Detectives from the Central Michigan Enforcement Team (CMET) arrested three people from Sand Lake Tuesday on several charges related to both crystal methamphetamine and weapons.

On Tuesday, February 10, 2021, Central Michigan Enforcement Team (CMET) detectives, assisted by Troopers from the Lakeview Post and the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team, executed a search warrant in the 100 block of Long Road in Sand Lake.  After a lengthy investigation involving the sales of crystal methamphetamine, two people at the scene were arrested for possession of methamphetamine and maintaining a drug house: Storm Leighton Snow, a 32-year-old male; and Falicia Ann Boyd, a 28-year-old female. The two were arrested without incident.

A third person, Zachary Nelson Lumbert, age 35, was arrested on a traffic stop after leaving the residence and was found to be in possession of a large quantity of crystal methamphetamine and carrying a concealed, unregistered handgun. 

All three subjects, from Sand Lake, were lodged at the Montcalm County jail and arraigned in the Montcalm County District Court on February 11.

Snow was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine, and one count of maintaining a drug house. He bonded out on a $25,000 personal recognizance bond.

Boyd was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine. She bonded out on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.

Lumbert was arraigned on four charges: one count of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance-methamphetamine; one count of carrying a concealed weapon; one count of felony firearm; and one count of maintaining a drug house. His bail was set at $150,000 cash/surety. He is still in custody.

All three suspects a have a probable cause conference set for February 24 at 10:30 a.m.

CMET is a multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement task force that works in Ionia, Newaygo, Montcalm, and Mecosta counties comprised of police officers from the Michigan State Police, Ionia County Sheriff’s Department, Big Rapids DPS, Montcalm County Sheriff’s Department, Mecosta County Sheriff’s Department, and Newaygo County Sheriff’s Department.

Anyone who would like to provide information about drug activity in CMET’s work area can call CMET’s tip line at 1-800-342-0406 or Silent Observer.

Apportionments total over $633,000 to taxpayers

By Judy Reed

The Post reported last week that the residents in the Village of Sand Lake and Nelson Township are not happy with the apportionments and fees set by Kent County Drain Commissioner Ken Yonker to upgrade the Sand Lake Drain, and now several landowners within the drainage district of the Sand Lake Drain have appealed it.

A Board of Review, appointed by the Kent County Probate Court, will meet virtually through Zoom, November 12, at 9 a.m. to hear the appeal.

According to a letter from Yonker, if the Board of Review finds error or inequality in the apportionments, the Board will be required to re-apportion the costs as they see fit, which could result in a change for everyone in the district.

While some may only pay a few hundred spread out over six years, others will have to pay much more.

“Some people are being assessed $20,000, $40,000 and more,” Nelson Township Supervisor Robyn Britton told the Post last week. She said she is heartsick for these residents. “People here live paycheck to paycheck. Many are farmers. People are going to lose their homes.”

One resident, Dean Wall, is being charged $135,000.

The apportionment is based on the amount of land a person owns and if they benefit from the drain being upgraded.

According to Yonker, they had inspected sinkholes in the yards of two neighbors, and the clay tile had collapsed. It is over 90 years old. They will be upgrading to a larger drain, one that will last 50 to 100 years.

All residents within the drainage district are urged to attend this virtual meeting through Zoom. The Zoom meeting ID is 876 7915 1375 and the password is 638458.

By Judy Reed

For the past 150 years, people have come from the surrounding areas on July Fourth to stroll through Salisbury Park in Sand Lake and revel in the festivities. They come to watch the parade; eat ice cream, popcorn, corn dogs, candy apples, and homemade sausages; ride the Ferris wheel and merry-go-round; play games; dance to music; enjoy a rodeo or demolition derby; enjoy the fireworks; laugh with friends; forget today’s cares; and become part of history. But, unfortunately, that won’t happen this summer.  

