No applications submitted yet for Wakefield council seat

By P.J. GLISSON

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Wakefield - Wakefield city council members learned Monday evening that no interest has been expressed yet for a seat left vacant when former member Pat Mann resigned last month, effective Feb. 28.

"As of today, we've had no applications for the vacant council seat, so get the word out," said city manager Bob Brown.

Several applications for the seat have been picked up, according to Brown, but none had been submitted as of Monday's meeting.

Council members voted to advertise the open position at their previous meeting on March 11.

About 225 days remain in Mann's term as of today, and the next election will not be until Nov. 5.

According to the city charter, the council must appoint a replacement when 90 or more days remain in the term of a resigning member.

In other news, the council appointed Lou Boetto as chief of Wakefield's Volunteer Fire Department.

Boetto's fellow firefighters already had voted to make him chief, but mayor pro tempore Amy Tarro explained that the city charter requires the council to make the appointment.

"We just want to do it the right way," said Tarro before the council voted unanimously to appoint Boetto, who is replacing former chief Mike Yon, who is now working out of town.

The council also:

-Voted to explore the creation of an ordinance requiring building numbers to be displayed in an easily readable manner.

-Adopted revised rules and fees for Wakefield's Lakeside Cemetery. Brown said notice of the new rules will be posted in a new cemetery rule booklet, on the city's Facebook site, and in the newspaper.

-Voted to amend the city charter to change the time of spring Board of Review meetings from a two-hour minimum requirement to "as needed."

-Voted to submit Proposal No. 1, which would eliminate Civil Service selection of the city's non-union and non-officer employees, to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for approval, after which it then would be placed on the election ballot.

-Approved an easement for Angelo Luppino Inc. of Iron Belt, Wis., which had requested a road license last fall to use a logging road to access and harvest sand. The city's approval until Sept. 30 is contingent upon a $5,000 damage deposit and also is subject to existing rights by other parties.

-Upon questioning from Marcia Jurakovich in the audience, learned from the city manager that all city pumps are "up and operational."