City Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call to order the July 13th meeting in the Market City Commission at 6 p.m. 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. A city clerk roll call please.

Commissioner Davis here. Commissioner got leave. Commissioner Hanley here. Commissioner Larson. Commissioner Mayer here. Mayor Pro Tem Ottaway here. Mayor Schlegel here.

Is there a motion to excuse. Couple of commissioners tonight. Mr Davis.

I move we excuse commissioner Larson commissioner got live for personal reasons.

Thank you second. Tim Ottaway second. Any discussion?

No.

None.

OK. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, no. Motion passes 5 to nothing. All right. We have an agenda in front of us. Commissioner Hanley.

I move that we accept the agenda, but with the slight change. Under the first presentation, we have the wrong name for the outstanding guardian of the corner. The actual name should be Addison Locke, A-D-D-I-S-O-N-L-O-C-K-E. Just want to make sure that's correct on the record.

Thank you for that correction. With that being said, is there a second? Pro Tem Ottaway?

I need a second. Second.

Okay. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed, no. Motion passes 5-0. Announcements, I have one announcement tonight. If anybody is in need, I know it's not a heck of a lot, open a lot longer tonight, but I believe it's going to be open tomorrow. The Citizens Forum at Lakeview Arena is being used as a cooling shelter if people are in need of air conditioning or get out of their place for a while and go and cool off. So please pass that along. And I guess I'll piggyback on that from the other part of the meeting from Commissioner comments. Check on your neighbors, please. Make sure that everybody's doing all right. Stay hydrated. And golly, it's two days of this every couple of months in winter. But gee whiz, when it hits, it hits. So be careful out there. thank you um that brings us to boards and committees we have one appointment is there a motion please commissioner davis i move we appoint steve nystrom to the marquette brownfield redevelopment authority for an unexpired term ending february 1st 2029. thank you a second commissioner henley i second thank you any discussion

I just know that Mr. Nystrom is very excited about this appointment, and I know he'll do a really good job.

Good. Anything further? Okay. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed? No? Great. Motion passes 5-0. This brings us to our public comment, our first public comment of the evening. Comments may not exceed more than three minutes per person. Please state your name and physical address when making public comments at the podium.

Good evening. My name is Jane Russell. I live at 222 South 5th Street, which is Snowberry Heights housing for seniors. There is approximately 190 people that reside there and here tonight the manager is here and some other residents out of concern for our health and safety. If you're not familiar, we're located on Fifth Street, which is the front of the building and runs west along Spring all the way to the end of our parking lot. The far back of the area to Seventh Street belongs to the city, and on the north side of our building, there's a long wooded area from Seventh Street all the way to Fifth Street. The bike path is along the one side, which belongs to the city, and half of that area, wooded area, belongs to Snowberry Heights. North of the bike path is an alley that runs behind BP Gas Station, Room at the Inn, Flanagan's Bar, Ramada Inn, the co-op, or not the co-op, but other businesses. Unfortunately, this is a gathering place for transients and homeless persons, causing ongoing problems that affect Snowberry residents and their property. Other persons using the bike path, walkers, city residents, out-of-town visitors, and local businesses are also affected. Just a few examples in the last months. The last few months, at least four fires in the woods we've seen along the bike path, camping, sleeping, and digging an outdoor latrine in the woods. And residents of Snowberry have found syringes, alcohol bottles, people's personal items, sleeping bags, telephones, whatever. Now on a daily basis, we're also listening to arguing, screaming, fighting, infighting, and it's just not acceptable. I can't imagine what out-of-toners that are using that bike path will just think of us. So it's not a new problem. I reached out to Central Dispatch, statistics for May and June of this year. Their area included just Ratty, which is room at the inn, and the Ramada Inn calls. Police calls were 49, fire and rescue 29, EMS 31. The city police statistics for May and June of this year. 149 calls and year-to-date 401 calls to the area, proximity of like Ramada Inn and the woods and the alley and by Flanagan's Park, et cetera. So, we would like everyone involved to possibly help us out with our, you know, help us out.

Thank you. Ma'am, your three minutes is up, but I encourage you to stick around and please utilize the- Okay, I was at the end.

I was just going to say we live with these issues.

I'm sorry, I've got to cut you off.

Okay.

Apologize. Thank you very much. Anyone else for a public comment, please?

You're more than welcome. Hello, folks. My name is Richard Lewis Abbott. I reside at 447 West Washington Street, Room at the Inn. I do want to apologize to Snowberry for some of the actions that have occurred on their property, in which I will inform you that the people that are doing this are not residents of Room at the Inn. They no longer have shelter, food, clothing, or anything because they can't follow the rules. Many times in the last week, we've had officers over, and like the lady said at Snowberry, in which some of the hospital calls and ambulance and the fire department are called for our residents who are having emotionally Meltdowns in which they need to go to the hospital in which some of our residents are on medications as so am I I'm Here at the room for one purpose To get my SSI and find a place in Marquette to live Because I am homeless and I don't have a place to go. This is the best opportunity for me to to go through SSI and other programs to help me because of my health issues that I do occur all the time. So again, I do apologize to Snowberry for any of the residents at Room at the Inn. I am going to touch on one issue. We are Room at the Inn. We are not Ratties. Ratties is a negative term that means rodent. I am not a rodent. I'm a human being. I'm 48 years old. So when you refer to Room at the Inn, please make sure the hospital and your staff know we are not rats. We are not vermin. We are human beings and deserve respect, just like everyone of you sitting up here today.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment, please?

Margaret from 404 East Magnetic Street. I'm here to give you an update on the cigarette butt recycle program for the city of Marquette, which I'm taking efforts with the county board to expand to the county. We've now made contact with TerraCycle, which has a partnership with an organization called Keep America Beautiful or something like that. They have a program where they offer grants to communities that are trying to do more recycling of cigarettes. We have missed the deadline for this year. However, I'm on the list for next year, and I will be following up with them on a regular basis to make sure that they know we're in the area. In the meantime, we have a gift package coming our way just because we made inquiries of like portable ashtrays, things that can make a difference in how much cigarette butts are deposited. So I've accepted that as well. Now, many of you may have noticed that I'm a frequent user of Facebook. And I know you all, that's the first thing you look at when you go to Facebook every morning is what I've posted. I'm smiling because you're not smiling. It's like, yes, I know, I post on cigarette butts. However, interestingly enough, when I was making my case with TerraCycle and Keep America Beautiful, I gave them the links to the post that I had made. And there's been several news articles as well. And much to my surprise, I got back a note saying, would we be willing to participate in TerraCycle's national advertising? as a successful community that's been doing this for a while. And of course, it took me all of 32 seconds to say, yes, please. All of the stuff that's on public access, all of the stuff that I've posted is publicly available. But over the weekend, I posted additional material. I made, in fact, one video that Kyle will be sharing with all of you, the link, excuse me, the city clerk will be sharing with you. Basically, I took a donut, a fresh, beautiful, wonderful donut. Did you look at, from Dunkin' Donuts? I mean, the kind of donut that you wake up in the middle of the night wishing you had, and I described it in great terms, how great it smelled, how great it looked, I couldn't wait to eat it, and then I poured cigarette butts all over it. And I showed the video this morning to someone in a shop and they just went, you don't do that. I went, yeah, well, that's what we're having all the time until we make it unacceptable in the county of Marquette to deposit cigarette butts anywhere on the ground or in the water. And in conclusion, I find many people seem to be ignorant of what a cigarette is because a lot of people don't smoke. This is three packages of cigarettes. This is 20 per package. And so at the end of the day, when you smoke all of these, there's 60 cigarettes butts deposited someplace. And if you think people aren't smoking three packs a day, well, I hope they don't. But there are people who smoke three packs a day, and sometimes it's difficult to imagine what we're up against. And so this, I put this tube together just so you know. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment?

