City Commission - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call to order the Monday, January 26, 2026 meeting of the Marquette City Commission at 6 p.m. here in the chambers. Um, please rise and do the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, city clerk, roll call, please. Commissioner Davis, present. Commissioner Gotautle, here. Commissioner Hanley, here. Commissioner Larson, here. Commissioner Mayor here. Mayor Prom Ottawa, present. and Mayor Schlaggel present. Thank you. Um, everybody's here this evening. It's great to have everybody together. Uh, commissioners, we have an agenda in front of us. Is there a motion? Commissioner Davis. I move we approve the agenda as presented. A second. Pro 10. Second. Any discussion on No. No. Thanks. No. Anybody? Thank you. Uh, with that, we will vote. All in favor, please say yes. Yes.

Opposed? No. Motion passes 7 nothing. Uh I don't have any announcements for this evening, so we'll just kind of move it on to public comments. Um this is our first round of public comment tonight. Public comments may not exceed three minutes per person. Please state your name and physical address when making the public comment. Is anyone here for public comment? Excuse me. My phone is giving me messages and it's like shut up. I just want to sit in front of you. Margaret Broom, 404 East Magnetic Street. Three items. There's been tragedy in Minnesota. There's been tragedy all over the United States. I'm doing what I do for my students every semester. Thursday, February 5th, at noon, we will be meeting at the Superior Dome. Copies of the Constitution will be handed out and my students will be walking around reading the Constitution out loud. I'm here to invite every member who is sitting up here, every city manager, attorney, police officer, clerk. I want you to be there. I And I know you're busy. I know you're super busy. I know you're super califragilistic. Espelidosh is busy, but this is a reminder of how important that document is because right now that's the only thing between us and a lot of other bad things happening. So please, please, please, Thursday, February 5th at noon. There is no dress code per se. I have extra copies of the Constitution and if you want to walk around together or sit in a corner and read it, that's fine. But it's a great opportunity for you to meet up with your fellow um people. Second thing is uh I made it of record. The banks on East Magnetic Street need to be cut back. It is a uh danger to both the people pulling out of their driveways and the people in the road. Plus, you cannot

park a vehicle on either side of the road without blocking the rest of the road. So, it's a danger to the the vehicles. I've had uh conversations with the city manager. I've sent uh videos. I've danced in videos. I don't know what else to do. Uh you're on record now. It's it's not possible to function normally on East Magnetic Street. And I appreciate that I'm in competition for a lot of other people for resources, but I have nothing else to do but but beg because the the bank to the right side of my road is twice as high as I am. And the bank to my left side blocks the entire road. And as I said, one vehicle parked in the street, one Swick truck, and I'm not picking on Swick. They just happened to be there last week. you cannot get a vehicle by, let alone an emergency vehicle. So, I'm begging and I'm begging on the record. And number three, I would like a statement from the city as to um when they intend to send a note to Gilbert's Dairy thanking them for the milk giveaway that occurred in November and in December. As last counted, I've not I've not received word that such a note has been sent. And uh that particular uh local business gave away 3,000 gallons of milk and 2,000 pounds of butter to everybody including uh people on SNAP, but it also not people on SNAP. For the record, there's 21,000 people in the city of Marquette. And statistics show that at least 10% of them were on SNAP. So 2,000 people in the city of Marquette depended upon the kindness of strangers. And Gilbert reached into their pocket and gave away fresh food. I would appreciate a thank you note to them. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else for public comment? Final offering for the first public comment. Public comment is closed. That moves us on to our consent agenda. Um is there a motion mayor or excuse me almost? Um, Commissioner Hamley. Uh, I move that we accept the consent agenda as presented. Thank you. Is there a second? Commissioner Larson, I am off tonight. I'll second. Thank you. Uh, this is a roll call vote. City clerk.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, roll call vote for 1E ordinance 26-1 and the off leash area resolution at 1G. Um, Commissioner Davis, yes. Commissioner Gotautle, yes. Commissioner Hanley, yes. Commissioner Larson, yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Mayor Prom Ottawa, yes. And Mayor Schlaggel, yes. Motion passes 720. Uh, that brings us to new business. We have one item of business tonight. It's a resolution. And I'll let the city clerk give background. Uh, I have no background, but I have a resolution if you'd like me to read that. That would be great.

