id
el Bee er
JOSEPH - Dagar Pro­
perties, Ltd., of Kalamazoo .
ing for 10 million in tax­
free revenue bond , and approxi­
mately 2 niillion in a UDAG
grant to reinitiate the Jenny's
. ' Landing project. Dagar made
it's request at a pecial Berrien
County Bo rd of Commi ioner
meeting Thursday.
The project, which as tried
once before in 1979 to get a
CFT tax exemption, call for a
75,000 square foot 160 room
hotel to be built at 890-896
Rivervie Dr., next to the city
owned boat launch in Benton
Harbor. The facilities would
include restaurant, indoor
pool, 74 boat slip on the river
Census.
b
a re ult of the re pport­
ionm n t lawsuit, all ward com­
rru loner ere forced to run
at-large in the I t election for
a to-year term expiring in
1985.
Tho commi . oner affected
are Ralph Crensh w, Juanita
Echols, ich I Govatos and
Randall J ergu n.
In other bu ine the com-
mi ion approved the re chedul­
ing of three upcoming city
commission meetings to Dec.
26 to Jan. 3. City Hall will be
cIo d to ob rve Christmas
Ev and e Year' Eves, the
regularly cheduled commission
meeting time .
The commi ion pproved the
e of tax reverted property at
580 Hec Court, Benton Harbor
to Virgil Hull for 6 000 plu
and a boat 1 unchin
Charle Schren
cility.
d of the
economic development corpor -
tion of Berrien County, y
the Sheraton Inn H el com-
plex would creat 1 5 n
jobs. H h d no e ti te
to how many con truction job
would b ere t d. hre
said the estimated co t of th
proj ct as 9,960,7 , but
that it wa only tent tive
figure.
A with the previou attempt,
many commissioner voiced
their opinion that the project
wa ill-conceived. Commis­
sioner Otto Grau said, "There's
more that we don't know than
we do kno. I think we're
rusing it - hat do they think
fe
ead
closing costs. Other bids for the
property received' were from
Larry Thomas, 5,000; Joe
La ,$4 000' and Louis Joseph,
00.
City anager Ellis Mitchell
reque ted a clo d meeting with
the commi ioner to discu
labor contracts and the pru­
chase of property. After recon­
vening the comrni sion pproved
a contract with the Police
lieutenants, sergeants, and
Patrolmen ociations. The
contracts are retro ctive to
July 1, 1983 and provide for a
16 percent pay hike over a
thr e-year period.
The commi sion voted to
purchase the former Vincent
Hotel property from General
Services Administration for
102,000. The city will make
a down payment of 10,000.
Though no pecific u of the
downtown landmark was men­
tioned, City Manager Ellis Mit-
ratifie
uri io
By er
A pecial me ling of the 8en�
t n Harbor chool board was
called Tue y night to ratify
contr ct ith the A SC
local 953 and th cho I board.
The Ameri n Federation of
State, County and unicipal
Employee r pre nt some 200
teach rs d para-professional
at the Benton Harbor chool .
Th contract a approved
by the AFS Decembet 1.
The contract expire 0 t. 1,
1987 and call for a four per­
cent increase in wages the first
year, a thre percent increa
in ge the fir t year, a three
percent increase the cond
year and a four percent in­
crease the final year. The
amount f w ge incre s over
the period of the contract will
total 262000 according to .
R bert F nner busine man­
ager.
Test result from the Michi­
gan Educational A essment pro­
gram wer released to the board
by Dr. Wahbah Sayegh, director
of evaluation. For results see
the accompanying chart.
The MEAP test are admin­
istered tate-wide to all 4th
r
ny'
e are, a bunch of rubb r
tamps?"
Schrenk wa more optimistic
about the succe of the project
ying he believed they were
picking up where it had fallen
apart before. Schrenk id the
I
rush was due to chang that
would occur in the tax-exempt­
ion law in January.
A public hearing has been
cheduled for Dec. 20 at 10
a.m. in t e board chamber to
discu the proposed project
plan.
In other action, .the board
approved placing Maurice Bis­
hop owner of All-Time Pe t
Control, and alter Batston,
owner of Batson Printing, both
of Benton Harbor, on the board
ap
a
chell said the property is to be
"a key component of the
revitalization of the city."
ayor i1ce Cook appointed
Paul Smith and reappointed
James Rolling to the Compen­
sation Board.
The commi ion presented
sympathy condolence to the
family members of Alfred Wil­
liams, former chairman of Dial­
A�Ride and former city com­
missioners; Don Clark, former
owner of Gardner Sporting
Goods Store; and Abraham
Whitaker, a life long citizen of
Benton Harbor.
