Griffin May Relocate to Moran Twp.
By Paul Gingras

Fire protection issues, residential development projects, and a proposed industrial development by Griffin Beverage Company occupied a well attended Moran Township Board of Trustees meeting at the Brevort Village Community Center Wednesday, September 5, where the township board agreed to study a tax abatement request by Griffin Beverage Company, which seeks to move its entire St. Ignace operation from the city to a 20-acre parcel on the corner of US-2 and Old Portage Trail in the township.

Griffin is involved in bottle recycling, warehousing, and wholesale distribution of beer, soda, and water. The company seeks a township-authorized exemption of the real and personal property taxes it will pay to the municipality.

Real and personal property taxes are taxes on the company's building, the land it stands on, and the equipment used to run the business.

The existing operation in St. Ignace has a true cash value of $350,000, said Mackinac County Deputy Treasurer Susan Dionne. She added that the amount the city would lose in taxes and the amount the township would gain depends on what the company does with its old facility and how much of a tax exemption it receives in the township, if any.

Owner Robert Griffin Jr. and St. Ignace facility manager Mike Kamyszek attended the township board meeting.

His company has expanded recently, Mr. Griffin explained, and has outgrown its 13,000- square-foot facility in the city. He proposes to build a 20,000-squarefoot facility in the township. Mr. Kamyszek added that the St. Ignace facility employs six fulltime and four part-time employees who would be retained if the building in Moran Township is built.

Mr. Griffin said he would like to keep operations in the St. Ignace area, and the Moran Township is the preferred site. Easy access to US-2 would be good for the company's operations, he said.

Griffin Beverage, based in West Branch, has considered other locations over the past four or five years, he added. Aside from the Moran Township site, the company has considered other locations in the city, sites north of St. Ignace along I-75, and farther west along US-2.

If it locates in Moran Township, the local government can exempt 50% of the company's real and personal property taxes for up to 12 years, said township trustee Mark Spencer, adding that the township board does not yet know the potential value of the new facility or the amount of taxes it would produce.

The board is waiting for a more detailed proposal regarding exactly how much of a tax exemption the company wants, and for how long. The township will discuss the matter with state lawmakers, he said.

The company is pursuing an Industrial Facility Tax Abatement (IFT), said Mackinac County Equalization Director Jim Fenlon. If approved, it will be the first of its kind in the county. Mr. Fenlon is studying the matter. He believes the abatement must receive approval by the Michigan State Tax Commission in addition to approval by the local government.

Moran Township is concerned that granting the tax exemption would establish a precedent that would be expected by other potential businesses, Mr. Spencer said.

The facility would be allowed under a special use permit, so no re-zoning would be required.

A tax exemption would help the company to build a "green" facility, Mr. Griffin explained. The proposed building would include environmentally friendly features such as highly efficient sky lighting and refrigeration that does not produce chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), pollutants known to damage the atmosphere. Mr. Kamyszek said the facility would be "super insulated," reducing energy consumption. The tax abatement would help pay for the extra costs needed to include these features, he said.

In response to questions by Ms. Dionne, who is also Moran Township's treasurer and attended the meeting, Mr. Griffin said the company would be willing to create buffers between the new facility and residences on Old Portage Trail.

A buffer would likely be composed of trees and/or shrubs, Mr. Spencer said.

In other business, no action was taken to change which fire department is to be called first in response to fires on the west end of Moran Township. The township does not have its own fire department and relies on a contract with St. Ignace for primary fire protection and Hendricks Township for secondary protection. In recent months, the board has considered switching its primary and secondary responders at the western and northern extremities of the township.

Township government contracts determine which department 9-1-1 dispatchers will call first.

The township board called St. Ignace firefighters, Hendricks firefighters, and Mackinac County 9-1-1 Coordinator Bryce Tracey to the meeting to explain the system and alleviate fire protection concerns voiced by residents of Moran Township's west end.

In recent months, several westend residents have contacted the township board and suggested that the municipality discontinue using the St. Ignace Fire Department as its primary responder for structure fires in areas such as Brevort Village, considering that the Hendricks Township Fire Department is closer to west-end homes and buildings.

St. Ignace Fire Chief John "Bucky" Robinson said that he opposed changing the current process, in which 9-1-1 alerts the St. Ignace Fire Department before Hendricks, citing the smooth operation of fire response in the township.

Based on the location of the fire, Chief Robinson determines whether Hendricks should be called. If so, he calls Hendricks immediately, he said.

Whether Hendricks firefighters are able to respond more quickly to fires in Moran Township's west end is questionable, Mr. Tracey and Mr. Robinson said. Although Hendricks is closer, township firefighters live farther from their fire station and therefore take longer to assemble and drive to a fire. St. Ignace firefighters are concentrated more closely to their department and get rolling more quickly, Mr. Robinson said.

Owing to quick response and shorter distances, sometimes Hendricks arrives first. Sometimes St. Ignace arrives first. On average, both departments take the same amount of time to arrive in areas such as Brevort Village, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Spencer said.

After hearing the extensive discussion, Township Supervisor Jim Durm asked residents who attended the meeting if they felt a change was in order.

No one at the meeting called for a change, although an audience member asked why firefighters were unable to save a building that burned down on Schoolhouse Road Friday, July 13.

Because the building was unoccupied, it took longer before the fire was reported, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Tracey explained. Had it been a residence, a fire alarm or neighbor would likely have reported it sooner. The building, owned by Gary Revord, was a total loss.

To help protect residences on the western end of Moran Township, the board recently donated $5,000 to Hendricks Township. The money was used promptly to augment its equipment. At the meeting, Hendricks firefighters displayed a new pumper tanker. It was purchased, in part, with the donation from Moran Township.