Moose members vote 19-7 to dissolve lodge

During a May 5 special meeting of members of the Belleville Moose Lodge #934, Chapter #1135, a vote was taken on dissolving the lodge.
The vote was 19-7 in favor of voluntarily dissolving and forfeiting the club’s charter.
Letters were sent out April 22 to the approximate 250 male members of the lodge and the 150 members of the Women of the Moose for the special meeting for the vote. The lodge had been closed for about 13 months before that because of COVID.
Lodge administrator Robert Coutts of Van Buren Township said the result of the voting has been turned over to Moose International to evaluate what they want to do with the property.
Coutts said Sumpter Township has been “awesome in giving us time” instead of proceeding with forfeiture action since the Moose has stopped paying its land contract. He said they realize that the property will probably be sold quicker than any forfeiture could make its way through the court.
When the lodge had money problems in 2013, it sold its 3.98-acre property on Belleville Lake at 831 E. Huron River Dr. in Van Buren Township to the BYC, a private men’s club, for $251,000. Then it bought the former PNA Hall on six acres at 45476 Harris Rd. on a land contract from Sumpter Township for $175,000. Coutts said the land contract is with Moose International and Sumpter Township is the vendor.
He said in April that the property is now worth from $350,000 to $400,000.
Coutts said the way it is set up is that the Michigan Moose Association is directly over the Belleville Moose to handle things inside the state, but both are members of Moose International with offices in Illinois.
He said it is his speculation Moose International will sell the land.