[3:35] I'd like to call the meeting
to order tonight, Monday, February 23rd,
[3:39] 2026 at 6:00 p.m. in the
commission chambers. Uh please rise for
[3:44] the Pledge of Allegiance.
[3:47] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America, and to the
[3:52] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[3:58] justice for all.
[4:03] Thank you. Uh roll call, city clerk.
Commissioner Davis. Here.
[4:08] Commissioner Gottlieb.
Commissioner Hanley. Here. Commissioner
[4:12] Larson. Here. Commissioner Mayor. Here.
Mayor pro tem Ottaway. Here. And Mayor
[4:17] Schlegel. Here.
All right, commissioners, do we have a
[4:20] motion to excuse Commissioner Gottlieb
for the evening?
[4:25] Uh
Sorry. Commissioner Davis.
[4:29] Commissioner Davis.
I move that we excuse Commissioner
[4:33] Gottlieb for personal reasons.
>> Is there a second?
[4:36] Pro tem. Second.
Uh any discussion?
[4:40] Okay, all in favor, please say yes. Yes.
Opposed, no.
[4:44] Motion passes six to nothing.
Thank you for that. Um we've got our
[4:49] agenda in front of us.
Is there a motion to accept or change
[4:53] the agenda?
[4:55] Commissioner Davis, you have this one
again.
[4:58] I move we accept the agenda as
presented. Thank you. Second, please.
[5:02] Commissioner Hanley. I second.
Thank you. Any discussion?
[5:07] Okay, all in favor, please say yes. Yes.
Opposed, no.
[5:11] Motion passes again six to nothing.
For the announcements tonight,
[5:17] I just we don't really have anything
that's coming officially from
[5:22] uh
any other work that's being done in the
[5:25] city right now, but I would like to
thank all the volunteers that are coming
[5:28] out to help with the
uh trying to locate our missing person,
[5:32] uh young student from Northern Michigan
University. Um we've had hundreds of
[5:37] people come out and assist with that. Um
we want to thank them for their efforts.
[5:42] I know that everybody's doing the very
best that they can with the resources
[5:46] that they have. They don't necessarily
need more volunteers, but the point is
[5:50] is that the overwhelming response is
very much appreciated, and we're hoping
[5:54] for the best possible outcome that we
can
[5:57] come across with such a
very
[6:00] uh
difficult topic. So, thank you for that.
[6:05] Um
brings us to boards and committees.
[6:08] We've got a couple of appointments
tonight. Is there a
[6:10] motion, please?
[6:14] Commissioner Hanley.
I move that we appoint Michael Tuman
[6:18] into the Board of Zoning Appeals for a
term ending 215 of 29,
[6:22] Ashley Sarri to the Arts and Culture
Advisory Committee for a term for an
[6:26] unexpired term ending 61 of 28, and
Susan Hester to the Arts and Culture
[6:30] Advisory Committee for an unexpired term
ending 61 of 26 and the subsequent term
[6:35] ending 61 of 29.
Thank you. Is there a second?
[6:39] Mayor pro tem. Second.
Any discussion? No, I would just like to
[6:43] really thank everyone for being involved
and staying involved. It's always good
[6:46] to see a lot of appointments on our
boards and committees. Hopefully one day
[6:49] we can fill them all.
Anything, brother?
[6:53] It's good.
Great. Uh I'd like to just echo that.
[6:56] It's great to see uh three of these come
across our desk this this uh meeting.
[7:00] Hopefully there's a couple more in the
next one.
[7:02] Uh with that being said, all in favor,
please say yes. Yes. Opposed, no.
[7:07] Motion passes six to zero.
Thank you. We have one reappointment. Is
[7:11] there a motion?
[7:13] Commissioner Larson.
Uh I move that we reappoint Jim Compton
[7:17] to the Marquette Area Wastewater
Treatment Advisory Board for a term
[7:20] ending 2129.
[7:23] Thank you. Is there a second?
Commissioner Mayor. Second.
