To a packed, standing room only auditorium at the Village of Mount Pleasant, people listened and spoke their minds about assessments. Five residents spoke in favor of the current assessment, five spoke against and 3 “others” spoke. The “others” spoke about things like deed restriction suggestions, etc. Attorney Tom Devine spoke (at 51 minutes and 10 seconds into the recording) for 35 of his clients of Hwy V who would prefer that a solution be attained in the political arena. Attorney Devine also stated “If we have to file our appeal, it is not intended to refute the Board’s action but rather to protect rights which, if everything comes to fruition, will no longer need protection.” The public hearing lasted for an hour and eleven minutes before adjourning and then the Village Board meeting was started.
Next came the Village Board’s turn to talk about it. This was the first item of new business in the Village Board’s agenda. Instead of trying to summarize what occurred we urge you to listen to it yourself. The agenda item which involved Hwy V begins at five minutes and 10 seconds into the recording. It starts with Alan Marcuvitz, an attorney hired by the Village with decades of experience working with other municipalities about assessments. Then the individual board members, with the exception of Jon Hansen (who did not speak and abstained from the vote), weighed in on the subject.
The Board voted to reconsider the assessment for property owners of Hwy V. Trustees Gary Feest, John Hewitt and Ken Otwaska along with Village President Jerry Garski voted in favor, and Trustees David DeGroot and Sonny Havn voted against. Jon Hansen abstained.
As stated by Attorney Marcuvitz, the act of reconsideration does not mean the assessment is reversed for property owners of Hwy V. It merely means the current board of Trustees will take another look at it and seek a better way to assess property owners through out the Village.