09-14-2017 Hagar Board reflects on Texas and Florida events; County Commissioner Vollrath says he&#

Eleven teachers join Watervliet Public Schools

By Kristy Noack

With the first week of school in the books, the Watervliet Board of Education held their monthly meeting Monday, September 11.

The big news in the district was the introduction of 11 new teachers who have joined the Watervliet Public Schools. According to Superintendent Kevin Schooley, “This has been the largest hiring class at Watervliet Schools in quite some time.”

Jen Wagner joined the ranks and will be teaching preschool at South Elementary.

NEW YEAR, NEW TEACHERS… The following new teachers of the Watervliet Public School district were in-troduced Monday to the Board of Education (from the left): Alaina Bongiorno, Kourtney Sattler, Jen Wagner, Jason Oet-jens, Christa Steadman, Dan Soard, Alicia Sarco, Samantha Zalewski, Jessica Grossman, and Amy Oetjens. Ashley Tilly was not available for the photo. (TCR photo by Kristy Noack)

North Elementary has welcomed two new teachers to its staff. Alaina Bongiorno will teach fifth grade, and Ashley Tilly is a new fourth grade teacher.

At the middle school, Jason Oetjens and Amy Oetjens will teach seventh grade history and sixth grade science, respectively. The Oetjens are husband and wife.

Samantha Zalewski is the new middle school art teacher, and Jessica Grossman will lead eighth grade science.

Christa Steadman is the new seventh grade science teacher, and Kourtney Sattler will teach seventh grade math.

Two new teachers will make their home at the high school. Alicia Sarco will teach Spanish I and II.

The board approved extending a higher contract to Dan Soard. Soard has replaced Bryan Arbut as an English teacher in the Language Arts department. Following one year of service to the district Arbut returned to his native St. Joe to accept a teaching position.

Soard is a graduate of Western Michigan University and will teach ninth grade English and has assumed the yearbook advisor duties.

The board also accepted the resignation of wood shop instructor Karl Shafer. Shafer, a teacher at the high school, moved out of district. Superintendent Schooley said, “The position of Industrial Technology, in which wood shop falls, is on the state critical shortage list.”

The district did not have a pool of wood shop teachers from which they could pull, so they did the next best thing. They contacted former longtime woods teacher Mike Waite to fill the position until a replacement can be found.  Waite agreed and has returned to the woods classroom at the high school.

Board of Education president Bill Spaulding said with a smile, “It’s kind of nice we can get the best wood shop teacher in the state of Michigan as our fill-in.”

Successful start to the new school year

Principals were on hand Monday night to share their impressions of the first week of school, and the overwhelming consensus was last week’s opening was a success.

Carole Fetke, principal at South Elementary, shared, “Parents are being patient” while the student drop-off procedure is learned by new parents.

Schooley stated the school “is working with (Watervliet City Police) Chief Sutherland and School Resource Officer McKamey.” Schooley stressed that longer than normal lines of vehicles in the drop off lanes the first few weeks of school are common and timing will be improved. “For the first couple of weeks it’s not about speed, it’s about safety.”

Middle school principal Dave Armstrong said, “Classes are smaller. Students are fantastic. The building looks great.”

According to Armstrong, last year some of the middle school classrooms held up to 38 kids. This year, classroom size is under 30 kids.

Principal Brad Coon praised the 1:1 Chromebook initiative underway at the high school. Each student is provided a Chromebook on which they can complete homework, use the device for research, and communicate via email with the teacher outside of the normal school hour.

Dave Kindt shared with the board that the Watervliet W-A-Y program has 10 students currently enrolled who are two credits or less from meeting graduation requirements.  Thirteen students will be enrolled in the program this fall.

Schooley provided a facility update to those in attendance.  The gym floors at North and South elementary schools were replaced. New sidewalks and handrails have been installed at Panther Stadium.  A section of the polished concrete at the high school cracked but was replaced by the contractor with no issue.

Additionally, Schooley will be meeting with GMB, the contractor who oversaw Phase I and Phase II construction in the district, to discuss additional scope work. It is anticipated that bids will be requested next month and bid openings would be held in December.

General Fund expenses approved

In other news, the Board approved General Fund expenses of $981,429.78 for the month of August. Of that figure, $655,862.03 was related to the district’s payroll.

Additional expenses paid out included $13,342.50 to ICR Builders for the walkway at Panther Stadium, $5,828.52 to Berrien County for 2014-2016 tax adjustment reimbursement, $12,604.00 for the district’s insurance policy that covers student athletes, $32,400 to Smith’s Concrete for handrails and concrete work, and $7,000 to fund sports officiating crews.

The next board meeting will be held Monday, October 9 at 6:00 p.m. in the middle/ high school media center.