Thank you. My name is Williamson, and I live at Snowberry Heights. I just moved in in March. And since I moved in, I've had to clear out one encampment in our woods and a latrine, which was immediately moved further into the woods. And I didn't clear anything out. I just took away the cover. If there was no cover and no concealment, a lot of these things wouldn't be happening over there. If we could, whatever help, and your wisdom and your help would be greatly appreciated. Anything you can do to help us, we'd love it. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment?

Hi, I'm Allen St. Aubin. I work at BP. Your address, please? That station on Washington Street. I do agree with these guys.

Excuse me, sir. Can I get your address, please?

336 South 5th. Thank you. I do agree with people over at Snowberry. A lot of things do need to change back there. It doesn't matter how many times we call law enforcement. They don't do anything about it. They just go back there, give him a ticket, shoo him along, and 20 minutes later, they're back. So like he said, if we can do something about maybe the cover back there on the trail, like... excluding it somehow it might help but it's getting very tiring calling and reporting their stuff every day for nothing to get done like we have people that won't even come to our gas station anymore because of this we're losing business constantly it's unacceptable i mean something has to get done about it thanks thank you

Anyone else for public comment? Public comment? Okay, public comment. First round is closed. Would you like to, did I cut you off? Feel free.

Hi, my name is Daisy Ray Nelson, 930 Jefferson. I have been a local here for most of my life, and each year I see rent raising. I'm affiliated with Room at the Inn also, so I know a lot of the homeless community. And it is so sad to go on Facebook and see pictures of these people trying to sleep, seeing pictures of people having the worst day of their lives and being in an active crisis. And, you know, I get that it's very uncomfortable to deal with this, like as, you know, like if you're jogging along and you see people drinking, using the bathroom outside, but I think we can come up with a solution. Maybe public bathrooms, maybe something of that. So, you know, a lot of cities do have them. And it's just one of those things where it's like, we need to move with compassion rather than disgust. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Last chance. Okay, the first public comment round is over. We've got three presentations tonight. The first one is long overdue, in my opinion, since I was able to take over as mayor. I've been really looking forward to doing this, and we are seven months into this year, and I have not been able to be a part of the guardian of the Well, quarter, but it should be half here. According to the half. I think we're going to pass this on to Mr. Jim. He's going to come up up front and give us a little background.

Mayor, commissioners, thank you. My apologies on so many levels. We have a number of guardians lined up to come in the next few months, if that helps. So we started the Guardians of WOW program in November 96. So the guardians are the youth volunteers at the Children's Museum who help us run the exhibit floor. And 25 years ago, Mayor Scoccia Scotto resigned, left, and we had cake. And that was the first time we came here with Guardians to celebrate their volunteering. So 25 years have gone by. Over 150 youngsters have received a certificate from the mayor. And another small treat that I can see is on the podium right here. I want to introduce you to Addie. Come on over, Adders. So this is Addison Locke, who is a wonderful person. We deal so much in what's wrong and I have the delight with compassion and joy to delight in the way that young people help the Children's Museum. I don't have to come to work every day, but I do because I just love watching them do their best, talking to strangers, helping the museum work, having fun with it. And I have fun watching them succeed. Adders is part reptile. loves holding reptiles for younger children. And the last time we met, a nine-year-old was leaving the museum and just overheard that we might want to come to City Hall to celebrate a young person volunteering. And there were two looks that I had. One was the nine-year-old visitor to the town going, well, how old are you? And Addy looked up and said, I'm nine. And Addie is two years into being a volunteer, which means she succeeded at being a gnome. She's rocking it at being, what are you now? A fair, a pixie. And she's soon to become a unicorn. It's the way we tier our volunteers. So she's succeeding at that. That was one look on the nine-year-old visitor going, I think I could do something like that. But are you nine? And the look on Addie's face as she looked at this taller guest and just said, I'm nine. And she's delightful. She succeeds. She's confident. She talks to the guests. And it's the sort of thing we wish all of our children would be doing. And I love the idea that for now, 33, 30 years, in November, it will be 30 years of us having these youngsters volunteer at the museum. So it's my delight to present to you Addison Locke.

So Addison, I have a certificate of achievement that's presented to Addison Locke on behalf of the guardian of the quarter. And I just want to tell you that I am really excited to be able to do this with you today. And congratulations. Would you like to say a couple words? Come on over if you want.

You don't have to. Feel free.

Say you love the director of the Children's Museum. No? OK. So is mom around? Let's get a picture with mom.

There you go.

All right, ready? Thank you.

Thank you. You're welcome. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Some days it's the little things that get me. All right, moving on, we've got a presentation from the Keani Finland gift presentation after the delegation returned from the sister city visit.

good evening i'm randy jensen i'm the liaison between the marquette area sister cities partnership and the kayani sister city group and i have a presentation from the sister city in kayani it's a wood etching of a trees along the river of kayani river and an island that takes place within the river as well. June 17th to June 24th, nine members of the Marquette area traveled to Kayani and experienced some of the things that take place there. We visited their hospital, their army post that was there, their coast guard, and a variety of other places. Kayani is a beautiful place. We have now great contact with their sister city, as well as with our sister city from Higashiyomi, Japan, who will be coming to visit us within the next few weeks here. And we'd like to just encourage people who are interested to get involved with the Sister Cities. Go to Marquette Sister Cities organization. You can check for us online and come to the meetings if you wish. And also look as a possibility to be a delegate or to host delegates coming from Kayani. And we thank the city for its support. And just to mention the shirt that I have on. The gray is the castle of the Kayani Castle. The white, or the blue rather, is the river. And the other colors are the combination of the togetherness of the citizens of Kayani. This year is their 375th anniversary of the city, and so it was a big year for us to be able to be over there and attend that. Mr. Mayor. Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jensen. It's nice knowing that we've got people like yourself and your wife who are very heavily involved in the sister city program and representing Marquette over in countries that are as far as away, but almost feel like they're right here as well. So thank you very much again. Okay, that gets us to our third presentation, the Market Public Art Commission presentation by Brianna Hobbins.

