Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
The BESSEMER city council discussed accessibility issues at city hall during Monday's meeting. Among those at the meeting were, from left, clerk/treasurer James Trudgeon, council members Terry Kryshak and Linda Nelson, Mayor Adam Zak, council members Rob Coleman and Louis Miskovich, and city manager Charly Loper.
By KIM E. STROM
Bessemer - Discussion at Monday's Bessemer city council meeting centered on the issue of whether the city is in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act with regard to the city hall.
Councilman Louis Miskovich provided several letters from residents who are disabled and cannot use most of the facilities at the building - including paying utility bills, voting and attending city meetings.
According to Miskovich, the city may be in compliance with state law, but not at the federal level, which he said trumps state law.
Loper said that according to the city's lawyer, they are in compliance as they make accommodations where possible. It was agree by all council members that the building's inaccessibility to handicapped residents in wheelchairs, for example, has been an issue for some time.
Loper added that the city has looked into several ways to address the issue such as stair lifts, a ramp leading from the back to the auditorium and even installing elevators, which would be very costly.
Another partial fix would be to change the venue for city meetings to a handicapped-accessible location, said Loper. Also, if the city knows in advance, necessary accommodations can be made, but as Miskovich pointed out, that isn't always possible for some.
Council members agreed to continue looking into the issue, contacting contractors and looking into federal grants to resolve the issues. Currently there is access to the library in city hall.
In other business, the board:
-Discussed address changes in the South Massie Avenue and Industrial Access Road areas. Currently, addresses do not match with the existing grid structure with odd numbers on one side and even on the other, said Loper. Mayor Adam Zak expressed concern as a first responder that the way the numbers are assigned now makes it hard for police and fire trucks to find buildings.
Present was a local business owner who said the cost of changing such things as his business cards, menus, and mailings would be "astronomical." Loper referenced another business owner who wished to wait until Jan 1, 2020 and a third who wanted to do it as soon as possible.
The board agreed to give property owners until Oct. 31, 2020 to make the changes and that they could be made individually and not all at once. The business owner at the meeting was satisfied with the arrangement. "We want to accommodate where possible," said Zak. There are 10 addresses that would change.
-Approved a request from National Guard woman Carmen LeGuardia for water, sewer and garbage fees be waived, pending approval from Eagle Waste, as she is being deployed overseas. A motion was unanimously approved to apply the same consideration for future servicemen or woman who are deployed. Loper said the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has approved the city waiving these fees as long as the city can still repay its bond payments.
Any future waivers would be for the time a member of the armed forces is on active duty, provided no one else lives in the home and a copy of the deployment orders are received. Miskovich commented from experience having to worry about those kinds of things can distract from the job.
-Approved a variance request for placement of a garage outside of the specifications listed in the zoning ordinance.
-Agreed to address a concern by Bessemer Area Schools superintendent Dave Wineburner about keeping the crossing areas near the schools free of snow and debris at a future meeting. Wineburner wrote a letter to the council that said there was also a problem with students also "running out into traffic at undesignated crossing areas, and cutting between vehicles in order to cross U.S. 2 as well as city streets."
The council would also like to invite the county road commissioner to a council meeting and entertained the idea of having law enforcement stop kids for jaywalking in order to ensure the safety of those that do so.
-Agreed to schedule a workshop to discuss weight restrictions on certain roadways within the city.
-Scheduled a condemnation hearing for Dec. 16, 2019 for three houses in the city.
