By Stacey Tucker (Contact / Staff Bio)
August 12, 2009 - 10:57 a.m. EST

REESE — Residents of the Meadows Mobile Home Park will be making the most out of the next six weeks to stay in their homes.

At the Reese Village Council meeting Monday evening, nearly 100 of the park’s residents came to voice their concerns about the village’s threat to turn off sanitary sewer and waste removal service at the park.

If the park’s owners, M.H. Management, doesn’t pay more than $40,000 in debts to the village, the services will be discontinued to the park on Sept. 30.

If sewer service is turned off, park resident Don Barr wondered what would happen to the residents.

“What government entities should we call when raw sewage is running down the street?” Barr asked.

Reese Village President Gene Ellison explained the health department has stated the residents won’t be allowed to stay in the park when and if sewer service is shut off.

“This council did not take this decision lightly,” Ellison said. “This has been an ongoing problem.

“They haven’t paid their unit taxes since 2007, or their school taxes. It’s not just the village of Reese this is happening to.”

However, if the residents of the park can get their utilities into an court-ordered escrow account by then, the village council members agreed to leave the sewer service alone.

“I would think we would be in agreement not to shut off sewer Sept. 30, and that would mean 100 percent of you put your payments into escrow,” Ellison said.

Debra S. Kauten, a Birch Run attorney who is working with the residents, suggested a private meeting with the residents this week to discuss action against the park’s owners.

“Believe it or not, there’s a lot you can do in the next six-week period,” said Kauten. “An escrow would put pressure on the management company.”

Reese village manager Joe Hembling agreed.

“I’m hoping that would bring M.H. Management to sit down with us,” he said. “If they are disputing and not paying their sewer bill, it should be in an account somewhere and they should be able to account for the money.

“But then, it makes you wonder why their taxes aren’t getting paid.”

State officials from the Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth conducted a hearing Tuesday in Lansing with M.H. Management over not meeting the minimum requirements to run a trailer park.

Ellison said it’s possible that the state could pull the park’s license.

Stacey Tucker is a staff writer for the Tuscola County Advertiser. She can be reached at tucker@tcadvertiser.com.