City Commission - Regular Meeting

Thank you. I'd like to call to order the Monday, January 12th, 2026 meeting of the Marquette City Commission at 6 p.m. Please rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. Uh, city clerk, roll call, please. Commissioner Davis, here. Commissioner Gotautle. Commissioner Hanley, here. Commissioner Larson, here. Commissioner Mayor here. Mayor Prom Ottawa here.

And Mayor Segel here. Okay. Uh commissioners, we have an agenda in front of us. Is there a motion to approve? Commissioner Davis. Commissioner Davis. I move we approve the agenda as presented. Thank you. Is there a second? Commissioner Gatle. Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Seeing none, uh, all those in favor, please say yes. Yes. Yes. Opposed. Motion passes. Seven to nothing.

Um, I don't have any announcements tonight. Um, so I guess we'll kind of keep moving on and get into our first item on the agenda here tonight, and that is our boards and committees. We have one appointment. Uh, commission. I'm looking for an appointment or a motion. Approach Tim Owway. I move to appoint Alex Wilkinson to the board of zoning appeals as the planning commission representative for a term ending 21527. And a second, please. Commissioner Hanley, I second. Thank you. Any discussion? None for me. Okay. Thank you. All in favor, please say yes. Opposed? No.

Motion passes 7 nothing. Thank you. That brings us to first public comment of the evening. Comments may not exceed three minutes per person. Please state your name and physical address when making your public comment. Anyone for public comment 1406 city. Um I'm here tonight to talk about ice. Not that kind. I don't like what they're doing. Not the kind that we slick on, but we need more sand on the stop signs. Intersections all around city police just a lot more. We built a beach with sand. We can put some in the city right around high schools where I live and the new magnetic college doesn't get used is a slick piece of ice almost all the way down even warm weather. [clears throat] Now I'm here to talk about Lake View Arena. Um, I work there, so I get a lot of, uh, comments from out of town. A lot of people asking, "What's going on with it? How come these doors don't work? Why are the lights off in the parking lot? How come I have to walk over ice when I'm coming into this parking lot? How come when my kids have their bags, their roller bags, walking with grandma and grandpa, they get all snowy and covered?" All these things happen after 5 p.m. And I say this because Parks and Wreck is not the people that clean the parking lot. I found this out after the four years of working there. They're not the ones who turn on the lights in the parking lot or on the outside of the doors. They're not the ones who have to fix the doors that don't work in the back parking lot. This is a community thing. And all I'm asking because I get a lot of questions about this proposal that was made apparently a year ago.

What's the status of that? Um because I need to pass this on. This is legitimately a question I get on the weekend. Absolutely. Five times a week. So that's kind of the first thing. Just clear the update. Please come to that. Um second, all I want you to do is walk away from the management of it. You don't do the trails for this whole noon trail network thing. You don't do the u baseball diamonds although you might. They're funding their own bathrooms out there. Um these kinds of things are the way parks and w work and we have enough nonprofits to make a coordinated effort for Lake View. I don't know if we have to include the Y. I don't know if you have to sell it, but with all that snow that's been piled up in the in the uh parking lot, the state or the skating community, all those kids who do some awesome moves in the summertime could utilize it if it wasn't run by the city. And I don't know if it's you guys, I don't know if it's committee, I don't know what has to happen, but somehow please relinquish control of Lake View Arena so that we can manage it better and more efficiently because it's been 10 years since Hockey. We need a new Zamboni machine. The community is purchasing that. And we also have to the drivers because the city is the one who hire seasonal drivers. Time is up. Thank you for listening.

Thank you. Uh, anyone else for public comment? Mayor Schlaggel, can we have the public comment at the the podium for the presentation? I think the audio is having an issue with that. Going to shift gears over to that podium if you have public comment, please. Over there. Yes, please. Is that working? Oh, sure. It's

okay. Barzai 1324 North Front. I bet you guys know what I'm going to talk about. Um, I want to talk about new business item number five. The um specifically about the city submitting a request to the state legislators for um for funding projects. Um, as stated in this proposal, the need for two new plows has been identified as critical. Uh, and this this request specifies uh the purpose or a proposed purchase of two Peterbuilt 548 snowplows. I'd like to point out that this is an opportunity that comes with buying new equipment, uh, not just replacing old machines. Um, being able to purchase new customized equipment offers a chance to rethink the current plowing strategies. Um, the public's been told repeatedly that our current plowing practices are shaped by the limitations of our aging equipment. Um, because of how these plows are designed, drivers often need to maintain higher speeds to break through and push back um those accumulating snow burns bms. Uh the method, this method has consequences. And when BMS aren't systematically cut back, snow is pushed into the sidewalks, crosswalks, and curb ramps. Pedestrians are then forced into the uh into the street right where traffic is moving faster. Uh I know you've heard me speak about this numerous times. Um that the current snow removal practice practices unintentionally uh push people into harm's way. It's not a failure of drivers or staff. It's a systems problem rooted rooted in equipment and approach. The real issue isn't about continuing the practice of frequent and aggressive plowing. I believe it's berm management. I mean, I could be wrong, but um BMS, they need to be cut down regularly and deliberately, especially in those areas where the area between the sidewalk and the street is narrow. Uh, and now the city considers, now that they're

