Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
IROWNOOD TOWNSHIP — While no formal action was taken, the topic of the Ironwood Estates’ water bill was the main topic of discussion at Monday’s Ironwood Township Board of Trustees meeting.
Anita Pemberton, a district manager with RV Horizons, said the fee charged to vacant units is making it hard to be profitable.
If a deal can’t be reached, the company may have to pass along a fee and/or increase rent or close the park altogether. RV horizons has owned the property for approximately one year.
“At this point, we’re probably going to have to close the community if we can’t come to some sort of agreement on it,” she said.
According to Pemberton, the park has 33 mobile homes — of which only five have renters.
Regardless of whether the units are used, the company is charged a flat rate fee for each unit for potential water service. The units using water are charged for the additional use on top of the fee. She said she had prospective renters decide not to rent there due to the water rate.
“We want to be part of your community, but we want to be able to make a little bit of money too,” Pemberton said.
While the board was sympathetic to the issue, they said they weren’t sure if the relevant ordinance would even allow the board to cut the company a break. If the township was able to, the board also worried about establishing a precedent when dealing with the other companies in the township.
A possible suggested alternative to reducing the fees was reducing the number of units in the park.
“Have you thought of changing the layout of the park? Instead of having all those trailers in there, taking out maybe every other one and making the yards bigger,” Clerk Mary Segalin asked. This would not only reduce the water bill by half, but also make the lots more attractive to prospective renters.
The board agreed to continue discussions regarding a solution.
In other action:
— The board agreed to issue two $225 Jamie Peite Memorial Scholarships for psychology students from the Ironwood schools attending Gogebic Community College. The scholarships will come from the funds in the township’s Jamie Peite Memorial Scholarship Fund. Peite served as the chief of the Ironwood Township Volunteer Fire Department and assistant chief of the Ironwood Volunteer Fire Department. Peite died on March 5, 2014, after suffering a heart attack a day after participating in a fire department training event.
—Fire Chief Scott Carlson thanked the community and local businesses for supporting the township’s Frost Fest.
