Fase Street should stay closed

Please support those members who do not want Fase Street open. Opening that street to traffic would be a disaster to our nice neighborhood. You can see it now with all the construction traffic. I like to bike and walk down that road without worrying about getting hit by a car and opening this entrance would just make it worse. Contact and vote to keep our streets safe. Don't open Fase Street.

I received this email from adamoorings@gmail.com encouraging opening the street. They are wrong. Here's what it said and how not to vote. Contact whoever you want to discourage this type of political nonsense.

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Dear Ada Moorings Neighbors:

On August 5, there is a primary election that takes place here in Ada, and there are some significant ramifications to the Ada Moorings neighborhood and the potential opening of Fase St. And though I'm not a strongly political person, I would like to encourage you to consider voting for the following candidates, because they support opening Fase St. for our neighborhood:·

William Wood for Township Supervisor·
Susan Burton for Township Clerk·
Cheryl Lathwell and Jon Sarb for Township Trustee, as well as any combination of Matt Nygren, Lloyd Paul, Robert Proos, and Jacqueline Smith.

Here is why. Over the past year, I've been researching possible ways to improve safety and reduce the speeds of neighborhood traffic (and if you recall, alternatives to speed bumps). One of the possible solutions discussed has been the possibility of converting the Fase St. emergency entrance into a regular entrance. Reducing traffic flow past the main entrance and our bus stops would help reduce the safety risks we face currently.

I spent some time with Township Supervisor George Haga, as well as Jim Ferro, the planning director, and discovered that there are two options for our neighborhood to pursue, if we really want that second entrance.

Option 1: Win a lawsuit. The current development was only possible because the developers won a lawsuit against the township. As part of that lawsuit, the neighborhood plan that was approved included an emergency entrance at Fase St., but apparently not much thought was put into that entrance in the following several amendments to that plan. A lawsuit would be the quickest way to get the entrance opened, but it would also prove to be reasonably costly for our combined associations.

Option 2: Take "official" steps to amend the plans and have the township open up the entrance. This starts with filing for an amendment to the original plan, followed by a review by the planning commission, a public hearing, a recommendation by that planning commission, then a vote by the Ada Board of Trustees. As many of you know, several of our current Trustees have personal interest and property on Fase St., which makes it difficult for any proposal to be passed.However, there is a bright side to Option2 – the vote on August 5. Apparently, because only Republicans run for the different positions on the Board, whoever wins the primary will win the general election, which takes place at the same time as the presidential election. As a side note, approximately 1,700 votes are cast during the primary, which translates to about 850 votes needed to win the Supervisor / Clerk / Treasurer positions, and somewhere around 500 votes to become a Trustee. We have about 220 houses in our neighborhood, which translates to around 400 votes. I think this represents a "significant" voting block.Over the last week, I spent some time calling all of the candidates for office and asking them about their position on opening Fase St. for our neighborhood.

Here are the results:

Supervisor Race:

*William Wood – will fight to open the Fase St. entrance

George Haga – stands by his decision NOT to open the Fase St. entrance

Clerk Race:

Deborah Ensing Milhuff – owns property of Fase St. and has consistently opposed opening the entrance

*Susan Burton – leans towards opening Fase St. entrance

Treasurer Race:

Norman Rhoades – irrelevant because he is running unopposed

Trustee Race:

Jacqueline Smith – has a undecided opinion, but promises to be fair in the process

Mischelle Sytsma – only person I didn't reach

John Westra – leans against opening Fase St. for safety reasons (Fase/Thorneapple intersection)

*Cheryl Lathwell – will support opening Fase St.

Matt Nygren – leans towards opening Fase St., but wants to know financial ramifications

Lloyd Paul – leans towards opening Fase St., but wants to understand full position

Robert Proos – leans towards opening Fase St., but wants to understand full position

*Jon Sarb – will support opening Fase St.(* supports the opening of Fase St.)

Obviously, there is no guarantee that Fase St. will ever open for our neighborhood. However, as a believer in the "power of the people" and in democracy, I think we should do our duty as citizens of Ada and participate in this election. There are other issues in Ada, including the development of the downtown area, the controversy of the billboard, and the development of areas in the northeast corner of Ada. However, in the end, the opening of Fase St. is an issue that has significance to us, and we should stand up and vote.

If you have questions on this vote, feel free to contact me personally at 616-780-8112 or by e-mail at edwardkuo@hotmail.com. Absentee ballots must be cast very soon, and the primary takes place in less than a week.

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My comments - These people should really get with the program. Edward doesn't even live by Fase Street and shouldn't be sending out emails encouraging opening it. Your wrong as is adamoorings@gmail.com