DELTA TOWNSHIP — The Delta Township Planning Commission approved plans Aug. 24 for a 30,000-square-foot warehouse at Professional Metal Works while township planners also previewed two upcoming zoning cases and said a proposed 7 Brew coffee shop remains on hold as officials study traffic concerns.

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DELTA TOWNSHIP — Delta Township has adopted a new 10-year master plan that puts the Lansing Mall area and the eastern portion of West Saginaw Highway at the center of its redevelopment strategy while tying future housing and land-use decisions more closely to the capacity of the township’s sewer system.

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Welcome back to your regularly scheduled programming from Delta Unfiltered.

I apologize to those of you who regularly read this site for my lack of posting during the summer. I also want to thank everyone who checked in to make sure I was doing OK. I appreciated hearing from you.

Summer is always a busy time in my household, but this year went a little further than usual when I decided to help with my son’s baseball team. Between baseball, soccer, work commitments and everything else that comes with family life, there simply wasn’t enough time in the day to keep up with Delta Unfiltered.

Something had to give, and this was it. Family comes first.

Now that summer is winding down and life is returning to something resembling a normal schedule, I have some time back on my side. That means I can get back to this great experiment in local journalism.

Why Delta Unfiltered exists

For those who are just finding Delta Unfiltered, this experiment started around Thanksgiving 2025 because I was dumbfounded by how difficult it had become to understand what was happening in my own community.

I’ve lived in Delta Township for about 15 years, yet I often felt like I had no clue what was going on around me. I kept hearing about Eaton County having budget problems, Delta Township considering a special assessment for public safety and a massive drain project near Waverly Road that had generated plenty of anger and questions.

These weren’t small issues. They involved taxes, public safety, infrastructure and decisions that could have lasting effects on the community.

Yet figuring out what was actually happening required a lot of work.

Local journalism has changed considerably during the past decade. Newspapers have closed or cut staff, while television newsrooms have faced many of the same pressures. The result is that fewer reporters are routinely sitting through township board meetings, county commission meetings, planning commissions and the countless committee meetings where much of local government actually happens.

Local governments have helped fill part of that gap — especially since the COVID-19 pandemic — by putting more information online and streaming meetings. You can now sit at home and watch the Eaton County Board of Commissioners, Delta Township Board and other local public bodies conduct business.

That access is a good thing, but access to information isn’t the same thing as understanding it.

A township meeting can last two hours. A county committee meeting can take another four — just check out the Ways and Means Committee meetings.

Then there are agenda packets that can stretch hundreds of pages, along with budgets, resolutions, engineering reports, contracts and other documents.

I don’t think you have time for all of that. That’s where Delta Unfiltered comes in.

My goal is to watch those meetings, read the documents, write the copy, check the quotes and give you a fair account of what happened, why it matters and what might happen next. You shouldn’t have to spend an entire evening watching government meetings just to understand what your local officials are doing.

In fact, I’ll watch those meetings while I’m working out or walking the dogs.

Without that kind of reporting, social media often becomes the place people turn for information. Sometimes that works. Other times, someone sees one part of an issue, posts about it and a conversation takes off before anyone has read the documents or listened to the entire discussion. Politics and outrage can quickly replace context.

That doesn’t help much if you’re simply trying to understand what happened. Delta Unfiltered is supposed to provide that context.

My commitment to you

The goal of Delta Unfiltered is fairly simple: provide accurate, fair and useful reporting about the events and decisions affecting Delta Township, Grand Ledge and the surrounding area.

I’ll tell you where the information came from, provide the context I can find and distinguish reporting from opinion. I’m not here to tell you what to think about a township trustee, county commissioner, development project, tax or public policy decision.

I’ll give you the information. You can decide what you think.

For those who have never met me, I spent the early part of my career working for weekly and daily newspapers, covering local governments and communities across Shiawassee, Hillsdale and Montcalm counties. Since then, I’ve spent nearly 20 years working in government and about 25 years in communications. I also hold a master’s degree in public administration.

The best way to describe me, though, is probably as a former journalist, historian and failed engineering student who somehow made it through multivariable calculus.

I’ve also spent parts of my career working with law enforcement, taxes, emergencies and disasters, which has given me a pretty broad view of how government works — and sometimes how it doesn’t.

But the type of journalism I’m trying to do here isn’t particularly complicated. It’s the same kind of reporting I learned early in my career: show up, listen, read the documents, ask questions, check the facts and tell people what happened.

That’s what I’m after with Delta Unfiltered.

What’s up with the paywalls?

People don’t like paywalls. I get it.

Most people also don’t directly pay for news. Pew Research Center has reported that only a minority of Americans financially support news organizations through subscriptions, donations or memberships. That is part of a much larger conversation the news business has been having for years about how journalism gets paid for.

From my end, the issue is pretty simple: reporting takes time.

A Delta Unfiltered story that takes five or 10 minutes to read might take several hours to produce. There are meetings to watch, agenda packets and public records to review, quotes to check and double-check, background information to research and, eventually, a story to write and edit.

I think of each story as a product.

If you stop at a farm stand and buy an apple, you’re not just paying for the few seconds it takes someone to hand you the apple. Someone planted the tree, tended to it, harvested the fruit and brought it to the stand before you ever arrived.

There was work behind that apple.

Local journalism isn’t much different. You see the finished product, but there can be hours of work behind what eventually appears on your screen.

That’s what subscriptions help support.

Some stories on Delta Unfiltered will remain free. Others, especially stories that require considerable meeting coverage, document review and reporting, will be placed behind the paywall.

If you find value in what you’re reading, I ask that you consider subscribing for $5 a month or $50 a year. I think that’s a pretty good value for being able to keep up with what’s happening in your community without spending hours every week watching government meetings yourself.