[7:29] Discussion, please.
Nope. Anything?
[7:33] Hearing none,
uh seeing none, I will move that to a
[7:36] vote. All in favor, please say yes. Yes.
Opposed, no. Motion passes six to zero.
[7:45] All right, that gets us to public
comment. Um
[7:50] public comment cannot exceed 3 minutes
per person. Please state your name and
[7:54] physical address when you come up to the
podium. Anyone for public comment this
[7:58] evening?
[8:02] This is hard to believe.
[8:05] Anyone for public comment?
Third time, public comment is closed.
[8:12] Uh we have a presentation tonight.
Exciting to see that we're going to hear
[8:15] from the Parks and Recreation Advisory
Board and Chair Amanda Gobert. Amanda.
[8:24] Good evening, everyone. Um I apologize
in advance. I'm in the process of
[8:28] getting over bronchitis, so if I start
coughing in the middle and step away for
[8:32] a moment, I apologize for that.
[8:36] As stated, my name is Amanda Gobert. I
am the chair of the Parks and Rec
[8:40] Advisory Board. Uh we meet the second or
third Monday of each month in the
[8:46] Citizens Forum at Lakeview Arena at
5:45.
[8:51] Uh presented before you is our list of
board members. We currently have 13
[8:59] board members.
We in the last couple of years combined
[9:03] the Parks and Rec Advisory Board, the
Harbor Advisory Committee, and the
[9:06] Presque Isle Park Advisory Committee.
And by doing so, our board size did
[9:13] greatly increase. We do have direction
that our board needs to be down to 11
[9:19] members by 2027.
At this point, we're not thinking that's
[9:24] going to be an issue. We do have a
couple who've expressed the fact that
[9:28] they are
ready to be done, and also some are
[9:31] going to term limit out. So, we should
not see any issue with that moving
[9:34] forward.
[9:39] Our general purpose is to oversee
implementation and guidance on the Parks
[9:47] and Recreation Master Plan within the
City of Marquette,
[9:51] as well as to
offer our support or suggestion to
[9:56] commission-approved and recommended
things within the park system and
[10:01] recreation system within the city.
[10:05] We currently have
seven rentable facilities and 21 parks
[10:11] within the city.
Um that's approximately 2,810 acres.
[10:16] That's a lot of park.
[10:19] We also have a community garden. We
actually have two with 75 garden sites
[10:25] available.
We provide outdoor athletic fields in
[10:28] the form of baseball and softball,
soccer, and basketball,
[10:32] as well as quite an extensive trail
network in partnership with the
[10:36] Noquemanon Trail System to groom.
[10:44] The Parks and Rec Advisory Board offers
um feedback on project development,
[10:50] grant information, and all of the
recommendations that come directly from
[10:55] the commission in regards to projects
throughout the city park system. I know
[10:59] that this is very small to read,
but the items that are listed in yellow
[11:05] we're working on grant and funding, and
items in green are either projects that
[11:10] are currently in progress toward
completion or have been completed.
[11:17] Some of the highlights of that over the
course of time are projects at
[11:23] um Kids Cove
was something big for this up past year.
[11:29] Um in progress are some replacement and
things at Lakeview Arena.
[11:35] Um you'll hear some about this later,
but we're working they're working
[11:39] diligently to fund a new Zamboni.
Um desperately needed. We are also
[11:45] um in supporting the projects at the
Cultural Arts and Trail Center as well
[11:51] as the bandshell
out at Presque Isle.
[12:00] So over the course of 2025 we completed
the 5-year Parks and Rec Master Plan. Uh
[12:08] we solicited community input. We worked
diligently as a group to review and
[12:14] offer input into that.
We helped with supporting the amendment
[12:20] of our special events policy.
We did some naming things with the skate
[12:26] park,
as well as the naming rights to the
[12:29] bandshell, and the support for the
fundraising effort for that.
