One ballot initiative down, one to go
Calumet Village Council, Jan. 18, 2022
Note: In my concern about the weather, I left without my tripods for my cameras and audio recorder. Without time to return for them, I propped one camera up above a doorway and just did my best.
Meeting Highlights
Path for ordinance repeal revealed
Jim Tercha, village legal counsel, spoke to the council on the progress they were making on the missing ballot petition to repeal the ordinance that allows the village council to appoint a clerk.
County Clerk Jennifer Kelly told Geisler that copies of the petitions held by an interested citizen could be substituted for the lost originals under certain conditions. If those conditions are satisfied, then the ballot question can appear on the May ballot.
The petition concerning the ordinance that allows the appointment of a treasurer is already approved for the May ballot.
Other notes:
There will be a public hearing for the proposed new Zoning Ordinance on Feb. 2 in the 2nd-floor ballroom of the village hall.
The council approved the proposed Village of Calumet Rules of Procedure for the council.
The council added the village manager’s administrative assistant to those village employees who will get federal holidays off.
The council agreed to investigate the potential of returning public access to meetings via streaming video.
Village Manager Amber Goodman announced that the Calumet Theatre’s breach of their lease has been resolved, meaning they now once again have insurance.
The council approved the road closure for the CopperDog 150 on March 4, which will only start in Calumet this year.
Work continues on 5th Street fire property remediation, starts on Short Term rental ordinance
Calumet Village Council, Dec. 21, 2021
Meeting Highlights
Council votes to exempt itself from health insurance caps
The village council exempted the village from PA 152, which limits the amount a government unit can spend on healthcare for employees. The village meets the requirements that the law gives for opting out of the law, which includes a population of less than 600,000. As long as they vote each year to exempt themselves, they can continue to do so.
$250,000 to spend on fire site, committee formed to explore expenses
Among other funds, the village has received an earmark from the State of Michigan’s budget for $250,000 toward remediating the 5th Street fire site for redevelopment. Concerned that the money may not be able to cover everything they want, the village council intends to form a committee to evaluate options for the property and the costs of securing those possibilities. Jeff Ratcliffe, the executive director of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance, spoke during the meeting and will be working with the committee.
Roof collapse insurance payout underwhelms, soda fountain reconstruction considered
The village’s insurance agent attended the council meeting to speak about the insurance claim on the roof collapse and damaged soda fountain. The insurance company is only offering cash for about a third of the insured value of the property — $20,000. Because of the low offer, the council is considering trying to replace and rebuild the items, which they could get up to about $68,000 to do.
Calumet Theatre attains coverage, waiting for policy to take effect
The theatre has reported to the council that their insurance is straightened out and it’s simply a matter of time for the coverage to take effect. A representative from the theatre board was unable to attend the meeting.
Village to move forward with Short Term Rental ordinances
Under advice that HB 4722 would not be a quickly-passed bill, the council decided to initiate the process of implementing a Short Term Rental ordinance. They also intend to consider a resolution against HB 4722 at their January meeting.
Other notes:
The council voted to spend $450 on three new pagers for the fire department.
The council voted to give full-time village employees the same federal holidays that are in Village Manager Amber Goodman’s contract.
Calumet Theatre loses insurance, working toward new policy
Calumet Village Council, Dec. 7, 2021
Meeting Highlights
Calumet Theatre without insurance coverage, cancels December events
The previous underwriter of the Calumet Theatre has declined to renew the policy, leaving the building without insurance for events. As such, the theatre management was compelled to cancel all of their events for the month.
A lack of insurance is also considered a breach of the theatre lease. Daniel Jamison spoke on behalf of the theatre board. He told the village council that he had contacted a new insurance agency that specializes in covering theaters, and they were working toward a new policy.
Jamison also encouraged the council to issue a letter giving a 45-day notice of termination for the lease if insurance coverage was not obtained. The council concurred and voted to issue the letter.
Other notes:
Councilor Elise Matz was absent from the meeting.
Discussion of the Rules of Procedure was tabled until Councilor Elise Matz can be present.
Most formal committees were not reformed, except for a finance committee, which will consist of Councilor Rob Tarvis, Councilor Andrew Ranville, and President Brian Abramson. Other committee work will continue in the council work sessions.
Councilor Rob Tarvis was reselected as the council’s president pro-tem.
