Houghton County will not see the jail project millage appear on a ballot until 2026 at the earliest.
Last week Houghton County closed a meeting on Tuesday to avoid a potential violation of the open meetings act. Commissioner Joel Keranen called a point of order to allow Prosecutor Dan Helmer to explain the commission’s move to reschedule the regular meeting for 10 am on August 12th may violate the state’s open meetings act. According to the August 12th minutes, Commissioner Tom Tikkanen apologized for the oversight. The board would reschedule its regular August meeting for August 15th at 2pm, last Friday.
Commissioners returned to the jail project conversation, reviewing voter comments on the recent election. Commission chairman Tom Tikkanen thanked the community, the sheriff, and millage committee for their efforts. Adding the county will need to move forward with new information in mind.
(There’s) an opportunity for explaining what the existing building up on Sharon Avenue, what that would be used for. And also from what I recall, the people want more specifics as to the new jail construction, construction cost, and also what services. What enhanced services would be available there, that we are not able to provide adequately with our existing facility. – Tom Tikkanen, Chairman, Houghton County Board of Commissioners
Houghton County will plan to create committees to review several jail project topics. The commissioners will keep records of committee meetings and will welcome the public to join commissioners for discussion.
The jail project millage failed in August by less than 1,000 votes. Close to 8,200 voters participated in the election out of 26,980 registered voters. Voters passed a millage renewal for the canal view senior care facility and added a new elder nutrition millage in the august election.
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