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February 2007 Postings 2-28-2007-06
Anybody hear that the Walgreen deal may not
yet be completed and that they are also looking at a site in downtown
Iron Mountain?
If it's the location I'm hearing, it would
also involve a demolition and they would have a full square block.
Would be great for downtown, if true.
Haven't heard anything about a bandshell
being included in the proposal.
2-28-2007-05
The Property Assessment notices are
supposed to be coming out any day now. In looking over some of
them on the city website I notice some astronomical bump ups, and I
don't mean 25% or 50%, but 200%, 300% and one for close to 700%.
The poor Board of Review will probably
have to move from their usual Conference Room A setting to the City
Council chambers. Plan B may be to make arrangements for the
High School Auditorium.
Anybody want to bet the County
Equalization Department will send our Assessing Moron Rich Brook
back to square one?
Tell us about the errors of the past
once again, Rich. Tell us how you were going to clean up the
supposed mess you found. Tell us how brilliant you are.
Tell us what happened in your previous job. Your figures were
off by only $10,000,000 last year. That's chump change based on my
spot check survey.
Marquart - Keep those big checks rolling
into Rich Brook's coffers. The city can afford it.
We're all rich, we send our kids to Harvard and Yale and have
mansions scattered around the world. No problem.
2-28-2007-04
RE: The sewage poured into the house
on Flesheim Street by the City crews
The City of Iron Mountain is acting like the
dictators they are on the sewage backflow issue. It wasn't raining
that day, so the storm didn't cause the back up. Everybody agrees
it was caused by forcing water under high pressure into the sewer system
to flush it out. Did anybody call in to complain they had a
problem along that sewer line? Not that we've read in the paper.
The city claims the owner could have
insurance for this problem, yet less than 5% of the homeowner policies
include it. Iron Mountain has often paid such claims in the past.
I don't have sewage backup insurance.
I also don't have insurance against police accidentally firing and
breaking my windows, either.
I hope the guy whose house was ravaged
throws in a healthy claim for mental anguish, too.
It's hard to total up all the stupid things
that have been done by this City Council and City Manager in the last
three years. I'm making a list and saving it for election time.
I've already got a dozen major issues, and more than that in minor ones.
I can't wait to lambast this miserable riff raff as the fall election
approaches.
2-28-2007-03
In reference to the raw sewage comment in post
#2-28-2007-01:
The entire city began to be flooded with a
constant stream of raw sewage about three years ago. The day the
Fab-Four took their oaths of office. Seeing it filling someone's house
is really no different than seeing the many other loads of s**t brought to
light on this website. And the results of pointing it out are proving
to be pretty much the same.
2-28-2007-02 Amazing. Once again you show your true colors. I
can't be me I must be someone else. WOW! I assume when you cleverly call me
Kenny you're referring to the Mayor. Another incredible piece of detective work
on your part, keep up the good work BIG BROTHER. Or are you really someone else?
I wonder. I speak for no one but myself. If someone wants to post anonymously
here they 2-28-2007-01
Why is it that the city manager would push for
spending 1.3 million dollars on a fancy parking lot idea, and then deny any
responsibility for filling a resident's home with raw sewage? I wonder
what this lawsuit will cost in attorney fees. If I was an attorney,
I'd be shamelessly lobbying in support of the present council and manager.
They are making the local attorneys rich!
I am still waiting for the Daily News to have a
story on the reassessment issue. I never believed they were biased
toward the city, but I am starting to wonder after that three-page schmooze
and then nothing on Rich Brook. How is it that the new motel and
Arby's that are out of the city limits were featured? Was that a
conscious
attempt to slap Breitung Township in the face again, or just glory-grabbing
and not caring what Breitung would think about it?
There was a post asking how the code enforcement
officer is getting paid. I'm curious, too.
2-27-2007-04 What a snow job we saw in yesterday's Daily News.
The newspaper apparently gives free reign to the weasel twins, Marquart and
Tousignant. Buried in Marquart's comments was a very brief mention of the
financial challenges of the city. 2-27-2007-03
Midgets standing on the
shoulders of giants.
That, in my estimation, fully describes
this City Council and City Manager.
Quick to criticize past councils
and quicker yet to boast about anything they can think of, including
the Cool Cities grant (we know what that is all about now), and Main
Street ( another hackneyed program that ultimately will accomplish
nothing).
Who worked tirelessly to combine
the railroads to one track and open up property from the Chapin Pit
to past KFC? John O'Donnell.