[12:34] We have supported, although we love dogs
in the city and all of us are dog lovers
[12:40] on our group, um we did recognize that
with the pour-in-place safety services
[12:46] at the playgrounds
dogs are not a good environment for
[12:49] that, and so we did support an ordinance
to not allow dogs directly on those
[12:55] surfaces.
We're currently working on grant
[12:59] funding, um support of grant funding to
replace the piers at the Cinder Mon Pond
[13:05] Marina.
And we also had three members of our
[13:09] group who volunteered to participate in
the recently completed e-bike task
[13:14] force,
and they provided monthly input directly
[13:18] back to our committee and took our
committee suggestions to that task force
[13:23] to attempt to
bring
[13:26] some regulations and such to the
commission for consideration.
[13:32] For this upcoming year we want to
continue to work with the city on those
[13:36] changes for the e-bikes and other forms
of transportation on the city trails and
[13:41] paths.
We are in the process of working on a
[13:44] recommendation for a fiscal policy for
the city marinas as well as the capital
[13:50] improvements that are going to be needed
in the short and long term at those
[13:54] locations.
We support grant initiatives as they
[13:57] become available
and put our input behind issues and
[14:03] concerns as they do arise.
[14:08] Lastly, we do have a few things that
come up on the issue and discussion list
[14:13] for us within our group. Um we realize
that grant funding
[14:19] and such is not always going to be
available,
[14:23] and so we're looking at the
possibilities of other ways to
[14:28] outside fund some of the projects that
we want to fund,
[14:31] um whether it be private fundraising or
other
[14:35] alternatives such as
charging the user groups that are using
[14:39] those facilities.
Um to continue with the implementation
[14:43] of the 5-year plan,
[14:47] we are looking to definitely make sure
that we are protecting the balance of
[14:52] natural resource out there,
as well as still allowing development to
[14:56] happen. Um a very good example of that
is the building of the bandshell at
[15:01] Presque Isle Park. Presque Isle is a
natural beauty,
[15:05] and with the building of the bandshell
we did not want to see that interfere
[15:11] any more than the bandshell originally
had been implemented into there. So we
[15:15] did offer a lot of suggestions to help
them with that. Uh parking lot paving is
[15:21] always on the top of the list. Um the
potholes even on the city streets
[15:26] sometimes get to be big enough to
swallow your car. Um
[15:30] definitely something that needs to be
looked at.
[15:33] Continued concerns for the multi-use
path and how to best regulate to allow
[15:38] all members and all users to be able to
use those safely.
[15:44] Um
there are some issues with unpermitted
[15:48] uses in our public parks. Um
weddings happen at Presque Isle on a
[15:52] regular basis during the summer,
and technically that's not allowed
[15:57] unless you've
gotten that approved prior to doing so.
[16:02] Not to mention the fact that
the parking at Black Rocks is only so
[16:07] big,
and when you have an entire wedding
[16:10] group that wants to go down there to
take pictures and you're interfering
[16:13] with
other people who are visiting the area
[16:16] and locals who want us to
participate there as well.
[16:20] Um staffing is always an issue. Staffing
is an issue everywhere.
[16:25] The city is no exception,
and it makes operation and maintenance
[16:29] difficult, and so we have definitely had
several conversations about is there a
[16:33] better way? Is there something we could
suggest?
[16:38] And lastly, that did not make it onto
this slide, but one of the things that
[16:41] we also had brought up was the fact that
um
[16:45] communication, although it is getting
better between the commission and the
[16:50] boards,
still needs to be improved. We're
[16:53] finding we get a lot of recommendation
questions
[16:58] very few days before our meetings, and
we don't have the information to make an
[17:01] educated decision. And we want to be
able to represent
[17:06] the residents of the city of Marquette
in those decisions, and it's very hard
[17:10] when we don't have a chance to ask
questions.
[17:14] Any questions for me?
[17:20] All right. Thank you, Amanda.
Um
[17:24] want to go run down the line? Anybody
have anything down this side?
[17:27] Yep.
[17:30] Mr. Larson. I don't have any questions.
