City Commission - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody to the Monday, September 14th, 2026 meeting of the Marquette City Commission here in the chambers. Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge 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. Deputy city clerk, roll call, please.

Commissioner Davis? Here. Commissioner Gottlieb? Here. Commissioner Hanley? Here. Commissioner Larson?

Here.

Commissioner Mayer?

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Ottaway? Here. And Mayor Schlegel?

Here. Great to see you tonight. We have an agenda in front of us. Commissioners, is there a motion, please? Commissioner Davis?

I move we accept the agenda as presented. Thank you. A second?

Mr. Gottlieb? Second. Thank you. Any discussion? I will. I think I'll point it out. All right well there is a point on here which says that there's a local vote today but there's not a local vote so we'll just proceed with the regular vote there and very informal thank you very much everyone in favor PC yes yes opposed no motion passes 7 oh that was for you.

Thank you.

We have a couple of boards and committees to talk about tonight and we have a motion. Yes, we do have announcements. Forgive me. Do have one announcement tonight. There is going to be the fire prevention week. It's going to kick off on the 3rd of October. So we've got a little bit of time, but I wanted to get it out tonight. It starts at 11 a.m. It'll be down at Harlow Park as usual. Great time to get the kids out to experience a number of the agencies throughout the community and throughout the county will be there. For them to be able to climb on the on the fire trucks and get to be sparky the dog and just have a good time along with a short parade that will also conclude that event. So 10 AM Sunday, October the 3rd rain date would be October 10th. So keep that in mind. It's a good time. Moving on to boards and committees. We have two appointments. Mr Hamley.

I move that we appoint even will it to the market housing commission for an unexpired term ending to 12 of 28 and care to to chinsky to the planning commission for an unexpired term ending to 15 of 27 and the subsequent term ending to 15 of 30.

Thank you second please protein matter second discussion.

I am just really excited to see people excited to join our boards, and more of them fill up. And I know that the Housing Commission just asked for us to give them people, and now we've given them one. So that's great.

That's great. Nothing for me. Anybody else? Seeing none, all in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, no. Motion passes, 7-0. Brings us to our first public comment to the evening comments may not exceed three minutes per person Please state your name and physical address when you approach the podium Hi Jill Malin 539 West Bluff Street haven't been in this room since I was on the Board of Zoning Appeals About seven years ago.

I wish to thank the police EMS and gas station attendant and for coming to the aid of a 15-year-old with severe bee allergy. She got stung downtown and administered their own EpiPen, but was disoriented. Luckily, one shot was enough, but I suggest all first responders carry EpiPens as it saves innocent people's lives. Thank you.

Anyone else for public comment?

Margaret from 404 East magnetic street. This week there's 2 events open to the public and I'm here tonight to make sure everyone here knows that it's open to them as well. On Wednesday September 16th starting roughly at noon. My class in legal environment of business in northern will be meeting at the superior dome to celebrate constitution day they will be walking around the dome carrying copies of the constitution reading them out loud. The purpose of this is to remind people that's how the original review of the Constitution took place, as when it was first written, very few people could actually read, and so people would gather together and listen to someone else read it, and then they would discuss it. This is, I don't know, the third or fourth time I've brought my class to the Dome, and each time they've gotten a good experience about it, simply because it's a chance to focus on one document at one time, Also, not all of them are aware of how important the dome is to the people of Marquette in terms of having a recreational opportunity that is climate controlled. So you're more than welcome to join us roughly noon. I have copies of the Constitution, these little booklets, so you don't have to worry. You don't have to memorize it. There's no special dress code, though I did insist today based on a past unfortunate incident that if you're going to wear bathing suit you have to wear shorts and a t-shirt over the bathing suit just on general sorry it happened and I had not made the dress code clear to my students so I made that So if you would like to join us, we would love to have you. One of the things that impresses my students was when they see people come in who are not scheduled and yet they pick up a copy of the Constitution and walk with them and talk with them and ask them questions and engage. And the more, for want of a better term, the more grown-ups that they have to do that with, the better the experience is. And as you know, Northern just completed a massive renovation of the walking space at the dome. It's now got a like a four inch trackpad on it, so it's a lot easier on your feet and on your knees to just walk it. And so the experience has always been pleasant, but this is even going to be more pleasant. And I can't say enough about the fact that we should stop one day a year and remember this document, which has made such a difference in our our history, our culture, and our day-to-day life. And so I would welcome all of you, bring your family, bring your friends, bring your kids, and just walk with us. And no pictures are taken. It's just a casual sort of walk together. And I look forward to seeing you all there.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else? Seeing none, we will close public comment. That takes us to our first presentation of the night. I always look forward to hearing from Maureen over at our Senior Services Department.

