The Schoolcraft Village Council approved three council goals for the year at its March 2 meeting. Council President Mike Rochholz asked Council members for suggestions. Trustees Kathy Mastenbrook and Jennifer Doorn responded with ideas.
Mastenbrook suggested working with the South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority (SKCFA) to establish appropriate funding for the next year. The authority is losing Brady and Wakeshma townships. The remaining four entities – villages of Schoolcraft and Vicksburg, Prairie Ronde and Schoolcraft townships, now must share the full cost of running the authority.
At the Council’s January 5 meeting, Mastenbrook, who is also the secretary of the authority’s board, reported that for this year the monetary contributions from the four remaining municipalities will remain the same to give them time to adjust their contributions as needed. At that time, she also indicated that expenses for the authority could be less since there are now four communities instead of six.
Another suggestion for a Council goal brought up by Mastenbrook was to continue to look for a new water well site.
Doorn recommended working on more community activities throughout the year. She suggested a Christmas walk.
After a brief discussion, the Council approved the three goals.
In other business, the Council gave Village Manager Cheri Lutz authority to be the signatory on documents related to the water system loan the Village is getting from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency. The loan is for the Village’s water improvement project.
The council in October approved going forward with the loan application with the agency. This was preceded by a presentation in a September meeting given by Paul Bristol, water and environmental loan specialist at the Rural Development office. He explained the agency’s funding: a 40-year loan with a fixed interest rate which makes it more affordable for users, he said.
In other agenda items at the March 2 meeting, Rob Coffman, public works superintendent, introduced Andy Westfall, a new employee in the Department of Public Works. Westfall said he is looking forward to helping out in the Village.
In her report to the Council, Lutz asked Council members for permission to list their email addresses on the website. They are available on the village’s website, villageofschoolcraft.com, by clicking on “Boards” and from the dropdown menu, clicking on “Village Council.” Under each photo is a link to the member’s email.
Council members also discussed Lutz’s suggestion from a previous meeting that the Village needs a better way to communicate with the community since she doesn’t think the newsletter is being read. Suggestions were made to post one large newsletter per year rather than four and to communicate information by postcards as needed
Trustee Joe Beck suggested going with the postcards for a year to see how it works.
No decision was made regarding the issue.
Minutes of the February 23 special meeting were approved, showing that there was a public hearing on the 2026-2027 budget at that meeting. After the public hearing, the Council approved the budget for the fiscal year to begin March 1.
