Last Saturday’s Dexter Forum was a packed house, understandably. The upbeat group chemistry is a warm welcome on a frigid day. And speaking of welcomes, everyone is. Here are co-moderator John Hansen’s notes:
“The New Year began with a mystery gift of 3 packages of mini-cupcakes from someone called our Care Bear. A really nice stuffed bear came with the gift. We are grateful and we left the bear to be recovered by the mystery donor.
“First up on the agenda was sewage – sewage treatment to be precise. Our friend Mona Walz wanted to know if the proposed 5.5 million dollar improvement to the city of Dexter’s waste water treatment system was designed to accommodate existing users or to make room for proposed new developments. Knowledgeable insiders assured us that the improvements are to meet current standards and provide needed updates to a system dating to 1977, but that improvements are being designed with expansion in mind just in case the need arises.
“Mary Ellen Miller was curious about the impact of the University acquiring a 49% share of St. Joseph Mercy – Chelsea Hospital. As usual, we had people present with inside knowledge of the situation and the consensus is that the merger is a plus for area residents. We will have better access to more specialty doctors and easier parking than in Ann Arbor.
“The five way intersection at Central/Mast/Joy/ Huron River Drive has now become a permanent part of our agenda. We learned today that the party store may relocate to a new building also at that intersection and that, even though traffic volume is high, accident rates are low in that area. Help is not on the way. Drive carefully.
“Paul Cousins informed us that the fire/police/municipal facilities issue is back on the agenda. Had this issue been resolved twenty years ago when first raised we might now be talking about it being out of date so as we move forward it is like skipping a generation. It’s like having grandchildren without all the trouble of having to raise their parents.
“The next meeting of the Dexter Forum will be held on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 8:30 AM at the Dexter Wellness Center.
“The Dexter Forum is supported by the Dexter Wellness Coalition as part of the 5 Healthy Towns initiative to “help connect with others in healthy ways”. The purpose of the Forum is to create an opportunity for interested women and men to gather to discuss important issues facing our community. All are welcome on a drop-in basis. The group meets on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
“The Forum is co-moderated by Karl Fink and John Hansen.”
