By Scott Sullivan
Editor
How have we survived 2024? Some of us with aplomb, others might prefer a bomb. Our annual Year in Review:
January
Saugatuck High School thespians will present Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on midwinter nights Jan. 19-21.
Saugatuck City Council votes 5-2 to sign a 10-year lease agreement with AT&T to expand local cellular service by using the Mt. Baldhead radar dome. Holly Anderson, Helen Baldwin, Scott Dean, Gregory Muncey and Logan White vote yes; Russ Gardner and Logan White no.
Saugatuck resident Ron Collins calls for the Allegan County Road Commission to “get off their carcasses” removing dead deer from the Blue Star Highway roadside.
Douglas Elementary School designer GMB and builder GDK Construction win an Outstanding Design Award from the American School and University for their work.
The 37-year-old Saugatuck-Douglas Area Business Association is no more. The Saugatuck-Douglas Area Convention & Visitors Bureau agrees to sponsor several longtime-favorite local events in SDABA’s lieu.
Even the cost of dying will go up for Saugatuck Township cemeteries this year.
Ten-year Interurban director Phyllis Yff will retire upon the transit authority finding a qualified replacement.
February
Douglas drafts a design, based on 667 responses to an online survey, for the former Haworth site at 200 Blue Hwy. and surrounding parcels, favoring a mix of specialized commercial shops and small-scale apartments. Now to finish cleaning up the razed factory site there and interest a private buyer …
ACRC head Craig Atwood says cleaning up roadside carcasses isn’t the county’s duty.
The Michigan Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) department nixes Northshore of Saugatuck’s request to renew a 2018 permit to create a boat basin on its land.
Douglas rejects ABM Building Solution’s $7.8-million proposal to design and build a new city services center at the former Douglas Professional Building at 415 Wiley Road.
Where did third-year Saugatuck City Manager Ryan Heise go? Rumors fly during the city hall leader’s still unexplained two-week absence.
A spirited Saugatuck City Hall crowd debates possible short-term rental caps in the town’s R-1 Residential district.
Heise resigns for “personal reasons” and council names first-year zoning administrator Ryan Cummins as interim manager in his place.
March
Saugatuck City Council votes 4-3 to impose three STR restrictions but nixes a proposed 6-month moratorium on new rentals by a 4-3 vote. Anderson, Baldwin, Dean and Stanton are in favor; Gardner, Muncey and White vote no.
Fran Ray, first elected to Douglas City Council less than three months ago, resigns because she is moving out of town.
Saugatuck City Council votes resigned manager Ryan Heise a lump sum $98,654, or 10.25 months of his annual salary, 144 hours of unused vacation time pay, plus insurance benefits through Dec. 30, in exchange for him stepping down.
Letters to the Editor pour in from residents objecting to Heise’s buyout, claiming his unexplained absence was grounds for termination as a contract breach.
Maplewood Hotel owner Catherine Simon sues Saugatuck city for removing trees, not shown in original plans, to make room for a new Village Square Park playground gear near her business.
April
Work starts on a Saugatuck Township roundabout at the Blue Star Highway-Old Allegan Road intersection, dubbed by some “Crash Corner” for the frequent wrecks there.
Veteran driver/dispatcher Becky Crandall will replace Phyllis Yff as Interurban Transit Authority director.
Douglas appoints Everyday People Café owner Matt Balmer, who served as the city’s first mayor from 2004 to 2010, to fill Fran Ray’s unexpired council term through November 2025.
Saugatuck halts its planned community playground build after county circuit court judge Matthew Antkoviak orders the city to do so based on Maplewood Hotel owner Catherine Simon’s complaint that the project was likely handled illegally.
Saugatuck is named USA Today’s No. 2 “Best Coastal Small Town in America” in an annual online poll. Stuart, Fla., this year places first.
No one likes road construction — until it’s over. Some businesses hurt by Blue Star Highway closure for building a roundabout, projected to last through July 27, win assurance that Saugatuck Township and the Saugatuck Township Area CVB will place “Businesses Still Open …” directional signs and hasten rebuilding work.
Fifty-seven Hutchins Lake residents sue to stop a developer from building what they call an illegally-permitted marina on the lake’s northeast side.
May
Saugatuck Township wins a Michigan Green Communities Silver Seal of Achievement for environmental leadership.
A planned community playground build delayed by legal skirmishes finally takes place May 6-8. The $336,000 worth of new equipment replaces old gear last year deemed no longer safe for children.
Saugatuck City council votes 6-1 to accept a $130,000 donation to convert its 170-acre “old airport” land into public recreation trails. Gardner casts the sole vote “no.”
Saugatuck City Council will interview four city manager finalists — former Paw Paw Village Manager William Joseph, 6-year Wayland City Manager Joshua Eggleston, U.S. Coast Guard Station Niagara Officer in Charge William Sheahan and now-interim manager Ryan Cummins — for the open job.
