Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Bessemer — The Bessemer City Council on Monday voted 4-0 to extend the city manager contract for four years.
The contract for Charly Loper, who started as city manager in 2016, would have expired in November 2020 with her earning $61,327 in Year Four of the contract. The four-year extension comes with a 2 percent raise in years five, six and seven and a retention bonus for overseeing a $7 million sewer and water project currently underway in Bessemer, along with a $21.4 million construction project along U.S. 2 in 2021 with C2AE, an architectural and engineering firm.
Loper had 1.5 years remaining on the current contract and the extension was in part to acknowledge Loper’s work ethic and to ensure continuity with projects, said Adam Zak, mayor of Bessemer. Loper has proved to be an asset to the city with helping bring in $16.2 million in grant funding and saving the city $116,000 by doing work that would have be outsourced.
“She’s done a tremendous job,” Zak said. “She has worked hard and has got out there and been very proactive with finding the city several grants and opportunities.”
As the city manager, Loper also serves as the downtown development director, zoning administrator and overall supervisor. She was instrumental in helping 13 new businesses start in Bessemer, which she said brought more confidence to developers.
Loper said five downtown buildings were purchased and renovated since she started her job. She also helped to acquire funding to remove other buildings that were no longer in use.
“This has been great for the downtown,” Loper said. “There has been a lot of exciting progress.”
Loper is currently working on a marketing campaign to recruit and retain young workers. She recently acquired funding from the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority to update housing and improve parks in former mining neighborhoods.
“I have fallen in love with this little town of Bessemer,” she said. “There are just so many fun and exciting projects coming up and there are just so many amazing volunteers helping to make this a great city.”