Okay, you got it. uh resolution of support for house bills 4007 and 4283 of 2025. Whereas the city of Marquette, Michigan has responsibility for ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of residents and visitors. And whereas the Marquette board of light and power was established by city charter and is responsible for the light and power operations of the city. And whereas approximately 17,000 homes and businesses within the city of Marquette and parts of nine surrounding townships receive electrical power from the Marquette board of light and power. And whereas House Bills 4007 and 4283 of 2025 aim to expand the definition of clean energy systems and promote alternative energy sources in Michigan. And whereas the bills seek to amend the Clean and Renewable Energy and Energy Waste Reduction Act uh public act 295 of 2008 to include a broader range of clean energy technologies. And whereas according to the Michigan Public Service Commission, the last coal plant in the Upper Peninsula was shuttered in 2019, contributing to a 71% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the UP electric sector from 2013 to 2022. And whereas the city of Marquette and Marquette County are home to new two new highefficient natural gas generating stations, the Marquette Energy Center and the FD Kuster generating station that are critical to providing dependable power to our communities. And whereas the Marquette Energy Center constructed by the Marquette Board of Light and Power and the FD Cooster Generating Station, constructed by the Upper Michigan Energy Resources Corporation, have facilitated the transition from oversized coal fire generating plants to efficient, clean, and right-sized natural gas generation, significantly contributing to the decarbonization of the Upper Peninsula. And whereas these investments were developed in coordination with upper peninsula stakeholders in the state of Michigan to address an energy crisis and ensure grid reliability, representing a forward-thinking approach to energy generation. And whereas House Bills 4007 and 4283 are essential to enable the continued operation of these reciprocating internal combustion engine units through their useful life, preserving reliable and affordable electric power in the upper peninsula.

And whereas the rice units were financed with significant outstanding debt which will not be paid off until 2036 with a useful life through 2050. And whereas the failure to recognize these investments in Michigan's 2023 clean energy law may result in duplicate energy payments increasing costs for rateayers. Now therefore be it resolved that the Marquette City Commission strongly supports House Bills 4007 and 4283 of 2025 and urges swift passage through the Michigan legislature. Uh signed Mayor Paul Schlegel. Commissioners, do we have a motion?

Commissioner Gentlely,

Commissioner Davis, I move that we adopt the resolution of support for House Bills Oh my goodness, my eyes. 4 007 and 4283 of 2025. Thank you. Is there a second? Commissioner Gutley. Uh discussion. I really don't have any discussion. I think this is something that we've been concerned about for the last several years and it is a good thing for our community and the expense that we could incur if these bills do not pass.

Thank you, Commissioner Gley. I I agree with what Commissioner Davis said. I this has been on my mind uh since well well before I joined the city commission and while I wish there was an alternative to having what we have, we do not have the time frame to deal with it and we need this as a interim way of uh proceeding into a clean energy uh society. Thank you. Anybody else? Pro Tim. Yeah. I'd love to hear some comments from the city manager if we could. Sure. Yes, please.

Sure. Um, this may sound familiar because we did talk about House Bill 4007 this time last year perhaps. Um, but this is also then partner or pairing with House Bill 4283. Um, and really the focus of this and and really how it impacts us is um these bills would actually allow us to continue allow BLP to continue to um have those natural gas fired uh rice engines run and um those were constructed to replace the oversized inefficient coal fired power plants um to and to continue uh being able to use those through their useful life. There is debt outstanding for them through I believe 2036 um and their useful life goes well into 2050. And so, um, if we if if the BLP had to, um, decommission those early or even plan to replace those, um, that needs to start soon, uh, in order to, you know, obviously construction season and construction and plans need to be evaluated and there's some time for that and there's really a short period of time for for compliance here. Um, but you would start having to spend the money now and that would mean the people that um, would bear that burden would be our rateayers and our taxpayers. And one important piece of information that I think um needs to be mentioned here is this also includes the rice units for um through u and that help with the the mine which is a huge part of our economy. Um it wasn't uh too long ago that there were two coal fire plants here and um we there was a great transition for clean energy and took those down. Um but that also came at a cost and we lost um 15% of our taxable value when those um were decommissioned and demolished leaving a pretty big finance financial hole um for the city that our taxpayers ended up having to to really kind of uh bear the burden of that. So it feels almost like a double whammy here um for something that is supposed to be very good and and celebrating um that clean energy energy

step. So, at least allowing us to reap those benefits and um not have to have that double payment essentially through paying the debt, paying future expense and also I guess triple debt that or triple impact here um of that uh decommissioning those those plants if that makes sense. But that is one side of the story that you know hasn't really been told very clearly and I think is about time that we start saying that. But also with the city commission uh considering this this resolution, it does allow um staff and and uh commissioners to really talk about this a little bit more freely and then also advocate for this when we go down to Lancing um for our CapCon and for Market County ambassadors.

