Chapter 7: HUMAN ELEMENT

• The amount of household growth in the county (an important indicator of housing demand) is quite large, and widespread through the County.  Much of the fastest growth is taking place in small number of areas concentrated around Custer Township, the coastal strip of Torch Lake and Milton Townships, and the northwestern corner of the county.
   
• The number of houses in the “starter” category (in terms of affordability to first time, moderate-income homebuyers) is moderately large, and may meet the needs of persons who manage to save enough capital to afford a large down-payment.
   
• The starter stock that does exist is quite aged, and will require investments to continue its useful economic life.
   
• Affordable housing is difficult for many types of households to purchase, even though they have income levels that generally been associated with homeownership.  This is due partly to the “fixed” costs of maintaining a household in the area (food, transportation, health care, etc.), and partly to the costs of “starter” stock in the county relative to wages.
   
• The amount of rental housing is also not meeting current demand (in terms of households with income less than that needed to purchase a home); this situation will likely continue to worsen as these households increase in number.
   
• There will be a large number of households that will earn less than what is defined as affordable by 2008. If the current distribution of household income continues, about 4,700 households will fall into that income category, which implies that affordable lodging will need to be found for 819 new lower-income households.  Most of these will be located in Elk Rapids, Mancelona, and Banks Township.
   
• Local Section 8 rental voucher administrators say that while the program has a long waiting list (at least a year long), renters have a difficult time finding lodging that conforms to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards, and so do not benefit from the program.

Adult Day Care
One of the inevitable consequences of living longer for senior citizens is that their capabilities may be diminished to the level where they need assistance.  Many times that assistance is provided by other family members. However, these family members often have obligations with their own younger families and employment locations.  These responsibilities can limit the time available for senior care.  A possible solution would be to encourage the establishment of an adult day care center in Antrim County.

Meadow Brook Medical Care facility is the only nursing facility in Antrim County. Sometimes referred to as the jewel of Antrim County, it receives wide support from the residents and enjoys strong support from the Antrim County Board of Commissioners.  There is little likelihood that another nursing facility will locate in Antrim County. Again, the population density of the County argues against that reasonable possibility.  However, since any new entry of a nursing home would be a private venture there is a possibility, although slim.  A solution would be to have a nursing home that was connected to an adult day care facility.

Specialists
According to the 2005 estimated population, Antrim County has approximately 24,422 residents, and 4,512 of them are senior citizens.  Doctors and dentists who are general practitioners are available in Antrim County. However, if medical specialists are needed choices usually have to be made from specialists in Gaylord, Petoskey, Charlevoix or Traverse City.  This distance of service can create a hardship on senior citizens, especially ones with limited mobility.  A possible solution that has been discussed would be to establish a clinic that would be staffed by specialists who would rotate through it on a once a week or once every two weeks basis.

Pharmaceuticals
The State of Michigan has implemented a preferred drug list which mandates the use of primarily generic formularies for drugs approved for use in the Medicaid program.  While this is a big assist for Medicaid eligible seniors, it does not provide a solution for those senior citizens who can not qualify as Medicaid eligible for prescription coverage.

The recreation inventory is detailed in the 2005 Community Recreation plan and on the Antrim County website, www.antrimcounty.org.  The Action Program describes maintaining the existing facilities as a main priority.  It also describes lake-accessibility as an important objective.  Based on these considerations, the Park and Recreation Commission will focus on the following projects until 2009.  Afterwards, the Plan will be reviewed and revised for future projects. 

Grass River Natural Area:  construction of the Grass River Center building, acquisition of surrounding parcels; and construction of the rail trail.

Barnes Park:  the only large waterfront camping facility in the County will need improvements, including upgrading rustic sites with electricity; providing a paved non-motorized trail; repaving the interior park road; and replacing the existing park office.

Elk Rapids Day Park:  improve and encourage increased utilization by installing a new sign and landscaping; provide education materials to teachers; linking it to the downtown area of Elk Rapids Village; replacing and repairing the pavilion; and improvements to the bathhouse and bathroom facilities.  It may also including paving the entry and parking areas.

Wetzel Lake Park:  installation of a 1.25 mile walking trail around the lake, providing more picnic tables, upgrading the restrooms, providing electricity, adding more rustic campsites and RV sites with electricity, and stationing a camp host.

County Forest Reserve Lands:  monitor trail use; deal with erosion control, improving trails and signage, and acquiring adjacent parcels.

Cedar River Natural Area:  building more bridges, improving fishing habitat, bank stabilization, and improving recreation.

Sand Lake:  improving access.

resource recovery efforts.  These goals and objectives were developed to comply with Michigan’s solid waste goal to reduce the amount of material sent to landfills to only “unusable residuals” by 2005. 

Currently the Department of Environmental Quality is updating their solid waste management plan requirements.  Once the requirements have been updated, Antrim County will begin the process of amending their solid waste plan. The Board of Commissioners appointed a Solid Waste Management Planning Committee who will be responsible for updating and implementing the solid waste plan.  Their efforts will be supplemented by the Antrim County Solid Waste and Recycling Council.

The 1999 Solid Waste Plan stresses the importance of recycling and mentioned the limited number of recycling locations as being a major deficiency.  It also discussed the lack of coordination for recycling and composting facilities in the County. 

In 1998, the total tons generated for solid waste was 16,850.  The 1999 Solid Waste Plan projected that the total number of tons would be 19,197 in 2003 without recycling and composting efforts. 10,543 tons would come from residential, 5,653 would come from commercial, and 3,001 would come from industrial uses.  It is projected that the tonnage would be reduced by 4,900 resulting in 14,297 tons to the landfills if more aggressive recycling efforts were implemented.  Of these 4,900 tons, 1,850 would go to drop-off recycling locations, 675 would go to curbside recycling, 1,875 would go to commercial recycling, and 500 would be composted yard waste.  The current data will have to be reviewed during the Solid Waste Plan update. 

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The original inhabitants of this area were Native Americans.  Native American artifacts can be found throughout Antrim County, indicating widespread occupation of the area by hunters and gatherers.  European hunters, trappers, and lumbermen first settled Antrim County in the latter part of the 1700’s.  The flow of homesteaders increased after the end of the Civil War.  

Lumbering and the processing of Upper Peninsula iron ore were the primary economic forces in the 1700 and early 1800’s.   These industries altered the landscape drastically, changing large swaths of forests to become open fields.  Once the timber industry slowed, agricultural uses were established in the cleared areas.  The agricultural industry slowed during the twentieth century as the population declined.  In the second half of the twentieth century, the economy became more tourism and recreation based. 

Any effort to preserve sites, structures, and/or artifacts from the historic past of Antrim County should take into account the circumstances of those earliest ancestors of Antrim County residents – native and immigrant alike.  A single visit to the Antrim City town site in Banks Township will demonstrate that a long- established tradition of re-using building materials seems a part of the Antrim County ethos.  Very little evidence of a one well-established industrial past exists currently in western Antrim County.

More lasting private, public, and civic buildings can be found in vital Antrim County villages.  Efforts should be made to preserve them.  Dedication of structures as historic buildings can be a method of preserving individual buildings.  The designation of Historic Districts is another method that can be used.  Various State of Michigan, Federal and Tribal programs exist which might benefit the preservation of identified and qualified sites. 

It is important to note, that some of these programs can bring with them a higher threshold of compliance and expense when structural requirements are needed to be addressed.  In no case, should efforts be made to include buildings and sites into programs without the agreement of affected parties.