The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Historical Society looks for ways to fund Gordon Hall
By Sandi Kasha, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: April 26, 2007
When Dexter Village and Scio Township hashed out an Act 425 agreement regarding Dexter High School in 2000, Gordon Hall wasn't included in the mix.
Advertisement
An Act 425 agreement was needed since the high school was located in Scio Township and the agreement would dictate who would supply water and sewer, and pay for police and fire protection for the development.
Now the Village Council plans to investigate the possibility of amending the Act 425 agreement to include some 30 acres of the Gordon Hall property that's in Scio Township. The other 37 acres of the property are located in Webster Township.
Village Manager Donna Dettling said that officials are going to talk with their lawyer to determine if amending the agreement is feasible or if there are other options to pursue in solving the matter.
Amending the existing pact would ensure Scio Township's promised donation of $200,000 toward Gordon Hall, said Paul Bishop of the Dexter Area Historical Society.
Scio Township officials have said that they are worried about any future attempts to annex Gordon Hall into the village.
The township had said that they would like a legally-binding document that would protect the township against any future annexation since the acreage is a part of the 104 parcels the village would be allowed to annex according to the 1981 annexation agreement between the township and the village.
"All I care about is the parameters, it's as simple as that," Bishop said Monday. "The bottom line is we need the money. We need your money, we need Scio's money and we need Webster's money."
Village Trustee Joe Semifero made it clear Monday that he wasn't keen on negotiating with Scio Township.
"They made a commitment that they're not living up to," he said.
Village Trustee Ray Tell looked at the situation from a different perspective.
"If this is what we need to do to make sure they (historical society) gets the Scio money, then we need to bite the bullet and should do it," he said Monday.
But the resolution provides some hope for the historical society who has been scrambling to collect the promised funds to ensure Gordon Hall's mortgage payments.
Since the historical society purchased the founder's homestead last year for $1.5 million from the University of Michigan, there have been a series of delays in trying to refurbish the 5,000-square-foot mansion to turn it into a museum.
Chelsea's United Methodist Retirement Communities (UMRC) proposed 60-unit development on 15 acres of the Gordon Hall property has been marred with delays from the Washtenaw County Road Commission and had a tug-of-war battle between Webster Township and Dexter Village.
The UMRC site is located in Webster Township, but UMRC requested a conditional land transfer into the village in December so that sewer and water could be provided.
Webster Township and the village's 1997 Act 425 agreement afforded UMRC's conditional land transfer, which is an alternative to annexation and is intended for the purpose of an economic development project.
UMRC's development was also put on the back burner by the Road Commissions' delay in reviewing their site plan.
Road Commission reps had said in previous articles that they were only following standard procedures and there were some things UMRC had to address before the Road Commission could proceed.
Not all stories are guaranteed to appear
online. The Web edition contains a reasonable
sampling of the print edition stories.
For the most complete news coverage, we invite you to
subscribe
to the print edition of the paper.
Expanded
Web
Coverage
TOP JOBS
