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An effort is underway to officially dissolve the Village of Calumet.
Calumet resident Nathan Anderson says a 17 page petition has been submitted, requesting the issue be put on the ballot.
Anderson claims there is overwhelming support for Calumet’s dissolution, citing the failure of the village council to follow the will of the people.
A recall petition was recently approved by Houghton County to recall village trustee Virginia Dwyer.
The council’s decisions not to opt into the Michigan Medical Marijuana law, which led to the closing of a dispensary in the village, and the ending of garbage pickup are just two of the moves to be criticized by some residents.
Dissolving the village of Calumet is not a new idea. Researchers from Michigan Tech published a report in December 2016 on the options for the village. Dissolution was one of five possible choices the study looked at.
The report says it will take a majority of voters from both the village and Calumet Township, since the township would then have to assume control over the village. A special downtown district could be created to help manage the situation.
Though there appears to be an incentive for the residents of the village to support this, the benefits to those in the township are significantly less.
The report says taxes for township residents would “likely increase” to support services for the village and there would be a loss in state-shared revenue that normally would go to the village.
The entire MTU Report can be viewed using the following links:
http://www.mtu.edu/social-sciences/research/reports/calumet-colab-exsum.pdf
http://www.mtu.edu/social-sciences/research/reports/calumet-colab-rev.pdf
Michigan Tech held a public forum to explain the report. That story can be seen here:
