02/21/2007

Forum

Time for truth in Acme Township

BY ROB RODEN

Bill Kurtz may be the township supervisor but he does not represent the majority of the township residents regarding Meijer (Record-Eagle forum, Jan. 23). He and the township board have blatantly disregarded the overwhelming majority vote (1,180 to 471) of residents who voted to put a shopping center on the corner of Lautner and M-72 back in 1988, and the 907 residents who voted for a Meijer — and against the township moratorium in 2005, hoping to finally have a Meijer built in 2006.

Recently, more than 600 Acme residents signed petitions to recall Kurtz and the board for their continuous obstruction of building a Meijer in Acme Township, for inadequate township liability insurance and for allowing a clear conflict of interest when the treasurer was allowed to vote to raise the deputy treasurer's (his wife) salary by 239 percent.

The county clerk has validated those signatures twice, and the ballots are printed, ready for the Feb. recall 27 election. Now Kurtz and the board have filed a lawsuit to stop the recall.

It's clear that many Acme residents want Kurtz to leave, not Meijer.

Kurtz takes Meijer to task for not agreeing to all the board's conditions and calls upon Meijer to make peace. Yet it is Kurtz and his township board who are responsible for the lawsuits that Meijer had to file in order to counter unfair conditions that were put upon their site plan.

This is the same plan that was approved by the Acme Planning Commission, Acme Zoning Board of Appeals, the county road commission, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and many other state and local permitting agencies during a 17-month process.

To state that Meijer has not complied with the Master Plan and the township's goals for an environmentally friendly and safe commercial center is just another attempt to mislead the public and stall the much needed and wanted development in Acme.

Acme Taxpayers for Responsible Government Ltd. urges Acme residents to review the minutes of the past 17 months from the planning commission and board meetings to discover the truth: Meijer wants the best possible store for Acme Township but there are no guarantees from this board that they won't stop them again and again with other conditions.

A day after the county certified the recall petitions, the township board called a special meeting Dec. 13 to remove some of the most excessive conditions (such as denying a 24/7 store) in the Meijer Special Use Permit. Acme taxpayers paid in excess of $70,000 in legal and administrative fees to support these wrongful conditions and this board, under threat of recall, removed them.

We've had enough. We want a township board that hears our voice, respects our vote and protects our interests. We want the Meijer built as it was earlier approved, and we want to vote on Feb. 27.

About the author: Rob Roden, of Williamsburg, is director of Acme Taxpayers for Responsible Government Ltd.

About the forum: The forum is a periodic column of opinion written by Record-Eagle readers in their areas of interest or expertise. Submissions of 500 words or less may be made by e-mailing letters@record-eagle.com. Please include biographical information and a photo.