OKEMOS, MI (WHTC) - The first voluntary local government merging in Michigan for over a decade could come about along the Lakeshore. Yesterday, the State Boundary Commission approved enough petition signatures to put the issue of consolidating Saugatuck and Douglas into a single governmental entity before voters in those two cities. While the anti-merger group Citizens for Independent and Cooperative Communities collected the signatures, the pro-merger group Consolidated Government Committee had been stumping the past three years for such a vote. Allegan County Clerk Joyce Watts will determine whether this vote will be on the August 6 primary ballot or the November 5 general election ballot.