considering purchasing new pals, we have a chance to maybe change this practice. Uh, I understand that these Peterbuilt trucks are very customizable. So, if funding is approved, I'd urge the city to consider custom ordering these plows with berm cutting and snowbank removal as a core function, not as an afterthought. equipment that allows operators to work more slowly, more precisely, and safely clearing sidewalks and curb access as part of the pime as part of the primary pass and not days later, if at all. Um, it's not like about the spending for the sake of it. It's about spending smarter. A plow that reduces follow-up work, improves pedestrian access, and lowers crash risk, pays for itself in safety, accessibility, and public trust. I understand this is just about requesting um earmarking some funds, but I wanted to remind the city again, if funding is granted, it's an opportunity to examine the status quo and offers new possibilities for snow removal. Perfect. Three minutes.

Nice. Anyone else for public comment? I don't want to be distracted. [laughter] Nothing personal.

Nothing personal about what I'm going to say. Margaret Brum, 404 East Magnetic Street. Much of what I'm about to say is a repeat of what I said at the Marquette County Board meeting last week. In the past two weeks, [sighs] this um town and area experienced a catastrophic snowfall resulting in power outages lasting anywhere from uh my jurisdiction 14 hours to 5 days in other parts of the area. Uh this snowfall was not a surprise. it was predicted by any number of weather sources and in fact um you couldn't go anywhere without people blaring at what exactly what time it was going to arrive. Um I said this to the county and I will say it to the city. The city and the county have an obligation to the citizens to have uh preparations in place for such emergency situations including emergency shelters for both people, for pets and for livestock. for people. The first shelter that was announced was the first night uh the Love Marquette Church on Fair Avenue uh independent of any other organization announced they would take in people with their pets. Wasn't until 24 hours later that the Red Cross shelters opened and warming centers were announced during the day. Um in this particular case, uh the Love Marquette organization became the official shelter for people with pets according to the news media. It was not corrected by anyone in the city. Uh, please be advised, the Love Marquette shelter is a church and it was simply the goodwill of the pastor and his wife who I spoke to to verify before I passed on the news that they did indeed intend to take people and their pets. This is a disaster waiting to happen. This is the county plat book. According to the state of Michigan, the county is supposed to have a disaster plan ready, willing, and up to go. staffed with paid personnel,

not volunteers, and able to handle these emergencies, which always happen on a holiday, which always happen when people are away from their desk, which always happen at the worst possible time. In this particular case, the city and the county failed its residents. Now, I'm about to say something that is it's it's beyond my baywick. I don't know what to do with this information, so I'm spewing it. There's a gut utly rumor going around that the Marquette Board of Light and Power in order to save a nickel was the only light and power organization in the UP not to call additional linemen for the Sunday before the storm. That is why their response was relatively delayed and that is why the rumor goes people had to wait an extra day or so. Now, this rumor came to me from a third party. I am not in a position to investigate it. I'm not on the BLP and I'm not the town crier, the county person who runs around behind the scene solving problems. I am giving it to you officially on the record. It is time for you to ask the board of light and power exactly what they did and did not do.

Thank you, M. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment this evening? First round. Anyone else? Public comment is closed. We are going to move on to our presentations. We've got one this evening. Um it is by the board of review and I'd like to welcome Chairman Justin Besso to give the report. Go to that one please. Good evening to everyone here. Uh just real short and quick here. Um, Border Review currently has two vacancies on it. If you're interested in serving on it, if you're in the audience, please come and join us. The more the marrier is what I'm just going to say. Um, serve with some very, uh, qualified people. Um, that we just, you know, hear the taxation appeals and all that stuff and we just try and do as best we can. Um, so assessing department. Okay. Assessing department. Um, these people are very active. I said it last year. These people are very passionate about what they do. I think they're very, very, very qualified. Uh, Deli Rant is a city assessor, staff leasan. Amanda Junick, city senior appraiser. Uh, she's usually at the meetings, answers a lot of the questions, does a very good job. Uh, there's five SK meetings scheduled for 2026 with the last meeting to be held on December 15, 2026. Various things take place during each meeting such as the valuation meeting in March. It's the only time you can really come in and protest. Uh if you in my mind as a board chair, if you're appearing before the board of review in simple, you are challenging the assessor in some capacity. That's just the way I look at it. Uh nobody really comes in says we love what you're doing stuff like that. But uh you know, you know, stuff like that. So uh 2026