Hello. I'm excited to be here again this year presenting the Public Art Commission's annual review. As you heard, I'm Brianna. I'm the chair of the Public Art Commission, and we'll get started. Can you hear me okay? So I will be reviewing what being part of the Public Art Commission means and what we do, the work that has flourished over this year, as well as the current projects and future ideas that we have. The City of Marquette Public Art Collection Management Procedures and Guidelines shares our mission. which is to engage in the selection, location, commissioning, and acquisition of public art within the city of Marquette that enhances the character and identity of our community through the experience of public artwork. To reinforce the cultural, economic, and aesthetic values of creative work while recognizing the importance of artists and artwork for our communities. Our other current commissioners include Allison Terrace, who is co-chair, and Hannah Snow is secretary, and Emerson Graves. Thank you guys for being here tonight. Upon joining MPAC, I did not know the depths of the process we would be going into to establish a public art collection. Commissioners and arts and culture staff begin the process with external research and follow through with all of these this very lengthy list we have a lot of discussion and we look for public feedback sometimes we will put out requests for proposals while other times we might directly invite an artist our meetings often exceed our time limit or like you know time that we would normally like to meet because we have so much to cover. And we often have some special meetings and informal meetings as well in smaller groups that are not with Quorum. Also. I really wanted to give a shout out to the Arts and Culture staff. Tina, Amelia, and Tristan all work really hard and the Public Art Commission would not be here if they didn't exist. So thank you guys for your time and efforts for the city. The accomplishments of 2025 to 26 are as follows. I will touch on a few of them because throughout the slides I have more information. The annual conservation cleaning of the Father Marquette statue was completed. The final design was approved and ground was broken for the cultural trailhead public landscape art. MPAC approved funding for arts and culture staff to attend Monument Lab Summit. This Mellon Foundation Conference offered professional development in public art, particularly in landmarks. An invitation to attend this selective conference is a great example of how the establishment and success of public art has created notable national visibility and has leveraged additional funding. Funding of arts and culture in turn will take place to create a printed exhibition catalog, and that will be held at the Cultural Trailhead, offering an educational resource for the public to engage with while promoting local artists and designers and their connections to the culture of Marquette. This funding fulfills an important educational component of the Public Art Commission's mission by increasing public awareness of the city's public art collection and providing interpretive content that can be shared throughout print and digital formats, including the Marquette Compass and other educational materials. And lastly, that I will just gently note on, is that the Seven Grandfathers teaching phase two is in process with updated design and materials in the works, and install should be coming this fall. Class Connections was created by fellow public art commissioners. This is an annual offering to schools and other educational groups in Marquette County, as well as resource linked online. Issue three had focused on establishment and dedication of the cultural trail with a spotlight on the Whetstone Brook story marker. This story marker acted as the site of the official unveiling This public resource, Class Connections, offers an accessible overview of these multi-storied public art sites. It provides connections to applicable visual language, history, science, and more, such as the varied language behind naming the North Star featured in the aforementioned story marker. There was a later issue that was published, reissue in the early winter of 2026, and we plan to have another issue for coming this fall. Ground has been broken for landscape-based public art at Marquette Lyons Lakeside Park, just outside of the cultural trailhead. The sunken garden with seating will act as a public gathering space and functional outdoor extension of the cultural trailhead. According to arts and culture communications and marketing coordinator Amelia Pruitt, using rows of native And near native plants, the landscapes itself becomes the artwork through color, texture, and seasonal change. Hardscaping and some applicable plantings to be completed this year. Additional plantings will be completed next spring. The annual cleaning of the Father Marquette statue. Sorry, I can't help myself. The annual cleaning of the Father Marquette statue was completed by local metal and jewelry smith and now fellow commissioner Emerson Graves last fall. Annual cleaning will ideally occur every fall. The landmark seascape conservation painting had conservation has been completed and we have funding for a high quality digital scanning for that was recently approved that will be used for the Lions Lakeside Park sign. as a placemaking welcome to the city, and also for use in future publications. The annual renewal for the Midwest Art Conservation Center was also funded. This membership offers renowned expertise in the treatment of works of art and historic artifacts, including the Father Marquette statue, the nearby Kona Dolomite benches by Ryan Bryack, and the landmark painting. Conservation efforts such as these exemplify the Commission's commitment and the Arts and Culture Department's commitment to preserving public assets and ensuring artworks remain accessible and in good condition for future generations. Finally, the use of Artsopolis web development services such as the digital calendar have been continued. These services increase access to and promotion of public art. Most recently, we have the Freedom Monument that was completed, installed, and dedicated. To quote the new arts and culture intern Lana Mack on a recently installed monument, she said, this monument recognizes the significance of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, honoring the foundational beliefs that veterans have fought for throughout the history of the United States of America, These granite podiums are functional as well, and they offer platforms for speeches, readings, and ceremonies led by the community. Sorry, jumped ahead. The dedication occurred on July 4th at 11 a.m. and was part of the American Legion 44th of July celebration, and it became a permanent addition to the city's Marquette Public Art Collection. Tina, Paul, Sean, and I were able to attend the dedication celebration. And overall, there seemed to be a sense of proudness from the veterans using the podiums, receiving positive feedback. I thought it was really touching just to be there in the presence. just watch their ceremony. I didn't know how much effort they put into that. And I wish more of the public had an opportunity to join because it was really special, especially witnessing the veterans using those podiums and feeling like showing their proudness. It was really neat. Moving on, the cultural trailhead had a ceiling sculpture installed and the wood sculptural work on the ceiling was completed by Hans Gottsacker. The work speaks to wave-like movements while feature embedded globe lights will be reminiscent of floating buoys or reflected stars on the lake surface. This public art provides connections to our maritime culture and warmth to the overall space. Terry Guilfoy and Mike Horton have created a ceramic work to act as a fireplace surround at the cultural trailhead. This work is designed to emulate river rock and ancient carved stone. Carvings will have subject matter relating to the local area and cultural trails such as salmon, a jumper leaping from black rocks, and a crane. This should be installed hopefully mid to end August. Really exciting work. We've been working on the sign for Kids Cove. This has been a partnership and great honor from the Marquette Community Foundation. And it's going to be an archway and is inspired by the nearby Elfin Skimmer dragonfly sculpture, which is in our collection as well. It will be a place make and welcome visitors to the park. The current design includes a dragonfly weather vane, local grasses, and purples and greens, again, taken from the Elfin Skimmer to kind of play with the various playfulness of the playground while also taking some of those colors from the actual park as well. Installation will occur by the fall of this year and we have additional funding left over from that portion from the community foundation to do a mural on that back wall that you see. It looks purple, it's actually gray, but that will be coming as well. Most recently, MPAC has approved the funding of a new story marker for the Trailhead. This story marker will be located just outside of the Trailhead building. It's inspired by Moongates. This story marker will introduce visitors to the layered and rich arts and culture heritage of Marquette, as well as offering public art, wayfinding, and additional seating. Final designs and written content will be approved in August with a prediction of a fall installation. And it will be a great welcoming to the public art collection as well because it will be in the art collection. In March, Jason Quigno here, he met with local tribal members to hone in on a final design concept for phase two. A fire sculpture will replace the current stone in the center of the monument. As you see the arrow pointing, that will be moved and the fire sculpture will be placed in the center, at least from the last that I heard. So changes may come. Some of the examples you see there in that photo were pieces that he brought for inspiration for the conversations to guide his process. And he has sourced the stones from the Great Lakes region, continuing the works material connection to the local landscape. Installation should take place this September or October, so in the fall. This is a new collaboration that MPAC will be taking place in and is upcoming. Make Your Mark Ways of Moving will be a public event at Lower Harbor on Thursday, July 30th, Thursday, for Disability Pride Month that celebrates and provides awareness of disabilities. This will be a collaborative and interactive painting with the public. The public will be invited to make their mark with washable paint across a staked piece of canvas on the ground by showing how they personally move through space, whether that be hands of a crawling baby, treads of a wheelchair, maybe stride of somebody walking with their feet or a cane. The paint colors we have chosen are going to be taken from the disability pride flag, which have representations of different disabilities, and so people will be able to kind of hopefully find a connection within that as well. Which brings us up to some ongoing projects and ideas that we have. I want to focus on first round of the rotating art for the cultural trail story markers, some additional cultural trailhead public art concepts, and consultations with the commission. On the right hand side there, you'll see that image is a picture inspired by a work that you will see shortly. So to begin, Sherri Loonsfoot Aldred is currently working on the first exhibition of rotating art on the side panels of the story markers, currently referenced as Star Knowledge Stories. Sherri's paintings are inspired by indigenous connections to the stars. They represent the relationship between movements of the northern celestial skies and seasonal changes of the Great Lakes region from the Anishinaabe perspective by portraying tribal traditions and activities connected to these cycles. and ancient indigenous observations. In addition to scans of her work on the story markers, her original paintings will be framed and enter the public art collection, hopefully to hang at the trailhead for some time and at some time. Thanks to the Forecast Public Art Midwest Memory Grant, MPAC was able to support arts and culture staff to attend the School of Monumaking Lab Summit in Philadelphia, The grant will also provide opportunity for a monument and memorial policy for the city to implement. Signage for the seven grandfathers monument will be provided through this grant as well as much more. Our second presented ideation project is a stained glass piece by local artist Molly Jackson. This potential public art at the trailhead is a great example of how public art isn't just a sculpture. Public art is for storytelling, for connecting areas of knowledge and local expertise. and experiences. This project also showcases how MPAC provides opportunities for professional development and skill building in our community as we work with artists and designers like Molly to develop processes and techniques for site-specific fabrication and installation. I would recommend checking out her artwork on Instagram. She is a local artist that we have asked to do this project. She has excitement for it, but also has some research to do, and we are fully prepared to help her through that. Just a little bit of a list of consults that we have provided for different entities in the city. There may not be all of them, but these are just a few. If anybody has questions, thoughts, or ideas for their own projects for the city or ways to connect or questions on how to get something done, feel free to reach out to the Arts and Culture Department and Public Art. Join our meetings because we are here and interested and excited. I would also like to touch base on the future plans and ideas. These include capital enhancements at the Cultural Trailhead, such as potential bike racks and garden sculptures, maybe large fish or birdhouses or birds. We've also talked about maybe work at the Harlow Park Fountain and further activating that space along the newly installed Freedom Monument. We've discussed transportation enhancements. Potential ideas could be crosswalk designs such as those present in downtown Houghton. That's an example photo in the slide here for you to kind of get an idea of maybe what could be. These and potential roundabout sculptures we think would be kind of fun and interesting landscape art. These enhancements can increase driver and pedestrian safety by slowing traffic down and highlighting locations of pedestrian crossing, which is really important in some of the areas in Marquette where traffic seems really high and people go a little too fast, I feel like. Continued maintenance of our current public artwork is also very important, such as the Words to Live and Bike By paintings and the Hurley Park Basketball Court mural. Resources like our Midwest Art Conservation Center membership have been helpful in creating maintenance plans so that those can be maintained and continue to be maintained. MPAC is also concerned with increasing collaborative community created artwork opportunities, such as a potential mural at the 7th Street multi-use bike path tunnel. Additionally, other engagement and marketing ideas include a traveling public art resource cart and stickers from high quality scans of artwork in the city's art collection. On that note, Currently public art is not included within the city's marketing plan or yeah and public participation plan Yeah, we know that public art helps create memorable destinations strengthen city branding encourages visitor exploration generates media and contributes to the unique sense of place that attracts new residents and businesses and industry We also know that public art can activate civic dialogue and increase participation among residents who may not engage through traditional public meetings. This will be especially useful at the new Trailhead. Finally, it has been suggested in the City Commission's strategic plan for MPAC to consider a large-scale iconic artwork similar to those found in major cities such as Chicago's Bean or the Calder sculpture located in Grand Rapids. Projects of that scale can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and require significant public engagement, fundraising, engineering, and long-term maintenance commitments. An updated cultural plan would help to provide a community-driven framework to guide those decisions. We acknowledge and thank the city and community for including public art in the current community master plan and transportation plan. Both demonstrate recognition that public art contributes to quality of life, community identity, placemaking, and economic vitality. Both show how public art enhances city gateways, streetscapes, transit corridors, and pedestrian environments. Both inclusions are great examples of public art supporting broader city goals beyond traditional arts programming. As stated, public art is also a planning and economic development tool, not simply an aesthetic enhancement. Likewise, an updated Arts and Culture City Master Plan continues these varied benefits and maximizes previous investments. In 2024, the plan became outdated. It is recommended that comprehensive updates take place every five years. In my research, I came across some that stated three years. Thus, I would like to conclude with a formal request, like the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, that the commission approve funding for a cultural plan in the fiscal year 2027 budget in order to provide a robust arts and culture experience in Marquette, align with economic conditions that are evolving, and account for shifting demographics. Your investment in public art has provided value culturally, socially, and economically. It leans into place-revealing and place-making opportunities. It provides education for the community and educational opportunities for the local artists, such as Molly. It invests in public infrastructure, economic development, and it provides access to all people. It fosters connections. by viewers having an opportunity to reflect on identity and culture within themselves along with their peers and their residents and the people that visit the city. It opens up conversations about what art is to residents and what's meaningful to them. I personally wanna thank you as well as my public art commissioners for these past several years supporting public arts. The Arts and Culture Department dedicates so much time and is committed to public art flourishing in our city, and without them, as I've stated, and without the founding MPAC members and all past and currently volunteering commissioners, we wouldn't be able to stand here in awe of what we get to provide and share with the residents of Marquette, ourselves included. I am privileged to be part of these incredible experiences that I get to share with my students, my two children, my neighbors. I look forward to sharing them with my family and friends when they visit, and I look forward to the feedback that community members have on the artworks. Please continue considering, or consider continuing funding Marquette Public Art, and I thank you all very much.