all right hi everybody thank you for having me i don't make it to as many of these meetings as i would like so i'm very excited to make it every september the reason i like to request holding this annual report in september is not just because it's the end of the fiscal year but because it is national senior center month so i feel like it is particularly appropriate to talk about the difference our senior center makes in this community so we're going to get started There we go. So the Senior Services Division, for those who are unaware, is one of three divisions within the Community Services Department, along with Parks and Recreation and Arts and Culture. We are uniquely posed as a municipality to have that designation. Not every city, as you may have heard, has that opportunity to have such a robust cultural and person-centered first department. We are one of 11,000 senior centers in the country. We are celebrating over 1 million adults turning 65 just this year alone. The reason I say that is it designates extreme importance in the work we do. And as part of that national effort, we are celebrating Happier Birthdays Happen Here campaign. One of our main goals is to make sure individuals within our community here in the Upper Peninsula get to remain in their homes as long as possible with the maximum dignity possible. That quote you see at the bottom is someone who very recently just left a Facebook message to us that said, I found my family at the Marquette Senior Center. What stands out about this individual is it is not somebody who I would have expected that from, and I think that that just speaks volumes. Our staff consists of the individuals you see here on the screen, but myself, we have four social workers on staff, our arts and senior services coordinator in partnership with the arts and culture office, and then our part-time administrative assistant. I always like to highlight that she's part-time because she really does the work of a full-time individual. In addition, we have not pictured 12 in-home direct care staff. So those are our homemaker aides. They provide services like personal care, respite work, and like grocery shopping and housekeeping services to keep people aging in their home independently and safely. One thing I would like to note is that that service is a donation-based service. That service is primarily funded by the Marquette City Millage and the Marquette County Senior Millage. Other services and programs. Our social work services, an individual must be 60 years and older to receive based on the federal and state requirements. You only have to be 50 and above to participate in our health and recreational services. Some people get a little bit turned off when I say that, But I like to reframe it as, come stay young with us. You've earned this wonderful benefit in our community. Your taxpayer dollars have gone to this, so please come stay young with us. Our service areas are the City of Marquette, Marquette Township, Powell Township, and Chocolay Township. Later on I'm going to show you our statistics on participation and you will also be surprised about how many people outside of our service area utilize our health and recreational programs. People outside of our service area are not allowed to utilize social work services. They have to go to their individual senior center to utilize those services. Membership is free to those in our service area and a suggested donation is asked of those who are not in our service area. We provide social work services along with health promotion, senior arts, outdoor recreation, which is our nationally recognized silver sampler program. bridge, cribbage, and we also hold one-off events like maybe quarterly diabetes prevention programming, nutrition programming, cognitive screening support groups. This fall, we're going to be hosting Medicare 101 seminars because there are more people turning 65 than ever before, and we can't quite keep up with that volume of individuals. So we're going to be hosting Medicare 101 seminars along with in-person visits as well. Service area statistics. This is from the 2020 census. What I would like you to really notice is the bottom left corner of the screen. So we are responsible for serving 8,296 individuals. This is for social work services. So individuals over the age of 60 or 65, depending on what piece of census data you look at. We do serve people over the age of 50. So I really want to highlight that. A lot of what we have been seeing this year is people under the age of 50 calling us for resources for their parent that is aging. Right? So that is not included in that 8,296. And the bottom right corner, you will see a infographic from Marquette County Planning Division, where they reference how kids under 19 decreased by 8.7%, and adults 65 and plus have increased by 70% since 2010. Why I think that is important is our staff alone has only increased by one or two individuals through collaborative planning from other city departments and city staff, But across our nation, we are seeing a need for support services for those 65 and older. I really like to highlight our social work services, as they are kind of the unsung heroes, along with our homemaker aides. We have four social workers on staff. Until recently, we only had kind of three and a half, as one of them was part-time. We served 1,551 unique unduplicated individuals for those social work services. That bottom left infographic that you see is from the last quarter of our county millage funding. And that breaks it out by service area, the amount of clients, the type of service we provide, and the amount of hours we spend with those individuals. This also references a little bit of insight into look of what our budget is and how we spend those funds. So I kind of like to highlight that as well. Our senior arts programming is one of our biggest programs that we provide as a whole, along with our other recreational and health programming in partnership with Arts and Culture Office. One thing I really want to highlight is the bottom left corner. Through amazing efforts of our arts and culture staff member, Tristan Luma, we have been able to essentially fund that program through grants and grants alone, which has made us able to take that millage funding that we would have spent on that program and allocate it towards funding a full-time social work position. So when I talk about creative funding with little bits of money, that is what I'm talking about. In addition to that, we also offer a senior dance program, which is taught by me, so take it or leave it. And our senior theater program, which we hire a different professional for. That senior theater program is in partnership with Northern Michigan University, which again highlights our collaborative efforts. Other programming statistics. Our programs are designed to reduce social isolation, improve our community's health and well-being, and address other social determinants of health factors. Again, come stay young with us. I presented at Northern last week, and I cannot stress enough how important it is to have recreational programming and social work services at the same time. You cannot encourage someone to eat well or stay active if they do not have proper housing, if they do not have more than $100 to save in their bank account each month. We had someone this week that came and actually saw us today who makes $1,100 a month, their rent is $1,000. So they come to us to find more affordable housing. They come to us to apply for nutrition programs. And then my goal for this individual is to get him work placement and for him to come to some of our exercise programming to increase his health and wellness. In addition to that, our tax program, which is one of those seasonal programs in partnership with AARP, filed 475 returns and put more than three quarters of a million dollars in our clients' hands and saved them $150,000 in tax preparer fees. We had over 24,000 check-ins or attendance. For this year and all of our health and recreational programs that were listed in one of the earlier slides I want to reference last year's presentation We had 11,000 Now we have 24,000. Part of that is due because we got a new database system called Membership Works, or My Senior Center, that tracks our participation. But a lot of it is just because I think a lot of people are accessing the services. And then this breaks it down by service area. Note on the bottom it says other. 3,359 people outside of our service area are coming to our health and recreational programs. Professional development and what's next? For homemaker aides, these are the unsung heroes, as I mentioned before, completed respite training, which allows us to relieve caregivers who are really in need of just a little bit of help and allows them to leave their loved one with us while they can do other things that they need to keep themselves well. Three of our social workers earned their limited licenses, with one also successfully passing their full licensure exam. Our social work coordinator celebrated 20 years of service to the city. For the third year in a row, we were invited to speak at the State of Michigan Aging Conference and the National Aging Conference in Washington, DC. Two of our staff members were able to meet with representatives to advocate for older adult services and the reauthorization of the Older Adult Americans Act. our staff have been selected for a state award and a northern michigan university award and we have one staff currently nominated for another state association of senior centers award i want to thank some of the other city departments that have made so much progress in making a donation policy able to like essentially people being able to donate to the city that was huge for us at the senior center we've already received two donations so far and it makes a huge difference so the city adopting and you commissioners adopting a donation policy for us has been huge and i want to say we were officially accepted into the aarp age-friendly communities um cohort so we can begin that process it's going to be a long process it's going to take three to five years but thank you commissioners for supporting that we're going to be one of two in the upper peninsula and last but not least we were selected for a national institute of health study on aging well it is called the better age study it runs through the month of september and i encourage anybody over the age of 60 to contact our office to learn more about how to participate in that study And that is it. Any questions?

