WEST MICHIGAN -- A proposal to disincorporate the Village of Sand Lake garnered 55-percent of the vote in Nelson Township on Tuesday.
But the 499 "yes" votes were not enough to meet the two-thirds majority required for it to pass. The effort to dissolve the village came after months of feuding over who fire protection services. Nelson Township recently took control of the Sand Lake Fire Department.
On a separate ballot proposal, Nelson Township voters approved a new, additional millage of 1.5 mills for township fire protection purposes. That received nearly 60 percent support, with 552 votes for the proposal and 373 against, per unofficial results.
Elsewhere, voters in the Kentwood Public School district passed a $125-million bond proposal Tuesday, with 56 percent of the electorate voting "yes". It will fund construction of a new Valleywood Middle School building, and a new performing arts center on the Freshman Campus. It will be smaller than the existing fine arts center at East Kentwood High School.
The revenue generated will fund a dozen capital projects for building upgrades. Among those will be improvements to the ice arena at East Kentwood High School., according to the district's director of communications, Tim Hargis.
Some of the other projects include a new career and technical education STEM center on the Freshman Campus. Some new playgrounds at Bowen, Brookwood, Discovery and Endeavor and Meadowlawn will be built, and some new buses will be purchased, plus district-wide safety and security upgrades.
In the Muskegon Public Schools, a $37.1 million bond proposal passed. It will pay for some new elementary school classrooms and renovation, a new administration building, a new community education building and a new 6th through 10th grade career exploration center.
A request for renewal of operating millages in the Northview Public Schools passed with 73 percent support, and nearly 64 percent of the voters in the Wyoming Public Schools approved an operating millage renewal.
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