Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By P.J. GLISSON
Wakefield — The Wakefield city council voted Monday to change the date of a public hearing needed in order to declare tax-exempt status for land that once held the Wakefield Memorial Building.
At their previous meeting on Oct. 8, council members had voted to schedule the hearing in conjunction with their Nov. 12 meeting, but on Monday they voted to rescind that decision and instead schedule the hearing for Nov. 26.
City manager Richard Brackney said the delay was requested by city attorney Ray O’Dea, who said he needs more time to investigate related legalities. O’Dea was not present.
The votes to rescind and to change the date passed on a majority vote, with mayor pro tempore Amy Tarro voting no on both counts. Council member Pat Mann was absent.
Former city manager John Siira originally had requested the hearing on behalf of the Forward Wakefield Development Corporation, which has owned the land since June 14. The transfer occurred when the Wakefield Memorial Building Foundation, via Marvin Suomi, donated the property after that foundation’s tax-exempt status expired.
In previous correspondence shared with the council, the members of Forward Wakefield expressed their desire to gain public input on how to develop the now empty land just west of the Wakefield-Marenisco K-12 School. The Memorial Building was razed in 2010.
Once the public hearing occurs, the council will be free to vote on a resolution Siira prepared that outlines how the property meets state guidelines for tax exemption limited to seven years. He said Forward Wakefield’s goal is not to hold the land for years, but rather to see it developed in such a way that increases the city’s tax base and creates jobs for local citizens, while also not disturbing the beauty of the Sunday Lake area.
So far, city officials have suggested a motel, a business and law center, or a store as possible entities that might create jobs and/or attract and hold tourists.
Open to the public, the newly scheduled Nov. 26 hearing will be held in conjunction with a regular city council meeting that will start at 5:30 p.m. in the council chambers of the municipal building.