Council laying ground work for improved drainage, 2022 budget, new DPW employee
South Range Village Council, Feb. 3, 2022
EDITOR’S NOTE: While I maintain that a full video record is the gold standard of government reporting, the recording, editing, and posting of videos nearly triples the amount of time spent on meeting coverage. Because of this excessive demand on time and the other duties required of me to operate Copper Beacon, I’ll be discontinuing video coverage of Calumet and South Range village councils at this time. More traditional photo and text coverage will continue as possible.
Meeting Highlights
The Village of South Range will have a public hearing at the March 3, 2022 meeting to hear comments on the 2022 Preliminary Budget.
Local businesses continue to struggle with staffing while new businesses open. Dollar General, just north of South Range on M-26, is now open. However, Campioni’s convenience store and gas station now close at 7 p.m. due to short staffing, according to Village President George Eakin. Eakin also stated that the Cozy Corner Bar & Grill has been sold and the new owners intend to reopen with less of a focus on alcohol sales, although they still maintain a license to serve.
The village’s 1986 Ford L8000 garbage truck sold for $2,000 to a buyer in the L’Anse area.
Photo of South Range’s previous garbage truck, from the posted advertisement.
Councilors briefly addressed updating the rental ordinance, but again delayed addressing any particulars. Councilors said that beyond a general update, they’d like to address short-term rentals and some safety issues, if possible.
Councilors approved engineering work that will evaluate the cause of poor drainage on 4th, 5th, and 6th Streets in preparation for construction work to fix it.
Village Clerk Kristen Archambeau is assisting the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department by distributing free protective shields, gowns, and masks for people who want personal protective equipment to fight the spread of COVID-19. Those who want equipment can get it from the village office. Archambeau said to contact the office if they’d like the supplies to be run out to a waiting vehicle.
The village received about $153 in bonus ARPA funds because of municipalities that turned the funding down. The leftover funding was distributed to those who were approved for it.
The council agreed to post a vacancy in the village Department of Public Works, with Commercial Driver’s License Class B preferred. Because of the need for employees to be able to handle plows, graders, garbage trucks, and other equipment, the council has encouraged all of the DPW employees to attain their CDL.
Applications will be reviewed at a special meeting held at 6 p.m. on Feb. 24.
The council also approved a variety of wage increases for village employees. The president and treasurer received no increase, the clerk received a 1.5% wage increase and a $50 monthly cellphone stipend, two of the DPW employees received a 3% increase, and the remaining DPW employee received the same contingent on attaining their CDL, which they had previously agreed to do.
The council is also trying to extend a Portage Health Foundation grant that they received toward launching a community garden. The effort failed last year, but the council is hoping that this year, with fewer COVID-19 limitations, the effort can succeed.
Songs ring out, Santa Claus visits South Range
A brief photo collection
Santa visited South Range on Sunday afternoon to collect Christmas lists, light the community Christmas tree, and pass out goodie bags for the children.
South Range traditionally hosts a Christmas celebration inside their community hall, but for the second year now, they’ve arranged for outdoor festivities in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
6th street work delayed, Santa coming to South Range, bonuses coming to employees
South Range Village Council, Dec. 2, 2021
Meeting Highlights
6th Street water work delayed until spring
A representative from Portage Lake Construction attended the meeting to explain problems they are having with replacing an 8-inch water line on 6th Street. Upon excavation, they found that because of the dimensions of the old line and space constraints, they will have to put an above-ground temporary feed to the affected homes to complete the work, which will now need to wait until Spring to avoid freezing pipes.
The council later agreed to explore possibilities for helping two households that seem to have dirty water in the interim, starting with getting water testing done.
2nd Street “lean-to” licensing and discussion
A resident who built an out-building without proper village permitting is working with the council to get it approved before completing work on it. The builder explained the plan for the building to the council, and councilors asked for a site plan and letter of approval from the owner of the neighboring property before they would take a vote on approving the construction.
Fire department welcomes new member, plans for South Range Christmas celebration
The South Range Volunteer Fire Department said goodbye to one member who moved to Toivola but voted to accept a new member who lives within South Range, keeping their number at 17.
The annual Christmas in South Range is planned to be an outdoor event similar to last year, due to the ongoing pandemic. On Sunday, Dec. 12, Santa will arrive at the community hall by fire truck to light the village Christmas tree and Bruce Rundman will present live music. The village council made a $300 donation toward the event.
They’re also planning on replacing some aging fixtures in the fire hall with LED fixtures and bulbs.
Village Council approves Christmas bonuses for village employees
The council unanimously approved Christmas cash bonuses of up to $400 for the village employees. They added the clerk to those receiving bonuses, as it is now a hired position and no longer an elected position.
Other notes:
The DPW is requesting the village council budget for a Hydrant Buddy and a line tracer for maintenance of the water system and locating shutoff valves, respectively.
