By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Ortonville- The village council voted 5-2 Monday night to approve the up-front funding of a time capsule for the 175 th anniversary of the Village of Ortonville. The cost of the project total is $10,500, and the motion that was approved was to pay $5,250 from the 2021-2022 budget and the other $5,250 from the 2022-2023 budget.
“The Village of Ortonville will turn 175 years young in 2023,” said Village manager Ryan Madis. “The historical society is well aware of this and has begun preparations for a celebration next summer.”
During this process, the Ortonville Historical Society was approached by local artist Steve Koslowski to commission a time capsule.

“Local artist Steve Koslowski, you may know him as Koz, has a long history with Ortonville,” said Madis. “He’s eager to celebrate our rich history, and he’s worked with a sculptor on similar time capsules in Key West, Florida.”
Koslowski presented a plan for an above-ground time capsule, made of granite, with sponsor names on the front, sides and back. There will be a total of 70 spaces available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the village will be reimburse the upfront cost of $10,500. Any remaining profits would be split 50/50 between the historical society and the Brandon Groveland Youth Assistance.
“I think we’re putting the cart before the horse when we do projects like this,” said council member Keith Dylus, who voted against the motion along with council member Tony Randazzo. “I think if we want to do things like this, we barely have the money to do the things we need to do, there’s lot of other projects like the garden that we don’t have money to do either, if we want to do something like this, that’s great, then let’s put a plan together first about how we’re going to get donations to pay for it, and then do the project. This is a want, not a need, and we can’t even afford our needs.”
Other members of the board were confident that the funds would be reimbursed rather quickly.
“I very much think that they’ll have no problem covering $10,000,” said council member Pat George.
The time capsule will be 48 inches tall, and will remain on the Old Mill property for 50 years, to be opened in 2073. There are 10 spaces on the front, each with two lines of text, and each side and the back have 20 spaces each with one line of text, meaning there are a total of 70 spaces. Also, the time capsule could be resealed in 2073 with new tablets on all sides with new sponsors due to the durable construction materials.
“I’ve been involved in a number of these things where you buy bricks or you buy this or you buy that, and they sell out,” said council member Kay Green.
For more information on sponsorships, contact the village offices.