Parks & Rec Approves Bike Trail and Plan to Allow Snowmobiles on City Streets

IRONWOOD, MI - Monday, December 6, 2010 - The Ironwood Parks and Recreation Committee (IP&RC) held their regular monthly meeting this evening in the Community Development Conference Room on the second floor of the Ironwood Memorial Building in Downtown Ironwood.

The meeting was called to order by IP&RC Chairman Sam Davey at 6:00 PM. Community Development Director Merritt Bussiere recorded the roll. At the time the roll was called, Annette Burchell, Eric Lytwyniuk, and John Wyssling were absent and not present. (Lytwyniuk and Wyssling showed up after the roll was taken.) Present for the meeting were: Sam Davey; Marion True; John Wyssling; Eric Lytwyniuk; Laura Thomas; and Steve Frank. Also present for the meeting was Community Development Director Merritt Bussiere and yours truly reporting for the Superior Chronicle.

After the roll was taken, the Committee unanimously approved the Regular Meeting Minutes of the November 2, 2010 meeting with a small correction. References were made to Norrie Park rather than the playground at the Norrie School.

The Commission then addressed the docket. Steve Frank asked to discuss and consider a set of rules for the media regarding audio, video and photographic coverage of IP&RC meetings. That item was added to the Docket under Other Business.

Chairman Davey gave those in attendance the opportunity to voice their opinions on Agenda Items. This reporter told the Committee that I might want to weigh in on the item Mr. Frank added to the Docket.

Bicycle Routes Around the City

Bussiere presented the Committee members with a map of Existing, Proposed, and North Alternate Trails A&B. According to the map, the existing trails are located at: Greenbush - From Cloverland Drive North to Margaret Street; Lake Street - From Cloverland Drive North to Margaret Street; Alfred Wright Boulevard - From McLeod Avenue South to Lime Street.

Proposed trails include: Broadway Avenue -From Cloverland Drive South to Hemlock; Hemlock - From Broadway Avenue South to West Frederick Street; West Frederick Street East to Lowell Street; Lowell Street - From Frederick South to McLeod (Ties into Existing Alfred Wright Boulevard Trail); Ayer Street - From Lowell Street East to Suffolk Street; Suffolk Street - From Ayer Street North to Frederick Street; Frederick Street - From Suffolk East to Douglas Boulevard; Douglas Boulevard North to Cloverland Drive; Ayer Street - From Lowell Street to Country Club Road; Norrie Park Road - From Lime Street to Erwin Township; South Range Road to Frenchtown to Lake Street.

An Alternate Trail A is included on the map. This trail ties Broadway Avenue to Luxmore via Midland Avenues and Margaret Street to Jackson. Alternate Trail B is basically Cloverland Drive.

The Committee was generally pleased with the plan, however, a few changes were suggested:

For both safety and aesthetic reasons, the Committee felt that a bike route along Cloverland Drive was not practical. The possibility of having a bike trail on one side of Cloverland (US-2) and sidewalks on the other was briefly discussed. John Wyssling explained two of the projects the Planning Commission is working on -- access management which controls traffic flow and regulates curb cuts for safety reasons AND visual enhancement which will make Ironwood's Highway Corridor more aesthetically pleasing. After a brief discussion the Committee felt a bike path didn't fit into either the access management or visual enhancement plans.
A trail from Hurley along Aurora to Downtown.
A trail along Burma Road up to Manny's and the Hiawatha statue.
A trail along Norrie Street to Hurley.
A loop through Mt. Zion by the College.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve the proposed bike trails as corrected on the map. The approved map will be sent to the City Commission with the IP&RC's recommendation to approve.

Snowmobiles on City Streets

After a rather heated discussion regarding snowmobiles on City streets, the Committee voted to suggest to the City Commission that a resolution be passed allowing snowmobiles traveling between city residences and trails to have access to all city streets and alleyways. (The Committee asked that "highways" be removed from the recommendation to the the Commission). Steve Frank and Laura Thomas voted against the recommendation.

