Work on Ironwood water treatment plant continues

By LARRY HOLCOMBE

lholcombe@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood - Construction continues on the city of Ironwood's new water treatment facility near its well fields in Ironwood Township.

On Monday, the city commission approved a Rural Development package for $375,134 for the ongoing Phase 1 of the project. $343,045 of that was to CD Smith Construction, with remainder going to engineering services, said city manager Paul Anderson.

Anderson said the mild winter has helped construction and the company continues to do numerous wall pours as the concrete walls have grown to 16 feet.

"The walls should be finished over the next month or so, with precast ceiling slabs going in after that," Anderson said. "Roofing should begin in May and June, and then interior plumbing and mechanical work happening this summer."

He said work could be slowed by waiting for some "long lead time" electrical and mechanical items arriving in the fall, but only time would tell.

Mayor Kim Corcoran asked when Phase 1 would be completed.

Anderson said they're aiming at the fall, but certainly before construction on Phase 2 hopefully begins in the summer of 2025, adding they want to get one phase done before they start the second in case they have a different contractor.

On Phase 2, Anderson said the project is under design and plans are scheduled to be complete by April, followed by permitting and then bidding this summer.

The commission also approved a $1,628 change order in a crane replacement project in the Department of Public Works garage. Anderson said the new crane will ride on the same parallel rails high above as did the former crane which was damaged in an accident. But the rails in the former mine building are 100 years old, and turns out they're a different size than what new cranes ride on these days. So larger trucks which include the wheels that ride the rails are needed. He said the insurance covering the bill from the accident will also cover the change order.

Public Safety Director Andrew DiGiorgio gave a presentation on the city's process for dealing with blight. He said a new administrative assistant in the IPSD office will help with much of the paperwork, as Jason Alonen hands off his blight officer duties to IPSD as part of his transition to becoming head of the Department of Public Works, while also keeping his city assessor duties.

DiGiorgio said they have assigned officers to specific neighborhoods across the city in an effort to work more closely with the citizens on blight concerns, adding it would be possible to notice something small before it became a larger issue.

DiGiorgio said the process of dealing with a report of blight has to recognize the property owner's rights, and there are several steps including multiple letters and other items. He also showed a few before and after photos of sites that were either cleaned up by the property owner when confronted with a notice, or properties that were cleaned up by DPW staff with a bill then sent to the property owner.

The commission also approved a quit claim deed to Sage Timber Cub, for a strip of property near the former Keweenaw Land Association office. The 100 feet of abandoned railroad right-of-way includes part of the snowmobile trail and officials said the existing trail easement would continue. Anderson said the city had no use for the small strip of land, that the former KLA thought they owned and on which they built an access road to their parking lot.

Anderson also reported that Tom Bergman and Tim Erickson of the Community Development Office are putting applications together for funding for replacing the Civic Center's ice making system. He said they are looking to the state's Department of Natural Resources Land and Water Conservation Fund, as well as Congressional Discretionary Spending requests to U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters. He said they're estimating the project at $750,000.

Anderson also:

-Thanked the Gogebic County Road Commission for including the city in its bid for culverts. He said the city received a series of 12-, 15-, 18- and 24-inch steel culverts for use with the city roads for $17,530.

-Reported there were 41 cases heard last week by the Board of Review, and thanked the full- and part-time staff for their work with this.

-Reported the lead service line project continues to properties on all-season roads for now, and that restoration work will begin in the spring where 100 lines have already been replaced.