City Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call to order the Thursday, March 19th, 2026 meeting of the Marquette City Commission at 6 PM. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Um, city clerk, roll call, please. Commissioner Davis, Commissioner Gotautle, here. Commissioner Hanley, here. Commissioner Larson, here. Commissioner Mayor here. Mayor Prom Ottawa here and Mayor Schlaggel

here. Uh thank you. Um motion to excuse Commissioner Davis. I move that we excuse Commissioner Davis for personal reasons. Get a second, please. I'll support that. Commissioner Mayor. Uh any discussion? The snow kept a lot of us away. I'm not surprised that one of us was stuck out of town.

Right. Thank you. Um all in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed? No. Thank you. Motion passes 60. Uh we have agenda in front of us and was there a change made on this? Are we good to go? We don't have any public hearing. Okay. Or any presentations tonight. Um is there a motion for the agenda? Commissioner Gotley. I'll move to approve the agenda as presented. Thank you. And second, Commissioner Hanley. I second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed? No.

Motion passes 60. Uh I don't have any announcements. City manager, do you have anything you want to touch on? No time.

Okay. Thank you. And that brings us to um we don't have any appointments, so we're going to get right on to public comment. Public comment is to not exceed three minutes per person. Please come to the podium and say your name and address. Good evening. Zach Sedwick, Mark of Public Schools Superintendent, 1201 West Fair Avenue, mayor, commissioners, city manager, other administration. Appreciate your time having me here. Want to start by thanking you. I'm probably going to use two public comments because I realize there's no way I'm getting this done in three minutes. So, thank you really truly for your leadership, for your public service. I know that it's no easy endeavor. I also want to highlight the partnership between the city and the public school district. I think about administration who I work closely with, law enforcement very closely with, and also more recently with respect to infrastructure. It is commendable what your road crews did to enable us to open school up yesterday when other districts nearby could not. So, thank you. If you could pass on my regards to your road crews, city, township, county, and etc. Speaking of infrastructure, I am of course here to talk about our bond proposal which is on the May 5th agenda. A 59.995 million proposal. That's a 1.55 mil impact. We have over 750,000 square feet of buildings at Marquette Area Public Schools. Our buildings, we have seven that house students. We have four elementary schools, a middle school, and two high schools. Our building's average age is 60 years old. Our newest buildings, the buildings

people always talk about as our newest buildings, Cherry Creek and Severe Hills, are 30 years old, over 30 years old. Our building bones, our brick and mortar, are solid, but the systems inside are not. Many of those systems have not been updated since the building's inception, 30 or more years. again on average 60 years old. There's three main pillars to my presentation to my to the proposal that we have on the ballot. Safety, infrastructure, and programming. Safety has always been our focus. We've invested a significant amount of district dollars, general fund capital projects, and also through grants to address safety. That's still an important component of this proposal, particularly ADA accessibility, infrastructure. I mentioned those systems, electrical systems, plumbing systems, heating, ventilation, etc. Our furnaces literally run for 10 months out of the year. Our operational efficiency is lacking. The infrastructure that I'm talking about, the partnership with the city, our school district, I think you would probably attest, is a significant part of the city's infrastructure, including historical sites like MSHs and Graverette. And then programming, academics, athletics, and the arts. All three of those areas touched by this proposal. We're literally hitting every building and every student with this $60 million proposal. And since I'm almost out of time, I'll talk to you a little bit more about how we came up with 60 million. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else public comment? Seeing none, public comment is closed. Uh we move on to our consent agenda. Um is there a motion, please? Yes. Commissioner Larson. I move that we accept the con the consent agenda as presented

and prom second. Thank you. Any discussion? Nope. None. I will say that there's a number of important items on that consent that uh is worth taking a look at if you got some free time, but at this time we decided not to pull any of them off there for various reasons. But lots of good things happening within the city. Uh with that, we'll bring it to a roll call vote. City clerk. Commissioner Gotautle, yes. Commissioner Hanley, yes. Commissioner Larson, yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Mayor Protoay, yes. And Mayor Schlaggel, yes. Motion passes 60.

Moving on to new business. We've got a couple of items here. The first one would be our uh active transportation plan. Background, please. City clerk.