I hope that helped. That was huge. Thank you. Anything else? Real quick, I'll just say that I I I certainly don't believe that this is perfectly written. I I don't support every single word that is in this, but when it comes to our role as govern, you know, governing officials here, we have to do what's right for the the taxpayers and the citizens of Marquette. And it's essential that we make sure that we're not having to cause people to pay a lot more money uh than what we originally thought we were going to have to. So, I think that the responsible thing to do here is to support this resolution in hopes of that alleviating that problem. Thank you. Mr. Larson.

Yeah. Uh, kind of thinking about this, you know, I think there's there's a couple sides to this that, you know, we that I've been thinking about uh that, you know, whether or not, you know, this is a necessary these bills are actually necessary to, you know, the uh for the utilities to kind of uh move forward or not. you know, there's critics argue that, you know, the these bills are, you know, might under undermine the intent of the clean energy laws that, you know, are currently that are currently there and is it really exempting, you know, fossil fuel generation from, uh, you know, the clean energy standards that have, you know, been push put forward. So, uh, like Commissioner Gotautle, just trying to think of like, is this a practical tool, you know, to use right now or is this a carve out from clean energy, uh, uh, you know, mandates that, you know, currently exists in the state? uh you know thinking about those things have been kind of weighing on me just just a bit. Uh but you know uh again like um uh uh Mayor Prom I really do think that uh you know I don't really agree with you know some of the wording that's in the language talking about whether this is you know clean energy. uh but you know for the bill here I think at this point in time it's not really for me about redefining what clean energy is but really about honoring those existing uh investments that have been made and you know maintain making sure that we maintain uh our reliability and making sure that we can protect our our residents from additional costs. So while it may not be perfectly written and I think there's some some issues with it uh as as uh you know the governing body in the city you know I think speaking uh together is is certainly important. So, thank you.

Thank you, uh, Commissioner Mayor.

Thank you, your honor. Yeah, you know, thinking back to last year, um, as some of you might recall, I I requested that we, uh, originally vote on this, uh, legislation. I know that it's they're still going through rounds of discussions on it, but realistically looking at this, this this isn't like an option in my eyes. um we can can simply not afford for this to not get fixed. Um you know it the lack of energy in the local grid and what how much it would cost rateayers to to make up for that by bringing in power from elsewhere uh on top of still paying the debt for quite a while uh to come. I mean, I I I don't have the the figures off the top of my head right now, but I mean, we're talking substantial increases to rateayers on top of us still paying this debt till was it 2036? Um, so another decade of paying debt for something that we can't use anymore on top of extremely high rate increases. Um, you know, it's it's one of those things, and I brought this up last year when we were discussing this, where the state is really really loves to uh uh especially with the UP have un unfunded mandates. So, if the state really really doesn't want us to have these, then they can come pay off the debt and provide us with the energy that we need to replace it is where I'm at. Or they can fix this legislation for us. But thank you. Anything else?

Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to agree with um a lot of what's been said up here tonight in regards to these two bills. Um it is imperative that this gets passed through so that we can maximize our uh investment in these rice generators. What what really drives me crazy about this is that the people below the bridge that are claiming to speak for um for the all of Michigan don't give Marquette um credit for what they did with the uh decommissioning of the two coal power plants. They don't give credit towards uh the mine looking at uh a better um power source for their operations. This was this was a way ahead of this legislation. So what they what we did is we made a major investment knowing that renewables are going to be uh king of everything uh as time moves on. But we made this 50-year investment. So which was very wise so that we could get away from burning the fossils, right? So, um, all of a sudden they they come and they pull the rug out from underneath us with these, uh, midnight bills that were passed a couple years back and we really didn't have much uh, much say in the matter. Um, there was also some legislation that was going on before the winter break here that uh, it was pretty scary because, you know, not going to get into it, but the fact is is that uh, Marquette cannot be left behind here. Board of Light and Power is doing their job. Um, we will roll with the punches and and proceed again as as the as the power sources and and and renewable resources get um brought to us and and tech better technology and and uh for this region, things like that that we need to really keep in mind. Um, I think that we're doing a very good job by buying off the

