VILLAGE OF CLIMAX COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 5, 2025
- Attendance: Two Trustees Missing In Action
Trustees Carolyn Kelly and Benjerman Moore failed to show up for the Council meeting on the evening of August 5, 2025.
Bill Lewis reported that Carolyn Kelly was “sick”. No further details were offered. As for Ben Moore, Lewis gave no excuse for Moore’s absence. With any of the Creepy Quartet (Bill Lewis, Denise Pyle, Carolyn Kelly, Ben Moore), everything they do, say, and omit to say, has to be taken with a grain of salt and scrutinized.
Another explanation for Carolyn Kelly’s absence was offered during “citizen time” when the next-door neighbor of Trustee Ben Moore spoke during the 3 minutes that residents are given to address the Council.
Moore’s neighbor had filed a written complaint at the Village office about the condition of 115 Watson Street where Ben Moore lives. The neighbor had requested that the junk cars and other ordinance violations on the Moore property be corrected. Afterward, the neighbor had called repeatedly to the numbers listed for Bill Lewis and Carolyn Kelly in order to get an update because the code violations remained after weeks. That is except for one junk car that was removed.
Well, not exactly removed. The vehicle was scrapped or stripped in the driveway and the naked corpse of the car moved around to the back fence. The other two junkers remained deceased on the driveway. The additional ordinance violations that the neighbor had complained about remained.
At the time of the Council meeting on August 5, there was another vehicle in the front yard up on a jack. See the picture below:
In his effort to get an update, the neighbor had to leave voicemails for Lewis and Kelly.
According to the neighbor, he had called Carolyn Kelly on Monday, August 4, and identified himself, whereupon she hung up on him. Then, the neighbor called her back and she remained on the line silent and refusing to answer his request for an update. Kelly then blamed him for her health problems and ended the call with “up yours”. Yes, “up yours”, a vulgar exclamation of contempt, a shortening of the vulgar “stick it up your ass”.
The neighbor had told Kelly during the exchange that he would be at the Council meeting on the evening of August 5th and, voila, she was “sick”. Her absence permitted her to avoid being confronted with her behavior, her failure to carry out the responsibilities of her office, and the public accountability that went with it.
As for Ben Moore, his absence was not a mystery as he left the scene of an uncomfortable situation in front of 115 Watson where he lives. A very public spectacle occurred when the ex-husband of a woman with whom Ben Moore has some unclearly defined relationship showed up. There was a bullhorn involved and claims and allegations filled the air which eventually settled into a vigil by the ex-husband.
Right after the ex-husband and neighbor called the Sheriff’s Department for assistance with the situation, Ben Moore, his brother, and an unidentified driver left the property in an older black Saab four-door sedan. Moore did not return until after the ex-husband had left the scene which was just about the time that the Council meeting concluded.
2. Nepotism: Tree, Trees, Trees!
Could Bill Lewis’s son be the Village arborist or Village tree manager? Not the “next”, but the first and only one. The Village has existed since 1891 without an arborist or Village tree manager.
Bringing family to the public trough to be supported by taxpayers is a time-honored tradition for elected office-holders. Michigan is pretty lax about this and the history in Climax Township certainly indicates that the taxpayers in the area don’t mind paying for it. This is why electing people that have a strong ethical makeup is so important.
At the August 5 Council meeting, Brian Lewis appeared and introduced himself. Brian Lewis appears to be in the tree business, at least the sign that is in Bill Lewis’s front yard (Village Code violation Sec. 36-168(a)) promoting his son’s business so indicates. It was unclear just what Brian Lewis’s qualifications are for Village arborist or tree manager, other than being Bill Lewis’s son. And, what do qualifications matter anyway. Brian Lewis is family!
Bill Lewis Yard Sign For Son’s Tree Business
Trustee Denise Pyle spoke extensively and gushingly on Brian Lewis’s behalf promoting and vouching for his many fine characteristics, but not his qualifications. When Denise Pyle started talking about taking bids for Village arborist or tree manager and the best interests of the taxpayers, it was pretty clear what was going on. An invitation to bid in a small rural weekly newspaper with very limited circulation is not going to get potential bidders’ attention. But Brian Lewis will know about it.
And something else became clear. The trees in the rights-of-way that do not belong to the Village but now, by virtue of Bill Lewis choosing to ignore the law and saddle the taxpayers with the burden of paying to maintain and remove them, creates an excuse to provide taxpayer funded employment to a Village arborist or Village tree manager.
If it walks like a duck … !
3. When Does A Mistake Become A Lie?
A mistake becomes a lie when the mistake is known to be false but not corrected.
In a previous post it was shown that the Village attorney erroneously read the plat of the Village (1891) to provide for a 100-foot right-of-way along Main Street. The width of the right-of-way became an issue as the Creepy Four were maneuvering to burden the taxpayers with paying for the maintenance and removal of trees in those rights-of-way.
The width of the right-of-way on Main Street is actually 100 links or 66 feet. Anyone could make the mistake between 100 feet and 100 links, but the Village attorney is not just anyone.
It is not a distinction without a difference. It expands the area in which Bill Lewis can gather the favor of property owners who want the taxpayers to maintain or remove their trees. Of course, non-loyalists need not apply.
At the Council meeting on August 5, Trustee Denise Pyle claimed that the right-of-way along Main Street is 100 feet. It’s time that that mistake not be repeated as fact or else it becomes a lie.
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