Houghton Council Approves Paving Projects, Hears Legal and Parking Deck Updates

The City of Houghton will see a significant amount of local road construction this summer.

At last night’s council meeting, city manager Eric Waara explained that paving projects were held to a minimum last summer, and the money held over to this year so that some money could be saved by combining projects.

The council approved the list of proposed projects, which include:
• West Sharon Avenue from the Baptist Church to M-26,
• Century Way south of Sharon Avenue,
• Razorback Drive from M-26 to Cedar Street,
• Lakeshore Drive easterly from Lakeshore Circle,
• Bridge Street south of Shelden Avenue,
• Isle Royale Street between Montezuma Avenue and Shelden Avenue,
• Gundlach Road from Sharon Avenue to BF Gaffney Drive,
• Two sections of Garnet Street south of Seventh Avenue,
• Woodland Road east of MacInnes Drive,
• First Street from Woodland Road to US-41.

The cost of the projects is expected to be around $1.3 million.

See a map of the projects here.

Waara confirmed to the council that the lawsuit brought by the owner of the downtown Hall Building against the city over the abandonment of a pedestrian easement over an adjacent lot was dismissed by Circuit Court Judge Charles Goodman last week. Potential appeals could still be filed in that case, and in a related case in which Goodman upheld the city planning commission’s approval of a site plan for a new building on the lot at 326 Shelden Avenue. Waara estimated the city has spent $25,000 in legal fees defending against the lawsuits.

Waara also updated the council about the legal battle with Walmart, over that company’s request for a significant property tax rollback. He thanked those who took part in a recent demonstration at the store…

At the end of last night’s meeting, the council went into closed session to discuss a communication from the city attorney about the dispute, then returned, and approved the course of action the attorney laid out. They did not say what that course of action is.

Waara told the council that there has been significant interest in bidding on the contract to tear down the big downtown parking deck. Bids are scheduled to be opened April 11th. Waara hopes work can begin shortly after that, although the jury is still out as to how long it will take…

There does seem to be a consensus as to the procedure… 

Once the deck is down, work on rehabbing the site will likely continue until early fall.

The council reappointed Jennifer Donovan to the Portage Lake District Library board, and also added library volunteer Douglas Patrick.