Commission Gets Aggressive On Blight -- Tables Action On Hovey Ballot Language

IRONWOOD, MI - Tuesday, July 28, 2009 - Prior to last night's regularly scheduled Ironwood City Commission meeting, the Commission conducted six Public Hearings. The first Hearing began at 4:50 PM, and all of the hearings (along with the regular meeting) were held in the Commission Chambers on the second floor of the Ironwood Memorial Building.

The first Public Hearing was before the Board of Zoning Appeals (the Board of Zoning Appeals IS the City Commission in the City of Ironwood). The board requested comment on a Dimensional Variance request from Vicky Templer for property located at 127 Luxmore Street. The lot has a width of 90 feet. Zoning Ordinances require that 150 feet of width is required for C-3 (Highway Commercial) zoning. Ms. Templer is attempting to open the "Puppy Parlor" pet grooming service at that location. The Commission voted unanimously to allow the Variance.

The second Public Hearing was to hear comment on declaring blighted property at 632 East McLeod Avenue for abatement. The property is owned by Julie Widner, P.O. Box 181, Alexandria, TN  37012.

A third Public Hearing discuss a repeat blight offender and was to hear comment on declaring blighted property at 213 Bonnie Street for abatement. The property is owned by John Harteloo, 213 Bonnie Street, Ironwood, Michigan 49938. Several neighbors and audience members expressed concern for the constant blighted state of the property.

The reason for the fourth Public Hearing was to hear comment on declaring blighted property at 124 West Aurora Street for abatement. The property is owned by Donald Morrison, 124 West Aurora Street, Ironwood, Michigan 49938. Several comments were made from people in attendance. Steve Frank asked why the focus is on a single vehicle when there is so many more severe cases throughout the City. This reporter asked why the front of the building -- facing the City's main street wasn't the more damaging to the image of the City.

Clocks were the issue of the fifth Public Hearing. The hearing was to introduce and Ordinance to amend Chapter 34 of the City of Ironwood Code of Ordinances rezoning 803 North Lake Street from R-1 Residential to C-1 Neighborhood Commercial. This will allow Randall and Deborah Stoltenberg to locate their clock and watch repair business (previously on Aurora Street in Downtown Ironwood) in a house just south of the Theatre North building.

The sixth and final Public Hearing was to discuss submitting a grant application to the Michigan Department of Transportation Enhancement Program Fund for Railroad Grade Acquisition. Steve Frank pointed out that the MDOT insisted, like the MDNR that Railroad Grades be used for "non-motorized" trails only. He said it is very clearly worded that grant funds are for silent sports use.

The regular meeting was called to order at approximately 5:30 PM. Following the Opening Prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance, City Clerk Karen Gullan recorded of the roll. All five City Commissioners were present: Bob Burchell, Tom Laabs, Mayor Bruce Noren, Gemma Lamb, and Suzanne Toth. Also present at last night's meeting were the following City staffers: City Manager Scott Erickson; City Clerk Karen Gullan; City Attorney A. Dennis Cossi; Utilities Manager Bob Tervonen; Community Development Director Dan Petersen; Financial Director Julie Frederickson; City Assessor/Building Inspector Dennis Hewitt; Blight and Code Enforcement Officer Jason Alonen; Ironwood Public Safety Department (IPSD) Director Bob Erspamer; IPSD Detective Rod Passuello; and IPSD Officers Bandon Snyder and Andrew Leiphart. Representing the media at last night's meeting were Lou Bonagura and Arvo Toolanen from IronwoodInfo.com; Annette Manwell from the Daily Globe; and yours truly.