Who started TIFA, resulting in a
new City Hall, Police and Fire Department and DPW Buildings. And
huge infrasructure improvements along the US-2 corridor and
Carpenter Avenue that eliminated flooding have caused a building
boom that continues unabated to this day? Ted
Corombos and great TIFA board members.
Who ran the city, efficiently,
effectively, never sought the limelight, had a reputation for total
honestly, for fifteen years?
Jim Urbany.
Where are the great and sensible
council members who were mentioned in an earlier post, such as
Dan Lori ,Todd Colenso, Ann Martin,
Tim Elmer, Louie Cini, Bernie Gallino, Ed Koerschner, Ed Khoury and
many more.
This City Council of midgets is further
dominated by two midgets. The Mayor and City Manager.
They stand on the shoulders of the giants of the past, claiming to
be ten feet tall. They are three feet tall standing on seven
foot shoulders.
We need a City Council that will
prioritize sensibly, not one that wants to spend $1.3 million on
nonsensical trivia in a downtown that is already quite stable.
The November election will be
the most important one in the history of Iron Mountain. Let's
look for and arouse some "sleeping giants" out there who will sweep
out the midgets and their compliant cohorts, fire the egomaniac,
control-freak City Manager, and get Iron Mountain on track.
2-27-2007-02
Well, here we go again. Marquart and
Tousignant know that the popularity of this council is
fading so they need to bull---- their way to the public. Arby's
is being built in Breitung township, expansion to the Day's Inn
is in BT. So don't talk about expansion in Iron Mountain. Yes
Walgreen is coming but taking away 2 business when they
build. The Holiday express is a good thing , but how many
motels do we need. Lets get good paying jobs not minimum wage
jobs.
Talking about the parking lots
downtown, do we the tax payers want to spend 1.3 million on the
parking lots? I don't think so. Maybe the taxpayers can build a
gay-lesbian center in the parking lot, that would make downtown
more vibrant, RIGHT? The council should sit down with the
businesses and work out a solution for the lots not shove down
their throats. Like they did to the landlords.
Lets put the money into the roads,
sidewalks and alleys, so the taxpayers can drive without
wrecking the front ends of their cars, so we can walk without
tripping on the crack and holes in the sidewalks.
2-27-2007-01
You have to wonder what the Daily News is up to.
Readers of this website know that the newspaper is aware of the equalization
letter that nullifies the reassessments we paid top dollar for. Then, today,
they have a three-page spread on the wonders of downtown Iron Mountain.
Marquart & Tousignant even had their own stories, for crying out loud. I
suppose that spread was a long time in the making, and it would have been a
shame not to waste all the effort of putting it all together. I notice
that none of this made it onto their website.
I’m hoping they are just waiting for Jim
Anderson to address the story after attending the county board meeting
tonight. It would be the right thing to do.
On another note, with this cool cities stuff
"coming out" (groan), I am amazed that no one out there has referred to our
fair city as Brokeback Iron Mountain.
2-26-2007-02
It sure looks like the Mayor's maniacal
push for a vibrant and lively downtown is really an effort to make
it a vibrant and lively gay downtown. Excellent posts on this
issue.
The gay agenda is politically potent
enough in Lansing to get language in the Cool Cities legislation to
this effect.
I don't give a damn what gays do
privately, but I sure as hell don't want downtown Iron Mountain to
become a gay haven.
2-26-2007-01
The County Board meets tonight,
MONDAY, 2-26-07. Jim Anderson covers it for
The Daily News. I hope he asks some pointed questions about the
letter the Dickinson County Equalization Department
sent out concerning the Assessment DISASTER taking place in Iron
Mountain by Assessor Rich Brook.
It will be interesting to see on future
Vendor's Reports how much of our tax money City Manager John
Marquart is approving for Rich Brook to draw out. Brook
should be giving money back, not getting any. Who will pay for the
competent people they will have to bring it to do the job right?
2-25-2007-02
In comment #11-01-2006-02, Marcus Blomquist
writes the following:
"The gay thing is tired! Get a life.
The cool
cities application that the city submitted says NOTHING about gays.
I've Read it. Have you? The single statement in the "cool cites" site is a
statement of fact, supported by the likes of Richard Florida in his book
"The Rise of the Creative Class." It doesn't suggest that this or any city
should have a program of Gay recruitment. The point is weird."
