Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
THE CALM before the thunder and lightning happening outside moved into city council chambers Monday as the first reading of Ordinance 358 was supported 4-1 to repeal the recently passed marijuana ordinances. From the left are Terry Kryshak, Linda Nelson, Adam Zak and Allen Archie.
By IAN MINIELLY
Bessemer - The Bessemer city council voted 4-1, with Terry Kryshak in the minority, in support of a the initial reading of Ordinance 358, which is an ordinance to repeal ordinances 356 and 357 authorizing the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act. The public hearing is scheduled for this Thursday at 6 p.m., in the auditorium, not the council chambers to accommodate the expected influx of residents.
Interested residents can find a four page document from Rebecca Baron, written in support of medical marijuana, in the clerks office.
In other news, the council agreed to put a piece of property consisting of 3.5 acres of odd shaped land, assessed at $5,250, up for bids. The amended Rules of Order were tabled again, with a new request for City Manager Charlie Loper to craft an ethics policy for the board to follow. The ethics block of text is expected to come under review in January, where the council will review the new changes before a public hearing is scheduled to cover the amended rules.
The council voted in support of Kevin Nyquist's request for appointment to the Planning Commission and Elected Officials Commission. Loper was authorized by the council to open source Bluff Valley Park to the public. The intent is to accept ideas from the public on how best to improve the park and also to begin the process of public financing of the ideas, with matching funds coming from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
The Nasal Ranger device, which detects and quantifies odors was tabled as unnecessary until the council can speak with their attorney regarding possible avenues to go after noxious smells.
Loper warned the council the city is in jeopardy of having to raise water rates, perhaps $.75 per 1,000 gallons to pay for an unfunded state mandate requiring the city to have a water plan by Jan. 1, 2018. The city is being forced to pay as much as $25,000 in the first year to review water assets, develop an asset management spread sheet, and business impact within the water plan. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the requirement by Lansing and the likely probability most of the state is going to be out of compliance come 2018, but the board voted to move forward with the effort.
The December Board of Review is scheduled for 5:45 p.m., just prior to the Dec. 18 city council meeting.
The city council has new email addresses to make record keeping of official work easier to manage. The new email addresses will be included on the updated city website, but until then each member can be reached by typing their first name.last [email protected]. For example, [email protected].
The public comment sections of the council meeting in the start and conclusion were contentious.
Three clearly pro-marijuana proponents spoke during the initial public comments section to state their disagreement with the councils plans to repeal the ordinances. In the final public comment section, three anti-marijuana proponents thanked the council for their effort to repeal the ordinances before pandemonium broke out and the council had to be adjourned.
