​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
MARCH 2, 2026
 
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 6 citizens, and 5 board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda with the addition of choosing the Annual meeting date was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery: The cemetery is still closed but the chains may be taken down since the weather is getting nicer.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report: A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $27,215.85 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed, Motion carried.
Old TWP Business: There is no old business.
New Business: C Babcock started the discussion on a blight ordinance. A motion was made to put language for a yes or no vote for a blight ordinance for Lyons Township on the ballot this year by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. A role call vote was taken. K Gould yes, A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
Kurt Ferris sent paperwork in to ask to put 289.8 acres of his land in PA 116. A motion to put K Ferris’s 289.8 acres into a PA 116 was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. A role call vote was taken. K Gould yes, A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen, yes C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
J Thelen brought attention to the board our website now must be ADA Compliant by law. She has checked with the villages in the township to see who they have and all of them have Shoemaker Technology Group. They are all pleased with the work they do. J Thelen recommends that this company set up and maintains the website because it is more than she can do. They sent an estimate of $1250 set up charge and $600 yearly fee. They maintain everything. A motion to have Shoemaker Technology group be our web designer was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. A role call vote was taken. A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, K Gould yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
J Heckman was asked to get ahold of John Hancock to discuss options for our money.
Annual meeting date set as Monday March 23, 2026, at 5:30 pm.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:40 pm was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
Julie Heckman

​ ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES, April 7, 2025
 
The meeting was called to order with the pledge to the flag. In attendance were  Kevin Gould, Jill Thelen, Andy Hengesbach, Kim Thelen, Bernie Russell, Michael Yerge, Charles Babcock, and Julie Heckman.
 
There was no Annual Meeting in 2024 so there were no minutes to approve.
 
The depository is Independent Bank in Ionia. J Heckman made a motion to keep the Depository the same, A Hengesbach supported. No one opposed. Motion Carried.
 
The dates of the regular board meetings will remain the same, first Monday of the month at 5:30pm., at the township hall. The exception will be holidays which will be noted. A Hengesbach made a motion to keep the meeting dates the same, K Gould supported. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
The budget was presented for discussion.
 
 
A motion to adjourn at 5:40 pm was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion Carried.
 
 
Jullie Heckman
Clerk

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
FEBRUARY 2, 2026
 
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 6 citizens, and 4  board members were present. K Gould was absent.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by A Hengesbach  and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: A  letter was read from Morgan and Associates, a CPA firm out of Grand Rapids, wanting to prepare a proposal to bid our Audit. The board agreed to send a letter and ask them to place a bid for our audit.
Cemetery:  The cemetery is closed for the winter.
Public comment: Michelle Corbeil was here to discuss all the blight on Staley Road north of Peckins Road. There is a lot of junk (trash, junk cars etc.) The board is going to look into putting something on the ballot for blight.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Heckman. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $31,858.11 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by C Babcock. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
Old TWP Business: There was no old business.
New Business:  A motion to accept the Ionia County Road Department Gradall agreement was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
A motion was made to accept the Ionia County Road Department Brine agreement was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
C Babcock brought to the attention of the board putting Limestone on 300 feet of Staley Road. He will get pricing for that.
A letter was read from the Village of Muir asking for help with a onetime payment to help with the cost of the maintenance above the Grant amount for the Recycling Center. The board checked with MTA and can only use township money if there is a contract. The Village of Muir agreed to send a onetime contract for the $1500 maintenance cost for the Recycling Center. A motion was made by J Heckman and supported by J Thelen to sign the contract and give the Village of Muir $1500. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Every year the subject of raises has to be brought up before the next fiscal year. A motion for a 3% raise for the township board members was made by C Babcock and supported by A Hengesbach. A roll call vote was taken C Babcock yes, A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen no, and J Heckman yes. K Gould was absent. With a 3 to one vote motion carried.
Fire Chiefs: There was nothing from the fire chiefs.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
JANUARY 12, 2026
 
