Wakefield council defers decision on trail group

By P.J. GLISSON

news@yourdailyglobe.com

Wakefield — The Wakefield City Council voted Monday evening to refer the continuing status of the Split Rock Trail Association to the Planning Commission.

At issue is a lease that City Manager Rob Brown drafted at the request of SRTA members.

As Brown explained in a related communiqué to council members, the city so far has not engaged in any formal terms with SRTA, which officially formed as a nonprofit corporation in 2019 after several years of working to create about three miles of trails in the area formerly known as Fink location in Section 10, east of Sunday Lake.

“The city is in a precarious position regarding the Split Rock Trail Association and the Section 10 property,” continued Brown in his formal report. “The city has not formally granted or denied access to the property, approved the Split Rock Trail Association to develop the property, or entered into any formal agreement” as to property management.

Brown then added that the city has reached the point where it either must enter an agreement with SRTA or close the property to public use.

Because the Planning Commission also serves as the city’s Recreational Advisory Board, Brown recommended the vote that council members delivered unanimously, with new member Scott Heikkila officially excused from attendance due to health issues.

In the same communication, Brown also noted that the site’s history as a mining location has left the area with a “risk of subsidence” that could result in “inherent danger to trail users.” However, he said the area has been “relatively stable.”

The pending lease includes terms such as limiting designated use to walking, hiking, bicycle riding, snowshoeing and skiing.

The same lease, as currently phrased, also would prohibit equipment storage, trash dumping, and removal of any sub-surface materials such as gravel.

The informal document also now includes only nominal lease costs of $1 per year.

SRTA member Jim Engel told the council that he and fellow member Rod Ritter received the lease document and intend to study it more closely with other members today, after which they will refer any questions to the Planning Commission.

“We appreciate working with the city in this endeavor to improve our recreation options here in Wakefield,” said Engel.

In other news, the council also voted to approve a three-year contract to provide services to Wakefield Township from April 1, 2020, when the current agreement expires, to March 31, 2023.

The contract indicates that the city will continue to provide the following township services for the corresponding rates during 2020-2021: fire protection, $10,173; cemetery, $6,288; park, $3,268; library $3,141; and street lights, $227. The total comes to $23,097.

Brown said the amounts represent a 3% cost-of-living increase, which then also will be applied in the two subsequent years.

In a related written statement to the council, Brown said he, along with the mayor and council member James Anderson, “took into consideration the township’s generosity in supporting the fire department with additional funding for equipment when requested and allowing the library to capture the township’s penal fines to support the library.”

Council members also:

—Voted to approve the reappointment of Marsha Vestich and Tara Hamilton to new three-year terms that will continue upon the Dec. 31 expiration of their current terms. Mayor Dale White said the positions were advertised and garnered no other public interest. Under questioning from Mayor Pro Tempore Amy Tarro, he also explained that he expects the commission to result with seven members, rather than the current nine, due to pending circumstances of other members, including likely resignation.

—Voted to approve a request by Anna Wakefield of Marenisco to use the municipal building gym on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. for 75-minute yoga sessions with the understanding that 10% of any profits collected by Wakefield will be designated to the city. Wakefield said she already has the same agreement in relation to the Marenisco Town Hall.

—Voted to approve an ongoing agreement for the city to collect summer property tax funds for the Wakefield-Marenisco School District, which then will receive its designated amount, minus a collection fee of 1% of taxes levied.

—Voted to approve non-union office staff raises in the amount of 50 cents an hour as of the first pay period in January 2020, followed by an additional 25 cents an hour in the first pay period of February, and a third 30 cent hike on July 1, for a total of $1.05 per hour.

—Voted to fund an estimated total cost of $600 for the city manager’s attendance at the Winter Institute of the Michigan Municipal Executives from Jan. 28-31, 2020 in Gaylord. Brown said the MME is a function of the Michigan Municipal League.

After the meeting, Brown told the Globe that the city still has not reached a resolution regarding the “dueling interpretations” that the city and its union employees have regarding a pending bargaining agreement.

“We were assigned an administrative law judge,” said Brown, but added that no related court date has been set.

Regarding an ice rink that the city hoped to have operational by the end of the month, Brown said warm temperatures, a hose damaged by a snowmobile, and the necessity to create multiple layers of ice are slowing down the process. He concluded that the end of January 2020 is now a more realistic goal.

The council’s next regular meeting will be on Jan. 13, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. The Planning Commission’s next regular meeting will be the following day on Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m.

Both meetings will be in the council room of the municipal building, and the public is welcome.

The municipal building will be closed on Jan. 1 in observation of New Year’s Day.