Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By PAMELA JANSSON
Marenisco TOWNSHIP — The Superior Waters Bottling Plant may start up again, thanks to Monday evening action by the Marenisco Township Board of Trustees.
Supervisor Bruce Mahler told The Globe on Tuesday that the board voted to extend the lease for the company, which has not been operating for close to three years.
“They’re not bottling water,” said Mahler, but he added that — after shutting down — the company did continue to sell remaining water in stock. It also is maintaining the now dormant operation while seeking investors to move forward.
Mahler said that, in 2017, the township granted the company a 10-year lease for water use from one of the township’s wells, with an option to extend the lease for a second 10 years.
Monday’s board action was in response to the company requesting a longer-term agreement in the form of a new 10-year lease on top of the six years of operation that already have passed.
The board also approved a plan to review every two years the base rate that the township receives for the company’s water use.
Mahler said the idea is to monitor the ongoing profit earned by the company and to tie the water rate into those earnings.
The supervisor said that attorneys for the township and the company are working on the details in hopes of crafting a final deal by mid-September.
In other news, trustees also approved requests made by Brian and Amy Adrian of the township.
The first was to allow a change in the name of the road on which the Adrians operate their Hungry Travelers Food Wagon. The Adrians requested that the name be changed from Soap Lane to Travelers Way. Mahler estimated the road length at 200 feet and added of the switch, “There are no actual addresses on that road, so it won’t affect anyone’s address.”
The board also approved the Adrians’ plan to create a pickle ball court where an unused skateboard park now sits near the newer township pavilion between Fair Avenue and Hall Street. The couple already raised money to do so via a summer fundraiser.
In addition, the board also approved the use of Frisbee golf equipment that the Adrians purchased for use in the same area.
Trustees also:
— Approved a rise in fees for burials at the Marenisco Township Cemetery, including the processing of cremated remains. “We haven’t raised the fees on that in 30 years,” said Mahler.
— Applied slight modifications to the township’s property tax-assessing policy, which they had just passed in February.
The board’s next regular meeting will be on Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Marenisco Town Hall.