Thank you, Brianna. Yes.

If you have any questions for me or Arts and Culture, I'll do my best.

Bri, thanks for taking the time today to be here, especially, you know, obviously with you and Sean having kids running around the facility as we're here. It's a really good reminder of just your commitment to the group that you're in. And to me, just hearing how much pride you have when you talk and seeing the other members of your group here. It's not often that we sit here and have a presentation and multiple members of the group come. So that's just awesome to see. So thank you guys for showing up. Public art is super important to the city of Marquette, and I will always be 100% in support of anything we can do to make this community just more evolved than it is now, because it's already special. And I think that the more we do and continue to do that, it's really driven by the arts, it seems like. So thanks for taking the time. Thanks for including so much in your presentation. I'll stop talking now.

I just want to say, you know, thank you for the great presentation. It's I always love when we get these presentations because there's so many projects going on. And it's a lot of them. It's the first time I've even seen or heard of them. And I just get super excited to see them come to fruition. So keep up the great work. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll add, you know, when you sit at this seat, you get to be involved in a lot of really unique events, I guess, throughout certain times of the year. And the 4th of July is obviously a special time of year, and I was really honored to be a part of the opening of the Peg Curve and a Bandshell and be able to emcee that to be a part of the holiday parade. That was great, you know, all that good stuff. But being a part of the event at the Freedom Monuments at Harlow Park to honor our veterans was really probably the highlight of the whole week for me. And it just meant a lot to be able to talk to a lot of those veterans, to be a part of the dedication of the monuments, to hear from the people that were so generous to provide for that with the Caters Foundation, Ron Caters Foundation. But you know I call it the shaking baby and kissing hands events, but the fact is is that you know it is clearly a major part of what makes Marquette so unique, so thank you so much for all your hard work everybody Thank you if anyone wants to join a meeting ever feel free Okay that concludes our presentations for the night That brings us to our first public hearing, or only the public hearing, the public hearing on Ordinance 26-06, Land Development Code Amendments. City Clerk, background please.