Thank you, mayor. The city Marquette was the recipient of a rural development fund grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. The intent of this grant program is to promote the sustainability of land-based industries and support infrastructure that benefits rural communities. The city received the grant to conduct essential planning for active transportation and microobility infrastructure and selected tool design, a leading planning, engineering, and landscape architecture firm specializing in multimodal transportation to assist the city in this effort. The need for this planning was underscored by the increased pressure on existing bike paths resulting from both pedestrians and a significant surge in the usage of ebikes in various forms of electric micromobility devices. The total contract was for $59,968 and the grant covered $41,978 of this amount. The active transportation plan is meant to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing conditions of the city's active transportation network and suggest recommendations on areas to improve with best practice suggestions for that improvement. This plan gives the city a detailed manual of roadway and path considerations when engaging in capital improvement planning and a firm basis to be competitive for funding opportunities, especially through state and federal grants when the opportunities arise and fit into our capital needs. It is important to note that this project provides a manual of recommendations according to planning best practices that align with the standards considered by granting agencies but does not obligate the city to immediate action, a specific design or a major policy decision. This plan has undergone extensive internal review from city staff as well as review from the planning commission and the traffic parking advisory committee in addition to a significant public participation component during the planning process. Fiscal effect. The active transportation plan was funded by an MDARD grant and approval of the plan will constitute the final fulfillment of granting obligations. No further expenditure is required by this action. Recommendation adopt the city of Marquette active transportation plan. Alternatives as determined by the commission.

Thank you, city clerk. Um, commissioners, is there a motion? Commissioner Gotautle. Yeah, I move that we adopt the city of Marquette active transportation plan as presented. Thank you. Is there a second, please? Pro Tim Oway second. Thank you. Discussion.

Yes. Overall, u I've read this report several times now. I think it's a really good report. I hope the money to implement it is found. Um what I really like to see though is it it be implemented in conjunction with what the city commission ultimately approves after consideration of the findings of the ebike uh multi-use uh bike path task force as presented previously. I'd also like to thank the city administration for reviewing uh comments made and uh taking them into account in the final draft. I think it's a wonderful report. Thank you. Proton, do you have anything?

I'll just echo uh Commissioner Gotautle. Uh he he I'm sure has read through this because it's a big interest of his. So I I know that he's probably an expert on it at this point. Um, but I will certainly say that uh second to him, uh, uh, Sean Hobbins, I'm sure you did an excessive amount of work on this, so I really want to say thank you to to you on that as well as the rest of city staff. Um, that's about all I got to say about it. Thank you, commissioners. Commissioner Hanley,

I reviewed the plan and there's a lot in it that I see being really useful and some things that we can probably implement sooner rather than later, which I like. I know that the best part about this was how much you took public input into it. You did the multiple learning sessions. You went to places where you would have people using bikes or other forms of transportation. You really reached out to the community, Sean. And I really do appreciate everything you did to make sure that that was implemented so much into this plan. I think it is very comprehensive and leads us in a good way to go forward with how we can have all forms of transportation in this city. Anything further? Do you want to weigh in on anything, Sean? Deputy city manager.

Um, just that I I really appreciate all the um public involvement during the and forgive the term Commissioner Gotley, but during the transportation of Palooa um you know, we had a lot of public feedback um over those two days. We really did go out and try and meet the community where they were um to get that feedback and not just the people that you know were were out and about using it. Uh but we tried to catch a large opinion of um you know all potential users or people who experienced um you know bike path or street path traffic. um in addition to the the large amount of online uh responses we got for the survey and then you know was thanks to the u public boards including this one that spent time looking through it um and reviewing it um Commissioner Gotautle especially gave me some really detailed uh feedback on it um that I really appreciated um and I'm just really excited to you know move forward with this plan.

Yeah, thank you. Um I I just you know pat you on the back one more time. It's just great to see uh a plan like this come come through the system and uh like you number of the commissioners already mentioned you know public input was really uh wellreceived and I I'm I'm excited to see this and I'm not sure if we were would you know make a plan to do this again in the future how many years down the down the line how many of us will be around to do it again but it's definitely one of those things I think you'd see benefit and um to to visit on a on a somewhat you know regular basis just to make sure doing best practice. So, good stuff. Uh, thank you. With that being said, we will go to a vote. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed?

No. Motion passes six to zero. Uh, the next item of new business is the congressionally directed spending request. City clerk, background, please.

