HOLLY, Michigan – Holly Village Council members didn’t have much to say last week regarding a 15-page second quarter budget report.  Without any discussion or questions for department heads, council members approved the report in a vote of 7-0 during their meeting held on Jan. 24.

The multi-section report was written by village department heads and served as a compilation of budget figures exceeding 50 percent for the Building Department, the village of Holly offices, police and fire departments, the Waste Water Treatment Plant, and the Department of Public Works.


Building Department
Building Official Jeff Wren reported that operating supplies for the Building Department are currently 16 percent over budget.

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Jeff Wren

“This fund is currently over-budget because of non-budgeted items being taken from this account, namely computer upgrade, technician time, monitor for volunteer computer and website hosting,” Wren wrote.

Additionally, Wren reported that the Building Department is over-budgeted for the Vehicle Fuel Fund, blaming it on a broken fuel gauge that left him with an empty gas take on two separate occasions. “I have run out of gas twice now, so I put gas in the vehicle every other week,” he wrote. “I am currently working on getting the gauge repaired so this fund should even out once the repair has been made.”

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Plante and Moran CPA, Tadd Har...

HOLLY, Michigan – The village of Holly was issued a “clean opinion” in the matter of its fiscal year 2011 audit this week as Plante and Moran Certified Public Accountant, Tadd Harburn walked council members through the particulars during Tuesday’s Village Council meeting.

“What that means is that the financial statements that you received and were sent to the state basically indicated they were free from material mistakes, and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,” Harburn explained.

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Jerry Walker

HOLLY, Michigan – Village Manager Jerry Walker said 60 code violations were issued in the village of Holly over the course of 2011.  

Among them, Walker said injunctive relief was sought through the 52-2 District Court in Clarkston regarding storage of dumpsters on Cogshall Street. Additionally, Walker said three violations were issued in December, one of which is already resolved, and the other two relating to rental inspections are nearing final resolution.

Walker said four violations have been issued this month, two of which have already been resolved.

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The WaterWorks buildng was dee...

HOLLY, Michigan – For more than five years, a village-mandated “UNSAFE – ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK” sign has hung on the door of Holly’s historical WaterWorks building. The sign was placed there in 2006 after Holly’s former Fire Chief Jack Hollands was seriously injured by falling through the wooden plank flooring into the basement of the building.

Having sat dormant for more than a half decade, the topic of what to do about the historical building once again came to the forefront, this time in the form of a public hearing held during Tuesday’s Village Council meeting.