Empire Village property owners will be paying slightly more in village property taxes this year following approval of a higher millage rate for 2007.

At a rescheduled meeting Thursday, the board voted 7-0, with clerk Patricia Zoyhofski absent, to set the millage rate for its operational mills at 7.3618 mills.The 2006 rate is 7.1486 mills.

With a taxable value of $37,541,874, up 9 percent from last year, the operations millage will generate $276,376 for village’s general fund.

The council also set the retirement rate at 0.2411 mill, down 24 percent from 0.3190 mill. The 0.2411-mill rate will generate $9,050 to pay off debt for repairs to the water system. The two millages together are 7.6029-mills, up 1.8 percent from 7.4676 in 2006.

In other business, the board:

• Approved a recommendation from the streets committee to allow Department of Public Works superintendent Leonard Shalda to sell old village street signs and poles. The village spent $4,000 last month to replace the signs and posts with new ones. Once notice of the sale is posted, only village residents will be allowed to buy signs and posts over the first 30 days. Afterward, sales will be open to the general public. The cost is $10 a sign, and $30 a post.
Karen Baja, chair of the council’s streets committee, said people need to keep in mind the old signs were imprinted on one side only.

The sale was prompted by requests from the public and village resident who wanted to buy the signs as keepsakes, or to sell them through online auction houses like EBay.

• Unanimously approved extending the end-date for competion of the Empire Beach project by two weeks. Linda Payment, the beach sub-committee chair, said the general contractor needs more time since a supplier is having problems producing the bricks. She said the project will still be substantially completed by the July 4 holiday weekend, but full completion will not occur until sometime in mid July. Payment said the beach wall and sidewalks will be completed by July 4, and the Lake Michigan Street and parking area will have its base course of asphalt applied by then.

• Approved 6-1, with trustee Susan Michener opposed, sending to the ordinance committee a draft “low speed vehicle” ordinance for review and possible recommendation for adoption. The village Planning Commission asked the council to consider whether or not it wanted to enact an ordinance that would allow vehicles such as golf carts and electric scooters to operate of village streets. No time table was set on when the ordinance committee would begin work on this matter.

• Approved sending a letter of support to the county Road Commission and the Michigan State Police for the Empire Township Board’s effort to have the speed limit on LaCore Road outside the village limits set at 25 miles per hour. Currently, the road outside the village has a limit of 55 mph.

• Approved 6-0, with president Susan Carpenter abstaining, a request from Mark and Phil Deering to split their parent parcel into two lots.

• Unanimously approved a request from the Bacon family to allow them to donate funds to the village to place a plaque on one of the new village beach park benches commemorating Rennie Bacon’s 80th birthday. The family wanted to donate a bench for public use in Rennie Bacon’s name to honor his birthday. The council is requiring the bench be of the new style being used at the village beach.

• Approved the hiring of Phil Doyle as part-time beach custodian. Doyle has worked at the position for the village for the last five years.