10am – Wednesday morning
WITH SOME CHANGES NEEDING to be made to my banged up fantasy football team, I thought I’d use the down time at Wednesday morning’s City Manager Community Office Hours to do some research. The two-hour session, held at the library, occasionally offers stretches of quiet, with no guests at the table, confronting city staff with their concerns, and or, compliments. Mostly concerns.
Armed with one game’s worth of statistics for running backs and wide receivers, I was surprised, when I arrived early… as I usually do, to find one citizen already there, armed with her own issues.
I should say, I was pleasantly surprised. I’ve found City Manager Kovacs’ open office hours to be a valuable exchange of observations and explanations, and a great resource for words on the street, provided people show up.
The turnout, as it turned out, was excellent, with a number of citizens voicing an array of concerns, some specific to themselves, but mostly representative of the community at large.
As is often the case, Manager Kovacs… Karen, was joined by city staff, on this day including Deputy City Manager Sean Hobbins, and Chief of Police Ryan Grim. The assembly is informal in nature, with citizens able to take the time they need to get their questions answered or their points across. (Hopefully, not too much time.)
In the following telling of what I saw and heard at the meeting, I’ll refrain from identifying those who came and commented. No official minutes are taken, and speakers aren’t required to identify themselves, so I won’t either.
Road Repair
First up was that lady who beat me to the meeting. She was wondering when Altamont Street, between Grandview and Pioneer, was going to be resurfaced. After a brief look into her notes, Kovacs assured her… it’s in the budget for next year. I’m sure the manager was citing accurate information, but confirming it’s in the budget is just a little more reassuring than… the check is in the mail. Conditions change, and budgets follow.
A Tree
Next up was a gentleman from the east side with an issue regarding a big tree, which, he says, is causing problems on his property. I was only half listening to this because it seemed to be a “you” problem, but I do believe his concerns were heard by staff, and he appeared to be satisfied with their attention to his matter. Also, while he was there, he took advantage of the complimentary coffee. Yes… there’s coffee.
Water and the Homeless
This was followed by a lady who identified herself and her husband as senior citizens, and, although it wasn’t the issue that brought her to the meeting, she found it convenient to comment about their high water bill. I get it. Mine’s high too. But I’m not skipping showers or using the toilet without flushing it. Not yet, anyway.
Her primary complaint was one I’ve heard at these meetings before. She has an issue with our homeless population, and her fear of what they might do to her, of a criminal nature. Because of their frequent presence in the parking lot, she’s hesitant to go to the co-op, even though she’s partial to their tuna and their blueberry jam.
I don’t know if she’s ever in real danger, but the mere fact that she thinks she is, is problem enough. And I imagine she’s not the only one who feels that way.
I had previously reached out to Room at the Inn Executive Director Chelsie Wilkinson with a question about the scaffolding that’s been in front of the Warming Center for quite a while… without much apparent action. She got back to me with a number of legitimate reasons why their façade renovation project was taking so long, but more important than that, she reminded me of their upcoming public board meeting.
Next Thursday, the 18th, the public is invited to join the RATI Board of Directors for an update on what they’re calling “the housing and homelessness crisis in Marquette County.” It’s in the library’s Community Room at 6pm.
According to Wilkinson, “We hope this meeting serves as the proverbial canary in the coal mine to the community about how dire our community’s safety net is becoming without continued local investment. We have worked tirelessly with countless community partners to create and maintain our current network of care for folks in a housing crisis – both throughout Marquette County as well as the entire UP. Despite these efforts, Room at the Inn and other housing/homelessness services providers are drowning to keep up with the level of need all while grappling with the ever-changing and now unreliable government funding landscape.”
Whatever concerns or questions you might have about our homeless issues, this meeting might present a good opportunity for you to get some answers.
A Busy Street
The next resident to take the floor… actually, the table, was there representing the Magnetic Concerned Citizens. This is a group of people who live on Magnetic Street, west of 7th. Apparently, with College Avenue closed off due to hospital property redevelopment, traffic has increased dramatically on Magnetic.
