Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Bessemer Master Plan now available

By IAN MINIELLY

[email protected]

Bessemer — Charly Loper, Bessemer city manager, has released the Master Plan for public review and comment. The plan is available online at cityofbessemer.org or the city will mail it to residents on the residents dime. Installing a Master Plan, according to Kathy Whitburn, mayor, was one the prime objectives of her running for office, as the city will not only benefit today from the plan, but also in the future as a Master Plan is moldable and can be adjusted as the city’s needs change. “A Master Plan is a living document,” said Whitburn.

Whitburn pointed out not having a Master Plan has kept Bessemer from funding it would otherwise have qualified for, but now that Bessemer is on the cusp of having a Master Plan in place, decisions and directions to develop the entire community can be made that will benefit Bessemer, the western Upper Peninsula, and even the state of Michigan as a whole.

The public hearing for the Master Plan is scheduled for October 4 at 5:30 p.m. Loper said all are welcome and the city will take public comments any time leading up to the meeting and at the meeting.

The city is also scheduling a public hearing on Tax Increment Financing and the Downtown Development Authority plan August 21 at 5:30 p.m., which was also decided at the last council meeting.