Thank you, mayor. The city has been encouraged to submit potential projects or items through the fiscal year 2027 congressionally directed spending request process. The CDS request, if approved, would provide for earmark funding from the federal budget for qualified high impact projects in a local unit of government. Projects must meet specific criteria defined in the applicable categories for the 2027 year. Several critical need projects have been identified as suitable for CDS requests and are listed in the attached document. Fiscal effect none. Recommendation direct the city manager to submit the requests identified for fiscal year 2027 congressional directed spending with the appropriate federal legislative office alternatives as determined by the commission.

Thank you, city clerk. Uh commissioner's motion, please. Commissioner Hamley. I mo I move that we direct the city manager to submit requests identified for fiscal year 2027 corre congressional directed spending with the appropriate federal legislative office. Thank you. Second, please. Mr. Mayor, I'll second the motion, your honor. Thank you. Discussion. I am really excited to see that we are pushing again for a ladder truck and I really hope that the congressionally directed spending chooses to give that to us. Not that the other stuff that we're asking for isn't just as important, but I would really like to see that off of our plate. So,

I was just gonna ask the city manager, just because it's not in the background, could just list the four items we have um for the public knowledge.

Certainly. Um so, the four items that qualified because the uh categories for um this round of congressionally directed spending are very specific um need to fall within certain eligibility. And I just want to mention that um Marquette is considered rural, but we are too large to be considered rural to apply for many of the other grants that uh the category that would have funded a lot of the other ones that we do have listed on our on our on our very important long and long list. Um but the four categories or the four items that were um selected to apply and and um go forward are the fire department uh aerial platform ladder truck um the um a joint first responder training facility which would be a partnership with NMU um and in an area near um to their uh lineman program and their um uh their technical um facility as well. The third project uh is a engineering and structural analysis for the lower harbor bulkhead replacement um and um reinforcement. And the last one is a category for services for independent living older adults. So senior service um support uh for programming.

Thank you. Good question. Thank you. Thank you. Anything further, guys? Okay. Uh those are some pretty serious asks and u very much needed requests. Um, cross your fingers. Let's hope that something comes through on these. Uh, with that being said, we'll bring it to a vote. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. Yes. Opposed? No. Motion passes six to zero. Uh, that brings us to our second public comment. Got a feeling we're going to hear from somebody. Uh, if you remember, they cannot pass cannot go past three minutes. And if you have not already done so, please state your name and address.

And I did that. So, thank you for having me back. Continue where I left off and want to talk a little bit about how we got here when I took over as superintendent. It was clearly evident that infrastructure was going to be a focus and it has been a focus. We've done our own internal audits analysis and then more recently in May, the state of Michigan released a statewide infrastructure study told public schools throughout Michigan they had $23 billion worth of critical infrastructure needs. Marquet area public schools over $100 million worth of critical infrastructure needs. Thank you, state of Michigan. Since we had actually determined that already. So hundred plus million dollars worth of needs. Well, how did we get to 60 million? We sent a survey out back in September. We actually had six different options on that survey. A base plan, $60 million plan, 70, 80, 90, and then a couple of additional projects, an early childhood program, and an indoor practice facility. the survey, the feedback from the community made it clear that they wanted to stick with the $60 million base plan. So, we did, we asked and we listened and that survey did drive the scope of the $60 million proposal. It also articulated the $ 1.55 mil impact. We have been tried, we have made an effort to be transparent. More recently, we sent fact sheets to 17,000 voters. That's much like we did with the survey. You probably saw this before. I gave it to you this evening. talks about some of the things that I'm talking about tonight. Fiscal responsibility. We have a 1.55 mil impact on this proposal. We currently levy about 1.31 mills. That includes a syncing fund a little under one mil. That syncing fund generates about 1.31 mill excuse me. The syncing fund is 1 part of the 1.31 mills. It generates about $1.3 million a year of revenue. 1.3 is great, but not sufficient when you have over $100 million worth of need. So, the 1.31

we levy plus 1.55 that we're asking for is about 2.86. Even with that 1.55 increase, we're below our neighbors and the state average, which is about 4.5 mills. 1.31 is what we currently levy. Many of you have seen my presentation where you see the amount that MAPS levies compares to our districts fiscal responsibility again transparency with the surveys that we've sent out. We asked and we listened and I just want to talk again about operational efficiency, the importance of infrastructure when it comes to our community and workforce readiness. The future of our community is our students. I think you would agree much of this proposal is focused on uh academics, athletics, and the arts, CTE, career and technical education, preparing our next generation for the workforce, the talent pipeline that's so important to all of us uh not just in the school district, but in the city. And I again want to just close by thanking you for the partnership. The school district very much values your leadership, the partnership with the city. And thank you again for your time tonight.

