City Commission Hears Reasons for Supporting E911 Surcharge

IRONWOOD, MI - Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - The Ironwood City Commission held the second semi-monthly meeting of the month on Monday, April 27, 2009, in the Commission Chambers of the Ironwood Memorial Building.

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Bruce Noren at 5:30 PM. Following the opening prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, City Clerk Karen Gullan recorded the roll. Four of the five Commissioners were present for last night's meeting -- Tom Laabs; Bruce Noren; Gemma Lamb; and Suzanne Toth. Bob Burchell was excused. City staff present at last night's meeting included: City Manager Scott Erickson; City Clerk Karen Gullan, City Attorney A. Dennis Cossi; Community Development Director Dan Petersen; Department of Public Works Working Foreman Joe Magdziak; City Assessor/Building Inspector Dennis Hewitt; Ironwood Public Safety Director Bob Erspamer; and Ironwood Public Safety Officer Brandon Snyder.

The first order of business for the City Commission was the approval of the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda is intended to be a list of mundane, routine, procedures that require no discussion or consideration by the Commission. Three items were on Monday's Consent Agenda:

Approval of the Minutes for the April 13th and April 20th City Commission meetings.
Review and Place on File the Downtown Ironwood Development Authority Minutes for their March 26th meeting.
Reschedule a Public Hearing for Monday, May 11th, 2009, at 5:20 PM to hear comment on the Zoning Ordinance.

After reviewing the Consent Agenda, the Commission unanimously ruled for its approval.

City Financial Director Julie Frederickson was scheduled to present the City's Statement of Revenues and Expenditures and the Monthly Cash reports. She was, however, unable to attend last night's meeting. In her absence, City Manager Scott Erickson presented the financial statements to the Commission. The Commission saw nothing out of the ordinary in her reports and they voted unanimously to place them on file.

Jim Loeper, Gogebic County Director of Emergency Services addressed the Commission with an update on the 911 System. The reason for his address was to educate the Commission and other interested people on the current status of 911 in Gogebic County. On Tuesday, May 5, 2009, voters will be asked to approve a $1.65 monthly surcharge on all phone devices. Back in July, while the costs of service through Negaunee Dispatch have been continually rising, the Michigan Public Services Commission, in their ultimate wisdom, decided to drastically cut the revenues, generated through phone surcharges, of Gogebic County from 52¢ to 30¢. At the time the County was requesting an increase to 60¢.

Loeper told the Commission that initially the Gogebic County Enhanced 911 Committee will be assessing the full $1.65 if approved by the voters. There are two major reasons for charging the full amount. At $1.65, the County will have enough revenue to make required equipment upgrades; continue to pay the yearly mike fees; and make needed repairs to the system that is rapidly becoming obsolete. Currently the many of the radios within the system need to be replaced. A new standard narrow bandwidth radio will soon be mandatory. At $1.65 the County will have enough funds to create a Gogebic County Dispatch Center, creating five new jobs in the County.

Loeper told the Commission that, at the current 30¢ surcharge, the 911 services cannot continue. There simply isn't enough money generated to maintain any form of enhanced 911 with such a small revenue stream. He briefly explained the difference between basic and enhanced 911. Basic 911 is nothing more than caller I.D. He told the Commission that the only information that comes up on a basic 911 system is the caller's phone number and name. If a caller has a block on their caller I.D., then no information comes up. Also, if the call is answered too quickly (on the first ring) the caller I.D. information doesn't appear. Enhanced 911 instantly gives the dispatcher a large amount of important information. Full name and address of the caller; GPS coordinates for cell phone calls; medical alerts about residents within the home; instructions on how to locate the home; etc. This information all comes up instantly, and even if the caller is unable to speak, help can be dispatched.

Louise Demasi questioned Loeper and complained that Ironwood is always paying the "lion's share" of everything. She also felt that there wasn't enough Ironwood representation on the 911 Committee. Mayor Noren said that voters would be less likely to approve a $1.65 surcharge as they would be a 90¢ surcharge. Tom Laabs asked if the Dispatch would be feasible in Ironwood. Loeper reasoned that additional personnel would need to be placed on duty. Currently, because Ironwood no longer has any dispatch, there is no dispatcher on call at night. The county still has personnel on hand at night.

Following Loeper's address, the Commission voted unanimously to appoint City Manager Scott Erickson to the Gogebic County Enhanced 911 Committee.