Thank God this website has finally dedicated an
informational button to the Cool Cities program. It appears that Marcus is
wrong or lying about yet another issue. On top of the Cool Cities own
admission in their criteria that the number of openly gay residents is a
factor in getting the grant, there is also an informative article on the
cool cities link here. I offer the following links as even more proof that
Marcus is misleading the people when he says there is no gay agenda in the
cool cities program:
These are a very small sampling of what’s out
there, and fairly self-explanatory, considering the sources. I have a BIG
problem with the mayor secretly furthering this agenda, and then
effectively denying it by not correcting his mouthpiece on this website.
Then there was the Daily News story where Marquart also alluded that these
gay agenda rumors are false. I think it's linked somewhere in the
forum archives.
There are stories almost too numerous to
mention on the internet that address the gay agenda of cool cities
- and a significant portion of them are gay & lesbian websites. Take
a look; it will surely open your eyes.
2-25-2007-01
Post
2-23-2007-03 suggested that a concerned citizens group
be formed. It will be. There is enormous
interest in changing the way the city government of Iron Mountain
operates. Almost everyone I talk to is disgusted with the tactics
of deceit, cover-up, continuous lying, and dismissive attitudes of the
Mayor and City Manager and most council members. A few naive souls out
their believe
SPIN Machine, but only because they haven't heard of this site
or the counter-arguments. Once they find out, they turn on a dime.
STAND BY.
Post 2-23-2007-02,
referring to the City Assessor Rich Brook
fiasco, wrote about "the wheels (of justice) turning maddening
slow - but they do turn." True. Those same wheels can and will
gain momentum on that issue and many others. There are so
many issues that the problem is not finding enough of them, but getting
them out to the public in a rational way. Fortunately, the public
is well aware of them generally, so it is only a matter of filling in a
few blanks. STAND BY.
I join in posting my kudos to the TIFA
Board. I was at their last meeting. They minced no words in
taking the City Manager and city council to task for their outrageous
requests. Though the city council appoints them, they stated very
clearly they are not rubber stamps or wimps.
The way TIFA meetings are held was very
enlightening when compared to city council meetings.
Although they have a comment period at the
beginning and end of the meeting, the TIFA chairman recognized people
throughout the meeting when they raised their hand. Nobody got out
of line and ideas were presented rationally by the citizens present.
TIFA board members often asked follow-up questions. Sure was
different than city council meetings.
Yes, the momentum will build, I am
sure. I sure wouldn't want to have to defend the actions taken by this
city council the past three years. They are vulnerable and no
SPIN machine can save them if good people step forward to challenge
them.
STAND BY.
2-24-2007-02
There's no point in harping at Marcus.
He never even graduated from high school. I'll bet until he met
his buddy the mayor he couldn't tell you how many members sit on the
city council.
All of his posts are actually the mayor
writing, as many of us on this site are aware. So, all of the
nonsense that appears under Marcus name is the mayor's real thinking.
Pretty scary, huh? From now on, every time Marcus writes, answer
the mayor, because that's who's writing, so we may as well answer the
writer directly.
Marcus, the poor dupe, asks writers to sign
their names. The mayor doesn't sign. It's OK for him to try
to extract names , but he doesn't have the guts to sign his own
name. Using a cover is an old tactic he has used many times.
Remember -
Marcus Blomquist = Ken
Tousignant
Marcus Blomquist = Ken
Tousignant
Marcus Blomquist = Ken
Tousignant
2-24-2007-01 Hey, Marcus! Which of the following is the
county equalization director? "A dissatisfied firefighter, landlord, ex
council member, 2-23-2007-06
I would like to make some suggestions to the
committee that is considering the Italian-fest. To keep it as
simple and unwieldy as possible, why don't you follow the pattern that
the Gus Macker Basketball people used.
1 - Vendor are invited to participate.
I believe Gus Macker charged them something just to set up their stands.
Maybe some of this fee was for use of the electrical needs. You can
check this out.
2 - The committee sells tickets of
varying prices off of a roll of tickets. Cash is not used to pay
the vendors, only tickets.
3- The vendors cash in their
accumulated tickets at the end of the affair or the next day with the
committee for 90% of face value.
4 - The committee will need a certain
number of volunteers on fest day, but it need not be overwhelming.
You need a booth to sell tickets. You need a few people wandering
around to pick up the paper plates and cups that a few people won't put
in the available garbage cans. Volunteers will have to
periodically empty the trash bags from the garbage cans, but they aren't
gong to be very heavy.
5- You should have tables and
chairs and maybe tents in case of inclement weather if you hold it
downtown. If you hold it at City Park, you won't. I believe
there are benches and tables in the pavilion down there.