And to those who already subscribe or have supported Delta Unfiltered in other ways, thank you. Your support allows me to keep spending the time necessary to do this work.

Here’s one example: I recently had to go to the Eaton County Courts to obtain a lawsuit complaint. All those documents cost more than $30 out of my own pocket. There’s a good story behind these documents — but creating stories costs money sometimes.

This is still a great experiment. I don’t know exactly where it will lead, but the reason I started it hasn’t changed.

There are important things happening in our community every week. Residents deserve a way to understand those decisions without having to make following local government a second job.

I’ll do the homework. You can decide what you think.

CHARLOTTE — Eaton County commissioners approved $20,000 to repair the Fox Park Observatory after an engineering review identified a deteriorated support beam that officials said must be replaced before the building’s retractable roof is opened.

The Board of Commissioners approved the Parks and Recreation Fund amendment Aug. 19 as part of a slate of Ways and Means Committee recommendations. The $20,000 will come from parks fund balance — supported by the county parks millage — and will cover repairs to the county-owned observatory at Fox Memorial Park.

The approval followed a week of discussion over the condition of the building, the county’s relationship with the volunteers who operate astronomy programs there and how much public money should be invested in the aging facility.

Facilities Director Chad Powers told the Public Works and Human Services Committee on Aug. 12 that the county owns the building and an engineering review identified problems with a north support beam and some diagonal bracing.

Powers said the roof itself and the tracks on which it moves were not identified as structurally unsound. The problem, he said, was the deteriorated support structure, and the engineer did not recommend putting the weight of the roof on it in its current condition.

The county had already spent roughly $5,000 on engineering, Powers said, and he estimated another $10,000 to $15,000 could be needed for repairs.

The roughly 30-foot beam would have to be ordered and the work would likely require a contractor rather than county parks staff. Powers estimated it could take three to four weeks to obtain the beam and about another week to complete the work.

Asked whether the observatory could potentially be functional within about 30 days, Powers said yes.

The repair was not originally listed on the Aug. 12 Public Works and Human Services Committee agenda. Commissioners amended the agenda after Brian Palmer, an observatory volunteer, spoke during public comment about the facility and a letter he had sent to county officials.

Previously, the county parks advisory board was reviewing options for the long-term use of the building.

Controller/Administrator Ben Dawson said Eaton County has had a historic relationship with the Fox Park Observatory for decades.

Dawson said the county originally had a lease with a nonprofit organization that managed events at the observatory. The agreement included provisions requiring the organization to carry liability coverage.

That organization later stopped operating amid the loss of volunteers and institutional knowledge, Dawson said, while the parks department continued allowing observatory activities to continue.

Questions about the arrangement resurfaced when the building’s structural condition raised concerns about how the volunteer operation was organized and who would be liable if something happened during an event, he said.

Palmer told commissioners the Capital Area Astronomy Association had disbanded around November 2025 after declining membership, but volunteers had continued operating programs through the county parks system.

He said the group had typically offered public viewing two weekends a month, along with programs tied to special astronomical events.

The volunteers also had been discussing educational and research opportunities with Michigan State University and Abrams Planetarium, Palmer said, but those conversations had been put on hold while the facility was not fully operational.

“We just want to find out where we are with you and the county,” Palmer told commissioners.

He said no volunteers had threatened to remove equipment, but he expected those with personal equipment at the observatory would do so if the county ultimately decided not to keep the facility operating.

County officials discussed several ways to formalize the volunteer relationship, including having the astronomy group operate under Friends of Eaton County Parks rather than immediately creating a new nonprofit.

Parks Director Ethan Jacobs said Friends of Eaton County Parks was active and interested in working with the observatory volunteers.

Such an arrangement could give the volunteers an organizational structure for insurance, fundraising and a future agreement with the county.

Commissioners also discussed whether volunteers or outside organizations should help offset some of the repair cost.

Some said county taxpayers should not necessarily bear the full cost for a building used primarily for astronomy programming and suggested exploring donations or partnerships, including possible support connected to Michigan State University.

Other commissioners noted that Eaton County owns the building and has parks millage money available for repairs, arguing that the structural work could proceed while the county separately addressed fundraising, liability and the volunteer arrangement.

The Public Works and Human Services Committee ultimately separated those issues and voted to move ahead with repairing the building as soon as possible.

The motion passed 5-1, with Commissioners Jeanne Pearl-Wright, Brian Droscha, Jacob Toomey, Scott Hansen and Nicole Christensen voting yes. Commissioner Keith Barber voted no. The recommendation was sent to the Ways and Means Committee.

Two days later, Ways and Means recommended a $20,000 budget amendment for the project on a 5-2 vote, with Commissioners Andy Shaver and Barber voting no.

Shaver questioned whether the expenditure was the best use of parks money before the county more clearly established its relationship with the observatory volunteers and resolved insurance and liability questions.

“I know that it needs to be fixed. I know it’s only $20,000, but I’m going to be a no vote on that,” Shaver said.

He also said the repair might be urgent to some users but did not consider it an urgent countywide need.

Shaver additionally raised concerns about putting more work on the Facilities Department while it was short-staffed and managing other projects.

The full Board of Commissioners approved the $20,000 amendment Aug. 19 without recorded opposition as part of a slate of Ways and Means recommendations.

Former county parks employee Jackie Blanc told commissioners at the Aug. 19 meeting that the observatory had operated through the parks department for about 20 years and that the volunteer program had grown from one person to nine.

Blanc said the observatory provides free programming for families, draws visitors from outside Eaton County and deserves greater promotion.

“I think we should look at this as a gem for the county,” Blanc said.

The $20,000 repair is intended to restore use of the existing observatory while county officials continue considering its longer-term future. County officials expressed a subtle expectation for volunteers help offset costs to rehab the building.