property tax appeal procedures. Here's a table explains u border review is local treasury state state tax commission various review authorities are in here. Then tax tribunal is kind of like the one that they really go to when they can't um if they're really going to appeal uh 2026 qualified agricultural property exemptions. Uh again you have a type of appeal the board of review our relationship the treasury's relationship in various um as you notice there is no review authority uh you end up at the tax tribunal if you want to appeal the local board review decision uh it's often referred to as the Michigan tax tribunal or the MTT uh components of taxable value of total such a big number I believe it's $1 billion $ 30,96,154 total includes specific tax parcels taxable value property by class. If you get ever get into this assessing, there's a lot of classifications from residential, commercial, industrial, commercial facilities, news, other and commercial, personal and utility personnel or personal I'm sorry. So there's these various classes and then the components of the assessed value is then broken down. State equalized value by property class list the SEV and then 2025 year partial count by class. Um residential is by far the biggest one. Commercial commercial personal 23 I'm not sure there's various ones there. Exempt 405 that'd be such as as this slide explains city of Marquette owned property state of Michigan owned property. Northern Michigan University owned property, market county owned property are exempt. So March Board review petitions, this is just something they put in here. How many we deal with? 2025 was 47. 2024 was a busy year with 122. They go up and down from year to

year. So um relationship of board review, it's a teeter totter between the assessor, taxpayer. They just come in, they appeal to us and we try and help them as much best we can. Uh general information, meetings may be few but workload can be very heavy as I stated depending on the year and I'll leave it at that. Any questions? It's been a pleasure to serve at your to serve on this board. I look forward to it. So other than that, thank you very much. If you got any questions, I'll try and answer them for you. Thank you, Justin. Uh questions or comments? Commissioner Gutman? Yes, sir.

Um thank you Justin for doing that. Um the the number for 2025 was pretty much half of the previous low number. Any idea what happened in 2025? And I assume that's a good thing, not a bad thing. I'm not sure. Um I'm not really sure. Um [clears throat] since since I I don't know. I just I'm not really sure. I was expecting actually a heavier workload and and it wasn't. So I I really don't have an answer as as to why that would be. So you welcome. Anybody else? All right. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it once again. You did a great job this year. Um

we look forward to hearing from you next time. Okay. Well, thank you, sir. You bet. Take care. Thank you, people. Okay. That brings us to our consent agenda. Commissioners, I'm looking for a motion. working really hard tonight. Commissioner Hanley, I move that we accept the consent agenda as presented. Second, promot. Thank you. Any comments? None. Okay. Uh, with that being said, all in favor, please say yes. Oh, I'm sorry. It's a roll call vote. We will go through that. City clerk. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, Commissioner Davis, yes. Commissioner Gotautle, yes. Commissioner Hanley, yes. Commissioner Larson, yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Mayor Prom Otawway,

yes. And Mayor Schlaggel, yes. Motion passes 70. Okay, that brings us to new business. We've got two items tonight. The first one is the uh Nquaman ski marathon trail access permit. Uh background, please, city clerk.

Thank you, mayor. The Nikon Trail Network Council, the NTN, requested a permit to access city property for preparation and maintenance of a non-motorized recreational trail for the specific purpose of holding Namean on ski marathon over a three-year period January 23 to 25 of 2026, 22nd through the 24th of 2027, and the 21st through the 23rd of 2028. Staff worked with the city attorney and the NTN to develop the proposed permit. Fiscal effect. The NTN will reimburse the city for any damages to city property caused by NTN entry on the property for the purposes of the permit. Recommendation, approve the request from the Nikon Trail Network Council and authorize the mayor and clerk to sign the permit. Alternatives as determined by the commission.

