Because there are no individuals challenging the Township primary candidates that won in the August Primary election, the following are the presumptive Grand Haven Charter Township Board members that will officially take office at 12:00 noon on November 20th following the November 5th General Election:

• Supervisor Mark Reenders (3,198 votes)
• Clerk Laurie Larsen (3,168 votes)
• Treasurer William Kieft III (3,103 votes)
• Trustee Howard Behm (2,892 votes)
• Trustee Joy Gaasch (2,188 votes)
• Trustee Andrea Dumbrell (2,009 votes)
• Trustee Robert Wagenmaker (1,749 votes)

Grand Haven Charter Township was also an early voting site (i.e., one of four in Ottawa County) and had a total of 473 voters over the nine days of early voting – which should increase↑ during the November Presidential election.

Further, the Township sent 4,614 absentee ballots to voters and had 3,830 returned (which is a return rate of about 83%).

And finally, the total voter turnout for the August Primary election in the Township was about 39% (i.e., 6,161 out of 15,799 registered voters) – which compares to 34.5% county wide.

The Township parking lot between the Administrative Building and the “old” Fire/Rescue station will be closed for about 45 days.

In brief, because of the construction of the “new” Fire/Rescue station and driveway – this parking lot will have to be regraded and replaced. The work will occur between the August and November elections – beginning immediately and should be completed by September 30th.

It is expected that some Board and Planning Commission meetings may be cancelled, or the public will be re-directed from the front parking lot to the Board room either vis-à-vis the pathway along 168th Avenue or through the Administrative Building. Meetings that have limited agenda items that can be postponed may be cancelled over the next 45-days.

Subdivision paving in the Township is expected to begin the week of September 3rd.

The Township opened the final two bids for the FY2024 – (1) the 152nd/Lincoln Street Water Tower Painting project and (2) the Christian Reformed Conference Grounds Sanitary Sewer project (which will be 100% funded by the Conference Grounds). Both projects came in under↓ construction cost projections.

The Water Tower painting project had a total of eight (8) bids ranging from a high of $182k to a low bid of $89k from Fedewa, Inc. (a firm located in Hastings, Michigan). The low bid was about $41k (or about 31%) under↓ the engineer′s cost estimate.

The CRC Sanitary Sewer project had a total of three (3) bids ranging from a high of $1.44 million to a low of $881k from Site Work Solutions (a firm that is already doing work for the CRC and was the low bidder on the Grand Oaks No. 3 storm drain project). The low bid was about $565k (or about 39%) under↓ the engineer′s cost estimate.

All the Township′s capital projects for the current fiscal year were awarded to firms that provided bids below↓ the Township’s construction cost estimates. In brief, this indicates that the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have passed and that major capital construction costs have returned to normal levels – after adjusting for inflation.

The dates for the 2024 Fall leaf drop-off will be Monday, October 11th through Sunday, November 17th. The operating hours are:

• Monday through Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Saturday: 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
• Sunday: Noon – 6:00 p.m.

The drop-off location for leaves is 13300 168th Avenue – behind the Township Public Services Building. The site only accepts leaves and grass clippings. No wood, tree limbs or brush will be accepted.