Answer: It has no affect at this point. The Township Boards will be officially questioned by the State Boundary Commission about their position on the matter. That will happen many months from now. Their position will only be a part of the input the Boundary Commission uses in determining whether or not to put this matter to a vote of the citizens. In the end, the voters decide, no one else.
Question: Who are the members of the Gun Lake Area Village Advisory Committee (GLAVAC)? Answer: There ages range from 35 to 73 years old, with the average age of 57. They have owned property in this community from 3 to 70 years, with an average of 32 years. Collectively, they have owned property in this community for over 800 years. Not exactly “new comers”. Some members have announced their participation such as Jerry Artz, Richard Ball, Alex Cazala, Mike Cutlip, Mary Dinkel, Tim Duffy, Claire Echtinaw, Ann Koelsch, Joe Hendriksen, Don Longjohn, Eric McNamara, Deb Masselink, Robert Nelson, Jim Riehl, Rick Snyder, Frank Spies to name a few. Some will become known during the public meetings in the future, and numerous have chosen to remain anonymous for their charitable work especially in the light of the personal confrontations in local papers. ******************** Question: Will the new Village have a lot of employees? Answer: No. The voters will get to decide on how lean to make the village government. The only other community to become a village in the last 50 years is the Village of Lake Isabella. They have been a village for about 8 years, and have 2 employees. They have about 1,500 residents and are a community around a lake in multiple townships (sound familiar). The beauty of becoming a “home rule village” is that the people get to decide, with their votes, how small or big the government of the village would be. ********************** Question: Would the new Village have their own Police department? Answer: No. The village could leave the Police coverage as it is now from the County Sheriffs and State Police with no additional costs. However, if the voters want it, the Village could contract for additional police patrols from the Barry and Allegan County Sheriffs. By doing so the Village would not incur the high costs of establishing and maintaining the infrastructure of a department yet obtain the benefit of increased patrols. This choice is a benefit of being a “home rule” village. The Sheriffs of both counties and the Lieutenant in charge of the Hastings State Police post have verified this point. ********************** Question: Will the Village have their own Department of Public Works (DPW) for road maintenance? Answer: No. *********************** Question: Where is GLAVAC getting its data and information from, on creating and running a “home rule” village? Answer: The following sources have provided official and verifiable information to GLAVAC: 1. The State of Michigan, to include the Department of Treasury, and the Michigan Boundary Commission. 2. Michigan public acts: including the Home Rule Village Act, and the State Boundary Commission Act. 3. Village government officials from numerous villages have provided assistance and information. 4. The Michigan Municipal League (the association of Michigan Villages and Cities). 5. Woods and Poole population data service, Washington D.C. 6. Attorneys who specialize in municipal law at the law firm of Law Weathers and Richardson. ********************* Question: If the Village does grow and more services are needed in the future, how will the costs of those services be paid for? Answer. The property values of the vacant land will increase dramatically if it is developed, which will add additional revenue to the village and townships without a need for increasing the millage on the residents. The new folks on the block will essentially pay for additional services as they are needed. Perhaps more importantly, with the village established, it will be able to take the steps necessary to handle the needs of a growing community. Who better to manage those needs and make those decisions for the community, than people in the community (Village)? ********************* Question: Will there be a limit on how much the new Village of Gun Lake can tax? Answer: Yes. State Law allows for a tax limit to be established in writing in the Village “Charter”. The new Village government can not tax over that limit without a 2/3 vote of the village government and then a majority vote of the residents. When residents vote on the “Charter” they will be also voting on the taxation limit which will be in the charter. (Click "links" above, then click on "Village of Lake Isabella", then click on "charter" and scroll down to section 10.02 there you will find what a tax limit looks like) If that limit turns out to be too high in our charter, vote it down, democracy works. *********************** Question: Will non residents be allowed to vote on Village issues if they have a part time home in the Village? If not, would they be disenfranchised? Answer: No They would not be anymore disenfranchised than they are currently. They currently do not get to vote on Local Township or County matters or State matters (if they don't reside elsewhere in MI), and the village matters would be the same situation. This is due to laws throughout the United States which only allow voters to vote where they are a resident. ********************* Question: Will the proposed Village be required to have its own Police department? Answer: No Becoming a village does not mandate creating a police department. The Allegan, and Barry County Sheriff’s departments, and the Michigan State Police will continue to patrol our roads and respond to calls exactly as they do now. Even if the Village were to hire some part time patrolling, the Sheriff and State Police departments would not change their patrols nor call responses. ********************* Question: Will the proposed Village be required to create its own fire department? Answer: No However, the Village could help the township fire departments staff to a higher manning level. This could better serve the community, and substantially reduce homeowner’s insurance rates by improving the ISO rating of the fire departments. By the way, the townships are not required to provide the fire protection that they do! ********************** Question: Will the proposed Village create a new zip code? Answer: No The Village government could work with the Manager of Address Allocation in Grand Rapids to do so, but creating a Village has no bearing on zip codes. ****************** Question: Could the Village require boat inspections at launch sites for exotic weeds and other species? Answer: Yes And it could require boats to be subject to a cleaning if weeds or other species were found on their boat or trailer or in live wells. The boaters could be charged with reasonable costs for this inspection and cleaning, which would make it self supporting. ******************* Question: Could the Village require permits for group boating activities? Answer: Yes This is true regardless of where they launch from, or park their vehicles and trailers. Yes, fishing tournaments fall into this category. ******************** Question: Could the Village regulate the length of commercial docks? Answer: Yes Residential...No ********************* Question: Could the Village regulate the number of rental boat slips in the village? Answer: Yes ********************** Question: How will we know what the “Charter” language is? Answer: The Charter Commissioners should hold public meetings to receive input from the residents of the proposed village. Once finished the final language is required to be published in a local newspaper prior to the public vote on the “Charter”. ******************* Question: How are the Charter Commissioners nominated? Answer: They must reside within the boundary of the new Village and must be nominated by registered voters of the proposed Village. ******************* Question: Are Charter Commissioners paid for their work? Answer: No ******************* Question: How will we be kept informed of the issues and status of the charter work after the petition stage is complete? Answer. GLAVAC will continue to update this website to ensure everyone is kept well informed. If you have questions, email them to us and we will answer them or get answers to them and post them on this site. |
EVEN MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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