President announces future resignation, council approves purchase of grapple fork
Calumet Village Council, Nov. 3, 2021 (Special Meeting)
Editor’s Note: I will likely not be able to attend the regular meeting of the Calumet Village Council in November, because it is on the same day as the Houghton County Commissioner’s meeting. Normally they are a week apart but the HCC moved theirs for November.
Meeting Highlights
Village President announces resignation, pending house sale
Village President Brian Abramson announced that he is in the process of selling his house, and would be stepping down and moving to Marquette when the sale was complete.
Council approves purchase of grapple fork for front end loader
At the request of the DPW Superintendent Marc Klein, the council unanimously approved a $5,000 expense for a grapple fork to be purchased from Luce County. Klein said that Luce County took the piece of equipment off of auction and was willing to let the village buy it for the minimum bid. He also said the equipment was made for the loader the village recently purchased and would save the village many labor hours through the year. After the vote, Klein volunteered his time on a day off to pick up the piece of equipment in a show of appreciation.
Other notes:
Councilor Andrew Ranville was absent from the meeting.
Calumet Village Council working to pass new rules of procedure, considering short-term rental ordinances, launches negotiation team
Calumet Village Council, Oct. 19, 2021
Editor’s Note: This is not the story I set out to put together. I intend to have coverage of the Calumet Village Council much like what I’ve been producing for the cities of Houghton and Hancock, but there are some technical hurdles to overcome, just as there were when I first started there. Please bear with me as I adapt to these new challenges.
Meeting Highlights
Photo from Michigan Tech Archives, via VillageofCalumet.com
Draft rules of procedure reviewed, criticized by public
The hot topic of Calumet Village’s public comment section was new rules of procedure that the council has drafted and is looking to pass (p. 13 of the Agenda and Documents above). These rules govern how the council plans their meetings, discusses matters, appoints new members to vacant seats, and votes on things.
Some of the attendees expressed frustration that a council consisting of some different members had passed other rules last November but that the council did not follow them. They asked what the purpose of the new rules was if they were going to be ignored.
Councilors countered that the purpose was to update the rules to match what they intended their procedures to be, but that in any case, the rules were not binding.
The document says the council adopts Roberts Rules of Order “as a guide”, and then follows with several provisions. Of special note is the procedure for replacing village councilors, as there are currently two vacant seats on the council.
The council “may or may not appoint persons to fill such vacancies”.
Planning commission continues to tweak zoning ordinances
Colleen Kobe, the chairperson for the Calumet Planning Commission, stood to give a report on the development of the new Calumet Village Zoning Ordinance. She highlighted two topics she thought the council should consider before the new ordinance come to a public hearing.
The first was short-term rentals, often referred to as AirBnBs. Because they are not defined in the ordinance, they are not a legally permissible land use anywhere in the village, even though some apartments within the village are evidently being rented out through these arrangements.
STRs do not fall into the same category as a bed and breakfast under Calumet’s ordinance because the owner or operator is not on-site during the time of the guest’s stay.
Kobe said they could either continue to omit STRs and they would continue to be a non-permitted use, or they could define them and add them to certain districts, or they could create an entirely separate STR ordinance and add it as a regulated use in the new zoning ordinance.
Members of the village council agreed to collect information about other local STR ordinances, particularly Hancock and Houghton’s, and talk about what they would like to see and what is practical for Calumet during their next work session.
The other topic was marijuana manufacture and sales, which is currently disallowed in Calumet. Buffer zones included in the state law mean that nowhere within the village is allowable for a marijuana business without a special exemption being carved out in zoning.
Kobe said in a memo (p. 29-30 in the Documents) that personally, with marijuana purchases available in Houghton and likely elsewhere soon, she didn’t feel the time necessary to work on a marijuana ordinance was worth taking that time away from things like the STR ordinance and completing the rest of the overhaul.
“Adding marijuana to the workload stops progress in our tracks,” she wrote.
The council discussed having a village-wide referendum to see if village members favored an ordinance allowing marijuana businesses to be developed and decided it was worth it for some clear direction on the matter, as the only other vote data they have is for the statewide law, not a local ordinance.
Negotiation strategy agreed upon with Calumet Theatre
While members of the council had hoped to be able to negotiate behind closed doors with the entire council in attendance, that process is disallowed under the Open Meetings Act.
Instead, a negotiation team consisting of two members of the council and the village manager will meet privately with theatre representatives to come to a new draft lease agreement, which will then be presented to the entire village council at a public meeting for approval.
Councilor Elise Matz said she felt like everyone was on the same page now, it was just a matter of executing an agreement.
Other Notes:
The November meeting has been moved to 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 16.