The Sand Lake Area Chamber of Commerce made the difficult decision earlier this week to cancel this summer’s annual Fourth of July Festivities. They made the announcement on their Facebook page Monday evening.

They cancelled it due to the restrictions surrounding COVID-19 and the current protests (with rioting and vandalism) taking place after the death of George Floyd, an African-American man in Minneapolis, at the hands of police.

The Sand Lake Chamber’s announcement reads: “We have come to a very hard decision tonight on the Sand Lake 4th of July celebration. With all the restrictions that the Covid-19 pandemic brings, and the current protests taking place, we cannot go forward with this event.
“It is with very heavy hearts, and a lot of discussion that brought us to this decision.
“As many of you, we wanted this to take place very much, as we held on until the last possible minute to make this decision. With all the regulations in place, it’s just not possible.
“We are going to work hard to bring a fall event to our community, with all of us working together to make that happen. We would love your ideas on this also, as it will give us something to look forward to yet this year. Thank you all for your patience while we worked through all of this, and your understanding on our decision to do what’s safe for our awesome little community. Very hard decision for all of us tonight.”

This year’s celebration would have been the 151^st celebration. 

Karl A. Reed, 65, of Sand Lake, passed away Friday, October 11, 2019 at his home. Karl was born March 14, 1954 in Lakeview, MI the son of Charles and Madelin (Schnicke) Reed. He retired from Wolverine World Wide in 2014. He loved his wife and family, cooking, baking and could fix anything. He loved to laugh and gave the biggest bear hugs. He faithfully took care of his wife and father, who passed away one day before on October 10. Surviving are his wife, Kimberly; children, Kenda Haines, Kevin (Ruth) Reed, Karl (Jessica) Reed, Brittany (Nathaniel) Lossing; 12 grandchildren; mother, Madelin Reed; brother, Ted Reed; in-laws, Clinton & Mary Ann Pease, Cliff Pease, Terry Frisbie. The family greeted friends Wednesday from 6-8 p.m. at the Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs. The service will be held Thursday 11:00 a.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 12501 Montcalm Avenue, Greenville. Pastor Mark Shaw officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Arrangements by Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs

David C. Kindle, age 20, of Sand Lake died Wednesday, October 2, 2019 at Spectrum Health Butterworth Campus. David was born March 18, 1999 in Grand Rapids, MI the son of Bruce Parks and Jessica Kindle. He was very loving, kind and artistic. He enjoyed fishing, his friends and his family. He had a smile that would light up a room. Surviving are his mother, Jessica Kindle; brothers, Justin Parks, Corey Parks, Thomas Kindle, Ethan Kindle and Dillon Tinkham; grandfather, Mickey Kindle; nieces, Alaina, Lizzy, Lilly and Katelin; many aunts, uncles and cousins. He was preceded in death by his father. The family greeted friends Wednesday, October 9 from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. at the Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs. A luncheon followed at the Cedar Springs American Legion. Memorial contributions may be made to Network 180.

Arrangements by Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs

A Sand Lake man was severely injured by what police think was a hit and run crash  Thursday evening.

According to the Michigan State Police Lakeview Post, Troopers responded to a report on Thursday, August 8, about 11:22 p.m., of an unresponsive male who was severely injured and lying in a ditch on Youngman Rd. near Roy Dr. in Eureka Township, in Montcalm County.

The man was identified as Derrick Powers, 27, of Sand Lake. He was transported to United Memorial Hospital in Greenville, and then was airlifted to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, with severe injuries.

Police said the man appears to have been struck by a northbound motor vehicle that fled the scene. A passerby found the man and contacted 911. Based on the victim’s injuries, police said it appears that he may have been struck by an SUV or pickup truck. The crash is still under investigation. 

The suspect vehicle and driver remain at large. Please contact the Michigan State Police Lakeview Post at  (989) 352-8444 with any information regarding this incident.

The Greenville Department of Public Safety, Montcalm County EMS, Aero Med, and Montcalm County Central Dispatch assisted state Police at the scene.

