Road commission delays action on proposed garage

By TOM STANKARD

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Bessemer - The Gogebic County Road Commission Board of Commissioners approved during a special meeting Monday to not take any action concerning the proposed garage until they hear back from the Bessemer Planning Commission.

Darren Pionk, road commission engineer-manager, said the current garage in Bessemer is outdated and does not meet the road commission's needs. Looking towards the future, Pionk said the new garage proposed to be on Marshalek Road, will be roughly 46,000 square feet and cost about $4.7 million.

Pionk said the plans will include a storage garage, a salt shed, a wash bay, four mechanic bays and offices for staff. The plan also includes rebuilding Marshalek Road and redoing utilities.

The road commission has the current garage in Bessemer, a facility in Marenisco and in Watersmeet. Pionk said the new garage in Bessemer will "steer the commission in the right direction."

At a Jan. 27 planning commission meeting, several residents said the location will become a traffic hazard and that the traffic on Marshalek Road will become overwhelming.

Sitting down with the road commission board Wednesday, Pionk said he "was seeking guidance from the board" on what to do next. Pionk said John Turkal, planning commission chairman, is handling the engineering responsibilities and will review the site plans for the proposed garage. Pionk said he is waiting to hear back from the planning commission.

Roughly five years ago, Pionk said the commission looked "into their needs" and started looking at properties and building ideas.

"We looked at several locations," he said. "We looked at the hospital (Aspirus Grandview). We looked at a site east of Ace Hardware and we looked at the 'Rooney' property off of U.S. 2," he said.

Pionk said the "Rooney" property wasn't cost effective to proceed with that being a possible location.

Dan Siirila, commissioner, said he doesn't understand why the hospital location isn't considered a plausible location.

"When I was on the county board, we looked at putting our jail there," he said.

In response, Pionk said there's a steep gradient there that could have limited what the road commission could do with the property.

"This building is going to be fairly substantial in size," he said. "To make a tabletop fit on there is a severe grade change for it."

Standing in front of a large crowd, Pete Matonich, Gogebic County Sheriff, said the road commission didn't follow city zoning ordinance in regards to the proposed site plans.

"There are so many issues with your proposed plan that don't conform with the ordinance," he said. "Right down to the number of parking spaces."

Matonich looked at information about the site plans, and said "the Ace Hardware site is a mirror of the site you proposed building on.

"The size of the property is too small for development, there's water main issues, extensive wetlands that could hinder development," he said. "It's almost like it's a mirror."

Matonich said the proposed site is at a "bad intersection." Several Michigan State Police Wakefield Post representatives echoed Matonich, saying the proposed site will create a traffic hazard and could cause more accidents.

Marti Wegner, commissioner, said the road commission looked into reducing the speed limit to 40 mph and installing a traffic light there.

Sgt. Glenn Gauthier, of the MSP Wakefield Post, said he commends them for doing that, but informed the commission that they could be liable for accidents if a road commission vehicle is involved.

Tim Manchester, a road commission heavy equipment operator, said the commission board didn't involve employees in the process for the new facility.

Also on the agenda, the road commission board approved looking into hiring a "sign man" and a "light equipment operator."