sample the Vodka to test for tonsisticity. Next, sift 2 cups of salt, or something. Check the Vodka. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window. Finish the Vodka and wipe the counter with the cat. ?
(Not sure if this is an original recipe or not, but it is sure to raise the eyebrows of some who actually know how to bake.)
BICAA Mini-Grant Available
The Beaver Island Cultural Arts Association announces Mini-Grants for 2012: Applications for cultural arts projects are Due December 20, 2012 and must be completed before September 30, 2013: For more information, please email Krys Lyle, BICAA Coordinator, krys@kryslyle.com, or Anne Glendon, BICAA Board Chair, aglendon2@gmail.com . All applications must be submitted electronically using the attached form. Please see attachment for more details.
BINN has posted the attachment for all to access on the homepage of BINN at http://beaverislandnews.com with a link to the application form.
211 Call Data
Where Is the Tax Relief for St. James Township Taxpayers
Now that the election is over, it is time to bring this issue back up to the taxpayers on Beaver Island whether they pay taxes in St. James or in Peaine Townships. The following editorial was written by the editor of Beaver Island News on the 'Net, and he is responsible for all statements made. This position is his position only, not the position of News on the 'Net, nor of any family members. In short, the editorial is a response to two specific points: "Why do St. James individual taxpayers pay more for the joint services than does each individual Peaine taxpayer?" and "Are these tax amounts fair?" You can read the whole editorial by clicking on the small picture below.
Operation American Soldier
The Beaver Island High School National Honor Society Chapter is collecting items to send to soldiers for the holidays. If you would like to donate items, please give them to a NHS member (Marissa C, Olivia C and Erin B, or adviser Connie Boyle). Elementary students are having a friendly classroom competition to collect items, so they will be happy to turn them in for you. NHS will be hosting a Fun Night for students in grades 7-12 on November 16 and the students may bring items as part of their admission.
Wish List items include:
Coffee, Tea & Powder Drink Mix
Protein Bars
Hard Candy & Chocolate Candy
Holiday Decoration Items
Playing Cards & Small Games
Canned Fruit With Flip Tops
Snack Pack Pudding
Tuna In Envelopes
Beef Jerky
The items that cannot be shipped are any liquids that contain alcohol (all liquid items must be alcohol free – shampoos, hand sanitizers, etc), no tobacco and no pork products.
If you would like to make a donation for items to be purchased, checks can be written to “Operation American Soldier”.
All items will be sent to Operation American Soldier who will mail them to soldiers. If you know of a soldier who would like to receive a stocking filled with items, please give the name and address to Connie Boyle.
Please bring items to Beaver Island Community School by Friday, November 16th
Thank you for your help and continued support!
BICS Honor Society's Operation American Soldier
Squirrel War Over---Winners Announced!
About five weeks ago, Lil Gregg began having issues with squirrels getting into her house. With the hardware cloth patches to holes chewed into the siding at the roofline, and efforts to keep the squirrels out by her daughter Ruth, the war against the squirrels began. It seemed as if the squirrels were winning until Hogarth got a phone call and made their first visit. The first visit was followed by numerous other visits with help being received from Jim McDonough as well.
The squirrel caught in the inside trap.
The lead squirrel caught after 30 others....The winner of the squirrel war--Hogarths
Short video clip describing the war
BINN is glad to announce that the squirrel war at this address has been successfully won. There has been two weeks of no squirrels caught in the traps on the inside of the home. It might be time to consider putting up the Christmas decorations to cover up the remnants of this war.
Donate to the Live Streaming Project
The Live Streaming Project includes BICS Sports Events, Peaine Township Meetings, Joint Township Meetings, and much more.
Your donation may allow these events to be live streamed on the Internet at http://beaverisland.tv
Beaver Island Basketball Schedule 2012-2013
NOV 30 BEAVER ISLAND @ HANNAHVILLE
DEC 1 BEAVER ISLAND @ HANNAHVILLE
DEC 7 BEAVER ISLAND @ GRAND MARAIS
DEC 8 BEAVER ISLAND @ GRAND MARAIS
JAN 4 OJIBWE & BARNSTORMERS @ BEAVER ISLAND Rescheduled to Feb 15, 2013
JAN 5 OJIBWE & BARNSTORMERS @ BEAVER ISLAND Rescheduled to Feb 16, 2013
JAN 11 BEAVER ISLAND @ PARADISE (BOYS)
BEAVER ISLAND @ MUNISING BAPTIST IN PARADISE (GIRLS)
JAN 12 BEAVER ISLAND @ PARADISE (BOYS)
JAN 18 HANNAHVILLE @ BEAVER ISLAND
JAN 19 HANNAHVILLE @ BEAVER ISLAND
JAN 25 BEAVER ISLAND @ MAPLEWOOD
JAN 26 BEAVER ISLAND @ MAPLEWOOD
FEB 1 BEAVER ISLAND @ MACKINAC ISLAND
FEB 2 BEAVER ISLAND @ MACKINAC ISLAND
FEB 8 GRAND MARAIS @ BEAVER ISLAND
FEB 9 GRAND MARAIS @ BEAVER ISLAND
FEB 22/23 NORTHERN LIGHTS LEAGUE TOURNAMENT IN RUDYARD
Proposed Beaver Island Garage
For Charlevoix County Services on Beaver Island
Site plans and artist renditions may be viewed by clicking on the schematic above.
