Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By CHARITY SMITH
Bessemer — Rob Coleman will once again be a member of the city council after the group voted 3-1 during its Monday meeting to fill an open seat. Lou Miskovich resigned from the city council last month.
“I am honored that the city council appointed me. … Because of my experience on council I will be able to hit the ground running,” Coleman said. “I also want the residents of Bessemer to know that I have their best interests at heart. We all live in the same community and we all want to see it thrive.”
Coleman, who was on the city council from 2015-2019, told the Daily Globe he was approached by a citizen about filling the position, but he took some time to think about it first, as it is not an easy job. He said it requires “hard work and a thick skin.” Coleman said he was on the council when the grant for the 2021-22 U.S. 2 reconstruction and water and sewer project was secured.
“Area councils are seeing declining populations. The main problem with this is a diminishing tax base, but not a diminishing infrastructure that must be maintained,” Coleman said. “Because of this, city councils must make unpopular decisions, mainly in the form of increased taxes. Councils have to be creative in securing monies in the form of grants.”
Mayor Adam Zak said they chose Coleman because of his council experience. “He knows the ins and outs, and how it came about,” Zak said, referencing his prior service and knowledge of the U.S. 2 project.
“This job is very hard. I kid you not. Last Thursday, I had three meetings scheduled and that wasn’t even a regular council meeting,” Zak said. “What I learned about being on the city council is that you’re a problem solver. It’s not often that you get the good news. It’s not often that the news is all great and everything is going well. You are here to basically solve problems. So there is a lot of stress involved. You have to take punches and roll with it. It’s not a lot of puppies and kittens.”
City manager Charly Loper said that the city received six applications for the position. Each of the councilors submitted a question to ask each candidate.
Council member Linda Nelson said that being on the council is a very tough job, while also very rewarding. She said she was excited to see so many people apply for the position and is hoping that a good portion of the applicants will run for council next November.
Water, sewer rates
The council voted to increase water and sewer rates by a total of $5.25 per month in order to meet the required 2% inflation increase required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to secure the grant monies for the 2021-22 project. Of that, $3 will go towards sewer costs and $2.25 will be for water expenditures. This increase will take effect in 2022.
According to Zak, the $15 per month increase, they had discussed at the Nov. 2 meeting was a mathematical error and so was higher than actually projected.
Loper said they reclassified a bill they pay to the Gogebic Range Water Authority from debt to expense so it no longer counted in the city’s debt-to-service ratio. The mathematical error was in the increase that the council had previously voted on for the sewer readiness to serve fee. The corrected error amounted to a savings of $4.75.
“An extra increase was necessary because of the inflationary read that was USDA required, so that was a portion of the needed increase (announced previously), the other portion was a mathematical error. So it wasn’t as high as we thought it was going to be,” Zak said.
In 2021, water is scheduled to increase by $2.78 and sewer $2.75, Loper said.
Nelson said she was glad the increase is not going to be as high as they originally thought, but pointed out how fortunate the city is to be able to do this project.
“It was a godsend that we were able to get this grant,” council member Terry Kryshak said. “The grant is basically three times the size of what we are having to pay for ourselves. So it is amazing.”
The council also:
—Approved the ATV detour route as previously discussed for the 2021-22 project. The detour will be utilized in the summer of 2021. Loper said they looked into other routes suggested by residents, but there is planned construction that would affect those routes.
—Voted to give George MarcAntonio an additional two weeks to make repairs to his building. MarcAntonio has received numerous blight citations for issues with his property.
—Reappointed Neil Nelson to represent the city on the Gogebic Range Water Authority Board, with Loper as his alternate.
—Reinstated the negotiation committee to consist of Kryshak, Zak and Loper.
—Approved a variance request allowing Bessemer Plywood to put up a 95-foot stack as part of an operation to dry plywood at a new building in order to meet clean air requirements. The city regulations only allow for up to 75 feet.