Five Year Recreation Plan

The Committee briefly reviewed the progress on the five year recreation plan. Merritt Bussiere told the Committee that the first efforts to distribute and collect the surveys was interrupted by extremely poor weather. He said new surveys are being mailed out and the data will be entered by high school students; the numbers will be analyzed by Merritt; and a report will be available by the end of January 2011.

The Committee agreed to hand in their notes on the Five Year Plan so that Mr. Bussiere can incorporate them into the new plan. At a later date he will present the draft with the additions included to be reviewed and retooled. One of Mr. Bussiere's goals is to create a digital version of the Plan so that changes can easily be made in the future.

Merritt noted that press releases were sent out today to local media to notify the public that surveys are being done.

Project Updates

Merritt Bussiere briefly discussed the following:

Purchasing a binder for each member of the Committee. All maps and documents handed out could be punched and placed into the binders. When a member of the Committee resigns or leaves office, his replacement could have access to all of the information of his predecessor. Binders could be left in the Community Development Conference Room or taken home. That is yet to be determined. The Committee seemed to like the idea.
The Committee said they would like to have a Google Earth-type map that showed all of the area parks and projects. They said they would like to have an aerial map that shows the buildings and everything. They decided that a printed map wasn't necessary, but a Google Earth map could be created with overlays.
At 9:00 AM on Thursday, December 9th, 2010, there will be a meeting to discuss the public purchase of all railroad grades for trails. This was tried three times previously, but it never was completed. Merritt told the Committee that the MDNR has the funds to purchase the property, but the job was never done. The Committee decided to send a recommendation to the City Commission to commit up to $10,000 for title research funding (roughly 1/3 of the total costs to have a legal specialist do the work) to acquire the railroad grades. The vote was unanimous.

Citizens Comments

This reporter explained that I have much respect for the members of the Committee and I like the work that they are doing. I said it would be nice to see the Committee have a budget in the future. I did, however express my concern for snowmobiles on all city streets, and I did remind the members that taxpayers come in all sizes and shapes. Snowmobilers and ATV riders aren't the only taxpayers in the City of Ironwood.

I also reminded the Committee that Merritt was selling various nuts for the Kiwanis Club.

Other Business

Steve Frank told the Committee that restrictions needed to be placed on audio, video, and photographic coverage of the meetings. He explained that you cannot stop people (especially recognized media) from covering the meetings, but that doesn't mean the City's Committees, Commissions, and Boards need to be unfairly and improperly attacked with petty and juvenile reports on blog-sites.

Frank explained that a site run by Lou Bonagura often uses derogatory nicknames for City officials and Committee members. Closeup videos are taken and distributed on YouTube, not with the intent of reporting news, but more or less to embarrass and harass people. Often the video camera is focused on citizens trying to address the City, and people are intimidated by that.

Franks recommendations were as follows:

Audio and video recording of meetings must be done from stationary microphones/cameras focused solely on the Committee. The recorder is to be left unattended and is not to be held and directed at audience members.
No photos can be taken during the meeting except by approved media.
No photos of the audience except by approved media.
No audio, video, or photos shall be posted to a third party hosting site such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube without written permission.

The Committee voted unanimously to adopt the rules as Frank presented. They will be printed and available for inspection. Mr. Bussiere will check to see if changes need to be made to the Committee's bylaws.

Laura Thomas explained that she was disappointed that there were no Holiday decorations on the highway. The Committee agreed and Merritt will see why no effort to decorate US-2 was made.

And finally, John Wyssling announced that he was resigning from the Parks and Recreation Committee. He said he is overwhelmed with his responsibilities on both the Planning Commission and the Ironwood Economic Development Corporation Board, and he needed to start cutting back. The Committee expressed their gratitude for his years of service and told him that he would be sadly missed.