grid when we have to buy off the grid and we're doing a very good job of utilizing our our uh cleaner energy um burners that we're using right now when we when we need to use those. So point is um this has got to this we've got to have uh support this for right now and and we got to also like our city manager said we do have to start planning for being uh uh I would say 100% renewable but you know the the the types of changes that we have to look forward to for at least my kids and uh and those people to come because I probably won't be around for it. But anyway, uh thank you with that. Uh, a roll call vote for this.

Commissioner Davis, yes. Commissioner Gotautle, yes. Commissioner Hanley, yes. Commissioner Larson, yes. Commissioner Mayor, yes. Mayor Prom Ottawa, yes. And Mayor Schlaggel,

yes. Motion passes seven to nothing. That brings us to uh public comment number two. Again, uh public comment cannot exceed three minutes per person. Please state your name and address if you have not already done so and when addressing the public addressing those Margaret Braum 44 East Magnetic Street two weeks ago at the last city commission meeting I raised the issue of some phrasing gut utly rumors I had heard about the performance of the BLP during the winter storm of 2025. I asked people to investigate, figure out what had happened and report back. Silence has been deafening. So, I went out on my own and spoke to upwards of about 20 25 people who were there and had their own perspective of the storm. Um, city commissioner, city manager Kovac was one of them. Uh, county uh emergency manager Brian Kmel, I believe his last name is, was another. uh county board members, um members of the BLP, members of the public, uh circle circling back on several issues that had taken place, several meetings that had happened. And I am ready to deliver my summary of what I learned, which is um in depth, quite interesting, but also in depth. Uh there's there's one message that I would leave to all of these organizations. However, I'm halfway through my three minutes and I know that you have a strict timeline. So, it won't be tonight and it won't be in front of this group. Tomorrow night is a Border Light and Power meeting, 4:30 p.m. at the Border Light and Power on Wright Street. I have two three minute sessions and I have bullet pointed it so I will finish in under the full six minutes. I would encourage you keep inviting you to

things and you never come and I'm just thinking is it something I said I could have I could bring in snacks. I mean, seriously. Um, also law enforcement, um, law enforcement, Market County Road Commission, Fire Department as well. I would encourage you all to send a representative. Um, we don't film those meetings as much as we uh, film these. And I don't plan on necessarily um, having a visual aid, but I do plan on reporting uh, what I found out. Um, and before you say, "Well, you're not on the board. How did you get people to talk to you?" real simple. I said, "Hi, I want to talk about the storm. If you don't want to talk about the storm, wave me off." I believe that's what I said to the city manager. And nobody waved me off. And again, if people want to talk, I I'll listen. So, I would encourage you all to come. There's some lessons to be learned. There's some things that it's just impossible to find out unless you sit down quietly when it's all done. But if you don't sit down and find them out, you're going to have the next storm come in and you're going to not have institutional knowledge shared that could make a difference. So, it's an invitation. It will not be um um it's not gut ugly. Uh and it's from me. It's not from the board. I'm not sanctioned. I wasn't hired as a consultant or anything like that. It's just from me. I'm just one person. And if you have questions, I'll be happy to stay after and answer them. Thank you for your time. Anyone else for public comment? Anyone else for public comment? Okay, with that, uh, public comment is closed. We will move to comments from the commission. We're going to start tonight with Commissioner Gotautley.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, and I'd like to thank you immediately, past mayor uh Hamley for naming me to the uh multi-use pathway uh ebike task force. It was a learning experience and uh allowed me to work with a diverse and thoughtful bunch of uh uh people that I otherwise wouldn't have. Um it also made me and the rest of the task force something of experts on this subject. And as a guy with about 8 to 10 bikes of his own and more miles on that pathway than imaginable, um, I really took it to heart. I look forward to working with the city and the city commission as we move forward with the changes on the multi-use path. And I'm hoping we will hear from city administration in the near future on what our next steps might be and exploring what those changes might be and how we get there.

Thank you, Commissioner Hanley. Good. Well, set promot.