Thank you. Do anyone else for public comment? Anyone else? Public comment. Last chance. Public comment is closed. Uh that brings us to comments from the commission. I'm going to start with Commissioner Gotautle tonight. Um brief comment. Um with re the on our consent agenda, we did have a change order for the Peg Hervin and Banshell. And I'm just really hoping that the Peg Hervin and Banshell is completed very soon so we stop getting change orders on our consent agenda.

Okay. I don't know how to follow that. Um I will say first off, thank you so much to all of our public works, our city staff that has dealt with a lot of crazy stuff over this past weekend. that storm was outrageous and I hope it never happens again. Um, moving on from that though, I do want to say while we have nothing to do with a millillage that you do at the schools and whatnot, I do support it completely. Every time we invest in our schools and our education, we're investing in our students and the future of our area. Every one of those dollars goes to mean something. So, personally, I absolutely support it. I can't support it from a city perspective as it's a a bond village from your school, but I do want to say thank you for coming to make sure that that is heard as best you can. You have done a great job with getting the word out and I do appreciate that.

Promot.

Yeah. First, I'd like to thank uh city staff that responded during the storm. Uh I mean, obviously, I could echo comments from from everyone that's heard them and said them in the past. Um, uh, the plows were fabulous getting around and and making the emergency routes, keeping them open. Uh, BLP had to respond, I'm I'm sure, for some of the power outages and and they were quickly resided. So, it was pretty pretty amazing in in that respect. But I would also like to, uh, give a big thanks to city manager for keeping us up to date, uh, from a city commission standpoint. Um, and really a couple pieces of feedback I've gotten. the uh uh city social media pages were were very active during the storm and that was helpful for many members of the community. So uh that is something to really keep in mind. Um I'll end with uh thanking uh Superintendent Sedwick for providing us this as you probably will receive in the mail. Um, ultimately on the bottom of this he he so kindly lists his phone number 906225-42000 or you can just go to their website and check out info about the bond. Click on the 2026 bond. Um, I will say that as a a resident uh and kids in the school district. It is very uh refreshing to receive something so informative. So, I really applaud uh the the school system, you in particular, on getting that information out to the public so people can make an informed decision. And and really uh the public, the most important aspect of of their bond proposal that everyone needs to know is that the vote for this is May 5th. No one is used to voting May 5th, right? So, get out and vote. Make sure your neighbors know that this is on the ballot on May 5th. It's a very important day to vote. uh regardless of of what the direction is you're going to vote for, uh make your voice heard. May 5th, there's something important to be said. So, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Larson. Uh just like the other commissioner said, thank you to staff uh for keeping keeping everything moving, the city moving during the storm. Certainly, uh certainly was was noticed by a lot of folks. I know there's still work and clean up to be done uh that's out there. And uh like Commissioner Ottawa said, I was going to point out the May 5th B vote is, you know, a slightly unusual date. Uh so it's good to good to reiterate that, you know, as as needed. Thank you, Commissioner. Mayor,

I don't really think I have a whole lot further to add. Just I'll also give a shout out and thanks to all of our city staff. Um you know, not only on a day-to-day basis, but over the last couple days, uh and over the weekend, it was a lot. And uh you know I think we got through probably the most snow I've ever seen in a couple days span. Um but also you know last time we had a massive storm come through I was a little hard on BLP and I just want to uh acknowledge that they did have some power problems but they were very quickly resolved. Um and uh yeah kudos to them. Thanks.

Thank you. Um just uh you want to do you want to ask the question? Can I just ask uh city clerk, is there early inperson voting for this election? There will be uh at the Peter Public Library Thursday through Saturday prior to the election. 8 to 4.