However, you just uh you know, you
[17:33] certainly have a large group of folks
there, and I certainly understand
[17:36] certainly shrink it down, but you know,
it just goes to show that, you know,
[17:39] parks parks are really uh you know, the
commons, you know, of the city, and they
[17:43] they belong to everyone. And so I know
everybody's trying, you know, having a
[17:46] large group being able to help make some
of these decisions is really looking out
[17:51] for the best interest of the community.
And so thank you for doing that, and I
[17:54] appreciate the presentation tonight.
Thank you.
[17:59] Thanks, Commissioner Deaver. Thank you,
Amanda. Yes, excuse me. Your committee
[18:02] has a lot going on, especially after
combining all three of those groups.
[18:07] Um I noticed that on your list of
members that some of them are assigned
[18:11] to specific things, like the waterfront
or hockey. And as you decrease the
[18:15] number in your of your committee, do you
maintain that those representatives will
[18:20] stay there, or do you just take whoever
has to leave? We will be aiming to keep
[18:26] representatives within those specific
areas, um whether someone who's on the
[18:31] committee wants to step up as a specific
representative, because obviously
[18:35] waterfront is a is a big one. We had
many members from the other two
[18:39] committees that and one being the Harbor
Advisory Committee who joined us. If
[18:43] they're not technically currently listed
as a waterfront member, and someone
[18:47] steps down, they want to step up, or
those would be spots we would attempt to
[18:51] fill, because we really do want that
repre- representation, and that is still
[18:55] the intent of having individual spots
for those. Yes.
[18:58] » that you do that. So I on your the list
of the capital projects, how often do
[19:03] you renew this list? Because as I look
at, you know, the green ones, some of
[19:07] them were done several years ago. So I'm
wondering why they just haven't been
[19:10] taken off the list.
>> That was a question that we had asked,
[19:14] and apparently it has something to do,
as I was explained, that there is a very
[19:18] lengthy spreadsheet, and by removing
line items from the spreadsheet before
[19:23] it's imported into the presentation, it
tends to degrade the spreadsheet itself.
[19:29] So um our city liaison is actually
looking at a better way for future
[19:34] presentations to be able to pull
more pertinent information and not
[19:39] projects that have been done for 5 or 6
years. It'd be nice to see the you know,
[19:42] the the things that have been done in
the last two or three years.
[19:46] » And we we did mention that as well.
Okay, so you're thinking like I am.
[19:51] Okay, good. It's just It's as I looked
at that it's like it's a long sheet and
[19:55] there's a lot to do. Um but those that
are done
[20:00] you know
>> We We like I said, we did discuss that
[20:02] and and unfortunately spreadsheet
integrity was important at the immediate
[20:06] moment, but we are looking at better
options for future presentations. So,
[20:10] next year's presentation might have a
better update.
[20:13] » Good. I'll look forward to it. Thank you
so much for the work that you do on this
[20:16] committee and I know it's a very active
committee and there's lots to do. Thank
[20:20] you.
Yeah, I've got a couple things.
[20:23] Um
first of all, you kind of touched on the
[20:26] main topic of joining all these groups
together, all these other advisory
[20:29] roles. So, my question is is how is that
um working out for you as far as the new
[20:34] group? Is it been pretty smooth or are
you finding that maybe you uh it was a
[20:39] good idea versus a not so good idea?
What do you think?
[20:42] We are actually finding that it is a
very good thing. Um it gives a better
[20:47] opportunity for, first of all, those
voices from those other groups to be
[20:52] heard within the whole group because as
we viewed it, Parks and Rec kind of
[20:57] oversaw them to begin with. And so, this
way they feel like they've got a greater
[21:02] voice in what's going on with
decision-making that's being directed to
[21:07] the Parks and Rec Advisory Board.
And it actually has spawned some pretty
[21:11] decent discussions within our group
because they offer different
[21:15] perspectives that some of the rest of us
who are not avid boaters or not, you
[21:21] know, actively involved in certain other
things might not think about. So, it's
[21:25] actually helped stimulate some pretty
intense discussions, actually.
