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Johnson
Saves
Zoning Ordinance
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above -
Councilman Bob Burchell and left Councilman S.
Toth. Both former members of the planning and
zoning board. |
Once again Ironwood resident
Leroy Johnson has exposed the sleeping Planning
and Zoning board. This time they were napping so
long in fact, that it was already out of date
and out of sync with Michigan State Statutes.
Last night Ordinance No. 468, Book 4, an
ordinance adopting and enacting a new Zoning
Ordinance, Chapter 34, Code of Ordinances, City
of Ironwood, Michigan providing for the repeal
of of the current zoning ordinance came before
the City Council.
Fortunately for the City Council, Leroy Johnson
and the city attorney were on hand to prevent
the council from embarrassing themselves by
passing the seriously flawed ordinance. Once
again Toth spoke up in favor of passing the
sloppily prepared ordinance only to be corrected
by the city attorney.
This would not be the last time that Toth would
provoke a ha ha this evening.
The problem is that many of the items within the
new ordinance fail to comply with current state
regulations or that the new ordinance took
soooooo long to develop that the references
within the new document are no longer valid.
Babies born when the city started this ordinance
process are now entering Pre-K. It's just one
more example of failure by the city political
machine.
Why did it take so long, especially when the
city started off by paying thousands of dollars
for consultants to provide them with a near
ready-to-go ordinance. Well, all the city
received for its great deal of money was
basically a photocopy of Marquette's zoning
ordinance. In fact, one evening the city manager
placed before the council an amendment to the
not yet approved ordinance, which he hoped would
solve a current problem . It was then that
Council member Tom Laabs pointed out the
amendment before them referred to the City
of Marquette.
Along the way, two things have happened. The
first was very predictable to anyone with a real
business prowess. Don't try to bastardize
someone else's work to fit your needs. Start
with a blank piece of paper and a set of goals.
Business Mgt. 101.
The second problem with developing the new
ordinance was also predictable. Members of the
zoning and planning board (i.e. Bowles, Burchell
and Rayner) used the occasion to promote (wisely
or foolishly) a mechanism to satisfy their
own selfish peeves as opposed to the city's
needs.
Well, last night we saw the cause and the effect
of the problem.
Wisely, Bruce Noren sent the ordinance back with
instructions to do it right!
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Free
Business Counseling
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PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Wednesday, October 29
HANCOCK, MI - The Keweenaw Economic Development
Alliance (KEDA) and Finlandia University invite
area entrepreneurs to take advantage of free
one-on-one business counseling sessions at the
university's Jutila Center on Wednesday, October
29, 2008.
Business consultant Roger Woods of Homer
Productivity, LLC, can advise on all aspects of
small business development from the initial idea
through growth and expansion strategies.
Appointments are recommended and can be made by
phone (906-487-7450) or e-mail (cgdb@finlandia.edu).
The Finlandia University Jutila Center is at 200
Michigan St., Hancock.
Karen S. Johnson
Exec. Director of Communications
Finlandia University
601 Quincy St.
Hancock, MI 49930
Ph: 906-487-7348
Fax: 906-487-7365
karen.johnson@finlandia.edu
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D.I.D.A. to
Provide Equal Access |
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photo left - Steve Franks filling leadership void at
D.I.D.A. |
Thursday's regularly scheduled
meeting of the Ironwood Downtown Development
Authority dealt mostly about flowers lighting and
decorating downtown, for both Christmas and on a
permanent on going basis. The real action at the
meeting came when the meeting was open to members of
the public. At that time Jim Albert reiterated his
complaint against Joe Karius and the Daily Glob.
Mr. Albert has alleged that Karius has attempted to
prevent others in Ironwood from competing against
his out-of-state newspaper.
Mr. Albert wrote a complaint letter to D.I.D.A.
which was fluffed off without
any intelligent response. Should we be surprised?
Hardly. Someone unwisely replied to Albert's letter
avoiding the essence of his complaint. Foolishly,
the unknown author referred to International Trade
Law. The letter appears to have been signed but not
written by the D.I.D.A. chairperson. The frivolity
of the letter and the cost to Ironwood taxpayers to
produce the letter is just one more example of why
the City is bankrupt.
There have been several changes at D.I.D.A. mostly
for the better. There is however, a dire need for
more and better leadership. Both the chairman and
the vice chairman are void of leadership qualities,
choosing instead to shout down different points of
view. You can sense at the meetings that the two
chair people would rather be somewhere else than at
the meeting. They rarely contribute anything worth
while to the meeting, choosing instead to use their
positions to hinder intellectual thinking.
At another point in the public comments portion of
the meeting it was noted that the city offices are
discriminating against the Daily Glob's competitors,
The Superior Chronicle and IronwoodInfo. The city
gives meeting packets to the Glob and not to the
glob competitors. The city manager has prevented the
other media outlets from equal access with the Glob.
Lou Bonagura pointed out that IronwoodInfo has more
than twice the readership than the Glob. The D.I.D.A.
chairperson interrupted Lou Bonagura and foolishly
commenting that "People read the National Enquirer
too" So finally, because of his child like remark,
we now know where he gets his flawed data from. That
may also be where he found his response to Mr.
Albert's complaint. |
| Read
Full Account of D.I.D.A. Meeting |
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Trustees
Pick Peck |
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| Ironwood Township October 28, 2008
Yesterday the Charter Township Trustees meet in
closed session to select a replacement for Kim
Mattson as Secretary & Deputy-Treasurer. Kim won
the Democratic nomination for Township
Supervisor this past August and is running
un-opposed in next week's general
election. The board held off announcing Kim's
replacement until late this afternoon. They
chose Township resident Rachel Peck to be Kim's
Replacement.
