Fiene sworn into Montreal Council

By ZACHARY MARANO

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MONTREAL, Wis. - A new councilmember was sworn in at the Montreal Common Council meeting on Tuesday. Following the meeting, Steve Fiene is now one of two council members for Ward 1 along with Maleah Cummings.

"It's a big seat to fill but I'll be able to do it, to the best of my ability," Fiene said about his appointment.

Fiene is filling a position left vacant by Ken Saari, who did not run in the Iron County 2022 general election. Incumbent Mayor Kelly Traczyk and council member Bill Thomas also took the oath of office again on Tuesday, having run unopposed for re-election on April 5.

As a result of the recent election, the common council held a reorganizational meeting following the swearing-in ceremony. In the past, each council member was assigned to one committee. Traczyk said that she wanted to rearrange this somewhat, so some committees have two co-chairs from the common council and an "informed community member" working in support.

Council members Fiene and Thomas and community member Gary Laguna were assigned to the water utility and sewer and utility departments. Fiene was also assigned to the parks and recreation committee with community member Ian Shackleford.

Council members Cummings and Ashley Sorrels were assigned to land research with community member Gerry Nasi. Cummings was assigned judiciary rules and ordinances, the personnel committee and the fire department while Sorrels was assigned liquor licenses, zoning, blight and building permits.

Traczyk said she wanted to assign several people to some of the committees because it is difficult to get anything done alone. She also said that she anticipates changes in some of these areas soon and thinks that the more people on these committees, the better.

Also at the reorganizational meeting, Bill Nasi was re-appointed building inspector/zoning/code enforcement officer. Attorney Douglas Muskett, a recent appointment, was re-appointed legal counsel. Public Works Foreman Mark Haegar was appointed fire chief.

The Daily Globe was designated the county's newspaper along with the Iron County Miner. Associated Bank and Chippewa Valley Bank were designated the county's depositories. Finally, Thomas was re-elected president of the common council.

After adjourning the reorganizational meeting and immediately reconvening for their regular meeting, the new common council reviewed and adopted a resolution to commit match funds for a Community Development Block Grant, a federal grant program administered by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

Traczyk said the grant is worth over $1 million and if the city of Montreal receives it, they will use it for new water filtration systems at municipal wells three and five. She said that once the application is approved, it will be converted to a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources loan at less than 1% interest.

The project is estimated to cost the city of Montreal $2.2 million. Traczyk said if they don't receive the grant, they will not move forward with the project.

"Our biggest money maker on the water side of things are obviously our sales to other communities. We provide water for three communities if you include Pence, Oma and part of Hurley. Hurley wants to purchase a substantial amount more than they do now," Haegar said.

"If we install this filter system, Hurley has agreed to purchase 'X' amount, which would be a substantial amount more," he continued.

Haegar said that the city of Montreal already made a major improvement on their water system four or five years ago and the city of Hurley agreed to purchase more water following that improvement. He said the sales of water to the neighboring city were enough to cover the costs of the improvement.

Traczyk said that the project would include an analysis of the city's water rates and a possible increase of those rates to carry the additional debt load. Cummings said that the common council will need to clearly communicate with city residents about the project and its purpose as they move forward.

The common council also authorized execution of the DNR principal forgiveness assistance agreement for the Private Lead Service Line Replacement Program. The program will be used to replace galvanized lead service lines connected to homes in the city and reimburse contractors for the replacement at no cost to the homeowners.

Haegar said that the galvanized lead service lines are mainly concentrated on Minnesota Street. He said that every two homes on the street share a single line and their biggest concern was getting every homeowner to agree on the replacement, as the city couldn't force them to go through with it. However, Haegar said that everyone agreed to it and he's confident the project will go smoothly.

The council also:

-Approved Northern Iron County Engaged Resident's water usage for their community garden.

-Approved a $100 donation to the Hurley Area Youth Softball and Baseball team.