Township plans Airport Park open house

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees was busy Monday, discussing the final details of two events taking place in a few weeks.

The township is hosting an open house to celebrate the completion of the Airport Recreation Park on Aug. 19. Questions were raised on whether a speaker should be present at the event, and supervisor Alan Baron said he left a message with state Rep. Scott Dianda (D-Calumet) to see if he would be willing to speak at the open house. As of Monday evening, Baron had not heard back.

The event will feature the farmers market, the Ironwood Township Fire Department selling hot dogs and beverages and will allow people a chance to visit the park.

The board also discussed the annual Ironwood Township clean-up day in September. Treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso said two dates have been discussed, but she was waiting on a company handling the solid waste to get back to her.

Questions were raised about whether tires could be accepted during the event. Trustee Kathy Maki said she had been in touch with other municipalities about getting tire company Bridgestone to pick up tires through its "One Team, One Planet" campaign. The company recycles tires at no cost to communities.

However, the size of the township might not warrant the company coming to the western portion of the Upper Peninsula.

"We might be too small," Maki said.

Some ideas included having other municipalities bring tires if Bridgestone needed a minimum amount to participate.

"I bet we could get 3,000 tires just from the township alone," clerk Gayla Salmi said. "They are everywhere."

A final date for the annual clean up will be announced at a later date.

Fire department report

Scott Carlson, of the Ironwood Township Fire Department, presented a roster for the board to approve, which included 20 total members.

Board asked Carlson whether 20 was good, and Carlson said he wished for "more active members."

"Out of the 20, we probably have eight guys that are active," he said.

Recruiting new members was also discussed, but a downside, according to Carlson, was paying to train people and have them not participate.

"You don't want to make that investment, and have them not show up," Salmi said.

Other business

The township received a clean opinion on its audit. Final reports will be presented to board members later this month, with a finance meeting held after the regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the audit.

Next year's budget needs to be completed by Aug. 31, and according to Salmi she should have the budget completed within a few weeks.