ACC annexation proposal not well received in Posen
by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor
Officials from Alpena Community College (ACC?s) are calling the proposed annexation of the Posen Consolidated School district ?a great community investment!? That wasn?t the tone at Sunday?s town hall meeting at the Posen Community Center, attended by about 50 residents and landowners, many who believe this is not a good time to raise taxes. Not one person spoke in favor of the proposal. Voters of the district head to the polls May 3 to vote on the annexation, as well as a millage proposal that would add 2.5 mills. Both measures need to pass for the annexation to occur.
The money collected as a result of this millage would be approximately $250,000 a year for 10 years. Dr. Olin Joynton, ACC president, highlighted what he believes are the many benefits of the plan. It would bring lower tuition for students, who would pay in-district rates enjoyed by residents of the Alpena Public School district. The difference between paying in-district versus in-state rates is $1,380 a year for a full time student, said Joynton.
Additionally, he said businesses would have more workers who would have the skills needed to be productive in today?s competitive market. ?WHEN I was born, about 10 to 15 percent of careers required higher education, some kind of post-high school training, and 85 percent of jobs could be accessed without any higher education at all,? said Joynton. ?Those statistics have reversed in the last 60 years or so.?
With the proposal, Joynton wants to establish dual enrollment classes in Posen. ?The people who take the biggest advantage of dual enrollment courses are qualified high school juniors and seniors, who graduate from high school, sometimes with a whole year of college, paid for by the school district,? said Joynton. ?If you look at it from the point of view of a parent paying for higher education, that?s a pretty big deal.? In addition to credit courses, ACC also would be able to expand community education and workforce development activities in the community.
Joynton has reached a consensus with superintendent Dru Milliron ?on how we would start out.? He said two classrooms would be renovated. ?State-of-the-art computer facilities (would be brought in) for those classes that are taught with a high dependency on computers.? Some of the initial class offerings would be automated design classes, while the other room would be for teaching the basics such as political science, English or mathematics. The rooms would be rented at $16,000 a year.
?We are also looking at making arrangements, so we can help the school system support some of the personnel costs that are now being brought into question by the cuts that are part of Gov. Snyder?s recommendations.? Joynton, before answering questions and listening to comments for more than an hour, said he understood that people might be reluctant to assume more tax burden. ?You?ll make a lot of sense to me if you express that point of view.? HARRY WISNIEWSKI said he has family members who have pursued higher education, and how critical it is for the future, but had other concerns. ?Not knowing the future, with the economy being the way it is, taxes going up, do we really want to go into this. We don?t know what is going to happen tomorrow, gas prices are going up. We could be taxed on our pensions, taxed on our social security, who knows.?
Property owner Sally Zaborney said ?this is going to cost us a fortune to pay this. I think I could send my daughter to (Michigan) State, or somewhere, for the price I?m going to pay for property taxes.? Randy Styma of Styma Farms, a former Posen school board member, referenced a chart provided by ACC staff with the estimated cost versus value. ?For the first year, the estimated value is $121,000, but the $20,000 for the first classroom restoration, and the second classroom restoration which amounts to $75,000, that?s a one time deal. The total value to our district is $535,000 over the course of the 10 years of the $2.5 million price tag. As a business owner, that?s a pretty poor return on an investment
Joynton replied, ?we?ve just begun to do our planning with the Posen school system, so that?s (the chart) a reflection of a couple of months of sitting down and organizing our thoughts and finding out what Posen school?s would like.? He would want the services to the community to grow in the coming years. Mike Smith said there?s nothing to keep ACC graduates from Posen from leaving the area. ?They are going to go to the big cities, or out of state. They are not going to stay here?.I?m sorry, this is nothing but a big money grab and this is wrong.? Smith asked why it couldn?t be lower than 2.5 mills.
Joynton said by law it has to be the same as currently being levied in Alpena. ?We certainly want the best education for our kids,? said Styma. ?This is poor timing. Economically, things are bad, we?ve got other things to think about with our own school district, God forbid, our school district would need a (financial) shot in the arm to keep it open.? A second town hall meeting is scheduled for April 3 at the same location.