Thank you, Mayor. On June 2nd, 2026, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on land development code amendments prepared over the past several months. The following motion was made. It was moved by N. Vermont and seconded by M. Raynor and carried 8-0 that after review of the draft land development code amendments presented as case 01-ZOA-06-2026 and after conducting a public hearing and careful consideration, The contents of the draft LDC amendments, the Planning Commission finds that the draft LDC amendments are consistent with the recommendations, goals, and policy objectives of the Community Master Plan, comply with section 54.1405 of the Land Development Code, represent an improvement to regulation that affects property owners in the city, and therefore are justified and appropriate, and therefore should be approved by the City Commission as presented. Tonight's public hearing was scheduled during the Commission's regular meeting of June 8th, 2026. Fiscal effect, none. Recommendation, following the public hearing, adopt Ordinance 26-06, incorporating the proposed Land Development Code amendments for the reasons as recommended by the Planning Commission. Alternatives as determined by the Commission.

Thank you city clerk I'm gonna kick this before we open up the the public. Comment portion of this hearing I'm gonna kick it over to the city manager for a little summary if that's all right yeah sure.

The the packet is rather thick so with a lot of highlights but it is mainly just some clarifying. Parts to it. So I just wanted to reiterate that this ordinance really is updating multiple sections of the land development code It's really intending to clarify regulations improve some administrative administration Issues address some reoccurring interpretation issues and improve portions of the LDC So the city staff guided the Planning Commission through several proposed LDC amendments beginning late last year and the Planning Commission contributed ideas and helped refined and refine and improve some of this draft text. So again, it's really meant to improve some of this consistency in the zoning administration, reduce ambiguity and interpretation disputes, modernization of regulations to address emerging or shifting issues, such as, I'm gonna say this, mobile food vending and some outdoor food and beverage services. And really that's addressing some of that private property issues versus some of the changes we just made with mobile food vending on public property. It strengthens environmental protection along city waterways and shorelines and improves the inherent guidance to residents, businesses, developers, and staff. So it touches multiple sections, but a lot of that is that cleanup in there.

Great. Thank you very much. So we're going to open up public comment, and if anybody would like to speak to this matter, any of these matters, feel free to come up to the podium. Again, state your name and address, and we'll go from there. I didn't think there would be much action on this tonight it's pretty straightforward but not too much heavy lifting going on here anyone last chance okay public hearing is closed let's bring it back to the commission and would have somebody like to make a motion please.

I move we adopt ordinance twenty six oh six incorporating the proposed land development code amendments for the reasons as recommended by the planning commission.

Thank you very much. Is there a second, please? Commissioner Hanley?

I second.

Discussion?

I just want to thank the Planning Commission. I know the detail that they go into in reviewing these things and the discussions that they have. I know it's a lot of work, both on the staff and on the Planning Commission's part, and I really appreciate all of the effort that goes into it. Thank you. Commissioner Hanley?

I would like to second that. I read the summary, of course, of all the changes that we got from the Planning Commission, which really makes it easier to see the differences. But then I also took the time to go through the entire land development code where it was highlighted. And it's shocking how much work this must have taken the Planning Commission. So I applaud every bit of work that got done for that.

Thank you. Anybody else?

I don't think we need to.

Okay, I've got to say something about everything it seems, but having gone through this when I was on the planning commission and see how actively engaged they are with these land development code amendments and getting us up to date year after year, these small changes are needed to really keep at the times. And they just really do a fabulous job of spelling it out for us as commissioners. And I want to thank the planning commission for all the work that they've done. That being said, this would require a roll call vote, so I'll send it back to the city clerk. Commissioner Davis?

Yes.

Commissioner Hanley? Yes. Commissioner Mayer? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Ottaway? Yes. And Mayor Schlegel?

Yes. Motion passes 5-2-0. Commissioners, that brings us to the consent agenda. Is there a motion, please? Commissioner Hanley?

I move that we accept the consent agenda as presented.

Thank you protein matter. Discussion. I don't have anything either so that being said. Call in favor please say yes yes pose no. Motion passes 5. We've got a couple items of new business. First one is the city manager and city attorney evaluation subcommittee that will be formed. I think the only thing that we really need to do with this tonight is make you aware that I'll be appointing two other commissioners that'll sit in on that review committee. All of our commissioners will be asked to, as well as the two people in question, the city manager and city attorney, will be asked to fill out their review. We will fill out our review, compile information, and that's what goes into the end of the season analysis that would dictate any kind of pay raises or anything along those lines. So that's an easy little tidbit for us tonight. We don't have to make any motion on that.

I believe we have to make a motion for you to do that. Do we have to?

Oh, okay. Okay, great. In that case, is there a motion?

Yeah.

You good? Kyle's okay with that for background.

You're good with that? Okay. Commissioner Hanley?

I move that we authorize the mayor to appoint three commissioners to serve on the city manager and city attorney's evaluation subcommittee with an immediate charge to evaluate the city manager's and city attorney's performance in fiscal year 2026 and bring back a recommendation for compensation in terms of employment at the city commission's September 28th regular meeting.

Much better than what I would have said.

Is there a second, please? Commissioner, Mayor?

I'll second the motion, Your Honor.

Thank you. Anyone have a conversation with us?

Nope. Good.

Okay. All in favor, please say yes. Yes. Opposed? No. Motion passes 5-0. I'm going to send this one down to Kyle. Next item of new business is the Cinder Pond Marina and the MD&R Waterways Grant Agreement. Background, please, sir.

Thank you, Mayor. At its March 30, 2026 meeting, the City Commission authorized submitting a Michigan Department of Natural Resources Waterways Grant Program application for a cinder pond floating pier replacement. The city recently received notice that the project was recommended for funding. The DNR provided a waterways grant agreement which provides for 50% of the $3,388,000 estimated project cost not to exceed $1,694,000. The grant proceeds are solely for the design and completion of the project. Upon approving the grant agreement, the city will be authorized to proceed with engineering, design, demolition of existing piers, and construction of a new pier system for Cinder Pond Marina. The professional services of design and construction oversight will be contracted. The intended timeline for this project would include design through the fall of 2026 and floating dock construction during winter 2026-27. Demolition and installation would occur prior to the 2027 boating season. Fiscal effect, the local match of $1,694,000 is anticipated to be incorporated into the city's fiscal year 27 capital improvement program and financed through the city's overall capital financing plan subject to the future city commission approval of the fiscal year 27 budget and any necessary financing authorizations. Recommendation, approve the waterways grant agreement totaling $1,694,000 to reconstruct the piers at Cinder Pond Marina, authorize the city manager or her designee to sign the agreement, and authorize the city clerk to sign the resolution. Alternatives as determined by the commission.

Thank you, city clerk. City manager, do you want to touch on this at all? You did a really nice job on the radio this morning.