One village employee is currently out with COVID-19 but does not seem to have transmitted the illness to any coworkers. The council discussed updating the 80 hours of paid leave for employees with COVID-19 to match new, shorter federal guidelines, but no immediate action was taken.
The BP gas station will stop being a BP sometime next year, and the council is working with the owners to make a new arrangement for gas for village vehicles.
The village clerk is arranging a welcome packet with important information for new village residents.
The council is looking into scraping the old garbage truck, which has generated no interest from buyers for the last two months.
The council approved meeting dates for 2022, continuing on the first Thursday of each month.
The council approved the same let-run policy for this winter season as last season.
New council member added, former clerk's errors caught, holidays now paid for new employees
South Range Village, Nov. 11, 2021
Meeting Highlights
Catching former clerk’s mistakes, recovering available funds
The village’s new clerk, Kristen Archambeau, has been catching and fixing several errors made by former clerk Joe Morgan.
One of these, while small, was unfortunately unrecoverable. A small error in the millage rate which was caught by county employees cost the village about $119 because the tax bills had already been printed and would have cost more than that amount to reprint.
Michigan tax withholding had been paid late or not at all nearly every month since Morgan had taken over for the clerk who preceded him, Jason Coffey. Late payments and fees have been paid. The fees for late payment totaled over $1,000.
The American Rescue Plan application had been filed incorrectly by the previous clerk, but Archambeau communicated with the department to fix the errors and refile them. The deadline was only days away, and the errors nearly cost the village more than $76,000.
No quarterly reports had been submitted to the Michigan Municipal League’s unemployment fund for 2021. This has been rectified with little expense to the village.
Several other small details were also updated or fixed during the last month and communicated to the board during the meeting.
Sole applicant added to the council
Only one letter of interest was received to fill the vacated position left by Houghton County Sheriff Joshua Saaranen. The council briefly discussed holding off to fill the role but ultimately decided they could not, given the empty position and the letter of interest.
Paul Saaranen was added to the council in a 4-0 vote (two members of the council were absent from the meeting).
Paid holiday policy changed for new employees
Previously, village employees only got paid holidays after having worked for the village a full year. The council voted to make paid holidays available on initial hiring. They agreed that not only was Clerk Archambeau doing a job worthy of immediate holiday pay but that attracting good employees in the future warranted the increased benefit.
Other notes
Trustees Cody Bonini and Carol Petrelius were absent from the meeting.
The council discussed allowing the clerk to use Remind, a text and email messaging service, to create a sign-up list for informational messages from the village.
The council approved arranging a time for a citizen who requested it to walk laps in the community hall during the winter rather than on the sometimes-icy sidewalks. The citizen that requested the access told the clerk that 26 laps around the inside of the community hall are a mile.
The council formally gave permission to the clerk and other village employees who also volunteer as first responders to respond to emergency calls while on the clock with the village.
The council approved a $30/hr rate for Coffey, the clerk who preceded the last clerk, Morgan. Coffey has logged some time helping the newest clerk learn her duties and tools.
New village clerk established, new sheriff resigns old elected position
South Range Village Council, Oct. 7, 2021
Editor’s note: This room and table setup are about the worst I can imagine for recording purposes. I did what I could with what I had, nonetheless. Village President George Eakin told me he’s hoping to stop using the COVID-19 safety set up for their next meeting, and if they move back to the smaller room most of these issues will be gone. Otherwise, I’m going to have to take some radical measures to capture better audio and video in November. I appreciate your patience while I establish this new, regular coverage.
Meeting Highlights
Click the underlined headlines to be taken to the corresponding video.
New village clerk welcomed, training in progress
The new village clerk, Kristen Archambeau, was in attendance for the first time in her new role. The village approved adding her to the village bank and credit card accounts and thanked previous clerk Joe Morgan for his work.
Sheriff Saaranen resigns from the village council
Thanking the village for the opportunity to serve as trustee, Sheriff Josh Saaranen resigned his position on the council because of his new position as Sheriff. Both being elected positions, he can’t hold them concurrently. The council later accepted the resignation, although several expressed their regret at losing him on the council. The village voted to post the open position in order to appoint someone to the vacant seat at the next regular meeting.
Other notes:
Trustees discussed a citizen's concern about speeding after-dark ATV traffic on Whealkate Drive. Signage, closing gates, and other alternatives were discussed. Trustees and village employees said they would reach out to the road commission to see what could be done.
Another citizen came to the council about an issue with constantly running water in his basement. The village plans to test the water to see if it has residual chlorine in it, which would indicate it may come from a municipal line.
Another citizen invited the council and public to a presentation on recycling happening on Oct. 21 at the Carnegie Museum and online.
The village has asked the sheriff’s department to look into several campers parked in the village that people seem to be living in.
Dollar General is investigating land and easements in South Range.
The council discussed buying new office equipment and software for the new village clerk.
The council approved the lowest bid for a new furnace and heater in the DPW garage, contingent on it including removal of the old equipment.