CONSENT AGENDA - Before the Commission went to work on the Regular Agenda, they first considered the Approval of the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda is supposed to be a list of mundane, routine clerical duties that shouldn't require discussion or debate. The following items were listed on Monday's Consent Agenda:

1. Approval of the July 13th Regular City Commission Meeting minutes.
2. Review and Place on file the Gogebic-Ontonagon Community Action Agency Meeting minutes of June 18th.
3. Scheduling a Board of Zoning Appeals Public Hearing for Monday, August 10th at 5:20 PM to hear comment on a dimensional variance request from Thomas and Joy Kraynak, 320 Brogan Street.
4. Approve distribution of the proposed plan amendment "Ironwood Downtown Blueprint 2009" and adopt resolution #09-20, asserting the Ironwood City Commission's right to approve or reject the proposed plan amendment after approval by the Planning Commission.

Mayor Noren asked the Commission and those in attendance if they wished any of the Consent Agenda Items to be put on the Regular Agenda for consideration.  This reporter requested that Item #1, Approval of the Previous Minutes, be moved and Steve Frank requested that #4 be placed on the Regular Agenda. The Mayor placed Consent Agenda Item #1 on the regular agenda as G1 and Item #4 as G2.

Following the approval of the amended Consent Agenda, the Commission received and placed on file the Monthly Cash Reports from Finance Director Julie Frederickson; they then approved the amended Agenda; and they gave citizens the opportunity to address the Commission on Agenda items. Steve Frank asked to speak on several of the items and this reporter attempted to reserve the right to address any and all items to insure clear and accurate reporting to the general public. The Mayor denied my request, but did allow me to be recognized for Item G1 -- the Consent Agenda item I asked to be placed on the Regular Agenda.

The following Old Business Items were considered at yesterday evening's regularly scheduled meeting:

HEMLOCK STREET VACATION - Consider adopting an Ordinance allowing for a portion of Hemlock Street to be vacated. The street is not really a street. It's a piece of vacant property. The property owners on each side of the street would share the vacated land.

APPROVAL OF THE JULY 13, 2009 MINUTES - This reporter requested that this item be discussed so that I could pose the following questions:

Mayor Noren, back on February 11, 2008, you made a request to the City Manager that items involving significant amounts of money always be placed on the regular agenda. The Consent Agenda item that led to this request involved awarding a $189,750 RFP for Water System SCADA Improvements to a company in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

Item #3 of the July 13th Consent Agenda,“Approve Resolution #09-12 for the Water Supply System and Resolution #09-13 for the Sewage Disposal System authorizing Notice of Intent to issue Revenue Bonds and Declaration of Intent to Reimburse for Jessieville Project Phase II & III (Water and Sewage Disposal System),” involved the notice of intent to issue Revenue Bonds for the Jessieville water and sewer project Phases II and III.

Although no dollar values were mentioned in the Consent Agenda item, the Bond Request will force City water customers to repay $2.3 million plus interest over the next 40 years. Considering the significant amount of money this item involves, why was it on the Consent Agenda? And shouldn’t an issue, such as this, involving millions of dollars of interest-bearing public debt to be repaid over such a long term, be publically discussed?

Steve Frank pointed out that issuing of bonds is supposed to be decided, according to the City Charter, by a vote of the people.

APPROVE DISTRIBUTION OF THE BLUEPRINT PLAN - Steve Frank questioned the unique language of the approval.

BALLOT LANGUAGE FOR HOVEY PILOT - Discuss and consider the approval of ballot language for the voters to decide if the wish to allow the City to adopt an Ordinance allowing the City to enter into  a 4% PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement with Hovey, Companies, LLC.

The proposed ballot language is as follows:

TOWERING PINES/HOVEY COMPANIES 49 UNIT APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT

PROPOSAL TO CHARGE HOVEY COMPANIES A SERVICE CHARGE OF 4% EACH YEAR IN LIEU OF TAXES FOR THE PART OF THE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT WHICH IS TAX EXEMPT AND WHICH IS OCCUPIED BY OTHER THAN LOW INCOME PERSONS OR FAMILIES SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE TAXES WHICH WOULD BE PAID ON THAT PORTION OF THE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IF THE HOUSING WERE NOT TAX EXEMPT. A MINIMUM OF TWO (2) UNITS SHALL REMAIN TAXABLE WITHOUT INCOME RESTRICTIONS AT ALL TIME DURING THE DURATION OF THIS ORDINANCE FOR A PERIOD NOT TO EXCEED THIRTY-FIVE (35) YEARS.