Thank you. Um, is there a motion, please? Guys, kill me. I'm begging you. Michael's got a Okay, Commissioner Larson. Thank you. Uh I move that we approve the request from the MANA on trail network council and authorize the mayor and clerk to sign the permit. Thank you. Is there a second commission mayor? I'll second your honor. Thank you. Discussion only only that. Yes. Only that this is a this is very this is a very important event. Uh certainly happy to see that you know we've got the snowfall you know this year to make it happen. Certainly want to support the Nickon uh uh organization uh this year and into the following years. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Mayor go. Anybody else? Commissioner Guty,

just want to say I did not feel comfortable making the motion because I passed president of the NTN, former chief of race. I've this is a an obvious thing that needs to be done for the city, for the uh community, for the state. It's it's a win-winwin for everybody. Any further comment? Um, from my perspective, obviously, yeah, this is a great uh great event. Brings tons of people to town. Uh, great economic impact for a community. And I think that, uh, you know, this is one of those, uh, stamps that Marquette puts on on itself each year, uh, weather pending. And we're very fortunate right now, knock on wood, that we're going to, uh, succeed here this next week or next couple weeks with this great weather. But um uh it really is an amazing event for the Midwest uh even nationwide I would say. So very proud to have this occur and thank you for your past support. Commissioner Gatley.

Uh all those in favor please say yes. Yes. Opposed. No. Motion passes 70. Second [snorts] item is legislatively directed spending items. Uh background please.

Thank you mayor. The city has been encouraged to submit potential projects or items through the state's 2025 20226 legislatively directed spending items request process. The LDSI request, if approved, would provide for earmarked funding from the state budget for a project or activity in a local unit of government. Two critical needs have been identified as suitable for LDSI requests and are listed below. uh purchase of a 110 foot Pierce aerial ladder platform truck uh to replace the 1996 Pierce dash ladder truck for the Marquette City Fire Department. An estimated cost of $2 million and a lead time of four years. Uh and also the purchase of two Peterbuilt model 548 all-wheel drive chassis plow trucks uh which would replace two obsolete city plow trucks the Department of Public Works uh for a total cost of $600,000 and an estimated lead time of 9 months. Fiscal effect none by this action. Recommendation direct the city manager to submit the requests identified for legislatively directed spending items 2025 2026 with the appropriate state legislators alternatives as determined by the commission.

Thank you, city clerk. Um, is it appropriate to allow the city manager to speak now or should we make the motion first? The city manager can provide additional background before a motion is made if you'd like. Why don't we do that if we would please? if there's anything you'd like to contribute.

Sure. Um, so this is one that um probably comes at no surprise, but I do want to just mention that um we could create a list of well over a 100 projects that we need or want. Um but the ladder truck um that is was being discussed and introduced and the two plow trucks are significant expenditures that we um will have to incur in the coming years and it would certainly help tremendously to receive state funding assistance for them. Um the the ladder truck in particular is a critical piece of equipment um that we have been uh really planning on and replacing. [clears throat] We are driving a 1996 um model ladder truck and we have a phenomenal mechanic division that that maintains this equipment very well. However, um it is 30 years old. Um and they just don't move like they used to when at 30 years old. And we uh we act as a mutual aid for several um of our surrounding townships and and municipalities. And we also protect several key facilities within our community, including our regional hospital, uh state buildings, uh the university, and so on. And so this piece of equipment and getting it replaced um is is necessary. And not every fire department needs a ladder truck. Um we are very uh unique and and have um the type of uh makeup of of buildings and um dense community that a ladder truck is absolutely necessary. So um we have one functioning and working and we will continue to have one functioning working, but we are on our on our point of having to place an order and um we've been really trying to find grants and other assistance, but we are a community that's too big but too small. Rural but not rural enough. Um and so we uh and those grants are used for very specific types of departments um as well. So um our financial condition and position that we are in right now would be putting us very um strapping us very thin. Um and it is it is one that we uh have to have to address here very shortly. So very important for our

community and and definitely would require um some attention here shortly. And the plow trucks as well. Uh we are maintaining our our plow equipment incredibly well, but we are in need of some additional equipment and um looking at as we expand our city, we expand our routes and we certainly are getting more snow too. So very key pieces of equipment. Thank you for that. Uh is there a motion please? Commissioner Gotautle. I make a motion to direct the city manager to submit the requests identified for legislatively directed spending items 2025-2026 with the appropriate uh state legislatures. Please. Thank you. In a second, Commissioner Davis. I second the motion.

Thank you. Uh conversation. I think the city manager stated it clearly and it's a need we have to fulfill. Mr. Davis. Yeah. Just out of curiosity, um how high do our does our ladder truck go? right now. I mean, we have tall buildings in Marquette. Can we reach the top of the tall buildings in

So, the ladder truck, um, I believe is I don't want to misspe. I I don't want to We are looking at at a taller ladder truck that reaches further and has a platform versus the one we have. I think we have the tallest one in the UP. Um, however, when we use a ladder truck, um, it is not necessarily reaching the top, uh, floor of that. It is really talking about access. And so when we talk about the downtown um and and how close everything is and um the height of those buildings, a ladder truck is really important for that. Um now, does our ladder truck reach the very tip top of our highest building? I don't think so. Not necessarily. But it doesn't mean that it can't reach it with the apparatus or the equipment that would put the fire out.