6- I understand the idea of
having it downtown, but from a practical and financial standpoint,
I think your committee would get a better turnout a the park, but that's
your call.
Let me ask a simple question. How many
people in Dickinson County and surrounding counties don't already know
where downtown Iron Mountain is located?
For Pat Nicometo: You
are a fine lady. I think perhaps you misinterpreted the post that
thought the DDA came up with or was the probable possible sponsor of
this event. There are so many committees and sub-committees
floating around, not to mention the
DDA, Iron Mountain Profession Business
Association, (is there still a Downtown Merchants group as well) that
the average citizen can't keep track. Now the Main Street and/or
Cool Cities programs have created even more committees, so please make
allowances for such human errors. In any case, I hope my ideas are
helpful, Pat, but you're so sharp you have probably anticipated them
anyway. (Put Mike on the garbage detail for this, but don't tell
him ahead of time or he might skip town).
2-23-2007-05
Another Michigan cool cities link
2-23-2007-04
Reply to Pat Nicometo.
When I said "no one can deny the DDA came up
with . . ." I was sticking up for you!!!! I was
trying to say "Well done." I am still not used to the fact
that there is yet ANOTHER downtown board whose main function is to steer as
many city dollars as possible into one tiny area of town. The spirit
of my post was not changed one iota as far as which downtown board came up
with the idea.
I am very disappointed that you not only failed
to see the logic of the other points, but you even failed to see a
pat on the back for yourself. You saw only that which was
negative to you, and the whole post then became negative to you. It's
not your fault that people are not coming forward to help. But,
someone IS responsible for that fact, too.
What other facts do I not have straight?
2-23-2007-03
To the Post on 2/22 suggesting boycotting the
downtown merchants:
I understand your frustrations and feel them
myself so deeply, but the actual merchants are not the root of what is going
on. They seem more to be helpless on the sidelines while the City Government
decides what is best for them.
Boycotting them won't help anything. They
are simply trying to make a living, forced into a terrible situation of
competing with the large Chain stores.
I can only imagine that they (99% of
them...) feel exactly as most of us do about carousels and bandshells.
Even cities like Marquette have Downtowns that
are just hanging in there. We can look to other cities for
ideas, but really can't replicate them because our situation is unique.
There seems to be so many committees and
organizations nowadays here, is it possible to put one together called
"Concerned Citizens for Iron Mountain Issues"? Or some other
appropriate name?
It seems that there is enough interest and
passion on this Website to be able to "morph" it into a group with a vision
for protection of our ideas, and hopes for our city.
An organization would certainly have more
ability to get something accomplished than just our words here, though this
site has been invaluable for us.
Anyone ready to move this to the next level?
I would be a regular attendee to a meeting like this and you can bet we
would actually get a chance to speak!
Webmaster, what do you think?
Anyone out there ready for a old-fashioned grass
roots movement?
By the way, Gigantic Kudos to the TIFA Board!
Ted, you are my Hero!
2-23-2007-02
Isn't it something. For the second year in
a row, Rich Brook is b****-slapped by the county equalization director.
Then you go back and look at the very first post on this website in August
of last year, and you see it was from someone asking about what the heck was
going on with Rich Brook and reassessment. The wheels turn maddeningly
slow, but they do turn. Just for fun, go back in the archives and read
Marcus' previous posts adamantly defending Rich Brook and reassessment.
Marcus, I almost, but not quite, feel sorry for
you on how you are being used. You really should start thinking about your
credibility in anything you do in the future.
2-23-2007-01
Oh, Kenny - I mean Marcus. Politicians have been
and always will be fair game to dissatisfied citizens who wish to voice
their displeasure. That includes the right to highlight any incompetence,
and why you think there is incompetence. The webmaster says the post was
pulled because it did not debate a fact or a situation. I disagree -
demonstrated incompetence, disregard for the citizens, and highlighting the
fact that there are virtually no qualifications for some people to be on the
council ARE issues. And, they are proving to be very big issues in Iron
Mountain - virtually the root cause of most issues that people are so upset
about. The right to voice a personal opinion on why that may be, based on
personal observation of personal traits and habits of elected officials is
one of the very things that makes this a great country. It’s called freedom
of speech, and elected officials should know by now that it comes with the
territory.
