Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission held a closeout public hearing on the Downtown City Square project prior to the regular meeting on Monday. Routsala Concrete Construction finished concrete work in the city square and embedded a steel city logo near the intersection of Aurora and Lowell streets in June.
Jerry Wuorenmaa, executive director of the Western U.P. Planning and Development Region, reported the completion of the project to the commission. Wuorenmaa said that a Community Development Block Grant provided $1,475,927 toward administration, property acquisition, engineering and construction of the city square and an additional $201,100 in project funding was provided by the city.
Wuorenmaa said that the project benefited at least 51% low- to moderate-income persons and zero persons were displaced by the project.
In his report to the city commission, interim city manager Andrew DiGiorgio praised the city square as a center for events such as the First Friday concert on Aug. 5. Mayor Kim Corcoran added that the fountain and splash pad are seeing frequent use by children and families in the area.
During their regular meeting, the city commission approved $500 payments to three city manager applicants for a total cost of $1,500. The payments are related to travel expenses for these applicants, who were invited to Ironwood by the city commission and Michigan Municipal League as part of their search for a new city manager.
City Commissioner Jim Mildren said that these $500 payments will not completely cover these applicants’ travel expenses, but they will show that the city is extremely interested. Members of the city commission will interview the applicants on Aug. 25-26.
As part of their planned improvements to the Ironwood Memorial Building, the city commission also approved a proposal by Automated Comfort Control in the amount of $3,561 to design a bid specification to include the replacement of two boilers, hot water pumps, a control system and a rooftop unit for the building.
The city commission also:
—Approved Corcoran’s appointments to the Human Relations and Equity Committee including Gerald Gripper and Nancy Korpela for two-year terms ending in July 2024, and Annette Burchell, Carol Erickson and Christina Rancourt for three-year terms ending in July 2025. They also approved her re-appointment of Adrian Chase to the Housing Commission for a term expiring in June 2027 and appointments of Sam Davey, Randy Kirchhoff and Christina Boyett to the Parks and Recreation Committee for terms expiring in 2025.
—Authorized another payment, in the amount of $161,243.50, to Flowtrack Mountain Bike Trails for their continued work in Miners Memorial Heritage Park.
—Awarded a bid for surplus brass and scrap iron to Chicago Iron and Supplies.
—Authorized the department of public works to hire Nasi Construction for the purchase of an overhead garage door at the utilities and storage facility in the amount of $5,541. The new garage door will reduce heat loss and protect equipment.
—Entered into an engineering services agreement with Coleman Engineering for a storm water culvert replacement on Margaret Street in the amount of $17,750.
—Authorized payment to PowerDMS Inc. to renew the Ironwood Public Safety Department’s annual subscription to their digital record-keeping services, to be paid with grant funds.
