m m m ***#***##*#****## f'.AR--ft T SORT *#CO&S i 379 '10-21-95 45W. 12P 1 IS m c k u n e m e m o r i a l l i b r a r y 221- S. MAIN STREET CHELSEA MI 43118 h n ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR— No. 37 CHELSEA, MICHIGAN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1998 28.P ages This W eek Supplement t o V i t t Beach school hit by flu outbreak „ Beach M iddle School has seen a rash of Illness lately- with up'to 170 kids absent By Erie Bowen" parently fheyer recorded~byr from school last week, Prin­ Staff W riter ' t h e s t a t e . cipal Bill W estcott reported Sylvan Township Board vlyers ; said ‘ the ~ council to the Chelsea Board of Y voted Feb. 3 to.protest the an­ voted to annex the land, be­ Education Monday. nexation into the village of cause it w as the easiest way to W estcott said a flu virus property near the Chelsea Re­ include as part, of the village thathas been traveling tirem ent Community. Supervi­ what he believed to be already around schools hit Beach sor Jerry Dress el house said within the' boundaries. Sylvan hard at the beginning of the the board thought it would be Township decided to contest w eek but has tapered off in detrimental to‘ Chelsea’s the annexation to forestall the recent-days-— — -— -• - downtown with the village’s boundary • commission fr 0|m ‘ Itw as-bad-there last; intention toV onverl the village including it in the city B ound1" week," W estcott said. “But into.a city.-— -— _■----------— a r i e s . we only have 50 people gone At issue is a piece of land Village PresTdenTTTichard t o d a y . ” just w est’ of the retirement Steele said that, though the Wesfceqtt-said that in com m unity that juts info SyT~ boundary commission has the~ som e cases of w idespread van Township frornYhe. west­ power to square .off the illness, schools will close ern border of Chelsea. Chelsea boundaries, he didn’t think down and send kids home. — Cross-Stitch Lesson— Village Council voted to annex it would go against the agree­ H e said if 33 percent of the Form er University of M ichigan Professor Lawrence Ogden shows M ^sha Hansen’s second-grade the piece;of fand Jan. 13 upon ment, of the township and.vil­ student population is sick, class how to cross-stitch. Pictured are Ogden, Kara Crcm er, A nna Foley, M egan Jerant, Alyssa Miller, request of the retirem ent com­ lage. He said cutting out that the health departm ent con­ Ashley Clouse, Em ily Babbitt, Ian Macleod, Daniel Case, W illa Booth, Angel Parm entier, Johnathan m u n i t y . much land would amount to siders closing school. On "Brooks, Colleen Cottrell and Bean Roberts. - - ~ - D resselhouse said his con-“ gouging, and he didn’t think it the worst day Feb. 3, only 23 cern is that the annexation would go through. •percent w ere absent. will create an-oppor-tunity- fpr -‘The boundary com m ission The illness hit Beach the state boundary commis­ can take a boundary and put it harder than at other times, s i g n sion to square off Chelsea’s w herever they w ant to,” Steele because the.school w ascon­ border farther west .than the- said. “But I certainly don’t ducting M EA P tests for sev- two municipalities had think they would, square it enth- and eighth-graders. agreed. The boundary conv o f f .” ' : ' ; .W estcott sai d.stude nts '.are. mission- decides how a city's - O ne-way to ensure- the- com ing in during zero hour- boundaries will look when an boundary commission would By Eric Bowen before regular classes start all day, but we just w ant to be­ leading up to the initial deci­ application for incorporation not cut out a swath of land Staff W riter to finish the tests. anie to keep the choice.” sion to offer the all-day, alter- into a city goes to the state for frorri Sylvan Township w ould He saideveryone“att h e ” _ Board discussion over the The district hag 1 h a d n u - nate-day program.:JLe.isaicL it a p p r o v a l s be TOr the viIlagc and- the school is^yorking to ensure m erits of moving to an all-day merous meetings with parents was im portant for the board to If the commission squares, township to sign a contractual kids needs are met, but he is alternate-day kindergarten got over the last few months to remember whether the pro­ off the , boundaries farther agreement stipulating\ the glad to see the flu running a little more spirited than dissem inate inform ation about gram was presented to resi­ west, a large section of Sylvan .boundaries, Dresselhouse its course. usual M onday night when T rus-, the program. Assistant Super­ dents as a choice or a staging Township will becom e part of said. The contract is known as .. "Ithink thatitY gone _ tee Jill Taylor brought up con- v intendent Iva Corbett has met. ground for later policy change: the City of“Chglsea~~Dres^el-i :425.