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VOL. 141, NO. 35

DEXTER LEADER
75
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011
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Make sure to click on www.heritage.com around the clock for the most in-depth coverage of Washtenaw County. Our most viewed story this week is Village council plans to meet with Webster Township officials, historical society for cityhood quest quest.

THE

Village Council will continue cityhood quest

By Sean Dalton
Heritage Media

After receiving a disheartening verdict by the Michigan Boundary Commission earlier this month, the Dexter Village Council is prepared to engage the Dexter Area Historical Society & Museum and Webster Township in further discussions. The village government will attend the historical societys regular meeting this week. The Dexter Area Historical Society Board normally meets on the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the museum or at Gordon Hall during the summer. Village Council Trustee Paul Cousins said he plans to attend the society meeting to open a dialogue with their board. In comments given Tuesday afternoon, Cousins further criticized the Boundary Commission for the rationale behind their decision, which was led by Commissioner Cameron Priebe. Priebe said in his testimony that he wasnt sure that he could go against the advice of the state attorney generals office and the advice of the commissions staff that handles petitions. He said that he wasnt sure if he could legally do that as an agent of the state, Cousins said while reading an electronic transcript unsealed by a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the village staff at the behest of

the Council. Priebe also said that a deal is a deal with regard to the Public Act 425 agreement between the village and Webster Township for the Westridge Subdivision. The act allows the township and the village to share tax revenues from the subdivision, but the village had wanted to absorb the area into its potential city limits. In the transcript, he says that there is some language or confusion in (his) mind when you change boundaries, Cousins continued. Cousins pointed out that the tax revenue agreement includes that the township would be paid should the should the subdivision ever become a part of the village. No other commissioners commented further past Priebes statements indicating his own unease with the decision of how to proceed with the villages request for cityhood. I cannot imagine that anyone would make such a motion with as many question marks and issues about the whole thing on a commission or committee that Ive ever served on without someone raising an issue, Cousins said. It was the most ludicrous, stupid motion that Ive ever heard in my entire history of being on any commission or government group. I say we just sue ... their motion was so full of holes that it is itself legally insufficient. While the lawsuit would likely involve the village,
PLEASE SEE CITYHOOD/3-A

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Husband and wife Joseph Meza and Barbara Wilson hold some cocoa fruit. The two are behind Mindo Chocolate Makers and sell their products at the Dexter Farmers Market every Saturday.

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Local cocoa connection

By Krista Gjestland
Special Writer

mong the tasty treats available for sampling at the Dexter Farmers Market lies a booth that would top any sweet tooths list: locally-made chocolate. Barbara Wilson, 53, and her husband Joseph Meza, 62, created Mindo Chocolate Makers in Dexter almost by accident. After the couple retired to a home they owned in Ecuador, where Meza is originally from, Meza decided he missed the comforts of the Internet. So, they opened up an Internet caf, which eventually blossomed into a restaurant and hostel. At their restaurant, El Quetzal de Mindo, Wilson began making brownies but was unsatisfied with the chocolate she was using. We started roasting coffee and making brownies and selling them, Wilson said. But I was never really happy with the chocolate I was getting here (in

Ecuador) for the brownies. I had heard Ecuador had some of the finest cocoa beans. After having trouble finding a chocolate she liked, Wilson and Meza decided to try their hands at making their own chocolate using an heirloom variety of cocoa called nacional. They were so successful that when they returned to their home in Dexter, they decided to keep the chocolate-making going. We buy the fruit right out of the cocoa pod, right from the farmers, Wilson said. We bring them to our property in Mindo and ferment them for about six days. The beans are then dried in speciallymade beds. We are one of the very few chocolate makers who ferment their own beans, Wilson said. We want to control the process. All over the world you can see beans drying on the side of road, and I dont like the idea of that. After drying, the beans are roasted
PLEASE SEE MINDO/3-A

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Bus loop will be ready, Marshall says

By Sean Dalton
Heritage Media

INDEX
Editorial Deaths Sports Community Calendar Page 6-A Page 12-A Page 1-B Page 1-C Page 15-A

Construction crews work to nish the bus loop on Dan Hoey Road for Dexter Community Schools.

While the bus loop on Dan Hoey just east of the cemetery is a contentious issue for members of the public due to its $1 million price tag, its readiness in time for the 2011-12 school year is locked in stone. Dexter Community Schools Superintendent Mary Marshall promised that the bus loop, which is designed to streamline traffic flows into the districts parking lots during peak student pickup times, will be ready in time for the first day of school next week.

Last week, construction teams were still moving Earth from the bus loop site between Wiley and Cornerstone. The construction was originally estimated to be completed by Aug. 15, but weather and other issues with the project cropped up and delayed the construction completion target date to as close to the first day of school for the district as possible. Right now, were relocating excess dirt to elsewhere in the district and some of it is being trucked off, Marshall said. We will be leveling and laying grass seed on top of the site this

week. Soon, it will look a lot different than the way it looks now. Our crews were supposed to finish the final asphalt coat today, she said Monday. It should be striped within the next day or two. The bus loop is part of the $48-million 2006 bond issue. The bond is currently in the technology and infrastructure improvements phase, according to district officials. The district will also be building a new bus garage on Baker Road, although
PLEASE SEE LOOP/3-A

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