So if we are fortunate enough to get legislative money for that, we will have a ladder truck that will reach higher than our current one. Absolutely. Yes. It would be very much closer to the the top of that. Well, then we'll cross our fingers and I I guess I don't pretend to know anything about plow trucks, but perhaps if we again if we were lucky enough to get this legislative u money um we could consider some of the concerns that Miss Alside has.

So [laughter] um looking at our snow plowing um strategy is something I can probably touch in in comments. Um, but it is obviously something that we we talk about, but when we when I said we continue to add on to our infrastructure in the city, we've added more streets, we've added more neighborhoods, we've we've added more amenities, a restructuring of how we plow plow our snow is is necessary to consider. Okay. And this would certainly help. Let's put it that way.

Any other comments from the commission? Um, I'll tell you what, I I really glad to see that this opportunity exists to to just go after uh making these suggestions. And I would encourage um I'm going to assume that this is going to pass without issue, but I would encourage us all to reach out to our representatives and uh senators and and really push for some help in this uh in this instance because both of these are incredibly important to our community and we need to uh make sure that we're ready for anything that comes comes our way. With that being said, uh we'll put it to a vote. All those in favor, please say yes.

Yes. Oppos say no. Motion passes 70. Okay, that brings us to our second public comment. Again, any comments that are going to be made cannot exceed three minutes per person. Please state your name and physical address when making your comments if you have not already done so. Margaret Braum, 404 East Magnetic Street. As I was rudely interrupted, let me finish. Commissioner Davis uttered a phrase which I've heard many, many times since I started attending these meetings several years ago, which is we'll hope for the best on the ladder truck. And there's nothing wrong with that phrase. We have survived on hope for many years. However, the storm that uh did a number on us was the worst possible event and there was not hoping for the best because the best did not exist. One of the things that I have learned through attendance at meetings and talking to people I never even knew existed is there's a state law requiring that governments have these services available for the people. One of the things that has changed in the last five years because of the pandemic is the number of volunteers has gone down considerably in every aspect of public life. Therefore, this city and the county has to face the difficult choice of using taxpayer money to hire people to do this work so that they are available no matter the day, the week, the town, no matter when because we cannot rely upon volunteers. It simply doesn't work. And the fact is the obligation is upon local government, not on the volunteers. That's one of the fallacies of living up here is that everything will be okay. The volunteers will step up. Well, in this particular

case, they they were few and far between. And the one that did uh volunteer, I went to that church. I wasn't familiar with the people and they hadn't plowed their parking lot. So, I was unaware of how people would get in and out of the parking lot. Sounds simple, but it's not, especially for emergency situations. So, as I said to the county board, and I will say to you, now is the time to have a subcommittee perform formed to work with the county. And I'll be saying this to all of the local organizations in this area. It's time to do this professionally because the volunteer situation is not working. Um, was that a one or two? Anyway, it's not working. It didn't work. We saw that it failed and that it failed and people were huddled in back bedrooms trying to keep everybody going, waiting for the the best to come out. And we didn't we haven't had any local civil defense briefings since I've been here, things about um generators and heat and ventilation and what to do and what not to do. And it's past time that we offered those classes in addition to the arts and crafts and other things that the city has been very vigilant about offering. We need to do some civil defense training to let people know what to do, where to go, and more importantly, where not to go because there were some areas of the county that were virtually impassible and people started out and got stuck and had to be rescued. So, if you think I'm uh blathering on about this, um I didn't have any power for more than half a day and now I have a generator with solar panels and a one one one plate hot plate. I'm getting my act together, but I'm one person and you have the responsibility for a lot. Thank you very much.

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

I guess I'd like Matt Lutenberger 1406 Garfield. have um like to apologize for turning off the mic if it was my fault. I don't know if it was, but we'll just move on. Um so, now that the microphone's working, I I do want to talk about the roads. Um we can put a lot more grit down on the roads with the trucks that we have right now. And this is not a criticism of the people working the trucks. We just there's a lot of work to do. It took him two and a half hours to clear the bank on fair a at the high school. Watched them. It was beautiful. But the grinder is this tall of the first one. And then there's a second one that comes by a little later and does the sidewalk. That kind of stuff where it's got to be put somewhere and then it's got to be hauled somewhere and then dumped somewhere and it takes a lot of coordination. So I don't mean to be critical of the city in that sense. But I do want to say to anybody who is listening for the legislative question, we're on the map for snowfall. Give us some help. That was it for that. Now going to Lake View Arena. Um I would like to see Lake View treated as not just a hockey facility. There is a very large skating community in town. Um, I I get a lot more requests for recreation level skates than I do for the ones that could take a puck. I get a lot more requests for the how do I stand up on the tiny little piece of uh steel, not how do I hold a hockey stick and which arm do I need? By the way, it's not a cheap sport. And so these people are spending $300 on a stick to walk through the snow at Lake View pulling a bag that has wheels. Again, these kids are only this tall. So they're grandparents pulling their kids uh and grandkids wheeled bags. And that's not a um