[21:32] That's good to hear and I would I would
hope that that was the reason for doing
[21:35] it and I'm glad to hear that's the the
resolve.
[21:38] Um one of the items that I'm passionate
about is the dog park or the dog
[21:42] recreation space.
And I know that there's
[21:46] uh property that's been allocated for
this for the future
[21:49] and that there is a design that's um
been put together and I'm wondering if
[21:53] there's going to be a time for public
comment on that or some input from those
[21:57] people that are
you know, part of that that uh
[22:02] group that goes and and takes advantage
of the the winter dog park at uh
[22:06] uh Tourist Park.
There absolutely is the plan to have a a
[22:11] public announcement go out when we
further discuss this. At our last
[22:15] meeting, we approved the recommendation
to of the commission um continue to
[22:22] explore and to further put their plan
together based on what was presented to
[22:26] us. And we decided as a group that once
we had um a little bit more information
[22:32] on um cost and um true layout and things
like that cuz we didn't get a lot of
[22:39] information until a few days before the
meeting. We do want to put it back on
[22:44] our agenda to be able to invite the
public to offer their input. We do have
[22:49] several dog park users on our board who
actually have already expressed their
[22:53] opinions to us and have decided we we
know we need to hear from the general
[22:58] public as far as
what their interest and how they feel
[23:02] and
thoughts on the whole subject. So, yes.
[23:05] That's good to hear. Um
biggest issue that I'm running across
[23:09] with conversation that I have with
people when I'm there with my dog is you
[23:12] know, who's going to pay for it?
Obviously, um it's the obligation of the
[23:17] the users to to pay for it um to
fundraise and that's going to take a
[23:22] little bit of time. So,
uh the sooner that that can be
[23:26] there can be a package put together that
that
[23:30] finally put a group of people to to kind
of champion that the the the better
[23:34] because it's going to take a lot of
money and a lot of effort on on those
[23:38] people's part to do that and uh
uh I just think that the sooner the
[23:43] better because, you know,
I was hoping that that that group might
[23:46] be able to to start working on things
yet this season
[23:49] knowing that we're going into a very
short summer.
[23:52] Uh
it would be great to to see some
[23:54] traction there. So, if you can
>> And And we are definitely looking at
[23:57] that. I do believe the topic was
discussed potentially for our next
[24:01] meeting um to have a further discussion
on it and hopefully by at the latest our
[24:06] April meeting to have an open forum with
the public to let them know that we're
[24:11] going to talk about it. Good. And I
think I'm glad to hear you talking about
[24:14] communication. I know when I was on
Prescott Advisory Board years ago, um
[24:18] not to say that it wasn't effective, but
there's always
[24:21] um
room for improvement when it comes to
[24:23] that communication and I hope that you
kind of put the cattle prod to whatever
[24:27] it takes to get that energized a little
bit. So, We very much appreciate the
[24:32] fact that the form was designed for us
to use when we had something to come to
[24:38] you guys. Um that I found has helped our
group a lot because we can put something
[24:43] in concrete writing and we know it gets
there.
[24:46] Whereas previously it was, "Okay, well,
so-and-so's going to go ahead and take
[24:50] care of making sure that the commission
hears that we talked about this." And
[24:52] then it's, "Did so-and-so forget? And
who did they talk to?" And there was no
[24:57] paper trail. And I know in the age of
electronics, I'm still about the paper
[25:02] trail, whether it be an electronic paper
trail or a physical paper trail. I like
[25:05] to know that the communication is
happening to be able to say
[25:11] "What happened to this? Did somebody Did
this get lost?" So on and so forth and
[25:16] so, we know it's a work in progress, but
things have improved and we're hoping
[25:20] for further improvement. Good.
Well, thanks for the presentation and
[25:24] please go back to the the board and let
them know how much we appreciate the
[25:27] work they're doing. Will do.
