Motion approved to advance $20,000 to Gogebic Range Area Solid Waste Authority

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - The Ironwood Township Board of Trustees held a short meeting Monday evening.

During the meeting, the board approved a motion for a pre-payment to the Gogebic Range Area Solid Waste Authority. The payment is $20,000, and according to trustee Kathy Maki, the township is "paying for the garbage collection ahead of time, then having collection costs deducted until the $20,000 is paid back."

Maki said if the payments were going by shares of the solid waste authority, Ironwood Township would be paying more than $20,000 because "we're bigger."

A motion was approved to pay the solid waste authority, and board members said it was "a good deal."

The board also approved a motion to appoint resident Rudy Grbavcich to the Ironwood Carnegie Library Board to represent Ironwood Township.

During previous meetings, when the township's funding of the library came under questions, Grbavcich spoke out against paying the library a fee of $16,500. Since then, the township agreed to pay the library $2,303, an average of $1 per resident according to 2010 Census data.

Grbavcich spoke during public comment on Monday's meeting to clarify his stance on the library.

"I have been quite vocal about the library, but the issue was never the library," Grbavcich said. "My issue was with the means of funding."

Grbavcich said problems would arise if a millage was imposed on residents to fund the library, and the "tax and spend attitude" of the city of Ironwood, was not going to be his stance.

"I believe the library should be a more volunteer-based library, less spending," Grbavcich said. "And that's what I'm going to look for, unless told otherwise."

Other business

Supervisor Alan Baron thanked Steve Tiziani and Ruotsala Construction for opening up Lost Lake for winter recreational use.

Treasurer Jyl Olson-DeRosso updated the board on Frost Fest, coming up Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ironwood Township gym. According to Olson-DeRosso, 20 of the 25 tables are filled for the event.

Trustee Steve Boyd updated the committee on the Ironwood Township Planning Commission's progress with the drafting of the zoning ordinance.

According to Boyd, the commission has been making progress and "finally moving forward" with the project. Olson-DeRosso asked when a copy of the draft ordinance would be made available to the public and Boyd said it would be a couple of months.