By Judy Reed

Shakespeare tried to answer that question in Romeo and Juliet. “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”

I don’t know if the Sand Lake Fire Chief would agree with that, nor do I know whether he smells sweet. When I see him at a fire scene, the air smells like burning wood and so does everyone else. The acrid odor of smoke fills your nostrils and burns your eyes and gets in your hair and I usually leave feeling like I need to take a shower. No sweet smell of roses there.

Recently, he and his crew, along with the Cedar Springs Fire Department, fought a fire in Nelson Township where many animals died. I wrote about it in last week’s Post. When I write about something like that, I try to identify the person with their job title and their name. And when you read it, you think, oh yeah, I know him, or her. The problem is, you might not have recognized the name of the Sand Lake Fire Chief in last week’s paper. Or maybe you sort of did. 

While banging out that story on my trusty keyboard last week I morphed the current Sand Lake Fire Chief (Ed Holtzlander) with the former Fire Chief (Bob Hawkins) from about 7 or 8 years ago. Yes, that’s right. I called him Fire Chief Ed Hawkins.

Ed called and ribbed me about it. I couldn’t believe I did it. Why that name popped out of my brain and on to the page I’ll never know. I can only guess that it’s because I’ve been at this job for a long time (12 years full time and 12 years part time before that) and I have seen a lot of people come and go. I apologized for the error. Thanks, Ed, for taking it in stride. Look at the bright side: at least I had two chiefs from the same fire department. It could have been worse—I could’ve typed “Ed Fraser” or something, and then I would have had some explaining to do to both you and Marty! (Marty Fraser is the Fire Chief in Cedar Springs.)

As I said, I don’t know about smelling sweet, but I think it’s pretty sweet what you all do every day—putting your lives on the line to put out fires, helping the injured at crash scenes, giving aid in medical emergencies—all for low pay and little thanks. You deserve better. And I’m sorry I got your name wrong. 

Board also hires new interim clerk, gives audit update

by Judy Reed

The Village of Sand Lake is seeking a new police chief after the Village Council voted Monday, December 3, to remove Chief James Reamsma from the position.

The move came during a special meeting. The council went into closed session at 7:05 and returned about an hour later. President Danielle Hardenburg explained that Reamsma had personal matters happening right now and couldn’t perform his job. President pro-tem Tonia Parkhurst made a motion to remove him as police chief, and the vote was unanimous, 5-0. No other information was released.

Reamsma had been with Sand Lake since 2013. The Village will be accepting applications for the position.

In other business, the council also voted to approve former councilmember Nyha French as the new interim clerk. She started work Tuesday in the Village offices. The Village has been without a clerk since Kent Boersma abruptly quit on November 20, after their auditor spoke in a meeting the night before about Boersma not getting reports to him that he needed to do the audits. He had also not balanced the books in eight months. Boersma was an interim clerk recommended by former Village President Thomas Norton.

Hardenburg said that they had brought in an accounting firm to go through everything and hoped to be able to give the auditor the reports he needed this week. The firm will also balance the books for them.

Raymond C. Deblock Sr., age 74, of Ensley Township, Sand Lake died Monday, December 3, 2018 at Spectrum Heath Butterworth Campus. Ray was born August 28, 1944 in Fremont, MI the son of Frank and Kathryn (Spahr) Deblock. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He enjoyed working as a groundskeeper at Crystal Springs Golf Course and hunting and fishing. Surviving are his wife of 37 years, Sharon (Hill); children, Raymond Deblock Jr., Jeffrey (Vickie) Deblock, Kristal (Patrick) Deblock; stepchildren, Kenneth (Donna) Green, Terry (Terri) Green, Tamara Mosher, Robin Green, Robin (David) Fillers; 20 grandchildren including a special grandson, Austin; 5 great-grandchildren; brothers, Frank (Terri) Deblock, Mike (Charleen) Deblock. He was preceded in death by his parents. The family will greet friends Friday from 4-7 p.m. at the Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs. Military honors and a closing prayer will be held at 7:00 pm. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.