>> Keep up the good work. Thank you.
[25:30] Perfect.
[25:33] Excellent.
Uh moves us on to the consent agenda.
[25:37] Looking for a motion for the consent
agenda, please.
[25:43] All right, Mr. Larson. Commissioner
Larson, please.
[25:45] I move that we accept the consent agenda
as presented. Is there a second?
[25:51] Mr. Mayor. Second. Thank you. Any
discussion?
[25:56] Okay.
Seeing none, all in favor, please say
[25:59] yes. Yes. Opposed, no.
Motion passes 6-0.
[26:07] Uh that brings us to new business. We
have one item of new business and are we
[26:12] going to get some background on this or
do we want to
[26:16] I can I can read a paragraph to you.
That'd be great. Thank you. It's a short
[26:20] paragraph. Thank you, Mayor. Uh due to
an anticipated scheduling conflict
[26:24] involving multiple commissioners, the
first regular City Commission meeting in
[26:27] March needs to be rescheduled. The
proposed reschedule date is Monday,
[26:31] March 16th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Fiscal
effect, none by this action.
[26:36] Recommendation, approve rescheduling the
first regular City Commission meeting in
[26:40] March to Monday, March 16th, 2026 at
6:00 p.m. Alternatives, as determined by
[26:46] the commission.
Thank you, City Clerk. Uh is there a
[26:50] motion?
[26:54] Commissioner Davis, didn't see the hand,
sorry. I move that we approve
[26:58] rescheduling the first regular City
Commission meeting in March to Monday,
[27:02] March 16th, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. Thank you.
Is there a second?
[27:07] Pro tem. Second.
Any discussion?
[27:11] I don't think I have any. Thank you.
I don't have any, either.
[27:15] I would just like to say thank you for
everybody to work around the schedule.
[27:18] Um
There were a number of us that were
[27:20] going to be out of town.
Uh it would have been a pretty pretty
[27:23] close to not having a quorum. So, I
think that uh
[27:26] it's the best thing for us as far as
getting effective business done and look
[27:30] forward to moving that that meeting
forward.
[27:34] Uh with that being said, all in favor,
please say yes. Yes. Yes. Opposed, no.
[27:39] Motion passes 6-0.
[27:43] That brings us to public comment number
two.
[27:45] This is it.
We can do it. Again, comments cannot
[27:49] exceed more than three minutes per
person. Please state your name and
[27:52] physical address when you come up to the
podium. Anybody for public comment?
[27:58] It's a quiet night.
Too many too many hours
[28:03] shoveling snow.
Any other public comment?
[28:07] Okay, seeing none, public comment is
closed. That brings us to comments from
[28:11] the commission. We're going to start
with Commissioner Larson tonight.
[28:18] So, I think you've already you've
already said, you know, the the the
[28:22] mayor, how the community has really come
together tonight or these last few days
[28:27] in search of our our missing the missing
student here. So, I just want you know,
[28:30] want to express my gratitude uh to all
the volunteers, to the police, to
[28:35] everybody that is that is putting forth
the effort to do it. It really shows
[28:39] that our community cares
about those that live here and are able
[28:43] to kind of put out the effort uh to um
put aside, you know, differences and
[28:48] times and schedules out of their day uh
to really step up and and help this
[28:53] family that's in need. So, I certainly
appreciate that.
[28:56] Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Mayor.
[29:05] Yeah, I mean uh I don't think I really
have too much more to add to that. Just
[29:08] um it it really has been incredible
seeing the community rally to help find
[29:12] Trenton and uh
um the amount of different agencies that
[29:16] are all collaborating together and big
shout-out to uh our chief police and our
[29:20] city staff here that have been
coordinating with a lot of different
[29:23] agencies, both local and state and
technically federal. Um
[29:29] and uh you know, it's there's so many
people out there looking and it's
[29:32] fantastic. Uh if folks are watching at
home, if you know people that are out
[29:36] looking, uh
it just, you know, maybe check in on
[29:39] them later today and make sure they
actually got back home from searching,
[29:43] especially as it's getting darker out.
