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www.mybaycity.com December 8, 2004
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New homes sprout in Briar Farms and Rueger Farms on Midland Road between Three and Four Mile Roads, a huge subdivision projected to have up to 300 homes.

Addition of About 1,000 Homes in Western Suburbs Concerns School Planners

First American Title Manager Says 20-30 Percent May Be New to Bay County

December 8, 2004       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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      Even in mid-December you can hear the sound of new wood being nailed.

      Schlunk, schlunk, schlunk go the roofing guns, sounds echoing across the muddy fields.

      Contractors' vehicles are scattered everywhere. Workers scurry to and from partially-completed buildings.

      New roads weave through what was farmland. Streets are marked with posts broadcasting unfamiliar addresses, Niethammer, Schauman, Spitler, Whiteherse, Jamie, Satkowiak, Ferguson . . .

           About 1,000 new homes and condo units either are up and occupied, sprouting "for sale" signs or on developers' drawing boards. The growth in suburban areas west of Bay City -- Monitor, Frankenlust and Williams townships -- has facilities planners for the Bay City School District scratching their heads.

      The main question is: "Where are all these families coming from?"

      The next question would be: "If even some of these families have kids of school age, where do we put them?"

      There is no completely accurate way to determine where the families come from that are occupying these new homes. Or how many kids of school age they will have. But Barbara Dinauer, manager of First American Title Company, Bay City, has a pretty good idea of where the families hail from. Most have moved from Bay City or elsewhere in Bay County. However, probably about 20-30 percent are new to the area. That's the picture that school planners wish was a little clearer since it willaffect school housing needs over the next decade.

      First American's statistics show 536 property sales to people from out of the area last year out of a total of 2,765 sales. Rough estimates, deducting about 10 percent for sales of commercial property, would put sales to new residents at about one quarter of the total number of sales, according to Ms. Dinauer.

      A breakdown of the 536 sales to out-of-area people shows the following: Midland, 112; Saginaw, 109; Freeland, 50; Lansing, 21; Rhodes, 13; Reese, 10; Beaverton and Sterling, 9 each; Sanford and Fenton, 8 each; Gladwin, 6; Grand Rapids, 6; and one or two each from 127 other Michigan cities.

      Some 53 sales of the 536 posted from out of the area in 2003 were to parties from 22 other states and Ontario, including 10 from California, 8 from Florida, and four each from New York and Illinois.

      Students new to the western suburbs, whether or not they have not previously been enrolled locally, will require space in neighborhood schools or busing to schools in the city with available seats.

      Western High, Western Intermediate and the elementary schools in the Western attendance area are jammed to overflowing. There is just no more classroom space for more kids, school officials say.

      "Five years after the Greiner study (consultant review of school facilities) we have a population shift," said Marty Gottesman, district director of student services, who presented enrollment projections. "The unknown part is all the new subdivisions and what's going to come from that."

      Schools in the Western area, and enrollment figures, are: Auburn, K-5, 491; Forest, Y5-K, 49; Mackensen, K-5, 301; McAlear-Sawden, K-5, 589; Western Intermediate, 6-8, 906. All are at or near capacity, according to Mr. Gottesman.

      Of the 1,000 new homes, suppose only one third of the families had one child each of school age. That's enough to fill an average elementary school. So schools either have to be expanded, or a new school must be built since at present there is little space in city schools.

      School enrollment projections show a decrease in students, partially because of a drop in the number of births in the county. In 1994 there were 1,413 births and so far in 2004 there have been 1,279.

      School officials are projecting a drop in the student population from the present 9,790 to about 5,500 in the next ten years. But many factors, especially the local economy and availability of jobs, could change that picture, planners stress.

      Meanwhile, the question is: What does the school district do for the next five year while enrollment is projected to be in the 9,000s?

      Among the recent or planned housing developments in the western area are these developments totaling more than 1,000 units:

      Frankenlust Township -- Brookeside, 149 lots, mostly completed; Irish Acres, 75 lots; Irish Acres Homesite Condos, 32; Cardinal Bend, 22 condo units; Cortland Farms South, 58 condo units;

      Monitor Township -- Briar Farms, 25 lots, nearly full plus proposed expansion across Midland Road, up to 175 lots; Rueger Farms, 124 lots, 20 percent filled; Crossroads, 41 lots, 4 underway; The Orchards, 17 lots, proposed; Pepperberry, 67 lots, 40 percent occupied; Stone Meadow, proposed condos; Braeburn Farms, 105 lots, proposed;

      Williams Township -- Auburn East, 16 lots; Carter Ridge, 19 lots; Pear Grove, 14 lots; Country Estates II, 17 lots; Eastwood, 31 plus expansion potential; Fisherville Farms, 34 lots; Gray Hawk, 37 lots; Nature Trail, 25 lots proposed; Williamsburg, undetermined.###

      

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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