By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Officials in the Town of Lyons are hoping to convince Talmer Bank and Trust to reconsider its decision to close the branch office at 1479 Creekside Drive, in the heart of Lyons.
And if that doesn’t work, town officials are inviting other banks to consider opening a branch office in the township.
“Our main focus will be to solicit other banks to see if they’re interested in opening something in Lyons,” Town Clerk Karla Hill said Tuesday.
She said the Town Board discussed the matter at its Feb. 13 meeting and decided to send a letter expressing their displeasure with Talmer’s decision.
The board also decided to craft a letter that will be sent to other area financial institutions inviting them to consider a Lyons office.
Talmer recently notified its customers in Lyons by letter that it will close the office May 11.
“It was strictly a business decision,” said Shellie Maitre, chief marketing officer for Talmer. “Lyons is one of our smallest offices. They didn’t have much traffic and they only have two employees.
“Everyone feels bad about it, but we wanted to put our resources into the Burlington and Lake Geneva offices,” she said.
The Burlington branch is just over five miles away and the Lake Geneva office is about seven miles away from Lyons.
Hill said town officials became involved after receiving complaints and concerns from local residents regarding the pending closure.
She said the township has had a bank since the late 1800s.
Lyons resident Bonnie Seeger, a customer of Talmer, said she understands why people are angry.
“I know there are going to be people who’ll be upset,” she said. “I still see a lot of cars there.”
However, she said the closing will not have a huge impact on her because she mainly uses Talmer’s online and telephone banking services, which cuts down on the need to visit the branch office.
Hill said town officials believe Lyons is still a viable location for a branch office with about 1,200 or the town’s 3,000 residents in close proximity to the business district near the intersection of Highway 36 and Mill Street.
She said local customers who want to complain about the bank’s decision may contact the FDIC Consumer Response Center by letter at 1100 Walnut St., Box 11, Kansas City, MO, 64106, attention Ruby; or by fax at (703) 812-1020.
The Lyons office was originally a branch of Burlington-based First Banking Center. However, that changed in late November of 2010 when the FDIC abruptly closed First Banking Center after deeming it a failure – a victim of bad loans brought on by the economic recession.
The bank reopened a few days later after ownership was awarded to First Michigan Bank. The new entity was renamed Talmer Bank and Trust months later.
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