Shall the City of Ironwood adopt an Ordinance to provide for a service charge in lieu of taxes for a proposed multiple family dwelling project for persons of low income, moderate income, income levels (HUD-2006) guidelines to be financed or assisted pursuant to the provisions of the State Housing Development Authority Act of 1966, as amended.

YES (  ) 

NO (  )

City Attorney A. Dennis Cossi explained that he is waiting to see if the election board requires this proposal to be merely advisory. He asked to table the matter and the Commission agreed.

Steve Frank asked why the formula for calculating PILOT payments wasn't included in the ballot language. Mayor Noren agreed and he said that the issue can be discussed when the issue comes before the Commission at the next meeting.

BLIGHT & ABATEMENT - After briefly discussing the ballot language for the Hovey PILOT proposal, the City Commission took action on the blighted properties discussed during the public hearings. The following properties will be discussed: 632 East McLeod Avenue; 213 Bonnie Street; and 124 West Aurora Street. The Commission unanimously voted to declare each of them as blight and they agreed to have them all abated.

MDOT GRANT APPLICATION - The Commission decided to apply for MDOT Transportation Enhancement Program Fund for Railroad Grade Acquisition discussed during the Public Hearing. Even though the Trail Authority is also applying, the Commission felt that it wouldn't hurt for multiple efforts.

PAYMENT IN LIEU OF HEALTHCARE COVERAGE - The Commission considered and unanimously passed a resolution to authorize a Payment in Lieu of Healthcare Coverage Policy for current and future early retirees. The resolution will save the City money and will not sacrifice services to the policy holders.

RESCINDING HMG to MSP - The Commission decided to rescind the Hazardous Mitigation Grant since it was no longer needed.

FARMER'S MARKET -  The Commission decided to waive the Merchants Annual Fee for a Farmer's Market to located at the Depot Park. DIDA Chairman George Goerig proposed the idea of hosting a Downtown Farmer's Market. A final decision on the market date will be made at the next DIDA meeting at the end of August. This means the market will be held sometime in early to mid-September at the earliest. At the DIDA meeting businesswoman Mary Waits tried to make the DIDA aware of the time constraints, but Chairman Goerig would not allow her to speak at the meeting.

USED LADDER TRUCK - The City Commission heard a presentation by IPSD Director Bob Erspamer regarding the possibility of purchasing a 1982 Pierce Platform Ladder Truck in the amount of $39,000 from the Stevens Point Wisconsin Fire Department. Previously, the IPSD received a donation of a 1969 85-foot ladder truck from the owners of Fishtales Pub and Grub on Lake Gogebic. The donated ladder truck has proven to be a life-saving, property-damage-reducing work-horse for the Department, however, it is 40 years old. (See Related Story)

ADVERTISING FOR BIDS ON 1969 LADDER TRUCK - The Commission decided to place the IPSD's 1969 Ladder Truck up for bids. The minimum bid will be set a $4,000. IPSD officers put countless hours into restoring the used vehicle. Local businesses donated the paint and supplies to help restore the donated Ladder Truck and Rapid Grafiks, Chuck and Julie Anderson, donated the lettering. Their efforts will be honored on the new truck. (See Related Story)

BEFORE GOING INTO CLOSED SESSION - Before going into closed session to discuss the status of contract negotiations with AFSCME, Local 1538 and also discuss matters exempt for State Law, the Commission heard the Manager's Report; discussed Other Matters: and allowed Citizens wishing to address the Commission a chance to do so. No action was taken on the AFSCME negotiations once the Commission returned to open session.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A detailed report of Monday's City Commission meeting will be posted later this afternoon.