Music in the Park this weekend

By Christina Gelder

For the past several years Coloma has had a free music festival called BBQ, Blues & Cruise in June. This year, however, they decided to switch things up, move it to September and rename it Music in the Park. Organizers were hoping that the change in date would be better for schedules and the new name gives more flexibility.

The first ever Music in the Park will be this Saturday, September 16. It starts off at 2:00 p.m. with a Classic Car Cruise-In. There will be prizes, giveaways and recorded oldies to enjoy.

Live music begins on the stage in Baker Park at 4:00 p.m. with the Lighthouse Chorus Quartet. Other acts include the Freshwater Band, Past Time, and Astro Jackson.

In addition to the music there will be food vendors on site and a few vintage and fall themed vendors.

The event is free and family friendly. For folks planning to come enjoy the music and community it might be wise to bring a blanket or lawn chair to sit on.

Hagar Board reflects on Texas and Florida events; County Commissioner Vollrath says he’s disappointed with delay of decision by Berrien County to take over road commission

By Jon Bisnett

Supervisor Izzy DiMaggio began an otherwise light agenda of the Hagar Board on Monday, Sep. 11 by taking a moment of reflection for the victims of the recent events in Texas and Florida adding, “Our heart goes out to the people affected… and how fortunate we are to live here in southwest Michigan where our biggest exposure is the rare severe thunderstorm, tornado or blizzard. It is truly hard to comprehend the magnitude of the hurricanes in the south that will cost billions, taking years of rebuilding and recovery.”

Guests

County Commissioner Dave Vollrath expressed his disappointment with the ongoing discussion of the disposition of the Berrien County Road Commission (BCRC). Three hearings have taken place and in Vollrath’s opinion a resolution should be voted upon. Some commissioners still want more information. He likened the situation to “…buying a 40-acre wooded parcel and on the day of signing, wanting to go back and count each tree!” The whole situation is hard on the employees and their families being hung in limbo as to how this all works out. Vollrath clearly supports dissolution of the BCRC and bringing it under the full oversight of the commission as a county departmental entity.

Commissioner Vollrath did report the matter of Bill Hodge holding conflicting positions with the Road Commission and Bainbridge Township Board is done. Hodge is no longer involved with the BCRC.

Berrien County Sheriff

Deputy Ryan Sullivan reported 57 complaints in the township during the month of July with 12 tickets issued along with 10 arrests.

Supervisor’s Report

Supervisor DiMaggio noted several positive comments from residents in regard to ongoing maintenance of township parks and cemeteries. Additional commentary lauded a generous application of chloride to the township’s unpaved roads performed earlier in the month of August.

Clerk’s Report

Clerk Sarah Cook reported on activity of Pride Care Ambulance with 12 priority one calls in August having average response time of 09:06 minutes. Fifteen priority two calls took place in August with an average response time of 11:07 minutes. Total of 27 runs in the month of August had an average response of 10:13 minutes.

Cook also mentioned a recent training session attended by both she and Secretary McCain on the new election equipment which is expected to arrive in late October.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Marlene Davis reported bills for the month of August totaling $48,966.48 noting a $25,000 payment to the Berrien County Road Commission for seal coating. She reminded that summer tax bills will be going out next week.

North Berrien Joint Fire Report

Supervisor DiMaggio reported that new Chief Mike Maddox has been busy making get acquainted visits throughout the district and expects to have the chief at next month’s board meeting.

NBJFD had just 20 calls in the month of August with no structure fires; six calls came from Hagar, five originated in Coloma Township and three in the City of Coloma.

Building Inspector

Butch Kelly reported only 12 permits for $103,649. Kelley noted several ordinance violation issues in process with most moving towards resolution.

Parks Department

Parks Chairman Beth Raiser was absent on the evening, but discussion continued regarding tree removal at Hagar Park.

Public comment has been well received in light of recent concrete work, while it was also noted that parking lot sealing and striping is now a priority and should lead the budget for 2018.

Concerns for sealing/ staining of the wooden walkways also surfaced. Dale Davis will explore recommendations.

Old Business

Bids from Arnt Asphalt, Shembarger Asphalt Sealing and Cattes were reviewed with the low bid of $1,025.73 going to Cattes Company for sealing and striping of the parking lot at the hall.

Bids for office carpeting will be solicited again as a result of the withdrawal of the winning bidder over issues of moving furniture as a condition of bid award.

The board further approved a bid from Doubleday Office Supply in the amount of $2,015 to replace the six boardroom chairs.

New Business

Treasurer Marlene Davis sought and received the board’s blessing to seek quotes to replace the office copier that has been in service since 2011. Well past its expected duty cycle, the machine has been the source of frequent repair bills in recent years.

Having no other business DiMaggio then adjourned the board at 8:03 p.m. with the next regular monthly meeting of the Township Board to be held 7:00 p.m. Monday, October 9.