I find your reasoning to be bordering on
communism. We would never have known about Monica Lewinski’s blue dress if
we followed your "logic", for example. Politicians should expect a
microscopic examination of their lives, especially in a situation like Iron
Mountain where there are so many questionable things coming to light. Take,
for example, the county letter showing irrefutable evidence of incompetence
in the reassessment of the city. Shame on you for convincing the webmaster
to censor that post.
PS - You have obviously never seen the picture
of the carousel (among other things) hanging on the wall of the conference
room in city hall. That rises far above the level of a "suggestion". I
wonder how much we the taxpayers paid for that drawing?
Signed, Big Brother is Watching
2-22-2007-07
Look at the home page and click
on Assessor letter. This letter shows how incompetent the
tax man is, they should of bid it out and now the taxpayers
are on the hook for 160,000.00 so far and they can't even
use the numbers that he came up with. It's just another
screw-up that John Marquart made and the City Council didn't
ask questions. They are famous for letting Marquart do
what ever he wants to. Do it from the hip and if we get
caught we'll find a way do get out of it. The
taxpayers of Iron Mountain its time to take our city
back and elect 4 people that will look out for us come
November. Don't forget what this Council has done to us.
2-22-2007-06 Since the city's leadership continues to dismiss
the people who tell them that we DON'T approve of gobs of money being spent on
the 2-22-2007-05
Breaking news!!!!!
Incompetence of Iron Mountain Assessor Rich Brook's come to light.
Assessor Letter
In a well-written, carefully
documented letter the Dickinson County Equalization Department has
literally torn Iron Mountain Assessor Rich Brook to shreds.
This letter, addressed to Brook, has
been copied to: (a) City Manager John Marquart,
(b) the Mayor and City Council, (c)
the TIFA Board, (d) the County Board and (e) to the District 1
Supervisor, Assessment and Certification Division of the State of
Michigan.
The letter is now public
information. I'm sure you can get a copy directly from the
Equalization Department.
I am e-mailing this message to
www.ironmountainissues.org, which
has been in the forefront of this issue for months, as well as Linda
Lobeck of The Daily News who covers City Council meetings. She can take
it up with her editor. The Daily News would clearly be
remiss in their duties if they do not follow up.
I will also try to get the
full letter to the webmaster of
www.ironmountainissues.org
so the thousands of readers of that
site can see it as well.
Here are some passages from
the letter:
"Due to the excessive irregularities that we have observed concerning land values and building pricing, we cannot accept the reappraisal as it now stands."
"It may be necessary to employ an
outside person with quality control experience to ensure that the
reassessment is satisfactorily completed."
"Concerning the 2007 Assessment
Roll, I have consulted with Don Bode and we feel the best answer to the
current situation concerning these classes in the City of Iron Mountain
is to base the commercial sales on sales that would result in a starting
ratio of 49.48%. Due to lack of sales, it is reasonable to use the
same ratio for industrial classes."
"For the 2007 assessments we
recommend leaving the assessment "as is" and adding new construction or
deducting losses for any items removed from the property."
It will be
interesting to watch Marquart, who under Brook's contract, is his
overseer, try to spin his way out of this one. Iron Mountain has
already spent around
$150,000 on this
mess and not only won't get the reassessment done in time for the 2007
assessments, the whole process has been hopelessly botched.
The Dickinson County
Equalization Department, by suggesting Brook "employ an outside person
with quality control experience" is telling him he simply isn't up to
the task.
Many posts on the
issues website were aware of this months ago. The Daily News has been
accused in the past of being pro-Marquart, pro-Mayor, etc. We hope
they can prove these naysayers wrong by getting all over this story like
a wet-blanket.
2-22-2007-04
If you missed the TIFA meeting this past
Tuesday (Feb 20), you missed a great show. I haven't been to many,
maybe 4 or 5 over the years.
Mike Nicometo, who with his wif Pat, owns
the Downtown Plaza. He passed out a sheet that showed in black and
white the number of employees in his building and the customer load of
each office on an average day. He went one step further and made
estimates of a number of other businesses in the area. The nuts
and bolt of his argument was that there are no excess parking spaces.
It made the City Council and Marquart look like idiots for not having
done this basic homework themselves.
Further, he and a number of other owners
stated that such events as Hog Wild, Antique Car shows and other such
clogging events don't help downtown.
The TIFA Board had never been told of this
latest scheme to build pavillions, walkways, green areas, etc.
They thought they would be spending for some sewer work and paving, to
the tune of around $250,000. In a letter from Marquart, they were
told to budget $1,300,000.
