Monday's City Commission Meeting Could Be a Long One

IRONWOOD, MI - Sunday, December 7, 2008 - The City Commission will be conducting a public hearing at 5:15 PM, Monday, December 8, 2008, in the City Commission Chambers on the second floor of the Ironwood Memorial Building, 213 South Marquette Street, Ironwood, Michigan. The purpose of the hearing is to introduce Ordinance No. 471, Book 4, an Ordinance to Amend Chapter 10, Article IV, Tax Exempt Housing - Towering Pines Development.

The regular meeting of the Commission is scheduled to begin at 5:30 PM, Monday. According the the agenda, the Commission is expected to act on the following Consent Agenda items. (Items on the consent agenda are meant to be rather mundane clerical items that generally wouldn't garner public comment. )

Approval of the Minutes from the November 24th Regular City Commission Meeting.
Review and Place on File:

Pat O'Donnell Civic Center Special Meeting Minutes from October 31, 2008.
Ironwood Planning Commission Meeting Minutes of November 5, 2008.

Issues also on the agenda include:

PROHIBIT PIGEON FEEDING

To discuss and consider adopting Ordinance No. 469, Book 4, and Ordinance to prohibit the feeding of pigeons and/or gulls. The City has held several public hearings and meetings in an attempt to discover solutions to an ongoing problem with an abundance of pigeons in the downtown and other places throughout the City. A part of the solution is to ban feeding of the birds. Other ideas that are being considered include sealing off of abandoned buildings and roosting locations and also to euthanize the birds.

OUTDOOR WOOD FURNACES

To discuss and consider adopting Ordinance No. 470, Book 4, an Ordinance to regulate outdoor furnaces. The City has taken action to control the fumes from outdoor wood furnaces. The proposed ordinance puts additional restrictions on newly installed wood furnances and requires existing outdoor wood furnance owners to increase the stack height on their units. This ordinance has met with quite a bit of controversy from both sides of the issue. The smoke and fumes, especially from those that burn non-wood items in their furnances, is a major issue with those that want to regulate the units. Those that currently use the units fail to see the equity in the ordinance, stating that existing indoor furnaces are no different.

SKATEBOARD EQUIPMENT PURCHASE

To consider awarding a bid to the American Ramp Company in the amount of $29,987.53 for the new skateboard park equipment. This summer the City had a slab poured for a new skate park. Moyle Construction paid for the slab; Ruotsala Concrete Construction did the prep and poured the slab; and city workers assisted. City Manager Scott Erickson negotiated a deal with Moyle Construction, the contractors for the Wal-Mart project, that allowed the contractor to dump construction debris and fill from the Wal-Mart project on City-owned property in exchange for the 50'x100' slab.

SPECIAL WATER RATE FOR SNOCROSS

To discuss and consider a request from the Gogebic Range Snocross Community, LLC, for a special water rate for snowmaking at Mt. Zion for the national snocross event scheduled for December 12th. According to Steve Pallin, "Having an adequate snow supply will ensure that our track will meet national standards. This, in turn, will go a long way towards the event being a successful one."

RE-DESIGNING CITY WEBSITE

To authorize a Request for Proposals (RFP) for assistance with updates and enhancements to the City of Ironwood website. Several committee members and City staffers have discussed possible upgrades to the City's website. The general concensus is that the current website doesn't do a proper job representing the City and selling what the City has to offer. An upgraded website would easily tie into the Chamber's site and other related sites, so that prospective business clients can easily find out what Ironwood has to offer.

PUMP HOUSE RENTAL AGREEMENT

To discuss and consider a rental agreement with Don Bertels for the City-owned house located on Pump Station Road. According to a Scott Erickson memo to the Mayor and the City Commission, "As one of his many duties with the City, Mr. Don Bertels has performed the duties of the assistant pump station operator for the City's municipal well field operations. Under his agreement with the City, Don has resided in the pump station's on-site residence for approximately 22 years. After 35 years of working for the City of Ironwood, Mr. Bertels will be retiring in mid-December, 2008. After many years of living in the residence it is recommended to temporarily rent the home to Mr. Bertels to allow him a reasonable period of time to find an alternative residence and to relocate from the home. It is recommended that the rental agreement be developed to establish a month-to-month rental contract, not to exceed six months. This would allow time for Mr. Bertels to find alternative housing and move his residence next spring (June, 2008). The rental agreement will also provide some revenue for the City while at the same time reducing expenses, as Mr. Bertels will also be required to pay the utility costs." Mr. Erickson is expected to recommend to the Commission to prepare a rental agreement for up to six months in the amount of $300/month plus utilities.

SNOWMOBILES ON CITY STREETS

To discuss and consider snowmobiles access on designated City Streets. At a special input meeting citizens overwhelmingly rejected the idea of opening most of the City's streets to snowmobile traffic. At a Planning Commission public hearing on last Wednesday, easily sixty percent of the comments made by the people were in opposition to the idea. Inspite of all the objects, the Planning Commission ruled to recommend to the City Commission a one-month trial period that would allow snowmobile traffic on City streets.

In addition, the City Manager will make his report to the Commission, and the Commission will consider the following issues in closed session:

PUBLIC SAFETY CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

To discuss the status of contract negotiations with the AFSCME, Local 1538 and Ironwood Professional Police Association Unions. Ironwood Public Safety officers have been working without of contract for twenty-one months. On July 28, 2008, the Ironwood Professional Police Association (IPPA) stated an informational picket in an effort to get the matter resolved. Back then, sixteen months of negotiations yielded no resolution to the problem. The IPPA has made several concessions, including changes in retirement that would save the City taxpayers thousands of dollars in the future. The City and the IPPA have yet to come to terms.

QUARTERLY CITY MANAGER EVALUATION

The City Commission will evalue the work performance of Ironwood City Manager Scott Erickson. Back on November 12, 2005, the City Commission, composed of John Cain; John Kasieta; Cliff Koivisto; Tom Yelich and Bruce Noren voted unanimously to hire Erickson. Prior to his hiring, former Community Development Director Pat Merrill and City Clerk Karen Gullan served as c0-managers. The Commission will determine if Mr. Erickson's performance as Ironwood's City Manager has been satisfactory.