First Steps, a collaborative community effort working support the health and development of children in Kent County, expects to expand its work with help from a $1.3 million grant over the next three years from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek.

 

 

Boaters on Lake Macatawa can experience something new with the Sundog Nautical Refreshments, a customized floating pontoon boat fully equipped to serve up that All-American meal: sizzling hot dogs, ice cream and cold pop.

Deborah Johnson WoodLegend has it that in the 1900s wealthy businessman Harry C. Leonard gave his daughter Dorothy a gift – a massive home complete with servant's quarters and a third-floor ballroom. That home at Logan and Morris streets in Grand Rapids is now open as the Leonard at Logan House Bed & Breakfast, following an extensive renovation to bring it back to its former glory by owners Ann and John Finkler, Paul and Charles DeVos and Mark Zimmer. A wide, open staircase leads from the foyer to the five guest rooms on the second floor. Each guest room, tastefully appointed with period-style furniture, has a private bath. On the main floor, visitors will find a relaxing sitting room with a fireplace, a dining room and a modern gourmet kitchen. The house has oak floors throughout, except for the ballroom, which has maple – a hardwood not easily marred by dancers' shoes. The ballroom is now the owner's quarters. Modern amenities include free Wi-Fi, keyless entry and 32-inch flat screen TVs in each guest room. "We started with the roof because it was leaking, and leaks mean cracked plaster, which was throughout the house," Zimmer says. He and Ann Finkler are part of Team Restoration, the group that handled the restoration. "We added half a dozen chandeliers throughout the house to make it more elegant," Zimmer says.Outside, the owners removed two overgrown pine trees that blocked the view of the house from the street. They're currently adding an outdoor patio for guest use. Zimmer says an existing lawn area accommodates canopies for outdoor weddings and parties. Breakfast is designed to fit the needs of guests – an extensive weekday continental breakfast allows business guests to eat on the go; weekend guests experience a more leisurely meal. "During the week we attract quite a number of business travelers, and overseas contract designers who work for Steelcase," Zimmer says. "We're more laid back than a hotel, so a lot of times they'll stay here."Source: Mark Zimmer, Leonard at Logan House Bed & BreakfastDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

Deborah Johnson WoodThe next school environmental class to tour the new $11.5 million Kent County Recycling and Education Center will learn about the county's upcoming new single-stream recycling method from a bird's-eye view of the action – a catwalk that extends over the sorting equipment. The new center at 977 Wealthy St. SW is nearly complete, and work crews are training on the new sorting equipment, says Dennis Kmiecik, Kent County's solid waste division director. "The schools are emphasizing recycling in their curriculum," he says. "We got overwhelmed with tours in our old facility (322 Bartlett SW). So in the new facility we invested in a classroom that can seat 80 people and has all the new technology."Interior windows allow students to observe workers and equipment from the classroom. What they'll see will be state-of-the-art sorting equipment that can handle a much higher capacity of recycled waste than the current equipment, all sorting from a single stream that contains plastic, glass, metal and paper waste products.With single-stream, Kent County residents and businesses will no longer need to sort recyclables into separate bins, but can place them all in one cart they can wheel to the curb. Kmiecik expects the city of Grand Rapids to offer 30-, 68- and 90-gallon carts, free. Individual haulers outside the city will determine what carts to offer customers and the cost, if any. The change will take place mid-July, with how-to information available within the next week or so, Kmiecik says. The new process should reduce the recycle center's operating expenses, but Kmiecik isn't making predictions on how much. "We were running 13 hours a day, six days a week, with 90 to 100 community service workers each day," he says. "Now it will be eight hours a day, five days a week with a minimum of 20 people."Kmiecik hopes the new process will mean more people will recycle. He says Grand Rapids has a 45 percent residential recycling rate; countywide the number is only 20 percent. Source: Dennis Kmiecik, Kent County Recycling and Education CenterDeborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Development News tips can be sent to [email protected].

The Muskegon Chronicle reports that Muskegon County commissioners approved the use of $2.4 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds as partial funding for an expansion of a renal disease treatment center. According to excerpts from the story:A new medical building focused on treating kidney disease is in the works, and Muskegon County's little-used portion of a federal government bond program for facility construction is providing some assistance.West Michigan Renal Properties is set to move forward with construction of a 30,000-square-foot medical office building at 1300 Mercy Drive to house the West Michigan Nephrology Physician Practice, a dialysis unit and space for two additional office suites.Read the complete story here.