Jacobs said the county has discussed eventually renovating or replacing the structure with a more versatile building that could continue to support astronomy while also accommodating naturalist programs and other park activities.

For now, Powers said, replacing the deteriorated beam would allow the current facility to return to safe use while those longer-term plans develop.

CHARLOTTE — Eaton County commissioners approved without opposition Aug. 19 a plan to move three leaders of the county Public Defender’s Office from full-time employment to independent-contractor roles while they continue running the office and train staff attorneys to eventually take over its leadership.

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CHARLOTTE — For weeks, Eaton County commissioners had debated whether years of budget reductions had gone far enough.

By Aug. 14, the chairman of the county’s Ways and Means Committee had declared one proposed round of across-the-board cuts dead. More than an hour later, Commissioner Andy Shaver tried a different approach: taking $1.5 million from the Sheriff’s Office.

The proposal failed, 4 to 3.

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DELTA TOWNSHIP — The hardest part of playing pickleball at Delta Mills Park may be getting onto a court.

On busy mornings and evenings there are more players than places to play. Paddles are used to organize a rotation. Different times are set aside for families, children, small groups and players of different abilities. The aim is simple: keep the games moving and give everyone a fair turn.

“One of the big challenges for pickleball is so many people want to play on very limited courts,” said Jessie Stipcak, president of the Delta Area Pickleball Association.

That small problem of scarcity helps explain what has happened at Delta Mills. A set of tennis courts converted for pickleball in 2016 has become the center of an association that schedules games, teaches children, trains coaches, raises money and tends the grounds. Stipcak reckons it has about 250 members, many of them frequent players.

The association itself dates only to 2022, when the courts were also resurfaced. It was formed in part to raise money for shade and to organize programming. Since then its members have helped pay for a storage shed, landscaping and windscreens. A private donor paid for half of the windscreens installed in 2025—the association covered the rest.

The money matters because outdoor courts wear out. But the more interesting investment is in people.

The association has just completed the second year of Little Picklers, a month-long program for children. It helps keep the price low for families and has provided some young players with paddles, equipment and scholarships for more lessons.

Adults can learn, too. Lessons are offered at the courts, sometimes free. The association will help pay for someone to become a certified coach if that person agrees to teach others in return.

Often no such arrangement is needed.

Stipcak says newcomers who wander onto the courts are likely to find somebody willing to show them how to play. Regulars may remember them when they come back and carry on where the lesson stopped.

“We’re excited to have new players and invite them into our community,” she says.

This is one reason pickleball has proved useful as a social sport. At Delta Mills the age range stretches from children at camp to George and Larry, two regulars in their 80s whom Stipcak says still play on the challenge courts and beat much of the younger competition.

The association has tried to turn that broad appeal into something larger. In 2024 it started PicklePalooza, a free event meant to introduce people to the sport while teaching safety and court etiquette.

It has become a sizable affair. Stipcak says about 40 businesses typically support it and between 500 and 1,000 people attend. There are lessons, demonstrations, contests and giveaways. This year the association added a three-day tournament, with Choose Lansing helping to promote it, build a website and provide materials.

Over three years the association says it has raised more than $40,000.

Yet money accounts for only part of its contribution.

On an ordinary day members pick up trash, pull weeds and help look after the courts. They teach strangers to play. Some cycle to Delta Mills, combining the courts with the park’s river and trailhead. None of this has been carefully counted.

That caught the attention of a Trustee Andrea Cascarilla when Stipcak presented the association’s work to the Delta Township Board on Aug. 17. She suggested that the group begin tracking its volunteer hours, not least because the figure could prove useful when applying for grants.

Stipcak agreed that it might be wise. Until now, the association’s estimate of the labor involved has been rather less scientific: “endless hours.”

There is something fitting about that. The association was born partly because there was not enough room for everyone to play. Players built shade, taught children, trained coaches, raised money, staged a festival and picked weeds.

In Delta, the public-private partnership between this group of neighbors and the township has become invaluable. It’s a fine example that private groups are needed to ensure the community thrives.

What you put in is what you get out.

DELTA TOWNSHIP — Delta Township residents who tuned out local government for part of the summer — including this author — missed a busy stretch at township hall.

From June through Aug. 3, the Township Board changed the rules for future data centers, approved a nearly 50-acre residential rezoning and a solar energy project, pursued federal money for additional fire personnel and advanced a series of road, water, sewer and recreation projects.

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GRAND LEDGE — Grand Ledge will spend an estimated $107,500 for mast-arm traffic signals and related work at Bridge and Jefferson streets as part of a broader Michigan Department of Transportation modernization of the downtown intersection.

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DELTA TOWNSHIP — To see the challenge facing West Saginaw Highway, look down rather than up. Near Carrier Creek, on West Saginaw Highway (M-43) in Delta Township, an eroding retaining wall has helped close a sidewalk. Beneath and beside the highway from Broadbent to Waverly roads lie aging water lines, awkward utility crossings and a tangle of public and private infrastructure. Above them hang power lines and the remnants of banners put up more than a decade ago.

None of this is the stuff of a grand redevelopment rendering. That is rather the point.

Delta Township is beginning what could be a years-long effort to improve its main commercial corridor. At a meeting on July 13, members of the Saginaw Highway Corridor Improvement Authority considered everything from underground power lines and new gateway signs to apartment-friendly zoning and cracked parking lots. The list is long because the problems of an old suburban shopping strip are rarely solved by one large project. The authority’s meeting packet describes the ideas as a potential work plan for the next year “and beyond.”

Peter Menser, Delta’s planning and economic development director, offered something close to a thesis for the effort. Progress, he warned, would be slow.