Arrangements by Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs

Village of Sand Lake appointed council member Danielle Hardenburg to the position of president.

Auditor speaks out on problems; Clerk resigns

By Judy Reed

The Village of Sand Lake appointed council member Danielle Hardenburg to the position of president Monday evening, November 19, and she and the board are facing some tough clean up work after their auditor reported that he has been unable to complete the audit due to lack of financial reports from their clerk.

Former Village President Thomas Norton opened the meeting. He told the board either they could nominate someone to take the position of President, or he could nominate someone. Tonia Parkhurst nominated Danielle Hardenburg, and the vote was unanimous. Norton then made a quick exit, saying he had other things to do.

Parkhurst was voted in as President pro tem by the council. Trustees Marcia Helton, Rachel Gokey, and new appointee Glen Baker were all sworn in. There are still two positions open.

Auditor Doug Wahlburg addressed the council about his inability to complete the federally required audits due to lack of financial reports from Clerk Kent Boersma. Wahlburg said that deadlines for the audits were in July and September. He said he met with Boersma in early June and discussed needing to have bank statements reconciled, but it was not done. He came back on September 4, and it was still not started. He came back again on October 1, and they were still not reconciled. He noted that when he came back on November 7, it looked like Boersma had changed the general ledger to reconcile the statements. On November 12, he said Boersma had only given him about 12 pages of a report that is usually about 150.

When asked if there was any reason given why he wasn’t getting what he needed, he said that Boersma wasn’t familiar with the software to print the reports that he needed, but that was a small learning curve.

Wahlburg recommended to the board that they hire another CPA to come and balance the books as soon as possible, because not meeting deadlines would affect them getting payments from revenue sharing and Act 51 money. 

After Wahlburg’s presentation, Boersma offered no explanation to the board for not producing the reports, just said it would get done by December 1. He then resigned the next day, Tuesday, November 20.

Hardenburg said she had planned to meet with Boersma and the auditor on Wednesday, November 21, to dig into the situation. She said they would need to have a special meeting to appoint a firm to balance the books and get Wahlburg the reports he needs. 

“We are going to get our board on our feet,” said Hardenburg. “It’s going to be a battle. I stepped up to make a difference. We have to be open and transparent and work as a team. Nothing is going to get better until we do.”

Hardenburg said education of the board members is important, and she said she would be donating a percentage of her check from the Village to go into a fund that will help pay for the council members to go to workshops such as those held by the MML (Michigan Municipal League).

The board also talked about opting out of allowing sales of recreational marijuana, at least until the state of Michigan issues their guidelines. They will be looking at ordinances adopted by other municipalities to see how they can be tweaked to fit their Village. 

On Sunday, October 15, the Kent County Sheriff Department was dispatched to the 200 block of W. Lake Street, in Sand Lake, after a caller reported that a car had left the road and crashed into a house.

The occupants of the home had evacuated after the crash, and were not injured. The police have not released the name of the driver of the car, a 40-year-old female from Howard City. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Patrick L. Gorby 56 of Sand Lake, died Friday, October 6, 2017, in Grand Rapids. Patrick was born November 2, 1960, in Greenville, Michigan the son of Ray and Geraldine (Sipple) Gorby. He was an excellent taxidermist who owned and operated End of Line Taxidermy. He was an outdoorsman and avid hunter and fisherman. He enjoyed baking, cooking, woodworking and watching old Westerns and TV shows. Surviving are his parents, brother and sisters, Michael Gorby, Kathy (Kim) Newton, Sally (Wayne) Newton, Mark (Tammie) Gorby; many loving nieces and nephews. Private family services will be held. Interment Trufant Cemetery.

Arrangements by Bliss-Witters & Pike Funeral Home, Cedar Springs.