That is it.

Sorry. Gee whiz. Go for it.

We'd like to start off. Anybody want to jump into it?

I was told 10 minutes. How did I do? You did pretty well. Did I do okay? Commissioner Haley? Hold on a second.

I want to look at it.

Just pointing out, what is that wonderful award that you received?

I received the Michigan Association of Senior Centers Director of the Year Award, and then I received the Northern Michigan University Young Alumni Award.

Which is fantastic. Thank you very much. And I only point this out because you are, well, you have a wonderful staff, and I'm sure you couldn't do it without them, the head of our senior center. And you are leading the state in it as well, which means we are extremely lucky to have you. And I want to thank you for all that you've been doing. Seeing these numbers and that you guys are able to keep up and still keep expanding is fantastic. And I really appreciate all that you do.

Thank you so much.

Anyone else?

No, it's my second.

Thank you so much for the presentation. I absolutely love also seeing the data. I don't think I've seen some of the data that you had in your presentation anywhere else, so that was really cool to see that, while still making it exciting at the same time. That's pretty impressive. Was honestly just curious. I mean, it's a pretty big service area and kind of cross governmental jurisdiction area that you're you're servicing You know what as far as like Resources go, you know, if you had one ask right now, what would that be? You know, how can? whether it's us or other community partners are working with better support the work you guys are doing with a ever-growing aging population and

I appreciate that. Thank you. So one of my roles is I sit on the board of directors for the Michigan Association of Senior Centers. And one big push we have been making on the state and federal level is making sure those federal dollars actually trickle down to our local municipalities. So to put that in perspective for some of you, what I mentioned to the representatives at Capitol Hill when I went there is the OAA dollars are a national piece of federal legislation and we are supposed to receive those monies for our priority services so our social work services we only receive those dollars for one of the priority services that we provide to put that in perspective we provide about eight to nine priority services we receive funding for one of those so it's about 11 of our budget i don't want to knock it i'm thankful for it it is for our homemaking program right so that is a very important program but to put that in reference, when I went to the national conference, the state of California receives 50% of their budget from federal dollars. So I don't think that that's acceptable. And that is something that I advocated for. In addition for that, as far as other revenue streams, I do think we have to be creative. Some senior centers charge memberships. I don't want to do that because I don't think it's equitable for the people in our area. And then that pigeonholes us from not being able to accept other types of grant funding, right? So I think being able to have the donation policy in partnership with other city departments, being able to advocate on a national level for more equitable state and federal funding is kind of the way we need to go.

And as far as the federal funds, does that typically, does that come right from a federal agency or does it have to go through like the state before it gets to you? I'm just trying to understand why like California would get so much versus like us.