Holland Hospital opens its new 16,940-square-foot medical center at 6490 Blue Star Hwy. in Saugatuck Township. The facility expands access to primary care, lab, radiology, physical therapy and rehab services to the lakeshore south of Holland in one site.
The first annual Springfields 5K on grounds of Modales Winery and Virtue Cider draws 208 family runners and walkers and raises more than $8,000 for local youth programs.
It’s official: Ryan Cummins is Saugatuck City Manager fulltime now.
Saugatuck Township is seeking a $3+ million grant to help buy the 22.25-acre Pine Trails camp, unused by the Chicago-based New Life Church since the Covid pandemic, for public recreation.
June
Life EMS replaces AMR as main ambulance provider for northern Saugatuck Township plus Saugatuck and Douglas cities. The change follows years of Saugatuck Township Fire District efforts to upgrade emergency services within its bounds.
After more than 20 years of debate, Laketown Township’s 84-year-old Huyser House is razed in less than one hour.
Seventeen-year Saugatuck City Treasurer Peter Stanislawski departs to become new Saugatuck Township Finance Coordinator.
Douglas debuts its new Tuesday farmers market at Beery Field.
California-based Autocamp scales back plans from 112 total to 76 phase-one campsites on 29.24 cares at 3461 Blue Star Hwy. because “stuff” happens — specifically need to dispose of sewage.
Artist James Brandess celebrates 30 years in his 328 Butler St., Saugatuck studios and gallery.
Saugatuck’s five-day Oval Beach E. Coli warning does keep everyone out of Lake Michigan during 90°-plus heat.
Saugatuck High School graduate Blake Dunn makes his major league baseball debut playing for the Cincinnati Reds.
Happystance, Katie Fris’s dream for restoring downtown Douglas’ intermittently-empty 8 Center St. into a daily breakfast and lunch diner, opens after months of labor.
July
Longtime Douglas art gallery owner Arthur Frederick dies at age 85.
After 35 years as Laketown Township Manager, Al Meshkin announces plans to retire Jan. 3, 2025.
Saugatuck makes its annual Independence Day Celebration four days long from Thursday, July 4 through Sunday, July 7.
Saugatuck Antique Pavilion on July 4 marks 20 years occupying 24,000 square feet of the former Hansen Manufacturing plant at 2948 Blue Star Hwy.
Saugatuck’s long road to short-term rental caps advances, with city council placing 20-percent limits in the R-1 Residential district by a 4-2 vote. A familiar voting bloc — Holly Anderson, Helen Baldwin, Scott Dean and Lauren Stanton — vote in favor. Russ Gardner and Gregory Muncey are opposed. Due to conflict of interest, Logan White abstains.
Saugatuck Township’s new roundabout at Blue Star Highway and Old Allegan Road opens two weeks earlier than first planned.
Tim Travis± after 20 years with Saugatuck Public Schools, including the last seven as superintendent — announces he plans to retire at year’s end.
Saugatuck City Council replaces departed 17-year treasurer Peter Stanislawski with Nicole Bredeweg, who boasts more than 30 years of public and private accounting experience.
Developer North Shores of Saugatuck LLC sues Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance president David Swan for tortious interference with contract, business relationship or business expectancy; plus civil conspiracy. The land-preservation group dismisses the complaint as “a desperate jumble of hyperbole and vitriol that isn’t supported by facts or law.”
Douglas decides to close Ferry Street after a sinkhole develops near the Warnock Drain south of Campbell Road. Traffic to homes lying north of it, plus Saugatuck’s Oval Beach, Mt. Baldhead Park and more popular attractions, will be detoured “indefinitely” until fixed.
Saugatuck’s Venetian Festival, sponsored by the Saugatuck-Douglas Rotary Club, brings back the boom with fireworks Saturday night instead of last year’s disappointing laser light show. Crowds respond with enthusiasm.
August
Fifth-year local Allegan County Commissioner Dean Kapenga dies suddenly from a stroke.
Saugatuck City Council agrees to connect Oval Beach with WiFi and emergency services via satellite.
Volunteer rescuers save the life of a South Haven man after a medical condition causes his pickup truck, northbound on Blue Star Highway, to veer out of control, snap a Douglas power pole and plunge into the Kalamazoo River.
Kerr Real Estate’s Phase 1 Centre Collective proposal for 19 homes on 10+ acres southwest of St. Peter’s Church wins Douglas site-plan approval after close to four years of trying.
Saugatuck Township slates a $3.6-million bond request to help buy the now-vacant Pine Trails Camp.
After 25 years, the Labor Day Blue Star Bridge Walk is canceled “due to challenges in gathering the necessary resources to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all participants,” says a press release.
Douglas poet laureate Jack Ridl and friend Tony Amato, founding Red Dock proprietor, return to the waterfront watering hole to read from their recent works.