Thank you to County Commissioner Rich Gillespie for the above information!
Prediction of Record Low Water Levels
You can participate and listen to the discussion.
Interesting discussion to take place on October 31, 2012
Thanks to Jim Heit, for this link:
The weekly water levels forecast at the Detroit District Hydraulics and Hydrology homepage has been updated. To see this new forecast please visit
http://www.lre.usace.army.mil/ greatlakes/hh/ greatlakeswaterlevels/ waterlevelforecasts/ weeklygreatlakeswaterlevels/ index.cfm
NRESC Draft Goals and Objectives for Natural Resources Plan
Brian Mastenbrook will be attending our meeting on Saturday and will discuss the draft plan the DNR has released, which includes Beaver archipelago, and the input process. See info below:
The Northern Lower Peninsula (NLP) Regional State Forest Management Plan has been released for public input. The DNR will accept comments on this draft plan through Jan. 2, 2013.
Send your comments and ideas via email to forestplancomments@ michigan.gov .
DNR Press Release: http://us.mg205.mail. yahoo.com/dc/launch?.partner= sbc&.gx=1&.rand=cqt19tslhvjfo
More related to the our islands are under special resource area: http://www.midnr.com/ Publications/pdfs/ ForestsLandWater/RSFMP/NLP/ NLPSection5.pdf
Peter Plastrik
School Board Moves Forward in Plan to Replace Superintendent/K-12 Principal
New Information on NRESC Meeting Schedule
1. The next NRESC meeting for the natural resource management planning process will be Saturday, October 27, from 10 am – 1 pm. Main purpose is to complete the drafting of Vision-Goals-Objectives that will be shared with community/stakeholders for feedback and to determine next steps in our community outreach. A phone conference call in will be used.
2. The NRESC has adopted a regular meeting schedule for the next year, as required. All meetings will be on 3rd Monday of every other month (just like the past year) at Peaine Township Hall at 7 pm. Please note the dates:
November 19, 2012
January 21, 2013
March 18, 2013
May 20, 2013
July 15, 2013
September 16, 2013
Community Calendar
A completely new feature includes a monthly calendar for each month of the entire year of 2013. Please send me your events and they will be posted so others can schedule their events without conflict. Email your schedule of events to medic5740@gmail.com.
If you or your organization has an event you'd like posted on this Community Calendar, please contact me and I'll add it in. Please try to get me the information as early as possible.
Career Opportunity for Nurse Practitioner
A unique opportunity to live and work on a beautiful island located 32 miles from Charlevoix, Michigan accessible by ferry and air service
The position
• - Collaborative practice with another NP in a new beautiful health clinic
• -Clinic hours, an eight hour shift, three days a week
• -On-call coverage shared between the two practitioners who work together on developing schedules (minimal amount of monthly calls)
• -An opportunity to know and treat patients of all ages, providing primary health care, managing chronic and acute problems and developing wellness programs
• -Provide emergency services in collaboration with the EMS
• -Collaborate with off-island physician on appropriateness of care
• -Benefit Package:
• -Rural Site Qualifies for student loan repayment
The Community
• -A safe, friendly, small-town atmosphere on the largest inhabited island in the Great Lakes with a year round population of 650 and summer tourist season with a boom of thousands of visitors
• -Beach walking, hiking trails, kayaking, canoeing, snowmobiling, fishing, hunting, cross-country skiing, All Within Your Backyard!
• -Drive to work in 5-15 minutes, with no traffic
• -Family First Atmosphere, with three churches and an excellent K-12 public school with small teacher-student ratios, new building under construction and strong support in the community for funding
• -A nine-hole golf course where you can play without lines and reservations
• -Best prices on Lake Michigan frontage in the State
Beaver Island Rural Health Center
PO Box 146, Beaver Island, MI 49782
Donna Kubic, Managing Director 231-448-2275, e mail donna@birhc.org
Forestview Apartments for Rent
There are three apartments for rent at Forestview Apartments. This senior housing project is right next door to the Beaver Island Rural Health Center and right across the street from Stoney Acre Grill and Donegal Danny's Pub. The video below shows the apartment that is designed from someone who is physically handicapped or otherwise handicapped, but the other apartments have the same basic layout.
The Tax Inequity Between Individual Taxpayers in Peaine And St. James Townships
(An editorial by Joe Moore, St. James Taxpayer)
(September 26, 2012) This editorial will not focus on the correctness of property evaluations. This editorial will not focus on the length of time a taxpayer is in residence on Beaver Island. This editorial will not focus on the taxpayers ability to pay taxes. This editorial will not focus on "Why should I vote to raise taxes on my property?" This editorial will not focus on whether Peaine should or should not change its method of setting millage, even though tonight's Peaine Special Board Meeting will set millages for Peaine Township. This editorial will use simple mathematics to state and show the differences between the tax millages of St. James and Peaine Township and ask for the reason that they are not equitable on an individual taxpayer basis.