luxury. That's literally because they can't lift it or they would fit inside the bag because it's that big for all their equipment. These kinds of things are the oversight. um we have come to expect as a community from and again I would say this to anybody that's managing it if it was managed this way please just clear the road a lot more um and again the parking lot needs to be fixed because there's a lot of potholes a lot of uh divots a lot of things that have been just neglected but driving down Fourth A or yeah Fourth Street today so does that you know like fixed the main roads. I get it. I'm not complaining about Lake View Arena to get fixed this summer, but you have somebody who's willing to take over all of these responsibilities and more. So, I'm going to list off all the groups that are in Lake View Arena right now. You have no on Trail Network as a corner. You have the Marquette High School hockey teams, both JV and uh varsity. And I'm running out of time, so you got sle hockey, and you got everybody else who's little kids.

Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment this evening? [clears throat] Hi, Evan Ryster, adviser for our UP state house reps. I want to say thank you guys for bringing up the DSI request at tonight's meeting. We look forward to seeing those requests come in and working with you guys on those projects. Uh feel free to reach out to me anytime. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Final call. Public comment is closed. Uh going to comments from the commission. We're going to start with Commissioner Hanley.

Get to start it off. Well, I will talk about exactly what everyone thought about this past couple weeks, which is the massive snowstorm that we had in the city of Marquette. Yes, we maybe knew it was coming, but still that snowstorm was outrageous. I want to start off by saying thank thanking the city staff, both public works with their plow truck drivers, our police and fire, everyone that made it into work when it was almost impossible on the roads. We really do appreciate that and for clearing out. I know I heard many stories of plow truck drivers having to drive 10 miles an hour from their homes the entire way in to come and plow our streets. Uh so it's what those things that you don't think about. I will address the fact that I know the city was working on this before the storm even hit. The city manager's office reached out to me, at least I'm sure to most of the commissioners. They were trying to The problem we had once the storm hit is where we would normally use for a shelter had no power as well. So, it made it a little bit more chaotic and trying to find a place where we could do something. I know the city manager was working very hard and diligently with all the local groups trying to find a place to ensure that all residents could be kept warm and safe. Um, I do want to ask the city manager. I don't quite know our role on it, but if what Miss Sprum said was true that there was a lack of planning on the part of the PLP, I would like for you to look into that. I know the linemen were there working diligently and doing everything they could for many, many hours, missing vacations and time with their family. And I can't thank them enough for all the work they did, but I don't know what our role is in relation to BLP. So, I don't know how we would address it, but I do need to make sure that if that is the case, it doesn't happen again. And I can only imagine that that would tax the staff that they have even more so in that scenario. So, um, and other than that, again, thank you to everyone for all you did during that storm. I was lucky enough to not be in Marquette when

it happened, so I didn't get hit with it, [gasps] but I did come back to a fun driveway to clear, so that was entertaining. But that is all for me. Thank you. Uh promot.

Thank you, mayor. I'll keep it short and sweet. Um recently, myself as well as other commissioners and probably the mayor as well, um have been getting a lot of feedback about waste management. Uh waste management has had a lot of complaints. Um I'll I'll just say it that nicely. Uh I'm going to urge the public to continue reaching out to us as commissioners, us as as leaders here in the community. uh reach out to city staff uh um you know obviously city manager Kovac uh would love to hear that but also directly reach out to waste management if you have issues. There are so many things that I think that they need to hear about directly to maybe make some changes uh within their own organization before um you know before they actually fix things. So uh the more feedback we hear on that the better. Keep it coming um and we'll continue passing it on as we hear it. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Mayor.

Thank you, your honor. Um, just want to say, you know, it's uh really glad to be back and I uh apologize and appreciate the patience of uh general public, my fellow colleagues here. I've been out the last few weeks for some family medical stuff. But everyone's back home now. Uh the only other thing I I also kind of wanted to ask about was was also if the city manager could try to get us some information on uh the BLP as well. Um I being fully transparent. I made a comment to a few folks when the power was first going out about I saw some news on Facebook that it looked like it was hitting all across the UP and I had so much confidence that our public utility was going to show up all these other companies. Um, and when day four of thousands of people in the area not having power came, I I was very concerned and confused as to how that was possible. But, um, so if you could get us any additional information, I would appreciate it. Thank you.