September
Saugatuck Township scrubs its Nov. 5 bond request to help purchase Pine Trails Camp after learning a private buyer has snapped it up instead.
The Saugatuck-Douglas Rotary Club navigates the continuing closure of Ferry Street to draw 624 runners to the 24th annual Mt. Baldhead Challenge. The races raise record proceeds for the Saugatuck Public Schools’ Boys and Girls Club.
Saugatuck Middle School cross-country runners host peers from Hamilton for their second annual dual meet on cleared trails near Saugatuck Township’s Trails ‘n’ Tails Dog Park. Supporters are eyeing a bigger prize: adding more public trails on the adjacent “old airport” land.
Friends of the Blue Star Trail’s 13th annual Lakeshore Harvest Ride attracts close to 600 bicyclists and raises almost $40,000 for the cause.
All seven candidates for four open two-year seats on the Saugatuck City Council speak to more than 70 viewers at a Holland Leaguer of Women Voters-sponsored forum. The hot topic short-term rental caps.
Douglas honors citizens Maxwell Klemm, Amie Shanahan, Austin Walkes, Mike O’Brien, Richard Beaudreault and Jason Lott for their Aug. 15 river rescue work.
First-year Saugatuck City Councilman Logan White’s resignation because he has bought a new home in Holland leaves peers seeking a replacement for the remainder of his term.
Voters for Saugatuck Public School board seats will have to write in candidates’ names during the general election Nov. 5 due to a clerical filing error.
Douglas continues seeking ways to repair the Warnock Drain under Ferry Street, closed there since Aug. 2, and maintain its remaining four miles that run through town. City manager Lisa Nocerini advises working through the Allegan County Drain Commission to do so.
October
U.S. Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance swings through Saugatuck between campaign stops to go fishing with his son Vivek, 4.
Saugatuck’s efforts to bring WiFi service to Oval Beach gets a $15,000 boost from the Saugatuck-Douglas Area CVB for equipment and installation costs.
Kathryn “Kit” Lane, who with husband Art ran The Commercial Record from 1967-1988, dies at age 84.
Cow Hill Yacht Club’s annual Chili Cook-Off fills a large Wicks Park tent with 20 local restaurants dishing up favorite recipes for diners seeking autumn heat.
Laketown receives 38 applications to replace 35-year township manager Al Meshkin when he retires Jan. 2, 2025.
Saugatuck City Council taps Joe Clark by a 4-2 vote to fill the seat vacated by Logan White. Majority voters Holly Anderson, Helen Baldwin, Scott Dean and Lauren Stanton note Clark supports short-term rental caps. Russ Gardner and Gregory Muncey argue former mayor Chris Peterson is a better-qualified pick.
The Saugatuck Township Planning Commission grants North Shores of Saugatuck preliminary site plan approval for a 21.42-acre, eight-condominium development north of 135th Avenue.
The Saugatuck school board names middle/high school principal Mark Neidlinger superintendent succeeding Tim Travis, who will retire at year’s end.
Douglas serves notice of plans to seek a $4-million bond to renovate the former Douglas Professional Building at 415 Wiley into a new city hall/police station.
An estimated 10,000-plus people celebrate Hystopolis Productions’ 26th annual Halloween adult walking parade through downtown Douglas.
The Michigan Board of Elections confirms it is investigating EPIC — an entity which funded ads, signs and mailings for Saugatuck City Council incumbents Helen Baldwin, Scott Dean and Lauren Stanton — for campaign financing violations.
November
Saugatuck loses part of an icon when a windstorm, combined with carpenter ant infestation, cause a large limb of the Cook Park willow tree to snap off.
The historic former home of Ox-Bow Art School and, later Tower Marine owner R.J. Peterson, at 116 Riverside Drive is razed.
Current Allegan County Clerk and Saugatuck resident Bob Genetski joins Bronson City Manager Brandon Marsman and Saugatuck School Board Secretary Karen Sherwood as finalists to replace Laketown Township Manager Al Meshkin.
First-year Root Beer Barrel operator Todd Martinson presents Douglas a check for 10 percent of this season’s sales. Add to that $45,108 another $6,000 for this year’s lease on the city land.
Saugatuck voters return incumbents Lauren Stanton, Scott Dean and Gregory Muncey to two-year city council seats but a fourth, Helen Baldwin, is beaten by former mayor and council member Chris Peterson.
In Douglas, all four incumbents — Randy Walker, Greg Freeman, John O’Malley and Neal Seabert — face down two challengers.
Saugatuck Township, working with the Allegan County Road Commission, will seek national designation to help fund, design and build a new road inland parallel to where Lakeshore Drive washed out 36 years ago.
December
Douglas winds up issuing a $3.2-million capital improvement bond to renovate 415 Wiley Road into a new city hall, police station and public works department offices.
Towards paying it off, Douglas council the same night accepts a $225,000 bid to sell 9.59 surplus acres at 291 66th St. once eyed for public works storage space.
