By Gari Voss
The Allegan City Council reelected Traci Perrigo as Mayor and Peter Hanse as Mayor Pro Tem then handled some previous business. Police Chief Jay Gibson reviewed statistics for 2025 and updated the council on several situations that the officers handled extremely professionally and with positive outcomes. Items to watch for will be a special presentation to Korean War Veterans and Open Houses related to the projects around Allegan during which they would like to have community input.
KOREAN WAR VETERANS ACKNOWLEDGED
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, Noon – City Hall
The community is invited and encouraged to attend the presentation of medals to Roy James of Allegan and a veteran from Paw Paw who fought in the Korean Conflict and recently, were able to travel to Washington DC on an Honor Flight. The medals are given by the Republic of Korea to thank the American soldiers for their service in Korea during the war.
ELECTION OF MAYOR AND MAYOR PRO TEM
The meeting began with the nomination of Traci Perrigo and Peter Hanse for mayor. Paper ballots found Perrigo with 4 votes and Hanse with 3 votes. Traci Perrigo will continue as Mayor. Nominations for Mayor Pro Tem placed Peter Hanse and Melanie Hooker on the ballot. Paper ballots placed Hanse with 5 votes and Hooker with 2 votes. Peter Hanse will return as Mayor Pro Tem.
PRESENTATION
Mary Colborn of the Allegan Food Alliance explained that the Allegan Food Alliance is the official food “police” council for the county. Colborn quickly shared the work of the Alliance as they look at the larger food picture for the county to facilitate connecting, gathering, sharing and transforming the food system. The group has already assisted in establishing seed libraries and creating raised vegetable gardens for groups in the county. Another piece they are working at is mapping where there are restaurants and food sources. In this way, they can identify “food deserts” that need attention. Using the current grant, the Alliance is holding listening sessions in each quadrant of the county. The final one will be in Wayland on Tuesday. This will lead to distributing surveys and developing focus groups across the county. The Alliance’s overall goal is to determine how to create a resilient, strong food system so when problems arise at the state or federal levels, Allegan County can meet the food needs of its residents. The listening sessions – Come to the table, your voice, your food, your future – have already begun determining strengths and needs. One piece the group is wondering about is whether there can be a location for a year round farm market. At this time, the group is looking for people to be part of the task force to move the Alliance and food stability into the future.
PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE
This was the Public Hearing, Second Reading and adoption of Ordinance 532 regarding the rezoning of parcels 03-51200-016-00 and 03-51-235-004-00 (Formerly the Girl Scout Property) from MDR – Medium Density Residential District to a PUD – Planned Unit Development District and the Preliminary Review of a thirty-eight (38) unit mixed density residential development. In addition, Allegan Development Co., LLC would turn over the lower portion of the acreage to the Allegan Conservation District to use for an Outdoor Learning Lab.
At this time, as part of this agreement, the Allegan Development Co., LLC has 180 days or six months from June 23, 2025, to complete their due diligence, including receiving zoning approvals for the 14 acres that would be developed into residences. Also, they may choose during this time to terminate this agreement. If they do not terminate this agreement by the end of the due diligence period, the developer and the city will close on the property within 30 days at the end of the due diligence period; closing may occur earlier, if mutually agreed to by the city and the developer.
Ordinance 532 was approved so site work can begin. The City Council will be given as-built plans along with approvals from other agencies. Approval will lead to topcoat on roads then construction. No public comment was offered. The motion was made to adopt Ordinance 532 and passed unanimously.
REPORTS
Dye reviewed the October 2025 Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Minutes since there is no councilmember assigned to this group. There have been 3 meetings this year. The development on Delano Street is progressing. The State Housing Development Authority requested that the low-income, affordable units be extended from 8 to 10 years. This did not require council approval. The state now has the paperwork for final approval.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Chief Jay Gibson reviewed the statistics from the police department. Stats are through September with the final quarter to come. Many city police responses are as backup to the primary responder. An area noted was Traffic Stops with 1,143, but tickets are given to only about 15% of the stops. This gives officers an opportunity to educate the offender. Many times, there is no repeat offense. Other related incidents were with “lock outs” and parking complaints.