Yeah. Uh it's been a heck of a few weeks in this country. Obviously, uh everyone's seeing the news, reading the news, watching the news live in front of us. Um talk to your neighbors, get right in there, ask them how they feel about things. Make sure that they're okay. Uh you know, we're all one community. It's it's very important that you know we remain connected with each other especially locally and I think that that's not happening enough. Um I think that we we need to continue making sure um you know each one of our community members is okay. Um one other thing I will say you know and it's something I've I've thought you know very heavily about recently. Um, you know, Margaret Brum, you was kind enough to say it tonight with the the uh, sorry, Mickey Brum. Forget that's how she would rather be stated to us. But, uh, uh, with the Constitution weeks ago, I brought a copy of my constitution and I leave it here um, just in case we ever have to take a peek at that and reference it. Um, you know, I will say that, you know, each commissioner that's sitting up here, as well as city staff, uh, everyone else, we we take an oath to the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Michigan, and the charter of the city of Marquette. Uh, I don't think any one of us takes that lightly. Um, and I will say that I will do everything in my power to defend what's written in those words. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Larson. No further comment. Commissioner Mayor No comment, your honor. Commissioner Davis, I have nothing this evening. Thank you. Okay.

Um I don't have much. Um but as usual, I have to have something. So I've been I've been really struggling uh with a couple things and and one of them snow removal. I'm getting a lot of uh a lot of questions from our our people. Um I'm I'm watching these trucks and trucks and trucks of snow getting toted around the town the last few days as they're um you know finally getting a break from the snow and we're we're starting to uh be able to cut back curbs. We're doing our best. The the guys are the guys are really um giving her out there. So please know that um the city is doing uh the best that they can with the resources that they have. We are at least as of last week I think we were almost 5 feet of snow. 5 ft of snow above our average for this time of year. So imagine imagine having to, you know, deal with what we're up against. Five feet more uh of snow than what we're averaging. And we already average enough to make it, you know, taxing. So um have a little bit of uh grace when it comes to uh you know, the time that that it's taking to get to these things. And we're doing our best. I'm sure of that. And I want to thank our public's work pe people out there that are that are doing that. Um there's a lot to talk about when it comes to this uh the energy bills that we we voted on tonight and I I guess I'll leave it at that. But I really hope that um that we can uh look at what we're doing, be proud of what we've done, and know that we're going to make the right decisions uh moving forward with uh with with people that are going to u you know, help us guide our guide our community in the best way possible. So, with that, I'll pass it on to the uh city manager.

Certainly. Um, I I do just want to give a huge uh thank you to to Joilbert's Dairy and to Mickey um for donating more than what you said that I think 3,000 gallons of milk and 2,000 lbs of butter um to people in our community. And um it's really that kind of generosity um that really makes a difference and goes very far in our in our community. It it starts and sparks one thing and and you you you just start seeing the snowball effect in a good way. So, um, it's it's that kind of that that kind of heart, I think, for our community that really makes a difference. And it really helped families stretch their budgets. It put good food on the table that wasn't necessarily available um due to some constraints at some of the food pantries. So, that food and butter or that milk and butter was really um the key there to to give them real um sustenance there and and help um take care of neighbors because that's really what it's all about. And so, um, I do believe that, you know, everybody up here is incredibly grateful, but I am very, very impressed and grateful for, um, the kindness and that spirit that you bring to the community, Mickey. So, thank you. Um, might not be the the proclamation, but it is really certainly from the heart, and I cannot say thank you enough. And it's a beautiful story. If you haven't heard it, um, please go ahead and look it up. Um, Mickey does a great job explaining of why she did it and and, um, what she felt from that. So, um, to touch on to switch gears here to touch on snow removal. Something else that Mickey had brought up as well, uh, crews are making their way through the the various areas to cut back banks. It's not every single area um in the city that they can get to all of the banks, but there are some key critical areas, especially high traffic, high visibility issues. So, um, we're they're working through that. Uh, while the snow has paused, the cold is um not always the nicest on equipment. So, um, as long as things are up and running, we're we're we're working on it. So, um, and also a reminder that, um, salt does not work when it is this cold. Um, which is a good thing. We don't use just straight salt. So, um, we are out there sanding

quite a bit. So, um, stop sooner in those intersections or else you're going to see me in the middle of it. Um, so please take extra caution and and be extra careful um, on that. And um I thought there was one other thing to mention but nobody had any other direction so good as gold. Thank you. Thank you. With that we are adjourned at 6:30.