Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Zachary Marano/Daily Globe Depot Park and its pavilion in downtown Ironwood, seen here Tuesday, were part of the discussion at the city's Park and Recreation Committee meeting Tuesday.
IRONWOOD - Ongoing problems at the Historic Depot Park in Ironwood prompted the Ironwood Parks and Recreation Committee to consider setting a curfew on the depot park pavilion at their regular meeting on Tuesday.
Committee chair Sam Davey said "the kids are just out of hand" at the park and proposed the curfew so they will have to leave the pavilion by a certain time or face charges for trespassing. The committee discussed a curfew time of 7 p.m. or 30 minutes before sunset, with the exact time changing with the time of the year.
Davey said that the primary reason for a curfew is vandalism. The committee chair said that young people have been defacing the depot park pavilion, shouting obscenities at passing bicyclists and pedestrians and leaving behind smashed bottles. He also said they have been moving the picnic tables too much, suggested they chain the tables together to a pole to prevent this from happening.
Davey said that one group was caught pulling out the park's bike rack in broad daylight by the cameras outside the chamber of commerce and Old Depot Museum. However, he said that these cameras should be upgraded and staff at the Ironwood Public Safety Department and memorial building should have access to the video feed from these cameras so they could respond to any vandalism.
Davey said that this curfew would only apply to the pavilion, not the entire park. He also said that people would be able to sign up to use the pavilion past the curfew and it would remain open for events. He said they would consider removing the curfew after the city regains control of the situation.
After hearing Davey's points about setting a curfew for the depot park pavilion, Director of Community Development Tom Bergman said that he would "put something together at the staff level" and bring it to the Ironwood City Commission for discussion and possible action.
The committee also discussed working on a "Safe Routes to School" program-compliant walking and bicycling route to Luther L. Wright K-12. Davey said that the current route to the school follows the Iron Belle Trail; but parts of that trail are open to ATV/UTV traffic, and "Safe Routes to School" should be nonmotorized.
Davey said that there are two possible solutions to this problem. The first option is to construct a new trail that uses the old Frederick Street right of way. The second option is to route through Frederick Street for about 100 yards and then cross onto the Iron Belle Trail. Bergman said he would set a time for committee members and city staff to get a view from the ground and decide which option is better.
To further improve trail safety, the city commission agreed to set up stop signs on the Iron Belle Trail as part of their priorities for the 2022-2023 fiscal year in April. Davey asked Bergman for an update on this project. Bergman said that city staff have completed their walkthrough of the trail and decided upon the locations for the new stop signs, but he did not know when they will be posted as of Tuesday.
Bergman said that the city of Ironwood was recently awarded a $30,000 mini grant through Michigan's Neighborhood Enhancement Program for successfully completing their state-funded projects on time. He said that the money from this grant will be used to install a pickleball court next to the Patterson Tennis Courts on Hemlock Street, which was another priority set by the city commission.
Bergman said that the primary challenge of the pickleball court project would be completing its installation by the end of the year. He said that the city's community development specialist reached out to a local contractor for an estimate for this project, which came in just below the grant amount of $30,000. The committee recommended that the city commission approve this project.
At their previous meeting on May 3, the parks and recreation committee met with members of the Gogebic Conservation District and requested their help in developing a forest management plan for the city. Bergman said that one of their foresters is currently working to help the city contact a third party to develop such a plan. He said that this forester should follow up with them before the next meeting.
Bergman said that the parks and recreation's next monthly meeting will be held at 5 p.m. on July 14 instead of the first Monday of the month, which is the Fourth of July.
