Volume 2, Issue 1 MAY 31, 2024
YOUR LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED NONPROFIT NEWS SOURCE It’s our birthday, and what an incredible first year it has been! This amazing adventure would not be possible without the humbling generosity of our community. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to every donor, advertiser and reader who has invested in us these past 12 months and to those who plan to in the future. We love the positive comments you send us, the uplifting notes and emails and phone calls. We are trying to make a difference and this is truly a community effort. A special thank you goes out to those who got us off the ground and have kept us going: Paul Erickson, Dave Hansen, Scott Rumsey and Earl and Linda
Peterson. Your dedication to our county is an inspiration that we hope to pass on to future generations. We would also like to thank our entire staff, volunteers, printer and postal staff who help us get the newspaper out to you each week. It is very important to us to keep both of our newspapers free for those very readers. It is our gift to a community that has given so much to us. We never want someone to not be able to know what is going on in our area due to an inability to pay. If you enjoy our paper, please consider helping us to uphold that mission with a tax-deductible donation in any amount sent to Echo Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 192, Mears, MI 49436.
Village of Shelby contracts with OCSD for police coverage By Sharon Hallack The Oceana Echo Community Contributor Tuesday, the Shelby Village Council unanimously gave their approval to a Shared Services Agreement (SSA) between the village and the Oceana County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) for the purpose of contracting with Shelby Schools Resource Officer and OCSD Deputy Tim Simon to cover weekday shifts for the police department this summer. In early 2023, Simon was hired as the Shelby Public Schools Resource Officer after the school received a three-year grant to fund the new position. Because the Village of Shelby Police Department was unable to provide an officer to fulfill the new position, the village formed a partnership with the OCSD, which assigned Deputy Simon to the role. The SSA states that Simon will be assigned to a total of 40, eight-hour shifts this summer. He will be paid by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Department, and the Village of Shelby will reimburse the OCSD at $43.26 per hour, the amount of Deputy Simon’s current hourly wage and benefits package. The total number of shifts may be renegotiated as needs for both departments arise. Overtime due to any complex investigations, court appearances Area Memorial Day observances across Oceana County honored those who gave their lives for etc. as well as holiday pay, would be our freedom. Many residents gathered at Hesperia, at top; Walkerville, above left; Shelby, above paid at a rate one and a half times the right; and Ferry, Monday, May 27. hourly rate. The agreement states that
Memorial Day in Oceana County
PERMIT NO 62
PRE-SORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE
RESIDENTIAL POSTAL CUSTOMER PAID ECRWSS BIG RAPIDS, MI 49307
• Scott Kroepel, Sharon Hallack and Amanda Dodge/Echo
the amount paid by the village to the OCSD for this summer position will not exceed $18,187.60. Due to the open full-time police officer position and lower than anticipated use of part-time staff this past year, Chief Dean Roesler told the council there is money in the budget to pay the OCSD for Simon’s time. His report stated that even if the open full-time position is filled prior to the start of the 2024-25 school year, budgeted funds will cover the agreement. To date, the open position has resulted in $12,841 General Fund savings in wages (not including benefits). “This is nothing but a win for us,” Chief Roesler told council Tuesday. He also told council that Simon plans to attend training related to his resource officer position this summer and does plan to take at least 10 days of vacation, but residents can expect to see him wearing his brown OCSD uniform and driving an OCSD patrol car while on duty for the village. Roesler was hired full-time as the police chief in March 2023 after serving for a number of years as a part-time officer with the village. Since being named Shelby Police Chief, Roseler has served admirably, covering numerous open shifts as needed. He is hoping this arrangement will allow him to focus more on administrative duties, blight enforcement efforts, give him a chance to attend training and meetings outside of Shelby and cut back on the number of hours he works on a weekly basis.
City of Hart awards crop management bid By Sharon Hallack The Oceana Echo Community Contributor After receiving two sealed bids, the City of Hart awarded its Crop Management Contract, for management of 105 acres of hay, corn and soybean fields at its irrigation site east of Hart, to Forner Farms LLC of Hart. Forner Farms bid contained incremental amounts: $6,000 for 2024, $6,500 for 2025, $7,000 for 2026, $7,500 for 2027 and $8,000 for 2028. Robert Porter, of Shelby, bid $8,505 for each year, 2024-2028. Councilors Justin Adams, Catalina Burillo, James Evans, Dean Hodges and Mayor Vicki Platt voted to award the bid to Forner, while Councilor Amanda Klotz voted against the motion. Councilor Kris Trygstad was absent. Prior to the vote, the council reported their satisfaction with Forner’s work in the past yet voiced uncertainty as to how to proceed given Porter offered the higher bid. Hart City Manager Rob Splane told council that it was within their rights to award the bid to whomever they
wished, however, he added, “The council should give substantial reasons if you decide to award the bid to the lower bidder,” Splane said. Given the fact that Forner has been the contracted crop manager for the past 12 years, and has property adjoining the wastewater treatment plant, Burillo said, “He has a vested interest.” Adams said, “It is safer for your equipment and for the roads to go one-half mile versus 10 miles.” Klotz countered with, “Then why a sealed bid?” “The bid is more than just dollars,” Hodges added. Splane added, “Not going with the highest bid may undermine the sealed bid process.” The council asked Forner, who was in attendance, if he would like to add anything. “This is a tough spot. If Rob gets the bid, I’m going to call him tomorrow and see if he’d like any help. If I get the job, I’m going to call him and ask if he’d like to help me. The main thing is someone has to be responsible to the city.” “The lease is not a standard crop lease, the
city kind of dictates when you can harvest your crop,” Splane explained after the meeting. “It takes coordinating with Paul (BioPure Superintendent) and his irrigation schedule. Harvesting is tricky.” Adams asked Hart BioPure Superintendent Paul Cutter if there was any disadvantage to having Porter do the work. Cutter replied, “We taught Gayle; we can teach Rob. Why have a sealed bid if you’re not going to honor it?” Hodges countered, “There’s value in experience.” Klotz suggested that in the future the council consider having an auction-style bidding process. Mayor Vicki Platt said that given how the process played out this year, the city should probably consider changing the bid wording to give itself the flexibility to extend the contract if desired. Since the May 21 meeting, The Oceana Echo was told by city officials that Forner and Porter have been in contact and have worked out an arrangement for fulfilling the city’s crop management contract going forward.