-agreem ent,nam edfor. through other schools andj cerns from parents over with parents with children Corbett said she is continu­ house, said the section is . Public Act 425, which allows we w ere the next hit;” W est­ eliminating the choice -be­ currently in. kindergarten and ing to-m eet with- parents to slated to be zoned for urban shared use of. land by cities cott said. “But the kids are tween the two programs. w i t h p a r e n t s o f y o u n g e r k i d s ter discuss the issue, including-a use, such as higher-density and townships. • \ back and people are well;” “ Taylor said some parentsTfT" find out their concerns. " meeting held Wednesday housing or comrherciaT deVet;_ "Steele said the 425 agree- the district, are circulating a Corbett saief the biggest night. She said she has re­ op.ment. He said this type of ments are typically used for School board to petition to keep the. current concern she has heard from ceived a small num ber of calls zoning is appropriate given its economic development with refinance debt system, which allows parents parents is that they are wor­ from parents, which she takes proximity to Chelsea and the- limited scope. IT an Industry to- decide whether they w ant ried their children will not be to m ean people are generally wetland further west that wanted to join the village, for Chelsea school board their children to go all day or- m ature‘enough to cope with, inform ed o<' the issue. would shield iffrom the rest of instance, the two municipalT- V oted to m ove forw ard w ith =>» h a l f d a y . going to school ail day. She rural Sylvan Township. ties could draw up a contract refinancing the district’s At the meeting, Corbett re­ said parents are also con­ According to Dresselhouse, to share tax. revenue and re­ bond debt. The bonds will “Parents, have come to me iterated the benefits to the cerned about how the schools if the land; were added to the sponsibility for utilities for up and said they would like a be resold at a low er interest school district of m oving to an will handle the lunch period ’village, Sylvan Township to 50 years, renew able twice. choice,” ‘Taylor said. “They rate which could save the all-day prograim^She said the -and transportation of students would have to - zone -another— The— i said the meetings presented district close to $2 million , district could save $52,000 in during regular hours. section of the township for ur­ „ could not violate the term s of only the favorable side (of the over the course of the bond. transportation costs by elimi­ Taylor asked Corbett at the ban use, giving developers the the 425 agreem ent by squaring d e b a t e ) . ” nating mid-day bus routes. She board meeting if the’ district possibility of setting up com - off the boundaries of the city. Mentorship Chelsea resident Ginni also said that- research has has taken a survey of-parents- merciql centers , outside of ' ir^Dressel house said" the sam e- ^O’QuinnisLam ongtheorganiz- shown" education would 1 n o t : to ask them whether they Chelsea’s downtown, which agreem ent could be used on a participants ers qf the petition drive. She suffer, and may even be im- ■wm rki-support going to an nil larger scale to set the bounda­ said she wouldTike the district proved by the all-day program . day' format, She said that it for commuftity developm ent. ries of the village. H e said Syl­ present to board to continue the current policy might be better to find out In an attempt to further “The most likely location van has approached the vil­ In the second round of that 'allows parents to choose what parents think is best be­ dissem inate information, a re­ (for u rban zqning) is south of I- lage with the possibility .in three presentations to the which system is better for fore. going forward with a de­ cent issue of Chelsea.