It does have to go before the state commissioners. So if you have a chance to advocate with our state representatives, it does have to go before the state. There is a interesting cross section there that I think, um, there's a message that's not being communicated. So it 100% is held up at the state. I have to be honest. I used to think it was held up at our regional level by our AAA. And per my research and being educated myself, I really do realize it's being held up at the state level.

Interesting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mo. This is always very inspiring when you come in and share everything that our senior services have become thanks to your leadership. So a couple of the stats that I was really kind of just really blown away with was the 70% increase from 2010, plus the birth rate comparison there was also very interesting. And I think it's flattering how humble you are, but when you get invited to present at the national level, at state level, because of all the things that you and your staff are doing so well, it really is something that makes a city like Marquette blush a little bit. It's really something to be proud of. So please keep tooting that horn and keep serving this very important demographic. So really appreciate it.

It really is a big highlight to the staff. They work very hard to make sure that we have the capability to do what we do.

yeah well i'm you know looking at a couple of people that are in your room tonight and the overlap of what else they're getting involved with in the community is really just an accolade to the quality of the people that you have i mean they're not just one aspect of the of the city they're they're influencing a lot more than just you know you're you're one one fingerprint over here so that's that's really uh really awesome so keep up the great work thank you you're welcome tough shoes to fill but kevin can do it kevin from the planning commission is here he's the chair kevin cleek and we look forward to hearing about an update from this really other incredibly important aspect of our community sure i hope all right

All right. Tough shoes to follow, Mo, but I'll do my best. Thank you, commissioners, for having us, for having me here to talk about the Planning Commission and what we do over on this level. The photo on the front, in front of our wonderful mural, is Josh and Jace, TikTok stars that came both in the winter, came to an NMU hockey game, and then came in the summertime as well and saw our fair city. So history of planning and the planning commission. Planning commission was established 79 years ago. And zoning ordinance was adopted in 1925, but it was not linked to any municipal plans. The first zoning ordinance was adopted in 1925. It was seven pages long and not linked to anything. It's gotten a little bit more robust since then. Um, first city plan and zoning map was adopted in 1950 and the planning commission had had some time to develop the plan. Um, land development before 1950 was largely uncoordinated, um, before then and went pretty much wherever. Planning Commission current membership. This is no longer accurate. We now have a ninth member of our commission, thanks to you all tonight. So we are full. We're excited to have Mrs. Tuchinski on our board. Things that the Planning Commission is responsible for. First, community master plan development and updates. Preparing amendments to the Land Development Code, also known as the Unified Development Ordinance. That's something we typically spend our winters going over. We look for lines in our code that aren't working and refine them, make it work better both for developers and citizens so it's easier to read and easier to develop things into the city, I guess. Recommendations for three categories of zoning issues require approval by the legislative body, that's you all, rezoning requests, planned unit development requests, and text amendments and zoning map amendments. We have administrative review for large development proposal and approval of special land use requests. To ensure performance with the Community Master Plan and LDC, we provide resident oversight of the review process. We review street reconstruction projects and large public improvement projects. In doing so, we ensure alignment with the Community Master Plan and provide a public forum for major capital projects. And with that we have recommendations on the capital improvement plan. Business and proceedings. Last year we had three site plan reviews and this year we've had three site plan reviews as well. One of which was kind of a duplicate. The GMC dealership had to amend their plan and came through with us. One site plan review wasn't, that was the only one that wasn't a PUD. The other two site plan reviews were for large projects, the Trestle Hotel being one of them. Quick update to our land development code. LDC was adopted in February of 2019, incorporated the zoning, subdivision fence, and sign ordinances into a unified code. The amendments have vastly improved the code in myriad ways, adding clarity, making common sense changes to improve code standards, processes, and procedures, specifically to improve the ability of residents and developers to create more housing opportunities. In this chart, we show the subjects that have been amended in the code. There have been 496 subjects of the code updated since 2019. And as I said, our land development code has become increasingly complex and interconnected. So if we change one thing, it knocks on down to many other lines in the code. So we've been busy for the last six years. Some things that are new in our mixed-use zoning districts. We've increased the type, variety, and price point of available housing due to mixed-use zoning districts. We've got workforce housing at Black Rock Crossing in mixed-use. Chippewa Square apartments were retrofitted and changed from office buildings to apartments and residences. We've got condos at Hemlock Park and then Habitat for Humanity Homes on McClellan Avenue. That was orchestrated with a land trade between the Beacon House and Habitat, so it worked well for housing and for Beacon House after Beacon House had purchased that parcel from the medical center. showing the ability of mixed use to provide interesting and exciting opportunities for development. We have Gluski Park on Lakeshore Boulevard and Able Medical Devices on 553 on McLeod. Accessory dwelling units. They were approved and first allowed in 2019 with the adoption of the LDC. Interest has been growing increasingly slowly. There are three types. We've got detached, which is like the the granny suite in the back of the yard. Interior, you wouldn't necessarily be able to tell that's a different from any other house in town. And then attached. We also wanted to point out that now duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes are all permitted as uses by right in medium density residential zoning districts. And then they are permitted. Oh, sorry. Scratch that. They require special land use permit until 2024. Now there are unique development standards, setbacks, height requirements. Duplexes and triplexes are permitted in LDR zoning districts. This is a new home that was built on Lake Street. We decreased our setbacks and minimum lot sizes and lot areas and allowed for a new home to be built on a parcel that was subdivided that otherwise was not developable beforehand. Our landscaping standards improve the city's aesthetics. All these projects were developed since 2019 and the landscaping standards were made substantially more robust with that LDC. These landscaping projects also reduce storm water runoff and the cost to our water system. Board of Zoning Appeals requests. So we've been working with our land development code and you can see a drop in the cases that are going in at 2019. Before the LDC was adopted, the average number of cases before the BZA was 22.25 per year. And in the years since, the average was four and a half cases per year. Our land development code is working to make people know what we're expecting. It's more common sense, more plain, and we're seeing a lot fewer variance requests as a result as well. Concerns for the near future. Housing, it's our number one priority. We've acted to increase options via the LDC, but our LDC options are nearing maximum effectiveness. Right now we're looking for developers to do the work and make shovels go into the ground. data centers and battery energy storage facilities. We're researching possible LDC text amendments and standards to have zoning requirements for a potential for that in the future. active transportation and mobility, implementation of street improvements to the bicycle network per our active transportation plan. We've got the plan. We now need the funding to get everything onto the ground. A city bus route is recommended and has been in the Community Master Plan for over 10 years and it's still a way to increase affordability for our area. Affordability doesn't just mean housing projects, it's lowering the cost of everything that we can and making it easier for people to get around. Maybe they don't necessarily need a car if we have a valid bus route. Climate action planning, we wanna see that come to completion and implemented. We have made, some parcels were rezoned in 2019 with the LDC adoption, and we are looking to potentially revise some of those changes to our rezoning. Street tree, landscape, tree list. We've found that some of them are potentially invasive and we're looking to eliminate those from our list. We're going to be working with the city arborist on a potential new list for city-owned street trees. Recommendations. We need a completion of our bike route plan. We need funding in order to get infrastructure for markings and bike lanes. Bonding to complete the project should be considered. Sidewalks and walkability. Enforcement of snow obstruction would help. Snow obstruction here refers to people plowing or dumping snow into the sidewalks. It's a common occurrence that violates city code and if we can increase our winter walkability it helps it make it an easier place to live in the winter. issues fines for pushing snow into sidewalks. I'd like to see, we'd like to see a data center study group or task force to help formulate regulations for this and similar land uses such as battery energy storage facilities. That's all I have for you. Questions?