Commissioner, great to have you back, Commissioner Mayor. And I have no further comments.

Commissioner Davis. Well, I think Commissioner Hanley covered the weather enough. Um, and we certainly have had some. And if you like snow like I know like snow, I really have liked it. But I do know how much that stresses our resources, not only with our city plowing and all the people that keep the plows row um in operation and also the board of light and power and I'm really grateful for all of that staff. I do want to point out one thing on our consent agenda and that is that we just approved the fifth and sixth change order for the Peg Hervin and Banshell and um that group was initially the the city band initially committed to raising over 200 or raising over $2 million for that um facility and a fifth and sixth change orders have brought that up over 20,000 more than they intended to and it's coming along really good. Apparently, it's supposed to be done in June and we will have a grand opening in June. And the best part was yesterday I was informed that they have completed all of their fundraising. So, I just want to say a big thank you and um and congratulations to the Marquette City Band for that awesome um fundraising and the development of the band shell.

Commissioner Gotaut. Um yeah, sorry. I was surprised I didn't hear about the fundraising. Um, I'll have to hear more about that. One of the items in the consent agenda that might go unnoticed is that a local individual offered a donation to the Marquette City Police for $25,000 for workout equipment. I want to call out how amazing it is that there's a donor out there who is giving $25,000 for this purpose. It's incredible that somebody is willing to support the community's police so generously. and I don't know who it is, but boy, they should stand up and take a bow.

Thank you. Um, I'm going to circle back on to the weather event and just kind of give my two cents on that. Um, you know, number one, day and a half before the cyclone came through, I got a a request from public radio to say, "Hey, you know, what what do you think about this big big weather event that's coming through?" And I I kind of went, "We love it. You know, we're Yupers. We're here for four solid seasons. We love a good blizzard. Um, bring it on and um you know, give us your best." And Mother Nature gave us her best on that one. So, that being said, um I yeah, I didn't I did not jinx, but um uh that being said, you know, those days, number one, I'd like to thank the community for hunkering down and really just, you know, sticking sticking to their guns and working together to dig out from that. Um Border Light and Power, these guys are are heroes without capes. Um, I just can't tell you how I, you know, I sat in my house and my power was I'm I'm literally half half a mile if that from the BLP and I was out for 6 hours. But, you know, I don't care because all I could do is sit a couple days later and uh uh New Year's Eve and think about the 734 people that were yet or houses that were still yet to get their power and know that we still had teams working the 12-h hour shifts time after time after time to get everybody back online as most efficiently as they could. This is this is more than just a blizzard. This was a cyclone and um probably a top three storm in my opinion in my 30 plus years of being up here. uh if not top two. So, um you know, I I think that there certainly was probably some lessons to be learned as we dealt with this and I'm and I know that uh we're bringing attention to some areas of u potential concern and I'm sure that city manager

will address some of these uh questions or or comments that have been made this evening. Um, but it is, you know, even even though it took that long, it is really, um, I'm still very very proud of of the the crews that went out and took care of the issues the way that they did. The following Sunday, I'm sitting there watching the Packer game and uh the the the other bad Packer game and uh the tree that was leaning on our wire uh was starting to get a little bit more it broke down at the bottom, but it didn't break the wire. And at 2:00 on that Sunday, I went out and talked to the BLP guys as I pulled up in my driveway and the gentleman was twerking the tree to get off there. And he he uh did his best, but had to have a guy with the bucket come in. And within probably 45 minutes of a phone call, they were taking that tree down and and uh I didn't lose power. But, you know, I went out and I said to these guys, I said, you know, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the work that you and your crews have done. Um, you know, and I know that just goes beyond the the BLP, it's MJ, it's it's Elijah Delta, it's all these other entities that came to help out uh from Eskanaba, wherever else, but the fact is is that um you know, Yuper's taking care of Yupers once again. And that's really what what matters the most is that we'll go out of our way to help help each and every one of us. But for him to look at me and go, "Well, thanks." You know, kind of nonchalantly and uh and he goes, "Well, I'm okay being here. I'm on call today." And I thought, gee whiz, you know, you just went through a week's worth of hell and and and here you are back at it again. So, uh, my my hat is once again tipped to not just the plow drivers, but first, uh, first responders, um, the power guys, you know, everybody behind the scenes. So, thank you for everything that was done. And with that, I'll pass it on to the city manager.

