Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By ZACHARY MARANO
MONTREAL, Wis. — Since the inauguration of new mayor Kelly Traczyk, the city of Montreal has applied for grant funding for several projects, some of which were discussed at the common council meeting on Tuesday.
Traczyk said that they have applied for the Wisconsin Department of Transport’s Local Road Improvement Plan program for funds to improve three roads: Bessemer Street, Michigan Avenue and Minnesota Avenue. She said that it is not guaranteed they will receive funds through this program because many municipalities are applying for an LRIP project.
While the council waits until March to see if they receive funding for these three roads, the bipartisan infrastructure bill is trickling down from the federal government to the state of Wisconsin. Traczyk said that if they don’t receive the LRIP funds, they can apply for infrastructure funding instead. She said that the first application deadline is April 1, so they will have a little time to apply for funding for these roads from another source if they don’t receive supplemental funding from the LRIP program.
Traczyk said the costs of an LRIP project are split 80-20 between the state and the municipality while the bipartisan infrastructure bill projects will be split 90-10. However, one of the stipulations with the bill is that they don’t want to replace the asphalt on roads with water mains and sewers under them that need to be replaced. This would disqualify Minnesota Avenue.
The roads committee met earlier this month, but Traczyk said this meeting was held before the announcement of this funding opportunity. The common council agreed to hold another roads committee meeting on March 4 to get some information about the infrastructure bill and other options.
Traczyk said that a number of people in the area have been talking to her about the negative impact of Airbnb’s, vrbo’s and other short-term rentals are having on the community.
“Historically, what’s happening is they’re increasing property rents for long-term rentals. Mercer is going through a similar issue where they’re having too many. I’d like to, as a council, keep an eye on things and be mindful of it. If we look towards seeking out any future ordinances, I’d like to have some public comment sessions and look at maybe what’s a feasible amount,” Traczyk said.
As a possible way of limiting the number of vacation rentals, Council member Ken Saari said that some communities are requiring AirBnB owners to live in them for a certain time each year as a condition that they can rent them, so the homes stay occupied for greater periods of time.
Public Works Foreman Mark Haegar said that the city had its first water line freeze of the winter 2021-2022 season on Michigan Avenue earlier this month. He said that the frost is surprisingly deep but hopes to report a low number of freezes in his foreman’s report next month.
Haegar also provided an update on their application for funding through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Private Lead Service Line Replacement Program. He said that talked with the consulting firm that helped them apply and they haven’t heard anything for the city yet, but another community that replied was turned down, which is a good sign for Montreal, he said. Haegar said they should get confirmation one way or the other within the next two weeks.
The common council also:
—Scheduled a public comment session for their proposed water infrastructure and sewer bill at 5:30 p.m. on March 21.
—Agreed to call for bids for cleaning City Hall.