At yesterday's meeting the board approved a
resolution for commercial sewer rates. The
resolution was merely technical process and in
now way effects or changes current rates.
Keweenaw Land Development requested approval
of names for two new roads in their new
development . The board approved Keweenaw's
"Superior Cove Road" and "Viking Creek Lane"
The Board also scheduled a Budget Workshop to
take place after next week's election. It is
hoped that the newly elected Trustees will
participate in that workshop.
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It's Obama! |
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November 4th, 2008 - Barack Obama
elected 44th President of the United States. |
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E.D.C.
Ponders Wetland Mitigation Issue |
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Bessemer October 24th, 2008
The Gogebic Economic Development Commission met
at the M.S.U. offices in Bessemer yesterday. The
commission was unable to hold a regular meeting
as not enough members were present to form a
quorum. Those who did show up for the meeting
did hold an unofficial meeting that lasted one
and a quarter hour. John Garske and Lilly Palmer
from Coleman Engineering were on hand to answer
questions from commission members. |
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above - Lily Palmer and
John Garske confer over report |
Prior to the meeting commission members had
e-mailed questions to the engineering firm
regarding the recent report Coleman presented
regarding wetland mitigation issues. The first
question was relative to the cost of the project
so far. Mr. Garske advised the members present
that the fees so far amounted to $18,798. all
but $6,300 have been billed out to date.
One of the findings discussed was with respect
to what they call the Airport Overlay District.
There apparently is land around the airport that
might otherwise qualify for mitigation acres is
in fact unavailable as there is 10,000 foot set
back requirement by the FAA. While this is
disappointing the set back makes sense, as it is
designed to keep birds from flying into
aircraft.
The group discussed at length other possible
locations to acquire land that could be used to
bank wetlands. Commission members will be
looking into the locations in the near future.
Also discussed at the meeting was the fund
raising effort that is being conducted by E.D.C.
Donna Scource. She has already received several
pledges and donations, however, the amount of
those responses was not disclosed.
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above County Treasurer Sue
Pertile a guest at yesterdays meeting |
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to Meeting |
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The
Ariens Co. Partners with
Stormy Kromer Mercantile
for Seasonal Promotions
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10/27/2008
The Ariens Co. will partner with Stormy Kromer
Mercantile company for two joint promotions with
Ariens Sno-Thro products. Stormy Kromer is
located in Ironwood, Mich. and specializes in
traditional winter outdoor apparel including
hats, coats, vests, hand wear and shirts.
“From a promotional standpoint we have the same
customer base. They’re people who view both of
our product lines as winter survival gear,” says
Dan Ariens, company president. “Our two
companies have many similarities as well. It may
have something to do with developing products in
the Upper Midwest where we take winter pretty
seriously.”
Both companies were also started in the early
1900s, continue to manufacture products in the
U.S. and remain true to the values of their
company founders, according to Ariens.
Current season promotions will include a
national advertising initiative that will
include an opportunity to register for a chance
to win an Ariens Compact Sno-Thro or a $400
Stormy Kromer apparel gift pack. Customers who
purchase an Ariens Sno-Thro are also eligible to
receive a $40 Stormy Kromer wool hat with the
Ariens logo. Visit www.ariens.com for more
detail.
The original wool Stormy Kromer hat was created
by its namesake when he modified a baseball cap
from his semi-pro days with his railroad
engineer hat in search of something that would
remain on his head even in the high winds on the
train. For more information, visit
www.stormykromer.com.
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Library to Seek Donations |
| Ironwood - October 22, 2008 |
| The Ironwood Carnegie Library held it's
regular monthly board meeting yesterday. Due to
the busy traffic in the main library reading
rooms the board meeting was held in the kid's
room. |
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| There was a full agenda of items to be
discussed ranging from fundraising to fee
schedules for visitors and other temporary users
of the library.
Read
More |
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Halloween Trick or Treating Recommendations From I.P.S.D. |
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Date: 10/15/2008
The Ironwood Public Safety Department recommends the
following for parents
allowing their children to Trick or Treat this year.
1. Trick or Treat on Friday, October 31 only, and try to
Trick or Treat
during daylight hours. The recommended hours are between
3:30 pm - 6 pm.
2. Children should wear light colored clothing or have
reflective tape
on their clothing so they can be easily seen. Also, carry a
flashlight if
possible.
3. Young children should be accompanied by a parent or
adult.
4. Children should Trick or Treat only in their
neighborhood, on well
lighted streets.
5. Visit homes with porch lights on, which welcome Trick or
Treating.
6. When children Trick or Treat with friends, have them
inform you of
their route and when they plan to be back home.
7. Parents should insist that treats be brought home for
inspection
before anything is eaten. Fruit should be washed; unpacked
items should be
discarded. If any treat looks suspicious, contact the
Ironwood Public
Safety Department.
Remember that children look forward only to the good things
about Halloween,
therefore, parents should prepare and alert their children
to the possible
dangers. Every year on Halloween many children suffer from
auto accidents,
fire injuries, falls, cuts, bruises and poisoned "treats"
and other
unnecessary miseries. It's important that they know of the
dangers and they
know how to avoid them so they have a safe, enjoyable
Halloween.
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IronwoodInfo.com is a Michigan,
Non-Profit Media Corporation |
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Contact IronwoodInfo.com |
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email:
mail@ironwoodinfo.com
snail mail: P.O. Box 305 Ironwood, MI 49938
Telephone
906-885-5683
Fax
906-884-2544 |
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