Your New Scoop Site

Welcome to Scoop!

To help you figure things out, there is a Scoop Admin Guide which can hopefully answer most of your questions.

Some tips:

Most of the layout is changed in "Blocks", found in the admin tools menu
Features can be turned on and off, and configured, in "Site Controls" in the admin tools menu
Stories have an "edit" link right beside the "Full Story" link on an index page, and right beside the "Post a Comment" link on the full story page. They can also be edited by clicking the story title in the "Story List" admin tool
Boxes are what allow you to write new features for Scoop; they require a knowledge of the perl programming language to work with effectively, although you can often make small changes without knowing much perl. If you would like a feature added but cannot program it yourself, ScoopHost does custom Scoop programming as one of its services.
If you aren't sure where to look for a particular feature or piece of display, try the "Search Admin Tools" link in the admin tools menu.

For support, questions, and general help with Scoop, email support@scoophost.com

ScoopHost.com is currently running Scoop version Undeterminable from .

Tag: Poor Planning

The Road To Ruin

By JGillman, Section News
Posted on Mon Oct 08, 2012 at 03:25:07 PM EST
Tags: Michigan, Townships, Local Government, Special Assesments, Roads, Poor Planning, Abusive Government, Foreclosure, Debt (all tags)

One person running for a local office up here is Cheryl Walton of Whitewater Township.

The cost to our communities from special assessments, millages and general apathy to the financial wherewithal of constituents can be appalling. Cheryl has written up in just a few paragraphs, a story that can be related and well understood in dozens of townships throughout Michigan. Examples of over-planning, a desire for the best, yet without the ability to pay, and property owners which find themselves on the raw end of someone else' ambition.

This is just one true tale, that as yet has not ended.

WHITEWATER TOWNSHIP BOARD'S "ROAD TO RUIN"
by Cheryl Walton

In January/February 2005, a petition for paving 4 roads (Watson, Mabel, Deal, and Lackey) was circulated to road frontage owners. A sheet accompanying the petition estimated the total cost of paving to be $1 million, to be split half and half between the Grand Traverse County Road Commission and the property owners, with the annual cost per "benefit" estimated at $200 annually for 10 years. More than 50% of the road frontage owners signed the petition.

In August 2005, a different petition listing 5 roads (Watson, Mabel, Deal, Lackey, AND SKEGEMOG POINT ROAD south of M-72) was circulated only to Skegemog Point Road frontage owners. Less than 50% of the frontage owners signed, not meeting the Public Improvement Act requirement that more than 50% of the frontage owners agree to the improvement. Despite this fact, the southern portion of Skegemog Point Road was added to the list of roads to be paved, adding close to $300,000 to the cost of the project. The signers of the 4-road petition never agreed to the paving of Skegemog Point Road.

Continued below

(1 comment, 1555 words in story) Full Story