Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By IAN MINIELLY
Wakefield TOWNSHIP — The residents of Johnson Road in Wakefield Township are about to have new, taller and higher voltage power lines run to the Xcel Energy pumping station.
John Cox, supervisor, said Xcel is staging the new poles on the grounds of the Fellowship hall and it is going to improve power for residents. Cox said Johnson Road is currently under weight restrictions, so they have been plotting the new locations for the poles so they avoid mishaps with plow trucks.
Cox drove around the township this week to conduct road inspections with a member of the road commission and member of the township board. Cox said the township was figuring to spend $50,000 of its money and another $30,000 of the Gogebic County Road Commission’s money to make repairs, but when they began inspecting the roads, they found their combined $80,000 was not sufficient.
The board agreed the township may need to dip into the fund balance to repair the roads after such a hard winter, Cox said, so now they are waiting on a dollar figure for repairs before making a final decision.
The township’s annual spring clean-up is on schedule for May 18-19. The township applied for a grant for the State Line Trail from Wakefield to Korpela Road that traverses the township. If approved, Cox said the construction on the trail would occur next summer.
In a bit of news Cox said residents have waited a long time to hear, the township signed an agreement with Merit and GogebicRange.net to run broadband there. Cox said this will happen soon, as they are just waiting for the final thaw and when that happens, GogebicRange.net will begin installing broadband.
As far as funding for Beacon Ambulance, Cox said the township is involved with the discussions. The short-term plan, which the township agreed to, is the township will pay its share, based on a rough population of 2,000, but a long-term plan needs to be settled on that includes every municipality so Beacon has long-term viability in the county.