KENT COUNTY, Mich. — As the future of fire services in Sand Lake is debated, the village may have a public relations firm ready to help communicate with neighbors if needed.
During a special meeting on Tuesday morning, the village board voted to approve a partnership with ChangeMakers, a North American communications company with a regional office in Grand Rapids.
"I understand that misinformation is a huge deal these days," Sand Lake Trustee Jack Christensen said during discussion with the board. "The reason that we're considering contracting with them is to disseminate the information the public is seeing, and to correlate [it with] our own information."
"It'll help cut through the misinformation," Sand Lake Trustee Kevin Wright said.
Notably, Tuesday's vote does not approve any payments to ChangeMakers but rather permits the village to seek the company's services. If a contract agreement between the two were to be proposed, it would require another vote of approval by the board.
"For me, the important thing is that the correct information gets out so that people can make educated decisions moving forward," Sand Lake President Molly Doerr said during the meeting.
In December, Sand Lake said it would stop providing fire services to Ensley, Nelson and Pierson Townships after it was "unable to reach a unified, long-term solution" with them at least partly due to cost.
Now, services for the three townships are set to expire after March 31, though they may form their own fire department.
While Sand Lake has also approved a memorandum of understanding to extend fire services with Nelson Township for six months, firefighters with the village say they want to see all the townships included in a long-term plan.
At Tuesday's meeting, I was shown a copy of a letter with signatures from 19 of the department's firefighters who say they'll resign if, at the expiration of the current contract, Sand Lake only offers fire services to those "within the village limits."
The debate over the future of fire services has also put Sand Lake on the ballot, with voters set to decide in May whether the village should be disincorporated and absorbed by Nelson Township.
Kent
Voters to decide the future of Sand Lake in village disincorporation vote
"If that happens, I’m not sure Sand Lake will ever be what Sand Lake was," Skip Taylor said.
Taylor has lived in Sand Lake since the eighties and also owns a property in Pierson Township. While he says the disincorporation would "maybe" lower his taxes, he's not sure he's ready to let go of the village's identity.
"For all these people, like myself, who have been here for a long time, it would be tough to not have the village of Sand Lake," Taylor said. "I'm not sure that I'm in favor of that, but I'm not also not sure that I'm opposing it, either. I'm really neutral."
Per the Kent County Clerk's Office, registered voters in both Sand Lake and Nelson Township will be able to vote on the proposal, which will state, "Shall incorporation of the village of Sand Lake be vacated?"
A two-thirds majority is required for passage. The special election will be held on Tuesday, May 5.