City Manager Scott Erickson then gave his report. Here are the highlights of his presentation:

Bids for the Norrie Street Bridge Opening - April 28, 2009 - The Wisconsin DOT and Iron County are working together with both Hurley and Ironwood to make the needed repairs to the bridge. Bids will be opened earlier than anticipated, and Coleman Engineering will be the Project Managers for the project.
City Clerk's Absentee Ballot Office Hours - Saturday, May 2, 2009 - 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM - The City Clerk's office will be open to accept absentee ballots.
Curbside Pick-Up - Monday, May 4, 2009 & Tuesday, May 5, 2009 (North of and including Ayer Street) Wednesday, May 6, 2009 & Thursday, May 7, 2009 (South of Ayer Street) - The Department of Public Works provides a curbside pickup for yard waste.
Budget Workshop - Monday May 4, 2009 - 5:30 PM - Memorial Building - The new budget will be discussed and examined.
"Caves Area" Interested Person's "Workshop" - Tuesday, May 5, 2009 - 5:30 PM - A special "workshop" as requested by Bruce Noren and the City Commission to discuss the various people who use the caves and to have their input on the future of that area. Mayor Noren asked that the "meeting" be renamed a "workshop" so that the entire Commission can sit in on the session without the risk of violating the Open Meetings Act.
Make a Difference Day - Saturday, May 9, 2009 - 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Volunteers choose areas throughout town and focus on cleaning up trash and debris in that area. This is a coordinated effort with the Chamber of Commerce. The gathering place for the volunteers is the Depot Museum/Chamber officers. A community picnic, hosted by the City Commission, follows the clean-up to thank the volunteers. Brats and hot dogs will be served.
Blueprints Meeting - Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM - The HyettPalma consultants will be presenting their findings on the Downtown Ironwood Blueprint Program. They will be making their recommendations at this meeting. The meeting place has not yet been determined.
Ironwood Rotary Adopts Top of Mt. Zion - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - Erickson complimented the Rotary for doing such a nice job of cleaning up debris and sprucing up the area on the top of Mt. Zion. May 13, 2009, they will be at it again.
Spring Clean-Up - Saturday, May 16, 2009 - 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM - Next to Northwood's Auto in Downtown Ironwood large dumpsters will be placed to allow people a chance to clear their yards and homes of debris free of charge.
Siren Test - Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - Another company will be showcasing their "state of the art" sirens that the City is hell-bent on purchasing at taxpayer's expense.
Compost Site - Open Monday through Friday - 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM through the end of May. The compost site is located on Frenchtown Road.
Blight Office Hours - Monday, Wednesday and Friday - 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM - Tuesday and Thursday - 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM - Jason Alonen has been doing a very good job of blight enforcement for the City. The City staggered his office hours so that he can be easily reached.

Following the Manager's Report, the Commission went into closed session to discuss the status of the contract negotiations with AFSCME, Local 1538 and the Ironwood Professional Police Association Unions. As always, no action was taken following the meeting.

EDITOR'S NOTE: There are several issues that I feel compelled to address regarding Monday Night's meeting. First of all, I fully support the $1.65 surcharge proposed by the Gogebic County Enhanced 911 Committee. I feel that the security of knowing help is only a phone call away for the price of a good cup of coffee is a bargain.

Secondly, how ridiculous is it that City Commissioners can all attend a "workshop" and freely discuss issues -- even formulating opinions on future decisions -- but they cannot attend a "meeting" without violating the Open Meetings Act. A workshop is hardly a social event, and if you ask me, having a quorum of Commissions meeting at a workshop is a violation of the Open Meetings Act. As it is, a quorum of Commissioners often hold "meetings before the meeting" and "meetings after the meeting" at nearly all City Commission meetings. It's a disgrace.

Finally, if our City leaders are so inept that they cannot come to terms in contract negotiations in three years for public safety and the DPW, then it is time to get new City leaders. What has been spent in legal fees alone, would have satisfied any demands of the unions to date. Prolonging these negotiations to this degree is a gross misuse of taxpayer monies. If our City leaders are delaying the negotiations to save the City money, it just isn't working. The same issue is on every agenda. Often the matter is removed completely. Without fail, once the Commission goes into closed session, no action is ever taken.

It's time our elected officials put a stop to this outrageous waste of taxpayers' money. We elect people to look out for what is best for the community. Failing to negotiate a contract in three years is not in the best interest of this community. It's time we put some value in the people to work for this City. When we need our public safety officers they are there immediately. When our failing infrastructure needs emergency repairs, our City crews are there around the clock. We aren't exactly showing our appreciation for the great work they do when we can't even give them a signed contract. Enough is enough!