Thanks, Kevin. What do you got, guys? Commissioner Hanley.

Thank you, Kevin. That was very good. I like all of the things you're doing, and the work that you guys do on the land development code, the detail that goes into it every time it comes in front of us, it just takes me quite a bit. So, I appreciate all of the work you do to simplify that for everyone, and you make it very easy to see the changes you're making, too. So, I appreciate that. As for the different things you're looking at for the recommendations, I like most of it. I don't know that a task force is necessarily something we should do for the data center simply because I think you are the task force. You guys know all of the different codes and regulations with that and it's so strict in how you can do it because you can't say something can't happen completely anywhere. So I think that trying to bring people in that aren't as knowledged on the actual codes and the laws would make it more complicated, I think, between you and us and city staff. That is really where that should be built to make sure that we're following the laws and we don't get hit by random lawsuits later if we do something. Or a lot of times I find that the task force, you really want something, but you can't do it. And so it becomes more complicated. But that's just me. Obviously, I don't speak on behalf of the commission for that or the mayor. Otherwise, thank you so much.

Thank you.

Yes, Pro Tem Ottaway.

Kevin, thank you. Great presentation. One of the things that is always highlighted to me is just the implementation of the LDC and what it's meant for the Board of Zoning Appeals, how there are zero variance requests. I mean, it just makes business operate much simpler at the city level. People don't need to necessarily get requests at City Hall like they used to if things fit into the code. It's a great thing to show and continue showing yearly. just because it shows that what you're doing is actively working. I will echo Commissioner Hanley's comments when it comes to the need of a task force for the data center. Ultimately, I think as the commission sits here, I think we would love some direction on that, but I think we would love it from the planning commission. Ultimately, planning commission is the advisory board of the city commission i think that's where we want that advisory to come from um and i do believe that you guys are the experts when it comes to the the planning side of things so that's just my two cents on it but outside of that amazing presentation uh great to see everything you guys are doing you're you're really one of the gems we have of the city uh and one of the the boards that really makes things go so thank you thank you it's good

