City Board of Public Works & Safety renames Joleen Drive to VanVactor Lane

Wednesday, April 30, 2025 at 2:00 AM

By Kathy Bottorff

Monday evening, the Plymouth Board of Public Works and Safety removed Dave Miller's tabled request to change the name of Joleen Drive back to Van Vactor Drive for board action.

The Board of Works faced a dilemma after it named a newly completed north-south street between Miller Drive and VanVactor Drive to Joleen Drive at the request of Dan Sharpe, who put the road in and dedicated it to the city.

When the VanVactors laid out the Planned Unit Development, the proposed road that went east to west was named VanVactor Drive. At the west end of VanVactor Drive, they planned for the road to curve around, going north and south, but that section was never completed.

Sharp completed that section of street, spending over $200,000, and last month dedicated it to the city, requesting that it be called Joleen Drive. The Board of Public Works & Safety accepted the street dedication and approved the name.

Two weeks ago, Dave Miller, representing the VanVactor Family, told the board that the street was named in honor of VanVactor predecessors who have been involved in businesses in Plymouth since the city began.

Following Miller’s request, board member Dave Morrow motioned, and Don Ecker seconded the motion to rename Joleen Drive back to VanVactor Drive. There was additional discussion, and the board tabled the motion and request to give members time to review the information presented.

On Monday evening, Morrow amended his motion to rename the north-south section of the street VanVactor Lane, with the east-west section remaining VanVactor Drive. The board unanimously approved the motion.

Mayor Listenberger spoke to Mr. Sharp, who was in attendance, and said he understood the disappointment with the decision. He said, “Going forward, if we can be of assistance, we want to be there for you. I know that sounds like fluff after that vote, but I mean that. Keep us in the loop of anything you have going on, and maybe we can help in some other ways.”