“There hasn’t really been a focus on the corridor in a long time,” he said. Rather than expect a transformation at once, officials would have to “get some wins where we can.”

One such win has arrived at Carrier Creek.

The township asked Michigan for $2.9 million to repair the south side of the crossing, reopen the sidewalk and deal with erosion that officials fear could eventually threaten the road and embankment. Brian Reed, the township manager, told the authority that lawmakers had included $1.5 million for the project in the state budget. Delta has preliminary engineering work and concepts but no final design or construction price, meaning the project still has to be assembled and may eventually require money from the corridor authority.

At the time of the meeting, the budget had not yet received final approval. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the fiscal year 2027 budget into law July 21, and state Rep. Angela Witwer later confirmed the $1.5 million allocation for the Carrier Creek project.

Reed called the work critical, both to reopen the sidewalk and to keep the erosion from becoming a problem for the highway itself. He also credited Witwer and state Sen. Sarah Anthony with pushing for the project in Lansing.

That is useful money. It is also a reminder of the scale of the job. West Saginaw is less a single redevelopment site than a collection of roads, utilities, shopping centers, restaurants, vacant or changing storefronts and privately owned parcels. The township controls some of the levers needed to change it. Other governments, utilities and property owners control the rest.

Consider the Lansing Mall.

No redevelopment proposal is before the township. Yet officials want to study the utilities around it now, before a developer arrives with one. Service lines are old. Utilities cross the highway. Easements and routes complicate matters. Township officials said years of additions have left a difficult mixture of public and private infrastructure around the mall. A study could map what exists and what would have to change if a large project someday materializes.

It would be hard to photograph such progress. That does not make it trivial. A utility plan sitting on a shelf can shorten the distance between a developer’s proposal and a shovel in the ground. In economic development, knowing where the pipes are can matter nearly as much as deciding what should be built above them.

The same logic explains another strand of Delta’s plan: change the rules before trying to change the buildings.

The township’s recently approved 2026 master plan contemplates more mixed-use development along the corridor. Areas now largely given over to offices and shops could eventually allow more housing. The corridor authority discussed reviewing setbacks, building heights, parking requirements and design rules as part of that effort.

This could prove more consequential than a new entrance sign. Delta, like many suburban townships, has only so much public money to offer developers. Zoning costs relatively little to change. Yet it can alter the math of a private project.

Menser gave a simple example. An owner may see little reason to spend heavily refurbishing an old shopping center if the same low-value use must remain. Allow a dozen apartments on a second floor and the calculation may change. More rent can support more investment.

That does not mean apartments will soon sprout above every strip mall on Saginaw Highway. The master plan is a guide, not a rezoning ordinance. Any rule changes would require further public review. But the discussion marks a shift in how the township is thinking about the corridor: not merely as a road lined with separate commercial properties, but as a place whose rules can encourage a different mix of uses over time.

Then there is the less glamorous problem of what already exists.

The authority’s work plan calls for closer attention to landscaping, trash, faded parking-lot stripes and deteriorating pavement. Delta employs two code-enforcement officers in its Building Department. Both are also rental-housing inspectors, leaving limited staff time for a systematic sweep of the corridor.

Menser said enforcement had already persuaded the owner of one property to repair a badly potholed parking lot. More properties are on the township’s radar.

“Compliance can take a while,” he said, but staff would keep “chipping away at it.”

When necessary, he added, the township could use “the hammer that is code enforcement.”

Board members were more interested in whether a hammer could sometimes be avoided.

They discussed sending property owners a simple guide to common problems along the corridor before issuing citations. The township already has the parcel and mailing lists needed to reach them. Members floated recognizing businesses that have improved their sites and reminding owners about an existing economic development grant program. The idea was to make civic pride do some of the work before enforcement officers had to.

Members even wondered whether owners needing similar parking-lot repairs could gain bargaining power by seeking bids collectively, though officials were wary of putting the township in the business of choosing contractors.

The distinction matters. A corridor can be regulated into minimum compliance. Making it attractive enough to draw investment requires owners to spend money willingly.

And some of those owners are a long way from Delta Township.

Officials said many properties along West Saginaw are owned by corporations based outside Michigan. A local shopping center may amount to little more than one asset in a much larger portfolio. That can produce a different set of incentives from those of a local owner who sees the property every day. Township officials said some corporate owners may spend only enough to keep a property profitable, even when more investment would better match what residents and township officials envision for the corridor.

That limits what local government can accomplish on its own. Delta can require an owner to meet its codes. It can change zoning to make redevelopment easier and invest in roads, paths and utilities that make a site more attractive. What it cannot do is make a distant corporation decide that this particular shopping center, among all the properties it owns, deserves more money.

Beautification presents a similar problem. Members discussed not only flower beds and volunteer caretakers, but whether residents, businesses, schools and civic groups might volunteer to help maintain them. The conversation went beyond simply asking people to pick up trash: officials considered whether volunteers could adopt sections of the corridor, tend plantings or help care for gateway areas under an organized program.

That enthusiasm was tempered by practical questions. Who would coordinate volunteers? Who would provide tools, water and plants? Who would decide what could safely be planted along a busy state highway? Delta has no public works department to water flowers or tend roadside plantings, and it does not own much of the land that needs attention. West Saginaw is also a busy state highway, which makes roadside volunteer work more complicated than tending a downtown planter. The meeting packet warns that a township-run volunteer program would require considerable time, equipment and coordination.

Still, members appeared to see volunteering as a possible way to build ownership of the corridor without asking the township to shoulder every task itself. A program could begin modestly, perhaps with businesses or community groups responsible for defined areas, while leaving specialized work and safety decisions to the township, MDOT or property owners. The challenge would be turning goodwill into a dependable system rather than a one-day cleanup.