The council asked if there was an upswing compared to previous years that would be concerning. Gibson had seen no trends. He did cite an increase in the homeless situation that seems to be tied to some mental health issues. Officers do attempt to take the homeless to specific spots that would be safe for the person, but they do not take them and drop them in an unspecified location.
Another question referred to trends at school. Gibson shared that the School Resource Officers (SROs) have a good understanding of the needs of students. Most of the problems arise in the Middle School with relationship drama but only some have citations issued.
It was noted that there was a large number of welfare checks. Gibson shared that it is more than mail piling up. Usually, dispatch can determine the situation and handle it.
The question was posed whether warmer weather brought additional calls. Gibson shared that the second and third quarters of the year had the larger numbers. Councilmember Clark shared that he noticed that many of the areas have a lower percentage of incidents that previous years.
Chief Gibson shared that probably the total number of calls for the year would be around 4,000. Every night every officer will send a briefing so others can do follow up when needed. He noted that the cameras around town are helpful.
Special notes: On February 10, 2025, Officers Meade and Luyk (SROs) were recognized by the Allegan School Board for their service and positive interactions and relationships with the students.
On June 26, 2025, Officers Dame and Luyk responded to a cardiac arrest at the Farmers Market. Utilizing the AED and CPR, they were able to turn the person over to EMS. The patient was taken to the hospital and made a full recovery.
On July 11, 2025, Officer Dykema responded to a person who was hanging on for dear life at the Allegan Dam. Using a throw rope, he was able to bring the person safely to shore.
On August 11, 2025, Sgt. Dame worked with the Allegan County Police to identify the people and vehicle involved in shooting out car windows. On August 24th, Sgt. Gorby located the suspects and vehicle, received a full confession, and recovered the BB gun.
September 19, 2025, in the early hours, Officer Duesterberg was contacted by the FBI regarding a potential school threat. He contacted Sgt. Gorby who came into work and contacted SRO Meade, Collaboratively, they worked the case and were able to apprehend the suspect before most people were awake, so the school day was not interrupted.
On October 7, 2025, Sgt. Dame responded to an armed home invasion. Within hours after investigating, he was able to arrest the suspect and recover the firearm.
PUBLIC WORKS
TEDF Grant. The request to adopt Resolution 25.34 to accept a Transportation Economic Development Fund (TEDF) Grant from the Michigan Department of Transportation and appoint the City Manager as the authorized representative for the City of Allegan passed.
The TEDF grant for resurfacing Airway Drive has a 3-step approval process. 1st step, the city approves the resolution. Then MDOT sends a notice of award form. The city council must seek a low bid. If the city manager is assigned to check on project progress and contractors, the process can move along more smoothly. The motion passed.
MDOT and AERO projects. Dye again requested that the Council approve the City Manager to be the signatory for the runway contracts. There is a time limit. Department head Jeff Morrie is not able to sign the paperwork. During their last meeting, the department heads decided that it would be important for the city manager to have the ability to sign all of the contracts. The motion passed.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
Accounts Payable and Payroll. The request to approve accounts payable in the amount of $284,327.36 and payroll in the amount of $113,176.11 for a total disbursement of $397,503.47 was approved.
Public Participation Plan. The request to adopt the City of Allegan Public Participation Plan (PPP) passed. The PPP is a requirement of the Redevelopment Ready Community (RRC) recertification process. The plan outlines strategies to ensure meaningful engagement with key community stakeholders. Mohamed Gabow explained that little has changed from the previous plan except the hospital changed its name and the city has cell phone alerts. The plan has been completed early, and demonstrates that public participation is extremely important for strengthening the community.