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 5 citizens, and 5  board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  Sexton Josh Wickham put the chains across the driveways to close the cemetery for the winter.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $46,238.13 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
Old TWP Business: Our Attorney, Silas Kok, was here to discuss the Mobile Home Park contracts. Silas said the EMS/FIRE Contract is ready to be signed. The Village of Muir would not agree to the Utilities contract that our Attorney drew up. A motion to vote today on agreeing to partner with the Village of Muir to grant the village to bring water and sewer to the Mobile Home park was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. Vote taken K Gould no, J Thelen no, A Hengesbach no, C Babcock no and J Heckman no. Motion carried.
A motion to authorize the Supervisor and the Clerk to sign the Fire and EMS agreement if the developer of the Muir Mobile Home Park decides to continue  with the development was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. A roll call vote was taken K Gould yes, A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
The discussion about Pline Road is on hold because the Head of the Ionia County Road Department has been let go.
New Business: The Breadon Group sent a quote for Trident for insurance. This quote was less than the power Plan and the value of the Trucks were better. A motion to take the Trident bid for insurance was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
J Heckman gave the Board the list of budget amendments that need to be approved. A motion to approve the budget amendments was  made by J Heckman and supported by A Hengesbach. A roll call vote was taken J Heckman yes, A Hengesbach yes, C Babcock yes, J Thelen yes and K Gould yes. Motion carried.
C Babcock and J Heckman will meet on February 10th at 10 am to work on the budget. The board will meet on February 16th at 4pm to look at the 2026/2027 budget.
J Heckman told the board that she has had the IT department in her computer 3 times since the November election for her computer being slow. Kinetix, our IT company, informed her she should get a new computer because hers is 5 years old. A motion to buy a new computer for the clerk was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen.
Lyons Twp and our Assessor have been named in a lawsuit. It is about someone upset because they were not granted the disability exemption. There is nothing we can do at this time.
C Babcock brought attention to the board that the Twp Office should have a defibrillator. A motion to buy a LifPak CR2 defibrillator for the office was made by A Hengesbach and supported by J Thelen. A roll call vote was taken A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, K Gould yes, and J Heckman yes. Motion carried.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 7 pm was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
DECEMBER 1, 2025
 
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 5 citizens, and 5 board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda with the addition of Silas Kok our Lawyer and Doug Hyland Muir Village Pres added to old business and Insurance Premium discussion added to new business was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  The sign for the Spaulding Road cemetery is still down. C Babcock has brought it to the Ionia County Road Department’s attention. Discussion was had concerning the cemetery in the winter. The board decided to put the chain across the cemetery driveway because of the snow. C Babcock will ask Josh to get that done.
Public comment:  There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $38,800.78 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
TWP Business:  Silas Kok, our Twp Attorney, was here to answer any questions we still had regarding the contracts between the Township and the Village of Muir concerning the Mobile home Park. Doug Hyland was asked to sit in to answer any questions from the village standpoint. The board asked Silas to have a conference call between him and the Village Attorney and get this done. The board is hoping this will be settled by January’s meeting.
J Heckman let the board know that  the township’s premium was going up. The board is looking for other options to compare for insurance.
J Heckman brought to attention of the board that the County  has informed all Clerks that in the year 2027 we will be getting new voting machines and to budget for the next two years for this happening. It will cost the Township approximately $30,000. The machines cost $6000.00 a piece and we need 5.
There was more discussion on the Pline Road controversy. There are landowners and Gun club patrons not happy with what is going on. It all boils down to the Township really doesn’t have much of a say on what is done, the township doesn’t own roads, and the Ionia County Road Department is going to do what they see is right.
Pewamo Fire Chief Yerge has informed the board that they need work done on their pumper to get it in working order.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:40 pm was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
NOVEMBER 3, 2025
 
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 5 citizens, and 5 board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  Both cemetery’s look great. The sign for the Spaulding Rd. Cemetery has fallen down. J Thelen will look into why it fell.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $23,627.08 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
TWP Business:  Ian, one of our auditors from Gabridge, was here to discuss this year’s audit. Ian said we are doing everything right. We have enough money to sustain us for one year if we have no income coming in.
Doug Trierweiler was here to discuss Pline Rd. near the Oak Hill Gun Club. Part of the road was decommissioned in 1972. There is talk about the road reopening the portion that was decommissioned or just fixing the bridge with a culvert. There were some people at the meeting and others that voiced their concerns about reopening the road. They would rather just have the bridge fixed and keep the rest of the road decommissioned. There will be more discussion on this topic after the board has talked to the Ionia County Road Department.
J Heckman read a letter from the Ionia County Clerks Office stating they needed an agreement signed stating Lyons Township agreed to have Ionia County run all early voting for Federal Elections. A motion was made to accept the agreement for early voting to be run by Ionia County Clerks Office was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. A roll call vote was taken: A Hengesbach yes, K Gould yes, C Babcock yes, J Thelen yes, and J Heckman yes. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:30 was made by J Thelen  and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
OCTOBER 6, 2026
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 11 citizens, and 5 board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by J Thelen and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: J Heckman read a letter from Charter Communications notifying the township that their intent is to renew their contract in August 2028.
Cemetery:  All looks good in the cemetery.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by J Heckman and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $33,240.56 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
TWP Business:  Ken and Sue Winright and Elwood Palmer were here to discuss the lack of brine on South Staley rd. Their road is unique as it has 3 gravel pits around it and also a large farm, so they have many large trucks and farm machinery traveling their road creating so much dust they are choking on it. They were here to ask if there was anything the township could do to get more brine on their road. K Gould and C Babcock are going to try and help them get answers.
Mary Kay Shaver and Silas Kok, our attorneys from Varnum, were here to discuss the agreement contract between the Township and the Village of Muir for the Mobile Home Park and the Fire/Ems agreement between the Township and Park owners. They will add detail to the Muir agreement and draw up the contract for Fire/Ems for us to look over before the next meeting.
There was discussion concerning Pline road to the Oak Hill Gun Club. Linda from Ionia County Road Department spoke to C Babcock about the possibility of opening up the closed area of Pline road to Dexter Trail or replace the bridge that needs to be replaced. There are lots of questions about this project.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 7.05pm was made by J Thelen and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Julie Heckman, Clerk