MDOT already has an Adopt-a-Highway program on the corridor, but the work is largely trash collection three times a year. Township officials said Delta lacks the people and machinery to run a more ambitious version itself. At some point, they argued, responsibility has to return to property owners, whether through code enforcement, encouragement or organized volunteer partnerships.

This tension—between what Delta would like to change and what it can actually control—runs through nearly every idea on the authority’s list.

Even banners turn out to be complicated.

The township wants replacements for the battered survivors of banners installed around 2011 or 2012. Only one or two of the originals remain, officials said. Staff has begun preparing possible designs and seeking prices.

But the Lansing Board of Water & Light will allow the banners only on concrete or steel poles, not wooden ones. Officials said banners can catch the wind like sails and, over time, put stress on wooden poles. That limits where new banners can be placed.

There was also the matter of money. Township officials said a new BWL charge had emerged that could have required Delta to pay a monthly fee for each banner on each pole, which they considered potentially cost-prohibitive. Reed said it was his understanding that Supervisor Fonda Brewer had spoken with BWL and that the utility planned to waive the charges. The authority was still working through the arrangement.

BWL may have another role. The utility has the standing permits and equipment needed to install banners safely along the highway, while Delta does not. Township officials said partnering with BWL could therefore be preferable to hiring a contractor or renting specialized equipment.

Members considered other ways of reducing the cost. Businesses might sponsor banners, though officials questioned whether sponsorship makes as much sense along a lengthy commercial highway as it does in a compact downtown. Another idea drew more enthusiasm: letting school students, or perhaps the wider public, help design them. No final choice was made.

The episode is a small one, but illustrative. Replacing a few pieces of fabric requires a designer, a vendor, suitable poles, permission from a utility, installation equipment and an agreement over fees. Improving a road corridor several miles long merely multiplies such complications.

Officials also want better gateways at the east and west ends of the corridor and around the I-96/I-69 interchange. Staff has begun talking with a designer about concepts, though no consultant had been formally selected.

Underground wires are another possibility. Delta has paid BWL $800 for a feasibility study on burying utilities between the interstate interchange and Broadbent Road. The study is supposed to explain what such a project would require and what it might cost. Staff expected the work back sometime in the fall.

Roundabouts have been discussed, too, though staff suspect West Saginaw’s speed, traffic volume and heavy trucks will make them impractical. Large roundabouts require a lot of land, particularly when they must accommodate semitrucks. Officials said they would ask the Michigan Department of Transportation before dismissing the idea completely.

More important than either may be two pieces of privately owned land.

Delta Crossings and the Brookside site at West Saginaw Highway and North Creyts Road lie in the authority’s tax-increment-financing districts. The authority wants to decide what it would like those sites eventually to become: what mix of development they might contain, whether pathways should be expected and what sorts of projects might merit TIF assistance. Depending on how detailed that vision becomes, an outside consultant could eventually be needed.

The urgency is financial as well as aesthetic. One member described development of one of the sites as “almost the number one priority.” Without more development, the member argued, the authority would not generate enough additional tax capture to finance much of the rest of its ambitions.

“We’re not going to have money to pay for it if we don’t increase our capture,” the member said.

Members supported talking directly with property owners to learn what they have in mind. Staff agreed that it could facilitate those discussions.

There has been some movement. Delta has approved the site plan for Bass Pro Shops at Delta Crossings, although officials still had no construction timetable at the July meeting.

Elsewhere, old commercial space is finding new uses. A former Wendy’s near Waverly Road was being renovated for a Leo’s Coney Island. A Raising Cane’s building permit was also nearing final approval, and staff expected construction to start soon.

But the former Best Buy beside Lansing Mall may offer the more revealing example.

Crunch Fitness was already renovating the building after the township received an interior-remodel permit. Menser called the reuse “a huge win.” The former electronics store is awkwardly large by the standards of many modern retailers and, he said, could have been difficult to fill without substantial work to divide it into smaller spaces. Crunch was one of the relatively few users capable of taking the building largely as it stood.

The gym had initially looked at another vacant big-box site along the corridor before settling on the former Best Buy, according to the discussion. That still leaves other vacancies to solve, but officials said those spaces may be easier to subdivide than the fromer Best Buy building would have been.

Crunch is therefore more than another name on a list of new businesses. It shows what successful reuse can look like on an aging retail corridor: a specialized tenant finds a building that suits it before a difficult vacancy becomes a long-term drag on the surrounding property.

It also shows the limits of planning. Township officials said they did not actively recruit Crunch for the former Best Buy building. The match emerged from the private market. Delta’s contribution was less dramatic but still important: maintaining rules and infrastructure that allow a workable deal to proceed when an owner and tenant finally find each other.

That is the other side of the problem posed by distant corporate ownership. Some properties may sit because an owner’s expectations do not line up with what prospective tenants are willing to pay. Officials said they encounter plenty of “tire kickers” interested in corridor sites, but interest does not always produce a deal. Buildings can remain vacant not because nobody wants them, but because owner, tenant and economics never quite meet.

The former Best Buy is one case where they did.

These projects hardly amount to the reinvention of West Saginaw Highway. But neither are they irrelevant. Retail corridors tend to decline incrementally and recover the same way: one reused building, one repaired parking lot and one new tenant at a time.

A larger opportunity is approaching from outside township hall. MDOT is developing plans for work on the western part of the corridor between the Broadbent Road area and the interstate, potentially into a boulevard type setup. Township officials expect a considerable job simply helping businesses and neighboring municipalities understand construction, lane closures and access. They also hope to use the state project to secure wider pathways and possibly additional street lighting.

