Board to negotiate reimbursement costs with Interurban

Township OKs new parking rules, sets up escrow account to cover development costs.

A bus from the Interurban Transit Authority is parked in front of the Laketown Township Hall, 4338 Beeline Road, on April 18, 2025.

Interurban Transit Authority buses continue to roll in Laketown Township as the board of trustees on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, directed township officials to negotiate a better funding deal with the Douglas-based transportation service.

Township board members have been working to find a way to pay for the on-demand bus rides that started in May.

The rates riders pay are $1 for adults and 50 cents for children and seniors through March 2026. This is the price for the entire service area that includes the cities of Saugatuck, Douglas and Fennville and Saugatuck Township.

Each ride in Laketown, though, costs the township $7. The township pays some of the cost of the Interurban service from its general fund.

Earlier the township proposed changing the fares to decrease how much it reimburses to the transit service, but the Interurban said it sets the fares for riders and would keep them at the uniform rate. The Interurban then proposed a flat fee of $4,100 a month to cover services in Laketown through March 30, 2026.

Board members want to find a way to decrease what the township pays to cover the fares and voted on Nov. 12 to direct township Supervisor Steven Ringelberg and Manager Stephanie Fox to negotiate a lower overall payment for the township.

In other business, the board:

  • Approved Ordinance No. 217 that prohibits parking on public roads with less than a 66-feet wide right of way to improve safety and access for emergency vehicles.
  • Approved the creation on a planned unit development escrow account that requires developers to put $5,000 into an account the township can use to cover expenses including engineering and legal. When the fund drops below $1,000, the developer is required to increase it back to $5,000.
  • Directed the manager to execute an agreement between the township and the Ottawa Conservation District for the treatment of invasives in a small section of the blueberry field in Huyser Farm Park for no more than $75 as long as the Land Conservancy of West Michigan approves.