Viewing Grant Proposal: DTE Gas Benzie Manistee Wexford County Natural Gas Expansion

I am very supportive of the proposed build-out of a natural gas pipeline between Honor and Thompsonville. I am extremely hopeful the proposal is granted to DTE. We use 3 to 4 thousand gallons of propane a year for St. Ambrose Cellars and Sleeping Bear Farm/Apiaries and we will be adding on new buildings this year and next for our business growth. We expect our energy use to grow year over year and the availability of natural gas would greatly benefit our ability to expand our business and would have a direct impact on our ability to hire more people with good paying jobs.

Natural gas would be a $1400.00 savings in heating costs for my home. I pre-pay in July and use the propane until May of the next year. The propane companies continue to raise prices I am currently paying $2.29 per gallon. The residents in Mesick would have this savings to spend in our businesses. Thank you for your consideration of this grant for our rural area in Northern Michigan.

The Village Council realizes that this is the most important grant that they could ever be a part of. Mesick has lost several investors for new businesses because the Village did not have natural gas. Our school pays twice as much to heat our buildings as other schools. The businesses in the Village have communicated to the Council their expressed need for natural gas. It seems that our seniors end up paying up to $1.00 more per gallon as they pay per month. Its alarming that seniors and others are paying over $3.00 per gallon. We are fortunate to have the businesses that we have and certainly do not want lose any but as propane prices keep going up those are hard realities to their profits. The Village Council has looked at trying to get grants previous to this and the costs to install natural gas in the Village were to expensive for the Village property owners to pay for with a tax increase. Thank you for your consideration of this project as it will benefit everyone in the Village.

Natural Gas would be a huge deal for our village. I own a business and a rental home in the village and have lived in the Mesick area most of my life. I believe this would give us a clear advantage for business and personal home growth in our area. It would also be a big savings for our school giving them more resources to spend on education instead of buying propane. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions you might have. Thank you Bruce

We here at Mesick Pharmacy are happy to learn of the application for a grant for a Natural Gas Pipeline for the Village of Mesick. We believe this should bring much needed, more affordable, heating to our community. The small businesses and homes in the village would benefit greatly from this proposed expansion. Our community could grow and businesses could increase revenue, which is important to the entire village.

This is great proposal. Will help our communities to be more efficient and more productive. Adaptation of this proposal will strengthen foundational services, which in turn improve stability and predictability of business and household operations.

I am interested in using natural gas as i have in the past at prior residence. However with the surcharge each month and the cost of connection this is concerning to me. It will be a few years in the future before a individual homeowner will feel the impact of the savings with the two cost combined. Maybe I am not seeing it but is the connection fee due upfront? I live in the village of Mesick in a modular home with a gas range/furnace. I am unsure if this is rated as low med or high

We are highly in favor of DTE receiving this grant to expand natural gas service by putting in a gas line from the Manton area to Mesick. The service will save money for residents, the school, businesses and industry. The availability of natural gas will help development in the area.

On behalf of myself I would like to have natural gas here in Mesick and at my house. I've been struggling for years to keep up with the rising prices of propane and would like to have the option to get natural gas. This would be a great opportunity for the citizens of Mesick. thank you for your time.

Our family is highly supportive of the grant to bring natural gas into our area. We currently pay our propane on a monthly plan at $260 a month. This makes our overall energy costs almost $500 a month when combined with electricity. With natural gas, we would save money on energy costs and local business would benefit from the modernization. The savings to our school would be substantial, allowing us to put more money toward meeting students needs.