I think you covered it, but I'll clarify if you'd like on some of it just because it may not seem in the normal everyday language that we do talk about things. But the intent is to move forward with bonding or financing through the bond process with a couple of other projects potentially in the next budget season. So the intention is that the bond issuance or financing could cover the matching portion and then be repaid through those rates. Now the fiscal policy that was approved and the rate structure that was approved a few months ago from the commission would essentially be able to cover those rates or those payments. But we will review that as we go forward in the budget season to make sure that those rates will cover those bond payments. So we may be coming back with a new rate structure.

Did you realize you had the walk-up music? Something like that?

Yes. Did everybody get that?

It's very well explained. I can admit to that. So with that being said, this also, we need to have a motion first. So is there a motion, please? Commissioner Pro Tem Idaway?

I move to approve the Waterways grant agreement totaling $1,694,000 to reconstruct the piers at Cinder Pond Marina, authorize the city manager or her designee to sign the agreement, and authorize the city clerk to sign the resolution.

Thank you. Second. Commissioner Hanley.

I second.

Thank you. Any discussion? None from me.

The only discussion I have is I think that it might have been a little hard to hear Karen when she was talking about how it was funded. There is a rate structure that was put into place. I was a little against this when it first came out because I didn't like the idea of spending $1.6 million on floating piers, but they will self-fund themselves with their rate structure over the course of the years. We're just bonding out for it because we were able to get a chance to get half of it paid for by a grant, which is something that

we really can't pass up so i just wanted to point that out because i i know you were saying it but it was a little loud thank you for the clarification i don't like your walk-up music as much as i like uh great uh this is a roll call vote uh city clerk commissioner davis yes commissioner hanley yes commissioner mayor yes mayor pro tem ottaway yes mayor schlegel yes motion passes 5-0 That is it for new business that brings us to a second round of public comment stated earlier public comment cannot exceed more than 3 minutes and as you approach the podium if you are a repeat speaker today you do not need to say your name and address but if you are new please do state your name and address was first.

Margaret Brum. Today I was at the gas station at the corner of 3rd and Fair and one of my students said, Professor Brum, how are you doing? And I said, oh, I just love the heat. That was a joke. And then we got talking and he was working out at Northern at the radio station. And I said, well, I've been busy with cigarette butt recycling, and now I'm working on basically a media campaign, which starts with, this is a donut. This is a donut covered by cigarette butts. And he went on to explain where he currently lives. The drains are full of cigarette butts. And I said, look, that's the worst place for them. Just let me know where it is. I can take a bucket there. I've got... thanks to some generous donations in the last week i've got uh back of my suv full of buckets and he said well if you can give me one i'll take it right now so we will load them up with a bucket that was ready to have um recycled cigarettes put in it and then oddly enough he offered me the opportunity i said i'm going to bring this into northern's public radio and see if they want to talk to you and i went well you know i'm shy but i'll be happy to come and talk to you So I wanted to make the same offer to anyone here or anyone who sees this on TV. If you have a location that needs a cigarette butt recycling bin, I happen to have some right now. I don't always. Sometimes the back of my SUV is empty. But I have some now. Contact me on Facebook. I'm pretty easy to find. And where you are and what you're most worried about. And I will make attempt to get there and get you a cigarette butt recycle can. Because basically the more that are out there the less I have to go One by one at a time one at a time one at a time to pick up and this is just a continual process It started this year as soon as the snow melted. I believe in June when the snow is enough and Mean we had a long winter But as soon as the snow melts and everything comes out then people notice these things and it just it's continuing We were in the parking lot at the gas station and there was a truck delivering gas and there was the smell of gas as there is And most of you know liquid gas doesn't burn it's the fumes and we both smelled the fumes and I looked down on my SUV and there was a cigarette right there So it's an ongoing concern. If you have any area that you see a lot of cigarette butts at and you think it could use a new bucket, let me know. I will see what I can do to put one there. You don't have to be part of a special group. You don't have to fill out a form. You don't have to have an income qualification. There's nothing like that. It's just let me know where it is and we'll see what we can do. and in the meantime um i appreciate your support in this endeavor i know you have a lot of important things on your mind but this isn't going to go away unless we make it unacceptable thank you for your time thank you anyone else for public comment

My name's Elizabeth Blackson. My address is 306 South 7th. I'm the store manager of the BP on West Washington Street next to the room at the end. It's been a long time since I've spoken publicly, so. Numbers, financially, I can crunch when it comes to retail. Managing my employees I can take care of very efficiently within the business what I can't manage very well is And I'm not even gonna say it's exclusively the shelter because it's not I There is a lot of misuse of the understanding of the social district and the requirements of containers and or anything having to go with that, any kind of regulation. I think those need to be either simplified or made clear. Another, there's many issues. I'm not going to repeat what has been said by the residents of Snowberry, because it is true. There is a lot of public indecency, public intoxication, violence disturbing of the peace, a lot of things that I would not want my six-year-old to see. It is true as far as a lot of my customers being very afraid to come just to our location. You walk in the doors, of course, you're met with wonderful smiles and kindness and a wonderful dog that we keep on the premises. She's great. But when they leave the doors, I have a lot of factors that I have to factor in and sadly one of those I need help from the city to kind of take care of. It sounds like Snowberry would also like your help. I know management over at the Ramada would also enjoy the assistance in this situation. I know the co-op has published articles Kind of the same thing, not necessarily just problems with the shelter, just public in general, public not knowing the proper way to act, really. So I didn't hear it tonight, but I look forward to anything that you guys might be able to come up with to help us out a little bit. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment?

Hello, I'm Cynthia Hoffman. I live at Snowberry. Do you want my apartment number?

If you want to give it to us?

Sure. You want my number too?

I don't wear it, but I am married.

Oh, you're married, okay. No, when I first moved into Snowberry.

Doesn't your ears red? Something's wrong.

That's all right, I'm red too.

Start that over if you don't mind.

I moved into Snowberry when I was 62 years old in 2011. And when I first moved in there, I thought what a wonderful place it was. A nice summer night like this, we'd be out there till 10 o'clock at night, just having a good time, sitting out the back. Today, I avoid the bike path altogether. If I have to go up on Washington, I use Washington Street. I'm afraid to go out at night. I won't sit outside at night. When it's dark, I come in because I'm afraid. And I hear a lot of things. Thankfully, I live in the front. I don't have to look at a lot of this other stuff. But it's not the same Snowberry I moved into in 2011. I'm looking to find someplace else to go where at least I feel safe. It was a beautiful neighborhood, and I'm not blaming the homeless necessarily. It's the people that are attracted to that place. They don't get to go in there, so then they spend their time on the bike path. So it's nothing against the homeless. I understand that they don't have a home, and I know they tried to find them homes, You know, I'm afraid. You won't catch me outside after dark anymore, and I won't use the bike path at all. I just wanted to let you know. Thank you for hearing me.

Absolutely. Anyone else for public comment?