That may be the most useful way to understand Delta’s emerging strategy for West Saginaw Highway. There is no single project. There is a state road project, a creek crossing, an old mall, private shopping centers, utility studies, zoning rules, code cases, tax-capture districts and a collection of small cosmetic fixes. Some depend on Lansing. Some depend on developers. Some depend on property owners whose corporate offices may be hundreds of miles away. Some require BWL. Some need little more than a letter to a property owner, a willing volunteer and persistence from a code officer.

The corridor authority did not approve a sweeping redevelopment scheme on July 13. Menser instead described the work as a “slow burn.” Some maintenance can happen soon; some programming can fill the gap. But, he said, there are not many “quick and easy wins.”

For a suburban commercial corridor built over decades, there is unlikely to be a ribbon-cutting for renewal itself. The test will be whether, a few years from now, enough of those small wins have begun to look like one.

CHARLOTTE — Eaton County commissioners created a work group July 15 to review the county’s animal control ordinance after a lengthy debate over whether the group should explicitly consider repealing it, with officials raising concerns about county obligations, public confidence and negotiations with local governments over animal control services.

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DELTA TOWNSHIP — A 10-megawatt solar project planned at the former Erickson Power Station moved closer to construction Aug. 10 after the Delta Township Planning Commission conditionally approved its site plan.

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GRAND LEDGE — Grand Ledge Mayor Keith Mulder will face Andrew Spagnuolo in the Nov. 3 election, the city’s only contested race after the July 21 candidate filing deadline.

City Clerk Gregory Newman told the City Council on July 27 that Mulder and Spagnuolo filed for mayor. Council member Dave Logel filed in Ward 1, Michael Krombeen filed in Ward 2 and Council member Don Willems filed in Ward 3. Each council race drew one candidate.

“The deadline passed for the city council affidavits and filing deadline,” Newman said. “The council races are not contested, but the mayor’s race, there are two candidates on the ballot. So all of those names will be on the November — we don’t have a primary for our council, for the mayor. “

He also talked about efforts that took place in preparation for the Aug. 4 primary election.

In other business, the council also unanimously approved contracts with the Michigan Department of Transportation for a $592,633 land acquisition project at Abrams Municipal Airport.

The project will use $563,000 in federal money and $29,633 in state funding to acquire property along Bauer Road for airport approaches. The project budget lists no local contribution.

City Manager Adam Smith said the grant will cover the entire cost of acquiring a parcel along Bauer Road that has resulted in a restriction license with the airport.

Police Chief Ron Erickson reported increased traffic enforcement in June, saying school resource officers were available for other assignments during summer break. The police department recorded 155 traffic contacts in June, up from 85 in May.

Erickson said officers were focusing additional enforcement on intersections that had generated concerns in recent months. He also said Yankee Doodle Day was uneventful from a law enforcement standpoint.

Planning and Zoning Administrator Nicholas Montry reported continued construction on Johnny’s Car Wash. The existing structure has been demolished, the foundation completed and masonry work was underway. The developer expects the business to reopen in early September.

City staff also reported that the Parks and Recreation Commission was continuing work on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and that the Water and Sewer Disputes Committee had continued discussing the city’s shut-off policy during declared emergencies.

The council unanimously approved several mayoral reappointments. Penni McNamara was reappointed to the Board of Cemetery Trustees; Andrew Archer, Spencer Bye, Lise Mitchell and Mulder were reappointed to the Downtown Development Authority; and Mulder and Willems were reappointed to the Grand Ledge Area Emergency Services Authority.

The council adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Its next regular meeting was scheduled for Aug. 10.

CHARLOTTE — Eaton County sheriff’s deputies handled a series of pursuits, violent incidents, thefts and a fatal crash in Delta Township during July, Sheriff Tom Reich told county commissioners during an Aug. 6 Public Safety Committee meeting.

Reich described July as a busy month in Delta Township as he presented the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office monthly report. Much of the report focused on Delta Township, where the township contracts with Eaton County for police services and helps fund the service through a public safety special assessment.

Among the incidents was a July 1 pursuit that began when deputies tried to stop a Cadillac without a license plate after it left a convenience store. Reich said two people in the vehicle were wearing ski masks.

The pursuit continued through neighborhoods at speeds ranging from about 25 to 50 mph before the vehicle failed to negotiate a turn and struck a curb. The occupants fled on foot, and a Lansing Police Department K-9 team located the driver, Reich said.

Deputies also investigated a July 1 crash near Farm Bureau Insurance on West Saginaw Highway in which a vehicle went over a curb and struck several other vehicles. Reich said deputies suspected the driver was intoxicated and were seeking charges.

In another incident that day, deputies responded to a West Saginaw Highway hotel for a domestic violence report involving a man armed with a knife. Reich said the man was subject to a no-contact order involving the woman.

Reich said the woman tried to leave the hotel room, but the man pulled her back and strangled her. She reached the hallway before he followed and threatened her with a knife, Reich said. Deputies found and arrested the man.

On July 5, Eaton County deputies assisted Clinton County authorities after a crash on Interstate 96 involving a man who had injured himself. Reich said Eaton County deputies used a drone to locate the man in a field. Deputies secured him and turned him over to Clinton County authorities.

The following day, deputies responded after a driver crashed into a tree in the 7100 block of East Saginaw Highway. Reich said a woman and a small child were in the vehicle and the driver later threatened them and assaulted several people at a nearby house.

Deputies stopped the man as he entered I-96 from Saginaw Highway. Reich said he was intoxicated and was jailed on several charges.

In a separate drunken-driving investigation, deputies stopped a westbound vehicle on Saginaw Highway near Canal Road after noticing it dragging its bumper. Reich said the driver had a blood alcohol content of 0.209.

Deputies determined the vehicle had earlier struck a mailbox supported by a 4-by-4 steel post in Lansing Township, Reich said. That portion of the investigation was turned over to Lansing Township police.

