I called Annika Ronquist at home at 9:34 p.m. She answered on the second ring. I told her about Joyce. Annika was quiet for a moment. Then she said: "Wyatt, I've been doing this seven years. I have never been handed a witness like that on a Thursday night. Tell her she has my office's full protection. We will not name her in any filing until the indictment unseals."
We did not. Joyce's name appeared in the unsealed federal complaint on April 17th, the morning after the township board meeting. The Birch Harbor Estates HOA had already, at that point, recalled Margaret and elected Joyce interim president. Joyce did not need anonymity by then; she had her job.
Hannelore Itakoski drafted the Michigan State Police investigation timeline. Sheriff Halford coordinated with the Oakdale PD on the meeting protocol. Officer Polansky requested to be assigned to the township meeting detail. I approved the request—he had earned it. Cora baked four trays of pasties for the hall that Tuesday afternoon.
The Oakdale Township Hall on the evening of April 16th, 2024, smelled of fresh pasty crust and the coffee Patty Sanderson had been making at the back table since 5:45 p.m. The hall has been the township hall since 1934, when it was built by the WPA out of fieldstone hauled in from a quarry near Big Bay. The hall holds, on a Forest Service occupancy permit, 240 people. There were 117 residents in the seats at 7:00 p.m. when Township Supervisor Esme Tiikkinen called the meeting to order.
Margaret Kilroy was in the third row in a navy blazer and pearls, holding a leather portfolio with her revocation complaint inside. She had her husband Daniel beside her. She had her HOA secretary, Joyce Larkin, in the row behind her with a recording device. She had been preparing for this meeting since March 14th and had rehearsed her remarks twice on the drive over. She did not know the EPA truck was arriving at Birch Harbor Estates at the same minute the meeting was being called to order.
The agenda had seven items. Items 1 through 5 were routine: minutes, bills, a road project, a deer hunting permit clarification, and a fire department equipment allocation. Item 6 was Margaret Kilroy's request for revocation of the Hollis Gas and Grocery commercial license. Item 7 was emergency business: township response to regulatory actions at Birch Harbor Estates. Item 7 had been added to the agenda at 9:47 a.m. that morning by Supervisor Tiikkinen, with the unanimous consent of the board, based on a sealed briefing she had received from Lieutenant Itakoski and Charles Kotila the previous Friday afternoon. Margaret had not seen Item 7. The agenda printed for the public table at the back of the hall had Item 7, but Margaret had not picked up a copy; she had walked in with her own.
Items 1 through 5 took 31 minutes. At 7:31 p.m., Supervisor Tiikkinen said: "Item 6: Mrs. Kilroy."
Margaret stood up. She walked to the podium with her portfolio. She read her prepared remarks for nine minutes. The remarks alleged that my gas station was operating in violation of the township residential overlay (the station had been zoned commercial since 1962, but Margaret did not know this), that my station was a "nuisance to a neighboring community amenity" (referring to her own illegal gas pump), and that my station's long-standing presence was "incompatible with the community character of Birch Harbor Estates." She concluded by formally requesting that the board revoke my commercial license effective immediately.
Supervisor Tiikkinen thanked Margaret for her remarks. She said: "I would now invite Chief Hollis to respond as the station owner of record."
I walked to the podium. I did not raise my voice—I have not had to in 26 years.
I said: "Supervisor, trustees, members of the public: The Hollis family has owned this gas station since May of 1962. The station is and has always been on commercially zoned property under township code section 4.2 since the zoning code was first adopted in 1961. The station has held continuous Michigan retail fuel licensure since 1962. The station has not been the subject of any commercial complaint, environmental complaint, or consumer complaint in any year of its 62 years of operation. The station does not require any defense against Mrs. Kilroy's request, because Mrs. Kilroy's request has no factual or legal basis."
I paused. I looked at the room. I looked at Margaret.
I said: "However, the township board has, by unanimous consent this morning, added Item 7 to tonight's agenda. Supervisor Tiikkinen, I would respectfully request that the board move directly to Item 7."
Supervisor Tiikkinen said: "Item 7: Township response to regulatory actions at Birch Harbor Estates."