Here is the basis of the bold statement above. As a St. James taxpayer, I pay more tax for all the joint operations on Beaver Island than does the Peaine taxpayer six hundred yards south of me. I want to know why. The fire department, the EMS, the transfer station, and the airport are operations that have to be available to all Beaver Island residents. We have to be able to put out fires. We have to have someone come take care of us when we are sick or injured. We have to have a way to get rid of our trash. We have to have an airport owned publicly with public control. Hopefully none of these statements are controversial.
Right or wrong, the SEV in Peaine Township has gone up at an exponential rate even though the Peaine Board hired a state approved assessor. Right or wrong, the St. James SEV has gone up in a much more linear fashion. I am not interested in whether they should have or should have not gone up in this way. These are simply facts. Here is a graph of the SEVs, showing the SEV of both St. James and Peaine for the last several years.
Most high school students Algebra II would be able to recognize that the blue dots, representing the SEV of Peaine, most likely represents an exponential function. Most of the same students would be able to recognize that the brownish red dots most likely represent a slight increase above a linear function. They might also state the obvious, which is that the SEV in Peaine Township has been going up at a much higher rate. Again, make sure that you understand that this editorial is NOT about whether it should have or should not have. It is instead a statement of mathematical fact.
With the increase in SEV in Peaine Township, and considering two taxpayers, one in St. James and one in Peaine, the value of the property in Peaine has increased at a higher rate than the value of the property in St. James, even if they started out at the exact same value, say back in the late seventies or early eighties. The individual taxpayer in Peaine has also been paying a lower millage than the individual property owner in St. James for the last eighteen years even with the equal dollar match that is historically been in effect. Here is a graph of the lower millage rates that Peaine taxpayers have been paying over the last several years for joint operations.
The millage rates shown above are the millage rates that would have been in place if all the joint operations were millages in Peaine Township instead of some of them being taken out of general funds. These millage differences are based upon the SEV and not on taxable value because many things can happen to change taxable value. This millage rate graph shows that in the last several years, the only years where the millage rates were even close were the years in the late nineties. Each individual St. James taxpayer has been paying more millage for the same services for the last several years. Why is that not seen by everyone to be inequitable?
There are totals available related to the joint operations over the last eighteen years and based upon the millages shown in the graph above. Again, the SEV is used to calculate these numbers. Perhaps the numbers are only half as big if the taxable value was 50% of the SEV. That does not really matter if you are just trying to point out the inequity between the townships. The percentages of SEV still shown this same inequity.
This last graphic has .00018, which is more correctly written as .18 mills. What this means is that the average St. James taxpayer has been paying .18 mills more than the average Peaine taxpayer for the same jointly funded services as an average over the last eighteen years. Whetherthe total dollar amount is $150,000 or $75,000 shouldn't be the issue. The issue is that this represents a lot of money that the St. James taxpayers have been paying, and that the Peaine Township taxpayers have not been paying on an individual basis.
I want to know why Peaine taxpayers and board members consider this an equitable situation. If the fire department is called down the East Side of Beaver Island to a tree on a wire that is on fire or a grass fire or a house on fire, don't the residents of Peaine get the same fire response as a St. James taxpayer? If someone in Peaine has chest pain or is injured, doesn't this person get the same EMS response? If you have trash in Peaine, don't you have the same facility for disposal? Then why do I pay more taxes for the same access than you on an individual basis?
Some will say that St. James sets the millage in Peaine township. That is not a true statement. The Peaine Township Board sets the millage in Peaine Township. How did you determine that your fair share was based upon total dollars being equal? Inequity is inequity. What would happen if St. James Township decided to lower its millage rate? You can bet that the Peaine taxpayers and the Peaine Board would lower theirs as well. Is that equity. I can honestly say that there is not one chance in the world of having Peaine Township increase the millage rates that they pay for joint operations. Why would they do that to increase their own taxes, especially in an election year?
I have several more questions to ask. Why would a St. James taxpayer want to volunteer to provide services to a Peaine taxpayer, knowing full well that they are not paying their fair share? Why would a Peaine Board member expect that volunteer to provide the same level of service in this situation? Why are St. James taxpayers paying for the payments for a fire hall in Peaine Township?
The answers to these questions are that we are one island providing services to all islanders at the same level of service no matter where that service is provided. If you, as an individual, expect the same level of service, on an individual basis, you should pay your fair share of taxes to keep these services operational. Peaine taxpayers are not doing that because Peaine board members don't want to increase their personal property taxes. That is the only explanation that makes any sense to this St. James taxpayer.
Some will suggest that contributing the exact dollar amount to the joint operations is paying the township's fair share. These services are available to taxpayers on an individual basis. The amount paid, dollar for dollar, does not match the services being provided on an individual basis no matter what system of mathematics you use.
(The facts and figures for this editorial come directly from the Charlevoix County Equalization Department in a $60 FOIA request.)