By Sue Moore
Village President Bill Adams welcomed several new businesses to the village with MLC Industries breaking ground in the Leja Industrial Park in November. The village council acted positively on MLC’s request for a 50 percent tax break for 12 years on their building. Adams said he was pleased with the $500,000 expansion underway at Summit Polymers next door to where MLC has broken ground. A Chinese take-out restaurant will open on E. Prairie Street, possibly by late December, and a store called Eclectic Opus has opened on W. Prairie Street.
Dane Bozell gave an overview of his proposed microbrewery to be called Distant Whistle—a name inspired by the 60 trains a day that travel through the village. The business will be located somewhere downtown once he raises the necessary capital. In the meantime, along with his partner Andy Clouse, Dane pursues his passion by brewing his favorite beers in his home garage.
Vicksburg village residents take it for granted that the water they drink is safe beyond a doubt. To assure the public that is true, the village entered into a “wellhead protection program” four years ago. To fund the project, the village utilized matching dollars from the State of Michigan, according to Mike Swartz, the lead engineer on the project from Prien and Newhof in Kalamazoo.
The purpose of the program is to protect the public water supply system from contamination, Swartz informed the council. The grant is in the fourth phase in which the village is responsible for informing the public about the condition of the village’s drinking water. The village has two wells that pull groundwater from areas outside of the village that have an estimated ten year life span or more, Swartz explained.
The total cost of the report was $12,000 in 2010; $8,000 for the next two years with the village contributing $4,000. The entire report is available on the Village of Vicksburg’s web site: www.vicksburgmi.org
In other action the council approved the following:
- The purchase of one more piece of land in the Bridgeview development to be utilized for another condo and a community area for the association that AVB is developing.
- Approved the hiring of a full-time person for the Department of Public Works (DPW).
- Approved a police car camera support system for the police department.
- Approved a resolution for the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to apply for a Main Street Michigan designation.
- Approved funds to pay one third of the salary of the DDA director, the DDA paying one third and the Vicksburg Foundation picking up one third at $14,750 each through June 30, 2015.
- Committed the village to the South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority budget for 2015/16 to the tune of about $70,000 as part of the overall costs of $491,000.