Okay. A couple things. Number one, yeah, having been part of that land development code revision back in the day, it is really awesome to see that there's so much less taxing on city staff in regards to that so kudos to especially the city staff for getting everything done dave you've done just uh between you and andrea and dennis i know but just so much work and just incredible amount of meticulous detail so thank you so much for everything that you've accomplished there I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention it because I had a really great meeting with SAIL a couple weeks back with the Superior Alliance for Independent Living. I know you guys do a really good job of vetting input for any kind of transportation-related, active transportation-related topics. but I made a promise to them that I would make sure that they would at least be made aware of the opportunity for them to give more input on whatever the topic might be, from restrooms at Presque Isle to an active transportation plan, but please continue to work with SAIL. In that respect, it's a very, very important opportunity. relationship there that that they need to have with a lot of working parts within the city. So but yeah, thank you so much for everything for the presentation. Please bring it back to the planning commission that, you know, keep doing the great work that you're doing. And thanks for being there for us.

Thank you very much. Welcome.

Okay, that brings us to our consent agenda, and as mentioned earlier, the issue that we had there where there was a resolution, that is not on here tonight, so we do not have to have a roll call, but we'll open it up for a motion.

Ministers protein on the way to move to prove the consent agenda is presented to a second please person or something I'll second. Thank you any discussion, I'll just say I just so there's no confusion the the item that was on there for the roll call vote was taken off apparently which is there was just a an error in removing the roll call that was caught before the meeting so that's why it's there.

If the US. Seeing no other discussion, all in favor please say yes. Yes. Opposed? No. Motion passes 7-0. Okay, bringing us to new business. Deputy City Clerk, we're gonna have a little background please on the Community Foundation of Marquette County grant award.

The Senior Services Division of the Community Services Department has been awarded funding for the Ray and Peg Herbenden Foundation via the Community Foundation of Marquette County, totaling $5,000 for support of the Division's Senior Arts Program in fiscal year 2027. Staff applied for the annual grant program requesting funding specifically offset expenses including payment for independently contracted instructors and supplies and materials required for visual art, theater, and dance programming. Fiscal effect. Funding for the senior art arts program was already budgeted for in fiscal year 2027 by senior services this grant award will offset $5,000 of expected expenses this grant does not carry a required match Recommendation approve the grant award from the Community Foundation of Marquette County and authorize the city manager or her designee to sign it alternatives as determined by the Commission Thank You deputy clerk as our motion, please

Commissioner Davis, sorry I looked the wrong way. Yes.

I move we approve the grant award from the Community Foundation of Marquette County and authorize the city manager or her designee to sign it.

Thank you. Second please? Commissioner Gottlieb? Second. Discussion?

I would just recognize the Ray and Peg Hervenin Foundation for for recognizing how well our senior center serves the community and their appreciation of that by giving them the $5,000. So that's just another example of the money that you're taking in that goes above and beyond what we normally do in the budget.

Thank you. Commissioner Guttlieb.

Echoing Commissioner Davis' words, Ray and Peg Hervenin Foundation has been extremely generous these last few years, and it's amazing. And I hope one day to be able to do the same.

Anyone else? Thank you. Seeing no more discussion, all in favor of the motion, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, no. Motion passes 7-0. That brings us to our second public comment. Again, comments may not exceed more than three minutes per person. Please state your name and physical address if you have not already done so at the podium.

Margaret Brum for 4 East Magnetic Street here today to talk about the event taking place on Thursday, September 17th, starting at 9 AM. It is the first first annual. I'm being optimistic here. Mark hanging cigarette, but recycled buyback taking place at the Superior Watershed Partnership building on Lakeshore Blvd across from McCarty's Cove. The idea being that people will be bringing in cigarette butts to the facility, and depending on how much they bring in, they will be paid for the amount of cigarette butts they bring in. For example, one cup of cigarette butts equals $2. Up to one gallon of cigarette butts equals $25. if you uh maxed out at four gallons 100 is the max any one person or group can earn we uh have been working on this uh myself and a number of volunteers plus the marquette county board passed a resolution in the last month for the first time in any county that we can find are restating the fact that littering is always against the law in Marquette County, and that flipping a cigarette butt on the ground or in the water is considered littering. And we'd be amazed at the number of people who just don't see it that way. But since they said that, now it's littering's against the law, throwing a cigarette butt on the ground is littering, and therefore, throwing a cigarette butt on the ground or in the water in Marquette County is unacceptable. That's the magic word. So now that we have the public's attention on that, we're trying to do the first annual cigarette butt buyback. Mark Hagan, local businessman, has supplied the money. I've supplied the sweat equity in getting the situation ready. Superior Watershed Partnership has supplied the location of the first buyback. I notice many people are looking for money this time of year. This is practically the most perfect way I can think of. A lot of people pick up garbage around town. We're just looking for the cigarette butts to be separated out. Once they're gathered, they'll be put in boxes and shipped to a company called TerraCycle that is headquartered in Illinois, and they will be processed, recycled into useful items, including outdoor lawn furniture. And TerraCycle's aware of our program and they've made inquiries about using us as an example of a progressive community that has made a community-wide effort into recycling cigarette butts. So stay tuned, we might end up on some sort of obscure cable news channel as an example of part of the world that's doing it right. Again, you're all welcome to attend one cup if it's less than a cup will prorate it we have options there And this is exciting for me because we've been doing this this the fifth year And this is the first time we've been actually trying to do a buyback program, so I hope you can make it Thursday at 9 a.m.