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
SEPTEMBER 2, 2026
 
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 7 citizens, and 4 board members were present. A  Hengesbach was absent.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda with the addition of tree trimming bid and changing Trailer Park to Mobile Home Park was made by K Gould  and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes by changing the phrase Trailer Park to Mobile Home Park in 2 places was made by K Gould and supported by J Thelen. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  Wickham workers took out the rest of the posts on the east side of the cemetery and they also fixed the wall that was crumbling.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by K Gould and supported by J Heckman. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $48,057.95 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by J Thelen and supported by K Gould. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
Old TWP Business:  Ted Droste, our Twp Assessor, was here to explain the taxes for the proposed Mobile Home Park going in Muir. He explained how the tax base worked.
Paul Gramzano, one of the owners of the Mobile Home Park, was here to talk to us about what they are planning to do in this Mobile Home Park. This will be done in a couple of phases. They are planning to have both rentals and places to own. They plan on being able to finance for people. They will have streetlights. MDOT said no to reduce the speed limit. The board asked about fees for any EMS or fire runs, Paul said he would take the question back to the other owners to see if the owners would put it in the contract for the TWP to bill the owners then it would be up to them to collect from the individuals. There was also discussion on putting a sidewalk out the back to go to the park. There will be more discussion to come on this subject.
New TWP Business: A motion to accept Rick White’s bid of $850 to trim all trees back from the building on the east side and chip all brush was made by K Gould and supported by J Heckman. No one opposed. Motion carried.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 was made by J Thelen and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman

                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
August 4, 2025
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 5 citizens, and 4 board members were present. J Thelen was absent.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the with correction in the second to last paragraph changing the word both with each referring to the fire departments  was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  There is a wall as you pull into the cemetery on the left hand side that Wickham’s will be fixing. There was talk about putting in posts on the driveway to stop people from cutting corners.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $17,854.67 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
TWP Business: Adam Feenstra was here to discuss the mobile home park being built in Muir. There will be 47 units in this Double wide mobile home park. Muir Village has granted permission to hook into the water and sewer system. They will have a sidewalk put in. They will have storm water collection. They will hold and release the water slowly. They will have paved streets. There will be fire hydrants there. They plan to begin in 2026.
The board has more questions about this development and has asked for the developer and Mr. Feenstra to come back to the September meeting to answer more questions.
The board received 2 bids for power washing the building. A motion to accept the bid of $250 from Keith Kleimola was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:50 was made by C Babcock and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Clerk,
Julie Heckman
 
 
 

​                                                     LYONS TWP REG. MEETING
JULY 15, 2025
The meeting was called to order with the Pledge to the Flag. There were 4 citizens, and 5 board members were present.
The agenda was presented for review. A motion to approve the agenda was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Minutes to the meeting were presented for review. A motion to accept the minutes was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Correspondence: There was no correspondence.
Cemetery:  The cemetery looks great. All mowed nice and all the twigs were cleaned up.
Public comment: There was no public comment.
Treasurer’s report:  A motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
Bills in the amount of $33,601.00 to the general fund were presented for payment. A motion to pay the bills was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed,  Motion carried.
Old Business:  A motion to approve the new Investment Policy was  made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. A roll call vote was taken: A Hengesbach yes, K Gould yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. No one opposed. Motion carried.
J Heckman sought approval of the new billing form for Fire and EMS billing. The board added some wording then approved the form.
TWP Business:  A motion to approve the new Fire and EMS billing with the new prices of Fire runs $500 for the first hour and $350 for every hour after and EMS runs $300 for residents and $350 for non-residents was made by K Gould and supported by A Hengesbach. A roll call vote was taken: K Gould yes, A Hengesbach yes, J Thelen yes, C Babcock yes, and J Heckman yes. No one opposed. Motions carried.
K Gould brought to the attention of the board that there are people camping/living on vacant lot on Hayes Road. There is concern about toxic waste. K Gould will look into this further and if necessary, talk to someone in the health department.
The building needs to be power washed. C Babcock received one bid, and A Hengesbach and J Heckman will try to get a couple more bids for next month’s meeting.
C Babcock brought to the board’s attention that there is going to be a trailer park built in Muir just west of the Lumbermill Inn. He will invite the owner to come to next month’s meeting to tell us all about the trailer park.
Pewamo Fire Chief Mike Yerge brought 2 quotes for tires for the Pumper and tanker trucks. Keusch’s bid was $10,000 and Quality Tire out of Lansing was $5700. There was a discussion on whether LMFD also needed to have tires put on and the answer was yes.
A motion to approve tires from Quality Tire out of Lansing for $5700 for each department was made by A Hengesbach and supported by K Gould. No one opposed. Motion carried.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:55 was made by J Thelen and supported by A Hengesbach. No one opposed. Motion carried.
 
Clerk
 
Julie Heckman