DUring a pre-meeting work­
shop City Manager Ellis Mitchell
noted his intentions to eek
renewal of his contract. After
the' meting, Mitchell said his
contract expires Feb. 23, 1985.
He added under this administra­
tion the city has been moving
forward.
eon rae
7th and 10th graders. Thi
year result show Benton
Harbor 4th grade cores dropped
m from last year, but all
other ore have improved.
The chool board considered
during it's regular Tue day work
se ion to name the high s hool
gymnasium after Don Farnum.
Farnum now retired was a tea­
cher with the district for 40
year, a basketball coach for
30 year, and was inducted
this year into the Michigan
High School Coaches Hall 0 f
Fame.
Grad
ct
% Student Attainin 75%
Difference Bet een
8� Difference
or B tter
1984
1983-1984 .
th
71.7%
-2.7%
+30.3�
4
47.1%
-5.1%
+14%
th
8.2%
+13.1%
+26.2%
7
in
4
.1%
+8.5%
ath
33.2%
+5.9%
+16.3%
10
eadin
SO. %
+3
+12.2%
DECEMBER 12 - 18, 1984 THE CITIZE . PAGE THREE
a
in9 bon
of director of the Berrien
County Economic Development
corporation.
The board lost two members
recently, one of whom moved
out of th rea. The other
illiam Lilly, nton Harbor
Community Developm nt Direc­
tor for the re igned due to
"conflict of interest."
Bento Twp, to
begin sewer 'repai_�s
By Mich I Becker
BE 0 lWP. - Sewer
repairs totaling om $20,000
ere approved by the Benton
Township Bard of Trustee at
its regular meeting Tuesday
night. All repair bids were
awarded to C& W Electric of
Sodus.
The larger contract was for
7 800 to repair the lift tation
at Maynard and Rose. ine
other 'lift stations ere also
lated for repairs, the most
expensive being 1,720 and the
least being 1 329,
Trustee artin Land said it
was' important that repair
B.
p:a
BE TO HARBOR - Alfred
Williams, 76, former Benton
Harbor city commission r, di d
at 2:50 p.m. Sunday, D c. 9
in Mercy Hospital, Benton Har-
bo following a I ngthy ill-
ness. r. illiams re ided at
760 auceda St. Benton Har-
bor.
Visitation began at 9 a.m.
Wedne day at Robbins Brothers
Funeral Hom. Funeral will
be Thur day at 1 p.m. at Union
Memorial A.M.E. Church where
r. Williams rved as Senior
Steward.
Mr. Williams was past presi­
dent of the Twin Cittes Dial-A.
Ride Board and Cit repre­
sentative on the Southwestern
Michigan Regional Planning
Commis ion.
r illiams wa app inted
to represent the city Fourth
Ward on th city ommi i n
in pril 1975. He w elected
to the at in ovember of the
same year. In ay) 976
William was one of five mem­
bers of the city commission
, on the ballot in a recall election.
He was the only one to surviv
as ayor Charles F. Jo ph
and three commissioner were
ept out of office. .,
begin right away, as th sewer
system is at le t 30 years old,
and h had very little, if any,
maintainance during that time.
The board also deem d it
necessary to set up a special
tax asses ment for street light­
ing at Herr Court and Coolidge.
The local resident had collected
signatures to signify there de ire
for street lighting. Supervi or
Larry ielsen indicated this is
only the first step in the process.
Additional ignatures from
the area mu t be obtained, and
then the board will authorize
a special a ment and install
new street lighting.
er
In October 1977 , r. il-
Iiams waged a write-in campaign
to retain the at after he
recovered from an illness. He
wa narrowly defeated by Jua­
nita Echol in the 0 ember
election.
He wa past treasurer f the
Berri n County Council of
hur he .
Williams is survived by hi
wife Sara: three n - J ph
of Merr-aco, La.; dward Baton
Rouge, La.; h rle in the
.S. Army stationed in Ger­
many; and five grandchildren.
Burial will b in Cr tal
Springs Cemetery.
Plan Pre-Christmas
give away
By Diana Kyle
BENTO HARBOR - Be-
cause of the Christmas holi­
day Community Action Agency
operations of Berrien County
the interim agency replacing
CBA, will distribute federal
surplus food Tuesday Dec. 18
at 14 ites in Berrien County,
according to Loui e Price, com­
munity em e coordinator.
-CAA of B rrien County has
receiv d cornmeal butter and
processed cheese from the
ichigan Department of Edu­
ation to be distrubuted to
people at or below 130 percent
of the guidelines.
A family ize from one to
four member will be i ued
one bo of chee ,t 0 pound
of butter and one five- pound
bag of cornmeal.
A family ize of five or more
members ill be i ued two
bo es of chee four bloc
Contiaued on p 11