Thank you Anyone else for public comment tonight

Seeing none, public comment is closed. That brings us to comments from the Commission. We're gonna start with Commissioner Larson this evening.

Thank you, I don't have too much to say tonight. I think the one comment that I could have made was during the Planning Commission presentation, is that, again, thank you for doing that, and I think one of the things I've been thinking about as far as the Land Development Code over the years is now that the waterfront district has matured over the years uh and there's a form-based code you know down there you know i like i'm hoping that the planning commission at some point in time reopens the discussion on you know whether or not there's time to update you know what the form-based code looks like uh you know here in marquette and whether or not you know you know it's done too good of a job and has created too much similarity in kind of that district. So at some point in time, maybe that'll be a conversation that comes up with the Planning Commission. Obviously, I don't direct the Planning Commission in any sort of way, but if those comments get passed on, that'd be great.

Thank you, Commissioner Mayer.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Thank you. Commissioner Davis?

I didn't think I had anything but you know I just wanted to say that a couple hours ago we had a ribbon cutting for our waterfront along that stretch of shore that was always blasted by the storms and I'm ill it as Dennis Sankovich pointed out it's been about a 15 year project I think it's come to like 13 million something like that But it's been a lot of years, and I think we're finally finished with it. If some of you remember all the damage that was done by the storms and the huge boulders that we used to have to look at, and now the road has been moved and we can see the lakefront, and we are a model for other places around the U.S. for this.

Thank you. Commissioner Gottlieb?

Yeah. I got clearance from my wife that I'm allowed to say this. I'd like to apologize to the group of 12 12 year old boys about 12 12 year old boys who are actually not riding on the bike path tonight around 445 as I was coming home from the ribbon-cutting Rather these boys were actually straddling their bikes standing still about three or four deep in the middle of the path over here by the trestle and or Barragan bike path Seemingly intentionally blocking all bikes and walking traffic from using it They were on bikes e-bikes and at least three had street and bike path illegal e-motos after giving them a heads up that I was coming through one way or another I One of them gave me a snide remark to which I admit I couldn't pass without stopping and reminding them that the bike path was for everyone and that they shouldn't stop in the middle of it and that they should use some respect, especially for the elders. I realize I probably did the same stupid thing when I was their age. But still, I apologize if I used a word or two that I should not have. And next time I will try to do the right thing and take a picture of them and give them over to the police and let the police find them and use the reckless writing ordinance to ticket them. I also apologize to the parents if their kids learned a new word tonight.

Thank you. I applaud your actions personally.

Commissioner Hanley. I am not quite certain how to follow that. I was actually going to bring up e-bikes, but not necessarily teaching kids new words. I have noticed in the last few weeks a big uptick. We've had really good weather, and I've seen a lot of e-bikes and e-scooters, particularly on our roads, which is fine and wonderful. But again, I'm still seeing a lot of children that are not following necessarily any rules of the road. And I'd like to encourage parents, if they're watching, to put helmets on their kids when they're on these bikes and e-scooters and protect their brains and also teach them the rules of how they ride when they're out. It will be you that is held accountable when they do something wrong, but I also don't want it to be you that loses your child because they weren't protected or taught the right way. So I cannot stress enough that if you're going to have your child on an e-bike, which I have no issue with, they are a wonderful way for kids to get around, make sure you're teaching them how to do it safely and appropriately for everyone else on the bike path and on the roads because no one wants to be the reason that a child isn't here the next day. And a lot of these are not stopping at stop signs, blowing through things, and causing drivers a lot of fear while they're on the roads as well. So that's all I have to say.

Thank you. Pro Tem Ottaway.

Thank you, Mayor. First and foremost, I'll say thank you to Ms. Brum. You know, it's not the first time that you've brought some good to the community, and I think it deserves to be amplified, and I really hope people really take part in not only the reading of the Constitution and going to participate in that if you can, but also the cigarette butt. you know, clean up our community, get the cigarette butts away from anywhere you can. And you just bringing the light to that, I think, is a great thing. So thank you for that. Now, the only other thing I want to talk about tonight is something I brought up with the city manager. We need to, as a commission and as a city, kind of rethink some of the direction we've had in the past with our ball fields. In South Marquette, where I live, I've had numerous neighbors recently reach out talking about how kids are breaking into Hurley Park to play baseball. And I'm like, what do you mean they're breaking into Hurley Park to play baseball? Well, they're breaking into Hurley Park to play softball or use a tennis ball. They're doing nothing. They can't get into the field because it's locked, which I completely understand the reasoning why we've locked that in the past. But the issue is Hurley Field is underutilized at this point. It's a field that is ultimately not used much. And if we look at some of our other fields around the city of Marquette, we might find that same opportunity. So I really want us to comprehensively take a look at how we can get kids back on the field. Let's figure out how we can make that happen. And certainly, I think the locks make sense if we have a game or something like that that's coming up after they've been lined. But let's give these kids the opportunity to play on the field without seeing them jump the fence and potentially getting hurt. Because as I pointed out to the city manager, I'm not going to be the guy that's going to call the police and say that the kids broke into the field to play baseball. I think that we're missing something there. So we need to get that fixed. Thank you.

