102 First Street, Holly.

HOLLY, Michigan - While John Lauve won’t be the man to give the 102 First Street home a total makeover, he will forever be credited – or blamed, for saving the three-story dilapidated structure from demolition.

Last November, Holly’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) allocated approximately $23,000 to buy the property, and promptly deeded it to the village of Holly for the purpose of demolishing the home and potentially using the property for a 30-35 space parking lot.

In January, Lauve lobbied to save the historic home, calling it a “gem,” and telling council members its refurbishment would only enhance the “Mill Plaza” area. Council initially rejected Lauve’s pleas, and in February, condemned the “Gray Lady,” and prepared for demolition.

In a vote of 5-2, council made...

HOLLY, Michigan – More than 100 concerned residents filled the auditorium of Holly Middle School Tuesday night, and most of them left angry after council voted to shut down the village’s dispatch center and send the services to Oakland County.

In April, council began exploring the idea of outsourcing dispatch services to Oakland County as a way of saving the village between $80,000 and $150,000 per year, depending upon whether the village officials sent one 12-hour shift to Oakland County Dispatch per day, or scrapped dispatch services all together.  

While the village currently pays $305,000 annually to keep its dispatch center up and running, the cost of outsourcing dispatch services to Oakland County for one 12-hour shift per day is $43,000 per year,  or $113,000 per year for  24/7 services.

"Save Our Dispatch" signs can ...

HOLLY, Michigan – An over-capacity crowd crammed Holly’s Village Chambers Tuesday night as council members once again considered outsourcing the village’s dispatch center to Oakland County.

Last month, council initially began discussing the possibility of outsourcing dispatch services to Oakland County as a way of saving the village between $80,000 and $150,000 per year, depending upon whether the village outsources one 12-hour shift to Oakland County per day, or scraps dispatch services all together.  

While most of the nearly 20 residents that took to the podium Tuesday night were against the notion of outsourcing, a few spoke in favor of it.