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Please note the regular meeting day has been changed to the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm.

The Village of Bear Lake Web Site has been in existence since July 1998. Click here to view the minutes archives.

Please note that the Minutes are not posted to the web site until they have been approved. The April 2003 Minutes were approved at the May 2003 Council Meeting. A copy of the current month's minutes can be requested from the Clerk but please be advised that until approved they are subject to corrections and revisions.

April 9, 2003

The regular meeting of the Bear Lake Village Council was called to order by President Glen Moore at 7:30 p.m. at the Bear Lake Village Hall. Present: Treasurer; Connie Gurene, Clerk; Pam Wade, Trustees: Dendra Best, Vern Best, Don Hyrns, Joanne Schroeder and Carol Urbanus. Howard Higley. Guest; Tim Richards. Absent: Jeff Harthun.
Minutes: Motion made by Vern seconded by Don to approve the March minutes as corrected. (correcting the requested amount of the grant, from $15,000 to $1,500.) Motion carried.

Current Fund Balances
General Fund $28,210.05 Equipment Fund $4,344.76
Major Street Fund $34,291.44 Local Street Fund $4,981.21
Park Fund $30,980.37 Water Fund  $45,909.15
Building Fund $54,771.81 Library $11,285.70

Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to accept the Treasurer’s report. Motion carried.
Bills: Motion made by Joanne seconded by Dendra to pay the bills. Motion carried.

Council Members: Dendra reported that the “.gov” domain name for the Village web site has been reserved and a letter of confirmation will be sent.
Dendra also reported that the visits to the Village website are soaring with a total of 2,931 visits in March alone. Dendra made a report concerning the franchise agreement between Charter Communications and the Village. Dendra recommended that the council discuss this agreement at the meeting in May.
Carol asked if the new flags have arrived. They have been ordered and will arrive soon. Carol also asked about sending a letter of welcome to new businesses in the Village. Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to have Carol and Pam send out a “Welcome” letter to any and all new businesses, on behalf of the Village Council, from now on. Motion carried. Carol has concerns about the intersection at Lynn and Potter being very dangerous and not having a speed limit. Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to contact Bear Lake township to request a 35 mile an hour speed limit sign be posted on Potter Rd coming east from U.S.-31 going west and on the north side of Potter Rd. going west, near Smith St. and to request that a “hidden intersection” sign be posted near the corner of Lynn St. & Potter Rd. Motion carried.
Motion made by Carol seconded by Dendra that the Committee members for 2003 remain the same as they were for 2002 and to eliminate the Library and Sewer committees which are no longer needed. Motion carried.
Motion made by Vern seconded by Don that the Village withdraw form the Keddie Norconk Memorial Library Board and that written notice be sent to the clerks of Bear Lake and Pleasanton Townships. Motion carried.
Don asked the council for permission to investigate possible locations for park benches in the Village, with Bear Lake Promoters donating the cost for the benches. Permission granted.
Connie asked the council to appoint a deputy Treasurer. Motion Made by Dendra seconded by Vern to appoint Ricke Guerne as the deputy treasurer. Motion carried.
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New Business:
Brush Clean up: Motion made by Vern seconded by Don to have Ed Thompson take care of brush removal this year. Motion carried.
Sam’s Club: Connie obtained a membership from Sam’s Club for purchasing supplies for the Village. Motion made by Vern seconded by Dendra to apply for the Sam’s Club credit card. Motion carried. Pam has obtained a credit card for Staple’s Office Supply for purchasing office supplies for the Village.
Leaf Compost: Vern recommended that the Village get estimates to put a chain link fence around the leaf compost for safety reasons, when they get the estimate for the fence around the water tank.

Park: Brine for the Park: Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to have Carol request brining of the Park roadways and the alleyway behind the Bear Lake Country Kitchen restaurant from Key Energy. Motion carried.
Carol reported the progress on the park improvements. Many thanks to all of those folks that helped to put in the new posts at the “work bee.” Reflectors will be installed on the posts for improved visibility.

Sewer: The Sewer Board has been replaced with the Bear Lake-Pleasanton Utility Bond Authority Board. Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to appoint Joanne and Don to the Bear Lake-Pleasanton Utility Bond Authority Board, as representatives from the Village. Both Joanne and Don declined the appointment.
Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to appoint Dendra and Glen to the Bear Lake-Pleasanton Utility Bond Authority Board as representatives from the Village. Dendra and Glen accepted the appointment. Motion carried.

Streets: Vern reported that the tree survey is complete and posted on the Village computer. Ed Thompson will be contacted about listing dead trees for a grant application to Consumer’s Energy.
Council agreed to close the following streets for Bear Lake Days on Saturday July 12, 2003. Close: Main Street from Wise to Virginia, Lynn Street from U.S.31 to Main Street and Virginia Street from U.S.31 to Main Street.
Motion made by Vern seconded by Carol to send in a permit application to MDOT to close the streets for Bear Lake Days on July 12, 2003. Motion carried.

Water: Glen reported that the lease/license agreement with the Carter’s is still in progress. Vern reported that Dendra applied for a grant of $875.00 and received a grant from the Manistee Community Foundation Water Quality Initiative in the amount of $1,012.50 for the Education part of our Wellhead Protection project.
Motion made by Vern seconded by Don to appoint Carol, Dendra and Jeff to the Wellhead Protection Education Committee. Motion carried. Concerns were raised about the underground water leak on Euclid Street. The water main needs to be repaired.

Equipment: Motion made by Vern seconded by Don to advertise bids for the dock and tractor in the Manistee News advocate. Motion carried. Howard reported that the equipment salesman may have a sander for the Village in the near future, but that the price is not yet known.

Old Business: Meeting Day: The council decided to table the decision about changing the day of the week that the Village meetings are held until the May meeting.
Credit Card Policy: Joanne presented the credit card policy. Motion made by Don seconded by Vern to accept the credit card policy as written. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
Bills paid for March: Auto Owners Insurance; $782.61, Bear Lake Ace Hardware; $77.84, Bear Lake Township; $5,000.00, Blarney Castle Oil; $315.95, Kent County Health Department; $48.00, Marathon Ashland; $166.11, Pioneer Press Printing; $28.00, $206.40, Pioneer Group; $25.73,
Dale Stanton; $445.00.

Respectfully Submitted,

Pam Wade, Village Clerk

Made with a MACPage updated May 16, 2003

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