Reich also reported an attempted armed robbery July 9 involving a Snap-on tool truck parked on Michigan Avenue east of Mount Hope Church. He said the driver was inside the rear of the truck when a person carrying a handgun tapped on the passenger-side window.

The driver yelled that he was calling police, and the person ran away. Deputies used a K-9 and drones to search the area but did not find the person, Reich said.

On July 11, deputies responded to a home security alarm in the 1100 block of West Jolly Road and found a broken basement window. The residents were vacationing in Tennessee, Reich said.

That same day, deputies arrested a man with outstanding warrants after receiving information that he was at the Red Roof Inn. Reich said the man ran when deputies found him near the Red Robin restaurant and was later found hiding near dumpsters behind Walgreens. He resisted deputies before being arrested, Reich said.

On July 18, deputies responded to the 900 block of Pecos Drive after a solicitor reported that a resident displayed a handgun and later pointed it at him, Reich said.

Deputies received a different kind of call July 21, when someone reported a 4-year-old child running along a pathway in only a diaper at about 8 a.m.

Deputies found the child and drove through the area until they identified his apartment, Reich said. The child’s mother was at work and he had slipped outside while his father was sleeping.

A July 25 crash at Lansing and Old Lansing roads was fatal. Reich said a northbound pickup left Lansing Road, and the driver overcorrected before the truck rolled several times, crossed the median and came to rest near a ditch on the southbound side. The driver was dead when deputies arrived.

On July 27, a DoorDash driver reported his car stolen in the 300 block of North Dibble Avenue after leaving it running while making a delivery. Reich said the person who took the vehicle later tried unsuccessfully to use the driver’s credit card in Lowell.

Kent County sheriff’s deputies later found the vehicle, and the driver was arrested after a pursuit, Reich said.

Deputies also caught two juveniles July 27 after responding to a break-in at the former theater at 921 Mall Drive West. Reich said deputies saw a light moving inside before two people ran from the rear of the building and into the woods. Both were caught and later released to their parents while authorities sought charges.

On July 28, deputies investigated the theft of a diamond ring from a jewelry store in the Lansing Mall. Reich said investigators believe the same person may be connected to jewelry thefts elsewhere in Michigan. The case was turned over to the Sheriff’s Office detective bureau.

On July 29, Eaton County deputies assisted Lansing police following an armed robbery at a Speedway on South Pennsylvania Avenue. Reich said an Eaton County K-9 track led investigators to a house, where Lansing police later located a suspect and evidence connected to the robbery.

Also July 29, deputies arrested a man at the Fairfield Inn after he allegedly tried to use a stolen credit card. Reich said the man was on parole and already had a parole violation warrant. Authorities were seeking an additional felony charge related to the credit card.

Committee members did not ask Reich questions after he completed the July report.

CHARLOTTE — Eaton County commissioners honored sheriff’s Deputy John Davidson on July 15 as he prepared to retire after 25 years of service, recognizing a career marked by lifesaving actions, difficult arrests and acts of compassion toward residents.

Davidson began working for the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office on July 16, 2001, and was scheduled to retire July 17, according to a resolution of appreciation adopted by the Eaton County Board of Commissioners. The resolution thanked Davidson for his “dedicated and honorable service” to county residents and employees.

Undersheriff Jeffrey Cook told commissioners Davidson had remained a hard-working and dependable deputy throughout his career.

“John’s the guy that’s the first one out in the car, comes to work ready to work, gets out and gets after it,” Cook said.

Cook said Davidson routinely began making traffic stops early in his shifts and continued volunteering for calls and making stops near the end of the workday.

Davidson served in several assignments during his career, including bicycle patrol, the motorcycle unit and a specialized traffic unit in Delta Township. He also served as a field training officer, helping train new deputies.

Cook highlighted 2017 as an especially notable year in Davidson’s career.

Davidson received an award for professional excellence after responding to a suicidal man armed with a gun who pointed the weapon at deputies, Cook said. Davidson showed restraint, remained calm and helped manage the situation until additional resources arrived.

“He was able to talk the person down,” Cook said. “He was able to wait for appropriate resources to come to the scene.”

Davidson also received two lifesaving awards that year.

In one case, Davidson responded to a vehicle crash where people were performing CPR. Cook said Davidson retrieved an automated external defibrillator and provided emergency aid. Medical professionals later said his actions resulted in the person’s life being saved.

In another case, Davidson responded to a cardiac arrest while the man’s wife pleaded with deputies to save her husband. Cook said Davidson remained composed, retrieved an AED and helped provide emergency care as CPR was performed.

The man survived and later attended the ceremony where Davidson received recognition for the response, Cook said.

Davidson was named the Sheriff’s Office deputy of the year in 2017.

Cook also cited Davidson’s role in the arrest of a 21-year-old man following what he described as a recent homicide in Delta Township involving the death of a 3-year-old child and attacks on the child’s parents.

Cook said Chief Assistant Prosecutor Chris Anderson reviewed body-worn camera video of Davidson making the arrest and praised his calm and professional demeanor after responding to an emotionally difficult crime scene.

Cook said Davidson’s conduct was important not only from a policing standpoint but also because a professional arrest helped ensure there would be no unnecessary issues when prosecutors handled the case in court.

Davidson’s career also included quieter acts of service outside traditional law enforcement duties, Cook said.

In 2025, Davidson and Deputy Brown encountered a family seeking shelter at a McDonald’s. Cook said the deputies paid for a hotel room for the family and made sure caseworkers became involved the next day to help the family find more permanent housing.

In another instance, Davidson and another deputy responded to a resident who used a wheelchair and was having difficulty getting into a home. Cook said the deputies later returned on their days off and built a wheelchair ramp.