Griswold Holiday Rates. The city staff requested approval of an amendment to the fee schedule establishing a “Holiday Rate” for rental of the Griswold Auditorium on official holidays when City offices are closed. It is not typical for people to ask to use the Griswold on a holiday, but it happened last Christmas Eve. When employees are requested to work on a holiday, they are paid double time. This led the staff to propose a holiday rate to cover the cost of staffing. It was suggested that the official holidays be posted on the form. The Holiday Weekday Rate will be $150 per hour or $750 per six hours. The Holiday Weekend Rate will be $200 per hour or $900 per six hours. The additional Hourly Rate after 6 hours is $100 for both Holiday Weekdays and Holiday Weekends. Thus far, there has been only one request, but the city staff now has a guideline. The amendment to the rates was approved.
Agenda Sections. Dye requested a discussion regarding reformatting the City Council agenda to include two new sections: Written Petitions to the City Council and Acceptance of Gifts and Donations to the City of Allegan.
The question is where these activities should be during a meeting. This would give guidelines for groups who would like to give presentations. Also, it would give an opportunity to recognize people who do something special or make a special contribution.
Different lengths of time were discussed for presentations with additional time added for Q&A to have a dialog with the presenter. Maybe 5 minutes for the presentation with no real cap on the discussion that followed. This would be different for written petitions that may be set at 10 minutes, but the pieces must be emailed to council members before the meeting. Excluded were presentations by government agencies, consultants, and auditors which may take longer.
Having some guidelines and space on the agenda will assist the staff when deciding what qualifies for a written petition and how to guide presenters. Dye reminded the council that this was just a discussion. No decision would be made at this meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENT
An individual had no objections to holiday rates. But felt the holiday events with religious groups would be something to work on with an attorney and police to determine who is responsible for security. There have been religious groups and others targeted. It is important to decide responsibility for security since companies do not usually cover public unrest or violence.
COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, 5-7pm, the DDA Open House. This will be hosted to receive input regarding the future of downtown. The information gathered will be used when updating the 2020 Downtown Master Plan.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, noon – The council chambers will be opened for a presentation of the Ambassador for Peace Award, an official proclamation from the Patriots and Veterans Affairs through the Republic of Korea that issues metals to Korean War Veterans. Allegan resident Roy James had an opportunity to participate in an Honor Flight to Washington DC. In one day, they had a tour of the capital and a ceremony then were welcomed back at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. It was during this activity that they learned about the program from the Republic of Korea, so someone reached out to learn more. This gathering would honor Roy and another veteran from Paw Paw. Joel will open City Hall for the event with residents of the community invited.
Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 5-7pm, Open House for Rossman Park and Downtown. This Open House with be split between the 2nd Phase of the Streetscape Improvement Project and Rossman Neighborhood Construction Project. Representatives from Abonmarche and the city will be in attendance to answer questions about the next phase of construction.
City Hall Connection Hour in City Hall had no visitors, so Joel will piggyback with council members Walker and Hooker during their coffee gatherings.
Tuesday, November 11, 2025, 11am on Riverfront, the American Legion will do their annual Veterans Day Celebration at the Veteran’s Monument.
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
Hooker – gave a thank you to all veterans.
Clark – piggybacked on the thank you to veterans and the current armed forces for their service.
Walker – invited the council members to the Presbyterian Church on Tuesday at 7:30pm for a warming station meeting to organize volunteers and create a calendar.
Perrigo – piggybacked on Dye’s information about the Honor Flights. They are trying to find Viet Nam vets for the Honor Flights. People can go on the website and fill out an application. Volunteers can be guardians to accompany the vet. This is an opportunity to visit with amazing people and get to know other veterans. There is a certain criteria to get the free flights.
Kudos to city staff for all their assistance. Perrigo shared that these people are behind the scenes, but they do a lot. An example would be the couch incident. A couch tumbled out of a truck onto the street. Joel and Parker took the couch out of the street, and no one was aware of what they did. The city staff members are amazing at handling things the council members may never see or know about.
