Tim McAllister

The Ionia City Council held a public hearing Wednesday and then voted 9-0 to approve the brownfield plan for the Homes of Heritage Row development, as submitted by the Coopersville-based Ionia Development Co. LLC.

The Ionia City Council held several public hearings on Wednesday that will finally allow construction to begin on the Austin Pines West planned unit development (PUD), submitted by Allen Edwin Homes.

The Grattan Township Board voted Monday to hire a new firefighter along with a variety of other actions related to the township Fire Department.

After a resident questioned why $10 million is parked in the budget while local roads deteriorate, the Ionia County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved nearly $2 million in Road Department expenditures. They include a $526,063 motor grader purchase and a $995,700 federal-aid improvement project for Nash Highway. The first request from Road Department Interim Managing Director Cody Waite was to purchase, through MiDeal, a new John Deere 770GP Motor Grader and two attachments from AIS Construction Equipment in Lansing for $526,063.

The Ionia Township Board voted 4-1 on Tuesday to approve a resolution related to next summer's M-66 corridor reconstruction project and lane changes proposed by Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) engineers.

The Ionia County Republican Party hosted a three-hour-long state House and Senate candidate debate at the Ionia Theatre on Wednesday evening leading up to August’s primary election.

“That must have been some kind of record,” Ionia Planning Commission Chairman Logan Bailey quipped upon adjournment of the board's 11-minute-long meeting on June 10. There was only one item on the agenda, a public hearing regarding amendments to miscellaneous regulations, primarily in response to Billy Strings' “Ionia Freak Fair” sold-out concerts at the Ionia Free Fairgrounds this summer.

After it suffered some severe flooding damage to the basement, the Ionia County Intermediate School District Board of Education is considering selling its Independent Living Center, otherwise known as the home at 201 E. Main St. in downtown Ionia, and building a new home on the ISD campus outside of town. During the ISD Board's meeting on June 11, Superintendent Ethan Ebenstein explained how the damage occurred.

Ionia County has hired its fourth Road Department director in less than seven years, while also preparing for the departure of its finance director, continuing a turbulent stretch of turnover that has repeatedly reshaped county leadership.

Despite support from local economic development leaders and a business seeking solar financing, the Ionia County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to reject a proposed Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) district, citing concerns about long-term loans, oversight and financial risk. The PACE loan program was created as a financing tool to aid businesses with energy efficiency, water efficiency and renewable energy projects.