“I think it’s very rare, very rare, to find somebody who is such a great law enforcement officer, yet is so community- and civic-minded, and has that empathy and compassion to care so much for the citizens that we serve,” Cook said.

Cook said Davidson’s retirement represents the loss of a quarter-century of experience from the Sheriff’s Office.

“The citizens of this county are going to miss him too because they don’t come any finer,” Cook said.

Davidson declined an invitation to speak after receiving the resolution, saying, “No, thank you.”

Cook also thanked Davidson’s wife, Heather, for supporting him during a career that included missed holidays, birthdays and other family events because of his work.

DELTA TOWNSHIP — The Eaton County Road Commission has added a section of Ena Drive to the county road system as road crews continue paving and other infrastructure work across Delta Township.

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ONEIDA TOWNSHIP — Oneida Township will keep a moratorium on new data centers in place for another six months while officials study how to regulate the facilities and their potential effects on electricity demand, water use, noise, emergency response and surrounding properties.

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DELTA TOWNSHIP — The Delta Township Board approved new zoning regulations Monday that will require future data center developments to obtain special land-use approval before locating in industrial districts.

The board voted 5-1 on June 1 to amend the township’s zoning ordinance by removing “data processing and computer centers” as a permitted use, creating a new data center classification and requiring special land-use permit approval for data centers in industrial zoning districts. Trustee Joshua Lyman cast the lone dissenting vote.

The ordinance also adds a definition of data centers to the township’s zoning code, describing them as facilities primarily used to house servers, network equipment and related infrastructure used to store, manage, process or transmit digital data.

The change means future data center proposals will be subject to the township’s special land-use review process rather than being allowed as a permitted use under existing zoning regulations.

The action marked the final step in a zoning amendment process that was introduced to the Township Board on May 18 following review by the Delta Township Planning Commission.

In other business, the board unanimously approved a letter supporting Eaton County Veteran Services’ SQUARES Frontline Integration Project, which is intended to improve the identification of veterans and connect them with available services.

The board also approved $1,026,996.98 in bills and financial transactions.

Township Manager Brian Reed used his manager’s report to announce several upcoming events, including the Delta/Eaton County Business Roundtable on June 3 and Delta Township’s Juneteenth celebration on June 16.

Reed also introduced new Assistant Fire Chief Eric Arnold, who joined the township from the City of Dearborn.

The manager thanked township utilities and building staff, along with the Barry-Eaton District Health Department, for responding to an issue involving the Cirque Italia Water Circus over the weekend.

During committee reports, Trustee Beth Bowen provided an update from the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. Bowen said the agency recently received an unmodified audit opinion and reported that Nixon Road, Millett Highway and Davis Highway have been reclassified from rural roads to urban major collectors, making them eligible for federal transportation grant funding.

Much of the meeting was devoted to annual department reports presented during the Committee of the Whole portion of the agenda. Building Director Matt Leach presented the Building Department’s 2025 annual report, Planning and Economic Development Director Peter Menser presented the Planning Department’s 2025 annual report, and Reed, Deputy Manager Erin LaPere, Assistant to the Manager and Communications Director Mary Worland, and Information Technology Director Dave Marquette presented the Manager’s Office 2025 annual report.

The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

CHARLOTTE — The Eaton County Road Commission approved several road construction and culvert projects April 28, received updates on flood recovery efforts and denied a permit application for license plate readers during its regular meeting.

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DELTA TOWNSHIP — Fifth Third Bank has filed notice with federal regulators that it plans to close a former Comerica branch near the Lansing Mall, marking the latest local change resulting from the bank’s acquisition of Comerica earlier this year.

The Cincinnati-based bank submitted an Advance Branch Closing Notice to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on May 26 for the Lansing Mall Branch at 5510 W. Saginaw Highway in Delta Township. The location became part of Fifth Third’s branch network when the bank completed its acquisition of Comerica on Feb. 1.

Federal merger filings indicate customers of the former Comerica branch will be directed to Fifth Third’s nearby office at 5117 W. Saginaw Highway, approximately three-tenths of a mile away.

The closure follows Fifth Third’s acquisition of Comerica, a deal that created one of Michigan’s largest banking franchises and significantly expanded Fifth Third’s presence across the state.

During the merger review process, the Lansing Mall location was identified as one of several overlapping branches expected to be consolidated after the transaction closed. Fifth Third told regulators that the former Comerica branch and its nearby Fifth Third office serve the same market area.

The Lansing Mall Branch is the only Eaton County location included in a group of 75 branch-closing notices Fifth Third filed with the OCC on May 26. The filings cover locations across Michigan, with the largest concentrations in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties as the bank consolidates overlapping Fifth Third and former Comerica branches.

The Lansing Mall Branch is not the only location affected in the capital region. Merger filings previously identified another former Comerica branch at 223 N. Clippert St. in Lansing for consolidation, with customers expected to be transferred to a Fifth Third branch at 1427 W. Saginaw St. in East Lansing. Together, the moves reflect Fifth Third’s effort to eliminate overlapping branches inherited through the acquisition.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the bank merger in December 2025, and the Federal Reserve approved the related holding-company transaction the following month. Regulators reviewed the merger’s effect on competition, financial stability and access to banking services before granting approval.

During that review, some community groups and consumer advocates raised concerns about branch reductions and the potential impact on banking access. Supporters of the merger argued the combined institution would have greater resources to invest in communities and expand financial services.

For customers who previously banked at Comerica, the immediate impact may be limited because a Fifth Third branch already operates less than a half-mile away on the same commercial corridor. The closure would, however, remove a longtime banking location from the Lansing Mall area, one of the region’s busiest retail districts.

The OCC filing does not specify when the branch will close. Federal records show the branch-closing notice was received May 26.