Thanks. Um you know, I have to really great points everybody brought up tonight regards to the response to the storm. Um, and I I want to really echo the fact that the social media side of it, the the information that was accessible from the Border Light and Power, um, daily updates, if not more than more than that, uh, I think we really got lucky with the temperature being 5° cooler than it was for the cyclone event, uh, because that was really what caused the majority of the, uh, the outages with with the trees falling. and we probably lost most of those troublesome trees in that event as well. So, very thankful. I know that there was one thing I wanted to bring up from the BLP. At one point, there was 2,800 some uh reported outages. That was a glitch on the on the website for the the BLP and uh CEO Carpenter wanted me to to to you know be aware of that. So, he reached out and let me know that uh that was not the case. Uh so I think at any point in time there was you know maybe two to maybe 400 maximum uh outages that were really quickly taken care of. Uh the plow drivers, the city staff, I mean the DDA, I I drove down through DDA through through downtown today and all the cuts through those piles of snow that those guys had to to accomplish so that people can, you know, get back to their daily businesses. Uh I would I mean it's like we didn't even have anything happen. So, uh, and that kind of brings me back to I was lucky enough to be able to be on Fox Weather for a five minute little stint, a live live feed. And, uh, those guys were, you know, looking at me kind of laughing about how silly it is for us to, you know, takes a certain breed of person, he says, to live up there. Uh, referenced Yupers and how we were stacking the stacking it high and watching it fly uh, with the snow piles and and he got a big kick out of that. But the fact is is it's it's only

because we can handle it and we we do it um we do it with such grace and ease it seems for most of the time and um just proud to proud to be able to you know uh wear that on the sleeve and be a part of that uh that little news burst. But uh that being said uh there is a pigs and heat game coming up and and if I can reference that is it next not this weekend but the following Friday. This this Friday. Okay. So pigs and heats is this Friday. Uh that's a change. Yep. That's a change from from years past. They're they're doing it on a Friday. So get out and support the pigs and heat. Um if you can. Other than that, I'll pass it on to the city manager.

Sure. Thank you. That that Friday is tomorrow, by the way. Just making sure we all heard that. Um just to touch on the storm response, uh and and make sure that there's some resources out there that are shared. Um if any resident um in Marquette County um might even be UPY, but Marquette County especially um needs non-emergency assistance or needs help finding how to get assistance, um please dial 211. Um they can uh connect you with the appropriate resource and help you get through some of that um with with any um situation that is non-emergency. Uh there's also one of those resources happens to be um a service from SWP. Um SWP is helping with um getting some supplies to certain uh areas that might be uh snowed in. Um, I'm giving them a special shout out because I had heard today just before this meeting um that they were uh snowshoeing in um assistance whether it was assistance to places that needed to get out for medical appointments um or getting medical supplies to uh places that could not get out snowshoeing in. So, um really really a great um community uh organization that helps city uh with a lot of things but also our community. Um but with that being said, our storm response from the city's perspective. Um I I really maybe I'm partial to this was absolutely exceptional. Um our public works crews are working tirelessly um and very strategically and creatively too uh to get things done. So uh this storm is not a normal storm. Um they say it was historic, but um that's uh this is not normal. So our normal routes um or maybe perhaps our normal strategy that you see with uh everyday storms in the winter um may differ. So, one of those things being uh the sidewalks are not cleared, especially for those school routes. Not every school route is has been cleared yet. Um we are prioritizing that, but there was a significant amount of snow. Um and our normal sidewalk clearing

machines cannot handle necessarily that level of snow. So, we do have to bring in the big equipment um to come in and and get rid of some of that in order to get those sidewalks to a point where we can use that normal I say normal, but other equipment, I guess. So, um, we're working through that as quickly as possible. Hopefully, that will be by the end of this week. We have been working with the schools, um, immediately, probably within 5 minutes of of being in contact with the schools. The principles were sending out messages to families. So, um, just be aware of what your school route looks like in case you have a walker, a kid walking, a student walking or a walker, sorry. Um, but also we're talking about funding. Um you know we we have been discussing uh and have been sharing the increase uh in cost for this. Um I will have some of those numbers compiled but I will tell you that's a significant amount of overtime of course um and our equipment and fuel. Um but the state uh does provide specific snow allocations for the communities that do receive a little bit more snow than perhaps uh the communities in in Michigan. Um, unfortunately it's based off of averages and past experience or past um, amounts. And so for fiscal year 26, we just received a distribution of $50,000 um, which may be one pass on a block um, for cost, but um, normally those are closer to the $500,000 range. So, um, we will not be seeing probably the impact or allocation from this snowfall uh, until maybe a couple years from now.

So, I'll try not to be bitter about that. Um but again I cannot express how how great um our crews have been and how responsive they have been and how hard they they work every day but especially in these snow events. Um they are struggling to get out of their driveways and get their their houses um cleared as well as make it here so that all of us can. So um incredibly proud and and I really cannot express my my gratitude. So thank you. Thank you. And with that we are adjourned at 6:30. You did it.