Thank you. You know, it's funny because I didn't have anything either, but on the way from the ribbon cutting off on Lake Shore, I was right about a block away from the bike shop there, and a guy comes flying off a Hewitt, blows through the stop sign out into my lane. Now, was I nearly hitting him? No, but there was no regard for any kind of following of any kind of rules. Let alone, I guarantee he was doing more than 25. But yeah, that seems like, and then I stopped and I said, hey, I realize you just blew through that stop sign there. And he's like, yeah, it was a good ride. And I thought, oh, that's your, okay. I'll keep my old man going to my meeting. So anyway, yeah, we need to be just cognizant of everybody else around you when you're on your bikes, whether it's a one-wheel, whether you're walking, whatever. Just please be aware of your surroundings. I will go back and just reiterate that the 10th of October will be the great static displayed by Hurley Field there for the kickoff to fire prevention week and it's always a good time. So please bring the kids down. I'm sure that they'll enjoy their time there. Oh, and yeah.

Is it the 3rd of October? The 3rd and the rain day is the 10th.

I just wanted to clarify that.

So the third. Yes. And I would also like to thank the Brewers Guild for another great show this past weekend at Lower Harbor. If you had a chance to get down there for the samplings of all the breweries that came to town, it was a really beautiful, perfect day. I think that I thought. I was really proud of how the community reacted because it didn't seem like anybody got out of hand. At least I didn't see anybody. And I just think that it's a great way to kind of close out the season. And I will be back there. So maybe you can touch on it, Chief. It was good? Great. I'm glad to hear that. Awesome. So moving it on to the city manager.

I just wanted to touch real quick on the Hurley Park unlocking the fields there. And that is something that has been mentioned and has been mentioned by some community members as well this year. So we will be talking with staff on how we can explore that idea. and work with the user groups that do put a lot of time and money and effort into getting those fields into a condition where they can have some tournaments and some safe softball games there. So we'll work and find some maybe hopefully some common ground there and some balance there. So moving on to the other topic of e-bikes. And I'm just going to brace myself on that one. It is really important. Commissioner Hanley had mentioned for helmets. We have recently had an accident, not with an e-bike or bike, but that a helmet could have saved a life. So I'm telling you that it is important. It is somewhat of the, I'm looking as the law to be wearing helmets at certain ages on certain bikes and just have a helmet on there. With e-bikes, we are seeing an uptick, especially as school has returned. We're seeing an uptick. school from school after school at football fields at football games. And so at this point it is really looking to the parents to have some assistance here in helping enforce this and teaching your kids some some. Behavior laws and perhaps you know getting getting things back to a safe safe thing So not only are the kids on bikes at risk But is also other people who are walking especially on our on our multi-use paths on our sidewalks And around around the school, but also they there are vehicles traveling in the roads as well And there have been far too many close calls in the first week of school. So and I'm I'm seeing it at every level of elementary all the way up to high school and and at campus NMU as well. So we will be looking at having some increased eyes out there and some potentially increased patrols out there as best as we can. But I also want to have a quick reminder, and I'm sorry that this is a lecture, of running from the police is not a wise idea. Eventually you do get caught. Eventually you do end up getting that and then also more. And that is also a parent's responsibility as well if their children are on there illegally. So e-motos and e-bikes, we are going to be reviewing all of those. things in the coming days, right? So, and then, did you want to add something to that?

Just that we are going to start having to go after the parents for a while. It's getting to that point right now where we've gotten too many complaints where we're actually really concerned that some major is going to happen now.

And the biggest concern is not the fact that they're breaking the law. The biggest concern is safety. And I really, really am surprised at the number of questions that we're receiving on, well, can my kid ride this bike, versus maybe my kid is in danger here, or the behavior was dangerous. It's time, and please, parents, I'm just asking for your assistance on making our community a little bit better here. And then lastly, I just wanted to say thank you and really acknowledge the fact that we just had another grant that was approved on the consent agenda for some trauma kits, and that was from the Superior Health Foundation, and that is really an important part of the operations that happen at the police department, and I know you're incredibly grateful for that and will help us get some of those kits in all of our cars. With that, and the woman who came and talked about the EpiPen, that is something we have noted, and our police chief has been nodding his head here and writing those down to explore that. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. With that, we are adjourned at 7.03.