Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties

Michigan Municipal League, Bessemer advise Wakefield on master plan

By P.J. GLISSON

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Wakefield - Members of the Wakefield city council and planning commission met in a Wednesday workshop to learn how an updated master plan could help them to counteract the dwindling population that many U.P. towns experience.

Presenting the evidence were Scott MacInnes, northern field consultant for the Michigan Municipal League, and Bessemer city manager Charly Loper.

According to Wakefield city manager Richard Brackney, Wakefield's master plan has not been updated since 2000.

Loper said Bessemer's master plan was updated recently after city officials worked on the project for about a year after she began her position there. She said her city's master plan had not been updated since 1954, which MacInnes joked might be "a record."

MacInnes strongly stressed the importance of a solid, current master plan and warned that shrinking U.P. towns need to "step it up" in order to keep their areas ripe for opportunity.

The MML representative, who is based in Houghton, said he worked 40 years for that city, which he said always had an updated master plan. Hence, when grants became available, "We were able to jump on the stuff."

"When you're asking for grants, a master plan is critical," said MacInnes, who also reminded that the state requires it. Without a plan to address current needs, he warned, "You're going to miss the opportunities."

Moreover, he said, "It's easier to make decisions when you can say, 'Hey, this is in the master plan.'"

In addition, MacInnes said a master plan helps people either entering, or considering entry, to the area "to understand the direction you're going in."

Finally, he said, a formal plan builds trust within the community and "gets people excited."

MacInnes said Bessemer was "in turmoil" before creating a master plan in 2017 and then achieving state status as a "redevelopment ready" community in 2018.

Loper said Bessemer did not reposition itself overnight. She said one of the first measures she took was to communicate with as many different individuals, groups and facilities as possible, including representatives from Aspirus Ironwood and students from A.D. Johnston High School.

She added that it not only created a good bonding experience, but also allowed the entire community to get behind the plan and "on the same page," so its members then could "move forward together."

She said part of the process involved a "kick-off" session, to which the public was invited. City officials also mailed out a survey, from which they received a 30 percent return.

According to Loper, the city also hosted an open house, during which they set up posters of various town interests and invited townsfolk to write their ideas upon them.

She said she is grateful city officials set up specific timelines as part of Bessemer's five-year master plan. That way, she said, the goals are clear for 2018, 2019, etc.

Regarding the plan, Loper said, "It's really strong the first three years, and then the last two years are a little weaker" because it's easier to predict more accurately what can be done during the earlier years of the five-year period.

Loper said the plan emphasizes "actionable" goals rather than "pie-in-the-sky" intentions. She added it also has resulted in hands-on community help, such as when high school students painted downtown crosswalks.

MacInnes assured Wakefield officials that MML has many survey choices from which to choose and said he also can provide a list of people who can write the city's master plan.

He advised getting input from the new city manager, when hired, and warned also not to rush the project, but instead to tweak each aspect. "It's a process," he concluded.

Brackney also said the value of Wakefield's new master plan, which officials now are working toward, will show via their intent. "Are you doing this as a requirement, or are you doing this because you want to have a vision for what you want Wakefield to be?"

He said that, in order to be effective, it needs to be "a living document," not something that sits on a shelf.

 
 
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