Hey there. My name is Mark Jambrozek. I'm at 410 East Ohio. I'm a notoriously terrible public speaker, so if I pass out or pee myself, I'm so sorry. And please don't put it on YouTube. I'm also brand new to civics, so if I'm out of place or not at the right meeting or just off my rocker, please give me a little bit of grace as well. I request that the board consider presenting a moratorium on data centers. As a city that prides itself and leverages the vast natural beauty of the area, I'm surprised one hasn't been presented yet. Forsyth, Sands, Delta County, and Houghton have all enacted similar measures, and I ask that the board consider bringing something forward without haste. Why is this important? We know that local ordinances aren't equipped to handle the new pressure of data needs infrastructure, including updated definitions with renewed semantics and syntax, which are important in legal proceedings. What happens if we don't act? Well, take, for example, in the east in Dafter Township, a data center, a crypto mine specifically, opened up across from a school. It was put in an old pole barn with hay bales used as sound dampeners. The noise is so definite that learning is compromised. Classes have been moved entirely inside, and children no longer recess. While the area continues to fight, it's too late. They're updating their ordinances, but for that particular spot, it is what it is. And we know Marquette has brownfields and industrial acreage that are attractive to data centers, including the former power plants in both South Marquette and Presque Isle, surrounded by residential neighborhoods. Now, I doubt that the crown jewel, Presque Isle, would be soiled by a data center, but I wouldn't put it past politicians, unfortunately. And as such, I also ask that you as public servants that are of the people and by the people disclose if you've signed any NDAs regarding data centers. That includes any conversations you've had with energy infrastructure, economic development, and the like. Now I know you probably won't share that out loud here, but I will for you, and I'm brand new to this, but at the same time I don't want to see Marquette ruined by data centers and the noise. I urge you to protect the beauty of the area while taking proactive measures to mitigate disturbances from any potential data center. I know we can't tell them no, but we can at least start somewhere. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment?

Williamson from Snowberry. I'd like to respectfully rebut two of the three-minute speakers that were up here, young lady. And there's a public washroom at the park, and there's a public washroom in the Mark Tran Transfer Station. And if you follow the rules, I'm sure you can use the restrooms at the room at the end. And to the gentleman that lives at the room in the end, none of us want to cause problems for deserving people that are applying for their SSI. It's the surrounding people that aren't allowed in there. And if the room at the end could do something to self-police a little bit, because there's a lot of loud arguments that come right out of the back of that building at all hours. So that's all I had to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else? Okay. Public comment has been closed and it's over for the evening. That brings us to comments from the commission. We're going to start on the end with commissioner mirror.

Well, hey, everybody. Thank you for coming out tonight. I was honestly really shocked to walk into City Hall and see it was packed at the start of the meeting on a 90 degree sunny day. A lot of comments tonight regarding our homeless situation, Marquette. I don't want it to look like I am avoiding the topic. I just don't have a good answer for any of the comments right now. So rather than just winging it, I think I'm just going to kind of table comments for that till later. Margaret, thank you for still picking up cigarette butts all over town. I appreciate it. The gentleman that asked about data centers, I'm hoping our city manager will maybe be able to talk about that at all if that's something we are planning on discussing at some point. Personally, I think the shorter term moratoriums that other townships and communities are looking at is a very Logical approach to buy your community more time to actually get into this because as we were just discussing Like updating zoning and our codes is a very long and tedious process And no I haven't signed an NDA with any data center company or any energy company Yeah, thanks and again if if you don't have AC in your apartments like 120 degrees tomorrow Public form Lakeview arena right yeah, so this is warm is a cooling center.

Thanks I Really do appreciate the comments that that were that we had tonight about the difficulties with the loitering and the and the homeless and No, we don't have good solutions, but I think it's really important that we hear from you and that we keep it at the top of our concerns. And I wish I had a better comment for you, but at this particular time, I don't. Mark, and I'm sorry I didn't get your last name, we are having a work session on data centers on Monday the 20th, nope, we're not? No, it's not confirmed. Okay, we were just asked. We're going to have a work session in the future. And at that time, there'll be opportunities to comment. It wasn't that long ago that I came to the city manager and said, let's see what we can do about not getting data centers around in the city of Marquette. And then I happened to be one of the group that went to Kayani, Finland. and they are actually embracing data centers and welcoming them and wanting to become the center for data centers. And so I listened to their talk and I think it's worth us asking our city, our sister city, more about how they are, why they are, How are they are managing it? I know there's closer Water systems and they didn't talk much about the noise, which is something that I would be very concerned about But I guess I know I need to hear a lot more about data centers and what we can do as a city to either Do the ordinances that we need to do to make our our community comfortable with yes or no on data centers and So I'm looking forward to our future discussions on that topic and to learning more about it. Margaret, congratulations. I think that's pretty cool that TerraCycle will be using the city of Marquette as an example. Through your efforts through the superior watershed partnership through a lot of awareness in our community I see the situation improving I know you focus on how bad it still is and it is still bad because I'm sorry I haven't picked up cigarettes for you for a while but I will. Several years ago, I used to walk the beach at Founders Landing and pick up cigarette butts, those that come through the storm system. And it wasn't unusual for me to pick up 100 of them at a time. But I don't see that anymore. I might find one or two of them. So I think we are improving in our community, and I think it's through your efforts and some other efforts that are happening in the community. So thank you.

thank you commissioner hanley thank you mayor um just touching on a couple of things first i want to thank everyone who came out and spoke i will say that we are not the first city who has had an issue with constituents being inappropriate and i won't label the constituents that are doing it because it is more than just one group of people that causes problems I will say that I do believe we should look at it with compassion and in the right regard, while at the same point protecting the residents of the local area and finding a way to work forward. I know our police department does the best that they can with the resources that they have in order to do these things. Finding a way to work forward so that all the businesses and residents can do it would be great. So I look forward to having continued conversations with you as the public and with city staff about how we can help continue to address this. As for data centers, I look forward to the work session that we have hopefully coming up on that. I will say I'm fairly certain it is not legal for anyone in a government to sign an NDA. So I'm not saying you shouldn't FOIA, but I'm just saying I don't think we're allowed to do that. So you're good. Not here. So no. Okay, good. But other than that, I hope everyone stays nice and cool if they can.

