Cherry Republic offers $5,000 donation.

Support — both verbal and financial — for the planned restroom and garden area at the former site of the township fire hall was given Saturday at the Glen Arbor Township Annual Meeting.

Bob Sutherland, owner of Cherry Republic, told the Township Board and an estimated crowd of 60 that his company’s “philanthropy” committee has designated $5,000 toward the project in 2008 and will consider similar donations for the project in the future.

Support from the floor was also given verbally by members of the Glen Lake Garden Club and the Glen Arbor Women’s Club.

Sarah Litch spoke on behalf of the garden club, which has taken an active interest in the project since discussion began last year. She presented plans to landscape the area which will become the site of a public lavatory. The club plans to plant native species and clones from champion trees.

Access to a water source, considered a major obstacle to the project, has been secured tentatively through the Lake Street Woods Association and will allow the township to proceed with construction of a toilet facility on the adjacent parcel. The estimated cost, $183,000, would be supported by $143,000 from township coffers and another $30,000 in community donations.

Early on, township officials said supporters of the project would be willing to open their pocketbooks, and indeed one donation was offered at the Annual Meeting with Cherry Republic’s commitment.

Annual maintenance for the facility is estimated at $5,000 based on daily cleaning during the high traffic season and three days a week leading into and after summer. The restrooms will be open six months a year.

The cost would be offset by savings realized when the township discontinues the rental of portable bathroom facilities in the township, and a $300-monthly contribution over six months from the Glen Arbor Chamber of Commerce to clean the seasonal toilet facility.There will be no increase in taxes needed to finance the project, Treasurer Terry Gretzema has said.

In related business during the 2-hour Annual Meeting, Frank Siepker, chairman of the township sewer study committee, reviewed the feasibility of building a municipal sewer system in the unincorporated village of Glen Arbor. A core area, which includes the commercial district and properties as far south as the Sylvan Inn, northeast to Bay Lane and homes along Lake Michigan, is under study. The service area would include an estimated 300 users, with the ability to expand to 500 at a later date.

Because of a high water table, Siepker said plans would be limited to a forced main system with small grinders used to dissolve material before it is “forced” to a treatment area.
“There’s no where right now in this area considered (viable) for treatment,” he said.

The township owns 40 acres of property near Miller Hill which could be used, but waste would need to be pumped uphill.
Another area on Forest Haven Road is also available with Park Service land to the west.

“We’re going to have to engage the Park Service to discuss alternatives for a site,” Siepker explained.

Construction cost as been estimated at $15,000 to $25,000 per property. The committee members expect to survey property owners to measure support at a later date.

“It’s a lingering issue in the township which may impact the longterm viability of the community,” Supervisor John Soderholm said. “It needs to be considered.”