Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
A BUILDING that once housed the Wakefield Hotel on Sunday Lake Street in Wakefield collapsed late Sunday night and is condemned and cordoned. The Rev. Matthew Minier of Sagola, Mich., is the property owner and has an adjacent structure still standing has been used by Grace Baptist Church for summer services
By P.J. GLISSON
Wakefield - Members of the Wakefield City Council took action Monday evening that they hope will help to keep basements of city property owners dry this spring and beyond.
At the recommendation of City Manager Rob Brown, council members approved hiring Xylem Water Solutions USA, Inc., of Pewaukee, Wis., to inspect and maintain all city lift stations. Xylem is also the city's lift pump vendor.
"The city hasn't had a maintenance program for these pumps, and we see what happens when they fail," Brown said to the council.
In his written report, Brown said the "city's sanitary sewer system utilizes seven lift stations to transport raw sewage from the community to the wastewater treatment facility. Each lift station houses two pumps to move the sewage. When sewage flows are light, one pump operates at a time, and they alternate taking turns."
When flows are heavy, both pumps may work at the same time, the report said. The failure of either pump can result in sewage backing up into basements.
The city manager underscored the importance of ongoing maintenance and pointed out that city staff is not trained for it. The Xylem staff will train some city staff to continue maintenance to reduce the need for experts visits to every few years.
The city approved the $3,000 total cost for the maintenance, inspection, and training visit. The city also approved an additional $1,412 for the cost of replacement floats at the main lift station.
The Xylem visit has not yet been scheduled, Brown said. The goal is to have get the work completed before the spring melt, he said.
In other business, the council was informed that the former Wakefield Hotel on Sunday Lake Street collapsed late Sunday evening. The building has been affiliated with Grace Baptist Church in recent years to use the adjacent brick buildings across from the municipal building at 512 Sunday Lake St. The building still standing is used for summer church services.
As of Monday's meeting, Brown said the city had not been successful in trying to reach the property owner, Rev. Matthew Minier. Attempts to contact him by phone were followed with a mailing that provides a 60-day deadline to resolve the issue.
According to Brown, city workers responded to a call about the collapse from a driver who had passed by at about 11:30 p.m. Some of the debris from the building was reported to be on the main street.
"Our guys responded and ended up pushing back as best we could," Brown said.
Brown said he hopes to have all of the mess cleaned up by Memorial Day. The area is now cordoned off after the city posted a condemnation notice.
The Grace Baptist Church Facebook page notes that members have combined winter church services with the Havenwood Baptist Church in Hurley, Wisconsin. Minier has an address listed in Sagola, Mich.
The council also:
-Approved a traffic control order preventing vehicles weighing more than five tons from using Chicago Mine Road to travel between M-28 and U.S. Hwy. 2. Exemptions will be made for certain vehicles, including those for trash collection or emergency needs.
-Accepted a $29,995 bid from 5 Alarm Fire and Safety Equipment, LLC in Delafield, Wis., for equipment to facilitate a self-contained breathing apparatus refill station for the Wakefield Volunteer Fire Department. A U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Division grant covered 46.7% of the cost with a 43.3% city match, and a 10% Wakefield Township match.
-Heard the first reading of Ordinance No. 234, that would allow the fire department to recover from homeowner insurance companies some of the expenses involved in responding to fires, automatically, at no cost to homeowners with exceptions.
-Allowed two easements to Xcel Energy to rebuild portions of an existing 34.5 kV transmission line starting in Ironwood. The council also directed Xcel to cut and stack larger trees and chip smaller trees and brush in the process.
-Approves $898 for city clerk Sue Ahonen to attend a week-long conference of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks from June 8-12 on Mackinaw Island.
-Scheduled a workshop to discuss the next fiscal year budget on April 13 following the 5:30 p.m. council meeting.
The next regular meeting is March 23 at 5:30 p.m. The Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. instead of at its normal time of 5:30 p.m. Both meetings will be in the council room of the municipal building. The public is welcome.