Though the representative was understanding of the disruptions inherent to such a project, she wanted to let city staff know that Magnetic Street residents have been more than patient, and look forward to the day when College Avenue can be put back in play, and Magnetic traffic can return to pre-construction levels. Also, people drive too fast. So, whatever the city can do to help, would be appreciated. I believe that’s a fairly accurate account of her presentation.
Like a few of the other burrs in our community bonnet, this is a problem without an easy solution.
No End in Sight
By this time I’ve accepted the fact that work on my fantasy team would have to wait. People keep coming to this meeting! Also, as she often does, Commissioner Sally Davis has joined the session.
A Home for Artists
Next we heard from a young lady who was a representative of SOMA Studios, an artist collective that operates out of south Marquette. They currently meet in the sandstone building on Division, formerly the home of one of our labor unions.
She was interested in the vacant structure at 702 Lakeshore Boulevard, seen above, to serve, I think, as a home for SOMA Studios. I’ve been interested in the future of this place myself, primarily due to its primo location, with the beach as its backyard.
Whether he wanted it or not, the task of figuring out what to do with this property had, some time ago, landed on the desk of Deputy Sean. According to him, the building is in serious disrepair and will require a substantial investment to get it back into service. He offered to give the SOMA rep a tour, so it appears he may be open to any good ideas of what someone, other than the city, might like to do with it.
It may be a money pit, or past its “use by” date, but if there’s any way to make it a fashionable address on our lakeshore, I’m all for it.
Garbage in the Streets
Following what we heard from a local couple with a short list of concerns, the most interesting to me was having to do with our garbage collection.
From what I’ve seen and heard, it looks like the new system is off to a rocky start, what with people complaining about parking issues, an irregular schedule, and carts strewn about haphazardly, post pickup.
Given that, the concern cited was more about what will happen after the snow flies and our plow drivers are charged with clearing the streets while navigating a minefield of garbage carts. Manager Karen said she’s communicating with Waste Management and has challenged them to do whatever it takes to make it work.
Again, it’s a problem without a ready solution. It might require a little patience and understanding from residents as the system is refined. Can we do that?
Habitat Houses
The last speaker asked about the progress of the plan for Habitat for Humanity to build several houses next to the Beacon House on West Spring Street. Though she wouldn’t divulge details, Karen indicated a press release would be going out within hours about a deal between the Beacon House and Habitat regarding that property.
As it turns out, the two organizations agreed to some kind of land swap which would give Beacon House the Habitat property adjacent to their facility, while Habitat would acquire a chunk of property by the Peninsula Medical Center for their new houses. Sounds like a good deal for both.
Almost There
Still with me? By this time, we’re getting close to noon, when the meeting is supposed to adjourn, although I’ve never seen Karen cut anyone off if the discussion is still productive.
My Turn
Anyway, with about ten minutes left, I was able to ask a couple questions from my list, specifically those which hadn’t already been addressed.
First, what’s going on with the potential sale of Lakeview Arena to the Base Hospitality Group? Apparently, since the idea was first floated a couple months ago… not much. Word on the street is that Base has put several of their local properties up for sale, maybe to free up resources for new projects… like Lakeview Arena.
The city has some decisions to make regarding the future of that facility, like whether or not to entertain an offer from the local developer, or continue tapping the general fund to keep it afloat. All options are on the table, including a willingness to listen to a more specific proposal from the Base folks. In other words, at this point, the puck’s in their court. Or something like that.
I also asked about the changes recently requested by the hospital property developers regarding “integrated parking” and how that would have a net positive influence on taxes collected by the city, as suggested by Deputy Sean in a news story I saw on TV.
Apparently, “integrated parking” is what is commonly known as underground parking, by those of us not in the industry. Why you couldn’t just call it underground parking…I don’t know. As far as taxes go, property has a greater taxable value when it’s used for housing, rather than parking, according to Hobbins.
Finally… yes, finally, I asked about the recent report of lead in the Marquette city water supply. According to staff, the water they’re pumping out to our homes is safe, but there may be some lead contamination coming from end users… homes with older pipes that may have some traces of lead infiltrating the system. I believe that’s what I heard. By that time, I was getting hungry, and though I had a couple more items on my list… I was ready to wrap it up. I had plenty of notes and enough material, I figured, to fill a post. And I was right.