Thank you. Pro Tem Ottaway.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to thank everyone that came out tonight to actually speak on the issues that you're seeing. I mean, it's not often we have many people actually show up to these meetings and tell us anything. So to hear all of your just various concerns, I think is, in my opinion, opinion is refreshing in a way. It kind of tells you that government maybe works a little bit. To the folks at Snowberry, your concerns are 100% valid. We want to make sure that our senior community is safe. And I think that there were some actual decent ideas brought forward in potentially removing the shelter areas and ultimately make it not as, you know, Easy for somebody to kind of sit down and embed themselves and put others in a dangerous situation and I do think that that's something that as a city we need to look at. Like the other commissioners have stated we can't sit here and say we have all the answers I mean this has been some an ongoing. Set of concerns that we've had in the community for a while and his commissioner and they pointed out. We have an ethical responsibility to make sure that this is handled appropriately and make sure that we are compassionate about this with all parties. So continue to please bring us your concerns, let us know what's going on, and we're going to do what we can to work with you. That's the one thing I can promise. Mark, thank you for showing up with your concerns about the data centers. It's something I can assure you that we are all sitting here with the same questions, concerns. We see what's going on in the other townships, which is why we're trying to coordinate a work session. Ultimately, I can promise you, you can certainly FOIA me anytime. You won't find me talking to anyone, because I don't like to talk to people regardless. You know, when it comes to everything else, though, I really appreciate everyone taking the time to be here tonight. And really, the one thing I will end with one thing we have to remember as a city when it comes to, you know, talking about public art and tourists and all these people coming here. I have valid concerns about. things we can and can't do when it comes to our local businesses. And when they are having legitimate issues of people worried about showing up at their business, that makes business become scarce in areas all of a sudden. And that's the last thing that we want. And as we kind of circle back to the public art, it doesn't matter what you have to offer as a city if people are afraid to be there. So it's something we need to solve as a problem together. And I hope we continue to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. I don't like talking to people. You put a mic in front of them and what happens? No, just kidding. Good stuff. A couple things. I'd love to talk more about data centers, but I really think we're beating a dead horse until we get through this work session. It's really an important topic. It's on our radar, no doubt about it. homeless issue or the use of our public walkways and things from what I'm going to assume is our homeless population or overflow is definitely something that you know we have to we have to keep it on our radar but we also have to understand that you know there's a lot of people out there that are really doing their best to work towards getting back on their feet and the room at the end is a very essential part of that process for so many of them so you know there's there's always that saying that you know one bad apple ruins the the the bushels at it the bunch gets that's not that old of a saying if I can remember it but My point is that, yes, we have to really keep in mind the stretching over reach that is you know having to happen with all of our services with our fire with our police and with our EMTs and inspect first responders I mean there's there's and not to say that their calls are not valid that they need help but you know we are when we're talking about the numbers that we're talking about it is really quite quite excessive and we have to I would hope that maybe some of the members of that community can work together inside of the organization to come up with some good, some positive answers to help us. I was part of a groundbreaking about a week and a half ago for the Habitat for Humanity House on McClellan. in one of the old parking lots of the medical center. And all of a sudden, like ants on a log, the group from the First Presbyterian, I'm not sure if it's First Presbyterian, but the Presbyterian Church from Hastings came up. There were about 20 or so, maybe a little bit more, young adults and their leaders that jumped on that project once the floor was poured and the footings were set. And in a couple of days, there was walls up. It's all roughed in. The coatings are on the ceiling. They really got after it. And I stopped on my way back home after our Friday morning meeting and just went out and thanked them all for their hard work and made it a point to just celebrate everything that they brought to our community for that week. and helping with the habitat for that one house and how quickly it went. I mean, these guys, they got it down to science. They are really good. So point is that there's humanity in all reaches of our community, and that was just one of those things I want to celebrate for them and with them. The other part would be all the festivities and things that came with the Fourth of July. I know that the 4th of July fireworks, I thought they were fabulous, and I think that all of the events that surrounded the 4th of July were really top-notch. At the same time, I'm learning that the fireworks almost didn't go off. And I'm not going to get into the weeds with that right now, but if our community has an expectation to celebrate the 4th in a way that we are used to, then we're going to have to rally behind this type of an event and really give it the push that it needs to get over the goal line each season. So I'm very thankful, and I don't know if I should mention it, but to our DDA representative, what was the gentleman's name again?

It wasn't necessarily the DDA role, but he does serve as a director for the DDA with the business and outreach, I believe. But it is Michael Bradford and his whole crew on that committee, which I don't have there.

Thank you. Thank you for that addition. But, you know, thank you to Michael and his crew for really... picking that ball up and getting it across the finish line. Much appreciated. Beautiful fireworks display, regardless of what the social media says. With that being said, I think I've rambled enough, and I will pass it on to the city manager for comments, please.

Before I get to a couple of the items that were mentioned here tonight. I just wanted to actually first highlight What's the Commission had approved on the consent agenda here? So it wasn't necessarily explained in detail But tonight the Commission confirmed the appointment of Neil Trey as the director of the municipal utilities effective July 1st So he's been on the on the job for for a while, but and he's been with the city for a number of years I want to say Over 20, correct? Yes. So this is not new for him, but this role is a new one for him So Neil brings an exceptional level of experience and has a clear passion for public service Which really aligns closely with the city's mission and values Making him the the greatest transition into the director for municipal utilities. So his commitment to keeping leadership apprised and informed ensures that transparency continues and effective communication continues and that smooth and transition and coordination as we move forward. So I kneels here, but I just wanted to at least make sure that I pointed him out there so you guys definitely see him and say congratulations as well so. So, moving on to a few of those other topics here. Let's talk about the homeless topic right now. And I'm just gonna kind of go through a couple of the notes that I have shared over the years, but especially right now, over the past year, when this topic has kind of grown in the media, but then also on our list. So, the one thing that we hear the most is, why won't you do anything about the homeless? And I'm saying that that's the question we receive so often. And as the local unit of government, we really see this as a community-needed approach, as all levels of government need to be at this table, or at the table, working with the local nonprofits and organizations to find better solutions for addressing homelessness in our community. and not to necessarily get all technical, but municipalities are extremely limited on what we can spend public funds on. We cannot give money to nonprofits unless we are contracting with them to do something that we should be doing as the government agency or a service that we would provide or we would otherwise provide. So our support for serving the homeless is not as obvious or direct as some may demand or expect for the local government. Not trying to make excuses on that, but it's something that we we have a lot of those tasks to to kind of balance and solving that one problem right now is not something we can do. I have personally cleaned up those. Litter bottles liquor bottles pipes needles left behind the public property I don't take it lightly and none of our staff do and we are doing everything we can with the tools that we do have Currently we can't promise those easy solutions, but we can continue to act that decisively compassionately and transparently But let's be honest, that mental health and substance use disorders, not necessarily saying that it is tied to homeless, but those mental health and substance use disorders are pressing challenges in this community. And what's even more troubling is the lack of adequate resources in the Upper Peninsula to respond effectively. This is a systemic issue. We all know this, and we need stronger support from our county, state, and federal agencies in order to help. That's been the message that's been shared a lot. So unfortunately, I can't share too much more on that other than we do have a close relationship with Room at the Inn, meeting with the executive director as often and as frequently as we can and as requested by Chelsea. So we lean on that relationship very closely. And again, that's not the problem. So there's other problems that do not fall within Room at the Inn and what they can do as well. So we need to be acting compassionately and kindly and trying to find solutions that work for our entire community. Sorry, that might have sounded a little bit of a lecture. Now moving on to data centers. The Planning Commission received a presentation on data centers and the associated land use infrastructure and regulatory considerations earlier this year. Following that presentation, the Planning Commission requested the City Manager's Office to continue gathering some of that information and research. trying to kind of get ahead of this in case there's a potential establishment of a data center or interest in one in the city, which I'm just gonna say at this point, and I did not sign an NDA, none of us do, there's not something that we are even considering at this moment. So I just wanna make sure that's clear. But we will be having a work session in the coming weeks. We are still working on that date. We do have a lot of other pressing topics right now. Not saying that this isn't pressing, but we did just talk about another one here. But we do have budget coming up as well, and there's gonna be a lot of extra meetings that we're talking about. So when we do have a work session on this, there will be an informational presentation provided with that similar foundational information and relevant facts. Bless you. relevant facts and information and discuss some of those community considerations that we're hearing about that Mark had mentioned. And really look at what those paths forward would be. Moratorium was mentioned here, there's some other potential pathways forward, but really looking for what's right for our community. And again, I think that Mark had said it very well, is one of the top things that's mentioned in our community master plan is protecting our natural resources. And that is certainly at the forefront of our mind. So that will be discussed in a public setting at a work session and really is meant to have that information and the discussion with the commission. So I can't promise a date on that one because we have a lot of vacation schedules in between and we have a lot of work sessions that are starting to be planned in line with budget. So I'm sure we'll get that out there. That's all, thank you.

Thank you, City Manager Walput. And with that, we are adjourned at 7.35.