Um
[29:46] yeah, other than that, thanks.
Thank you, Commissioner Davis.
[29:50] Yeah, well, I will do both of those
comments, but I also want to recognize
[29:54] all of those that are keeping our
streets cleared. It's a huge snow year.
[29:59] I like to see this.
Even I'm getting a little tired of it,
[30:03] but
the work that's being done to keep our
[30:06] roads cleared and the machines going is
is just really phenomenal and
[30:12] I know that people get frustrated and
garbage cans get tipped over by snow
[30:17] plows, but but we can all just be a
little more patient and appreciate that
[30:21] we have that service.
Truly.
[30:25] Thank you, Commissioner Hamari. I don't
have much to add that everyone already
[30:28] hasn't said. Again, thank you to the
community for coming together and all of
[30:31] the staff. And also
I know that no one else in this room
[30:34] that's not in this room looking this way
can see it for the massive snow year
[30:37] that we're having, but I just glanced at
our window in the corner and realized
[30:41] the snow is all the way up to but maybe
3 in of the top of it, 4 in. And it's
[30:46] overwhelming.
And we're seeing that everywhere. We
[30:49] don't have places to put snow. We don't
have things we can do and plows are
[30:52] having the same issues on the roads
trying to clear snow when there's no
[30:55] place for that snow to go. So, just be a
little bit more forgiving of our city
[30:58] staff who's working tirelessly to try
and clear those roads and do what they
[31:02] can. I know it's taking longer, but
it didn't stop snowing all weekend at
[31:07] any point that I saw. It just kept
snowing.
[31:10] And as much as I like winter sports, I
want to be warm again, so I'm ready for
[31:15] summer now if anyone's taking requests.
Um other than that, that's all I have.
[31:20] Thank you, Pro Tem Modlin.
Yeah, I'll echo the the other comments
[31:25] from everyone.
It's it's very prideful to see our
[31:29] community come together in a time of
need.
[31:32] In South Marquette today, I
witnessed numerous probably NMU H
[31:36] students walking up and down streets
really looking for the missing person
[31:41] and it it just once again echoes to the
type of community we live in.
[31:46] So, huge thank you to
Chief Grimm who's who's leading that
[31:50] effort and I hope we we get some good
news later on.
[31:54] Um one quick announcement
Marquette Area Public Schools has two
[31:58] upcoming open houses to provide
information for their bond proposal that
[32:04] will be on the ballot on May 5th. Uh
it is very important that you educate
[32:10] yourself because that will be on the
ballot and you're going to have the
[32:13] opportunity to do that whether you want
to support that or not support it.
[32:17] They're going to try to provide
information that's factual to to really
[32:20] get out there what that those bond
proposal or that bond proposal is for.
[32:25] March 2nd and March 3rd at Bothwell and
Marquette Senior High School. There will
[32:30] be a tour at 3:30 p.m. followed by a
presentation at 5:00.
[32:35] I urge all members of the public, all
voters to get out and and listen to what
[32:40] the public schools has to say. If you
can't do that, go ahead and look online,
[32:44] try to research the information yourself
and
[32:47] most importantly, make sure you vote on
May 5th because that is a very
[32:53] different time for people to vote. So,
there's something important on the
[32:56] ballot be present. Thank you.
Thank you.
[33:01] Great
great point, thanks for bringing that
[33:03] up.
I've got a couple things. Number one on
[33:07] the
brighter side, we had an amazing event
[33:11] with the sled dogs last week and I just
want to thank
[33:16] Ross and and his crew for putting on
such an amazing event. The hundreds of
[33:21] volunteers, the the vet techs, the trail
bosses, the
[33:25] you name it. I mean, it's just a
bottomless pit of effort. I I just I
[33:29] don't know how they
can make that thing go off without uh
[33:32] uh seeming like it's you know, it's
really second hat for them. So, that was
[33:37] an incredible event.