Thank you. Um, I'm going to start off with um with just trash and recycling real quick. Um, and just remind everybody that there is a a form that is available online um or on their city uh Facebook page under our link tree um that will take you to the form to report a a trash issue or rubbish issue or recycling issue um for miss pickups, things like that. So um please, you know, use that avenue uh give us a call. You'll probably have to leave a message, but we are monitoring those voicemails regularly as long as we are able to get into work that day. Um but also waste management um line as well. Now we do like to to track some of these issues so we can understand um if there is a common issue or problem that we can address. So um we do we do like to to be aware of that. We meet regularly with waste management to go over those reported issues. Um so we are you know are aware of that but if we have it on our form or it is uh called into the public works office then we can at least be tracking that a little more closely. Um and and feel free to to reach out to to myself as well. Um I think through the through the commission um I've been getting a lot of pictures of of issues and we can match it up with uh what waste management is also uh taking a picture of and showing us too. So some of the common issues that we have been hearing um that uh are are needing to be addressed are the fact that the carts are too close together. Um now again I can swear that it is three feet apart and and I can visualize that but um it may not be three feet apart maybe too close. Um, it also may be not in an area where they can get it or there's a parked car. Um, waste management is taking pictures of these issues so that we can match it with the reported issues from the customers as well. Um, so please uh just be aware of that. Um, and and let us know what's going on with that so we can help. Uh, then to to kind of move into the talk of the the weather. Um, this one is is one that yes, we were aware of this coming in. And I'm going to have to say that I

guess nobody told me that on my punch card, my first five blizzards, you get one free. Um, because that's this is my sixth blizzard and this one was a doozy. And um, this one uh was one that we uh the snow wasn't the problem. It was the power outages um that that caused the issue. And um, I want to clarify that the city does not have a paid employee for emergency services. the county does and that is what's required. Um I did reach out to the emergency manager immediately um upon the the blizzard and um they they he was already working on some things with that but also reached out to the county commissioners um for some assistance. We we also cannot control how the county manages its employees um but they were very involved and had people involved um along the way and likewise we really can't control necessarily what the BLP does um either but we are looking into that. that I meet regularly with the BLP um with uh their executive director and and during the storm was communicating with um him throughout and working with the information that we were provided able to update the commission and the public um as we could. Communication is the big one that I feel during any state of emergencies is something that can help or go a long way um without overpromising any results. So um we are committed to making sure that we are we are evaluating our communication policies um but it is it is somewhat challenging uh you know to to get that right without providing too much information. Now with snow um we are working on probably I say three main issues right now. We're talking about roads. We're talking about those embankments and the sidewalks. All three of those things need to be worked on all at the same time. and we only have limited staff and we only have limited equipment. Um, our staff is working long shifts, long hours, working hard and are working on our equipment as well and our equipment is for the most part you up and running. There are sometimes as we're running these 24

hours a day that they're breaking down and we're having to fix those. So, some of this is taking a little bit longer as we move through equipment um and working on equipment. We are working around things like garbage collection, school zones, parking, and some of these major routes as well. So, sometimes you will see us in an area clearing out embankments or sidewalks, and then maybe later that night we're somewhere else um because we can shift priorities to, you know, because of of certain issues. So, if there are questions on whether your route or your road um has been missed, I do encourage you to reach out to uh public works office or my office and we can look into that for you. Um, but we are aware that there are sidewalks that are not done yet. We are trying to get to the school zones first, those major routes first. Um, and we are trying to get to those uh embankments that are on high, you know, visible, needing visible corners and in some of those areas. They are bad. They are also ice. We all know that the snow pack, the snow melt creates ice. So, please, we're encouraging you to slow down a little bit. Um I had to, you know, take the buffer into a snowbank uh instead of the intersection uh today. So I understand, but um things, you know, we have snow or we have salt and sand mix. It's a special mix. Unfortunately, it can't be the beach sand. Um otherwise, we'd be fine. Um but it is a very specific grit um [laughter] that we use along with our salt mix and that is uh the secret sauce. So, um, we're working on it, but please give us the feedback. Um, however, we're working on it if that helps. And we do have planned out routes. Um, I'm willing to share that with you and and talk a little bit more about that. But we have planned routes on what takes first priority and um, what we do uh with sidewalks and embankments and when. This was heavy snowfall in a short period of time. And we are trying to clear it as quickly as possible, knowing full well that we're getting more.

Did that cover all the questions that you you guys may have had and I will also follow up with the BLP. Um I will be meeting with uh the representative later on this week as well. Great. I was getting a nod. So thank you. Okay. With that we are adjourned at 651.