Ironwood votes to upgrade worker safety

By PAMELA JANSSON

[email protected]

Ironwood — Members of the Ironwood City Commission voted Monday to fund a proposal of $19,809 from Angelo Luppino Inc. of Iron Belt, Wisconsin, to restructure two city offices.

The action followed discussion in more than one recent meeting regarding how to assure the safety of city staff when — as city manager Paul Anderson phrased it — “aggressive members of the public made our staff feel threatened and uncomfortable.”

The vote followed an update by Anderson, who had been asked to research how other regional government offices might be taking steps to protect their staff.

“It’s unfortunate to be having such conversations, but it’s a reality of where we’re at,” he said.

Anderson said many local offices either already have safety measures in place or are discussing the enactment of them.

The proposal for Ironwood was to construct extra walls and bullet-proof glass in the offices of the city clerk and city assessor.

Mayor Kim Corcoran was the sole “no” vote. “I think I would feel more comfortable with plexiglass,” she said.

According to Anderson, the cost of a plexiglass option was approximately $9,985.

In a related agenda report, Anderson said that officials who provided recent active shooter training recommended the bulletproof glass.

“You can look at it as good, bad, however you want to look at it,” said Anderson.

He also had written in his agenda report, “The safety benefit of the bulletproof glass far outweighs the additional cost.”

Several commissioners voiced support for city staff.

“We have to protect them because we rely on them,” said James Mildren, who made the motion that David Andresen then seconded.

“I think it’s important for the staff to feel supported and safe,” said Commissioner Lauren Korpi.

In other news, commissioners also approved a revised Rural Development Pay Package of $597,868.68 for the city’s Water Treatment Plant Phase 1 Project. The revision was necessary due to a typographical error.

Commissioners also:

— Approved the city’s six-year Capital Improvement Plan.

— Authorized the city manager to go out for bids on this year’s Longyear Park playground project.

— Approved a bid of $25,605 to Angelo Luppino Inc. in Iron Belt, Wisconsin, for demolition work at 615 E. Tamarack St. Luppino had the lowest bid, with Farhrner Excavating LLC in Ironwood being the only other bidder.

— At the recommendation of city building inspector Dennis Hewitt, voted to rescind consideration of condemnation of property at 1010 N. Hemlock St., pending continuing updates of improvements.

— Received an update from the city manager on the 2024 Round 9 Neighborhood Enhancement Program Grant project through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority grant funding.

— Authorized the city manager to go out for bids on 2025 concrete needs.

— Approved a change order decrease of $146,354.58 for the city’s Lead Service Line Replacement Project, as well as a payment of $35,056.08 for the same project. Both actions were for Jake’s Excavating and Landscaping LLC in Ironwood. Also approved a payment of $18,192.62 for the same company’s work on the Phase 5A Water Project.

With the exception of the mayor voting against the Memorial Building remodeling, all other votes were unanimous.

During his manager’s report, Anderson said city staff has signed up Ironwood in a community exchange program through the Michigan Municipal League. “This will pair us with another western U.P. community for us to go to their community, and for them to come to our community, to exchange ideas on what has and hasn’t worked well.”

Anderson also reported that a new recording system soon will be connected to allow video recordings of city meetings to resume.

At the end of the meeting, commissioners entered a closed session to discuss the terms of purchasing real property.

The next regular commission meeting will be on Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m. in the commission chamber of the Memorial Building.