Um I've got
[33:41] comments from one of our residents and I
kind of wanted to just wanted to bring
[33:45] it up. You know, as we deal with all the
snow and all the plowing and all the
[33:48] wind that comes with these types of
weather events
[33:51] people are talking a lot about the trash
bins and things and it's pretty
[33:54] sensitive topic. I get a lot of contact
in regards to these these bins and they
[34:01] said, you know, why don't we just have
them wait to put something out a week?
[34:04] And I thought you know, I think we're
all smart enough to figure that out, but
[34:08] I thought I'd bring it up anyway to just
say, you know, if you got to have a bin
[34:12] and you don't have to put it out and you
know that the weather's not going to be
[34:14] great save us save yourself the the
effort and and maybe wait a week.
[34:19] Little things like that or positioning
your your bins in a fashion that the
[34:23] heavier trash bin is going to be buffer
buffer the the snow plows that comes by
[34:27] with instead of taking out the lighter
recycling. Something, you know, along
[34:32] those lines, just little tidbits of
advice that people might or may not uh
[34:37] have thought of, but just thought I'd
bring it up because I can
[34:40] and
kind of go from there.
[34:43] That's all I have. City Manager, do you
have anything?
[34:46] I thought we knew you were talking about
social media and the snow you were going
[34:48] to talk about my shoes maybe,
but
[34:51] while we are talking about the snow,
I do want to just mention that it's been
[34:56] a wild winter here and um
city crew
[35:00] actually I've heard it's been a normal
winter, but that's we'll we'll call it
[35:03] wild for now cuz we're still in it. But
city crews have been working extended
[35:06] hours throughout the winter
to keep up with significant snowfall
[35:09] that we've had and we've have a night
shift that does work and they started
[35:14] working
at the end of November, early December
[35:17] and we have a full team
working
[35:21] pretty much around the clock. So,
heavy snow comes when it wants to come.
[35:25] We can't plan it all the time. So, this
last snowstorm brought in very heavy
[35:29] snow and working
our our
[35:34] eight
routes takes longer sometimes than the
[35:37] 10 to 12 hours that we have on shift.
So, sometimes we can get through an
[35:42] entire route, sometimes we can't. But we
do eventually get to those areas. So, we
[35:48] are asking for a little bit of patience
when it does come to the heavy snow.
[35:52] I also just wanted to mention because
we've we've received several emails
[35:55] about this and and social media posts we
do see
[35:58] um our plow truck drivers are not
out to plow you in your driveway.
[36:03] Um
maybe only me, but
[36:07] they they are not out there trying to to
plow all of you in. So,
[36:11] it is very frustrating and I hear all of
you. We we very much understand how
[36:16] frustrating it is to clear your driveway
and then have the plow truck come by
[36:20] a few times.
So,
[36:23] we are working on on other strategies in
the future, but for now those are the
[36:28] plow routes and we are working through
it. So,
[36:31] help your neighbors out. Help each other
out. Um
[36:34] I'm willing to come and lend a hand if
need be as well. So,
[36:38] just please
the snow is making everybody go mad. So,
[36:41] let's let's take a breath here and and
and see the beauty that we have outside
[36:45] that's covering up the dirty snow now.
Um
[36:48] we
I think I've covered all of that. The
[36:51] sidewalks are still being worked on as
well. Our our
[36:55] school routes are obviously first
priority and our bike path multi-use
[37:00] path
sometimes ends up being a little bit
[37:03] last, but we do recognize that people
use it for transportation or travel. So,
[37:06] we are working on getting that cleared
as fast as we can, but roads are going
[37:09] to be first priority
and those snow banks are coming in as a
[37:13] hot second. So,
um
[37:15] you will we will start getting to those
snow banks here um
[37:19] very shortly, possibly even tonight. So,
um keep an eye out for that.
[37:25] So, great job to our plow truck drivers
and our our road crews out there. So,
[37:29] thank you.
Thank you and with that, we are
[37:33] adjourned at 6:34.