TIFA Chairman Ted Corombos, who is usually
in pretty good form anyway, sliced and diced this proposition
"ten-ways-to-Sunday" as the expression goes. He pointed out that
TIFA had spent less than that to develop the infrastructure from Pizza
Hut to the east city limits that resulted in the K-Mart Plaza, Wal-Mart,
the Mobil Station, hospital, Subway shop and many other businesses.
He then asked "What would be get for a similar investment in this one
narrow area."
Other TIFA members chimed in. Tim Elmer,
Mark Angelli, Bob Haglund and Jim Brinker all suggested that maintaining
the parking lots is one thing, spending a million dollars on frivoloty
is not what TIFA is all about. It was truly a pleasure to watch a
sensible board throw the whole thing back to Marquart and the City
Council and tell them to get their act together.
It will be interesting to watch this whole
thing unfold. I would give anything if the entire City
Council could magically be replaced by the TIFA Board tomorrow.
The good sense they displayed was a breath of fresh air you never see in
the City Council. It also made me wonder how long they would
tolerate Marquart.
The Daily News article on the meeting gave a
generally good description, but it was not like being there.
2-12-2007-03
The discussion here about the location of the coming Italian Fest has been very lively, with many good points made, including those made by Pat Nicometo. No one can deny that the DDA came up with the idea, and that it is their mission to promote the downtown area. If they don’t promote the downtown, they don’t belong on the DDA board. No one should fault the DDA for getting what they want. It just shows they are doing a good job in reaching their goals. I hope everyone can see the logic in that. With that said, I hope the DDA members can see the logic in the other points being made about the downtown area. There is more to the city than a little downtown area. It is not - or should not be - the mission of the city council to continue to pump money into the downtown at the expense of the residents and business owners in the rest of the city. That is the rub here. The DDA has done SUCH a good PR job that some council members now have tunnel vision. All they see is the "vibrant downtown," - the rest of the city be damned. Now, on this Italian Fest thing - GREAT IDEA! One of the best I've heard in a long time. For the entire city, I mean. However, the logic of having such a neat festival downtown just because it was the DDA’s idea is like saying we should have the ski jumping tournament downtown, too, if it’s the idea of a DDA member. Or, say a DDA member comes up with the idea of resurrecting the annual ice fishing derby; should it be held in the city hall parking lot? Reply by Pat Nicometo: Actually, I CAN deny that the DDA came up with the idea for Italian Fest because it didn’t !!, It came from the Downtown PROMOTION COMMITTEE, which is new. The DDA and the promotion committee are two separate things. If you have DDA issues, that’s another story. Also, the DDA does not promote, they develop. The Promotion Committee is a direct result of the Cool Cities Mainstreet program. The new Mainstreet coordinator, Brittney, sits on our committee when we meet, and works hard with us, showing us how to coordinate all the things that are necessary to pull something like this off. She has had the experience, she knows how to get the necessary sponsors and etc. We are looking for ideas to bring people DOWNTOWN. This festival is being held in other areas of Iron Mountain as well, at the same time. As I mentioned, we are looking for ideas, and I even gave my phone number out in this column with that invitation. Nobody has called me. WHAT DO YOU WANT?? Ok, for the sake of argument…sure!! Let’s have it someplace else, not downtown. Since it was such a great idea and all. Whoever wants to take ownership of it, please come forward. Now would be good. I’m waiting…… no takers?? I thought not. Please stop knocking those of us who try to do things. If you want to do it, FINE, we will help you. It’s a hard job, huge. But we’re doing it. Give us some credit for a change, will you?? No, of course it doesn’t have to be downtown. But if it’s not downtown, will it be done? HAS it been done?? Obviously not. It sounds like you have some issues with the DDA. You should go to their meetings and get involved with what they do. The DDA does not come up with ideas for promoting, that was never their mission. So I guess you don’t have to worry about them coming up with a lame-brained idea like a fishing derby in the city hall parking lot. You have the right to post on here, but you should really get your facts straight. And you should also DO SOMETHING to change things if you don’t like the way they are. It’s just wrong to sit there throwing stones because someone came up with an idea. What have you done to help this city? Please tell us all. Pat Nicometo 2-22-2007-02 Mr. Blomquist has a good point about the post of 2-20-2007-01. The post was attacking the council personally and not debating a fact or a situation. The post has been removed. Webmaster 2-22-2007-01 It amazes me that no one that contributes to this
site takes a stand against the sort of personal attacks, lies and innuendos that
are spewed by the likes of some of the contributors. A great example being the
post 2-20-2007-01. 2-20-2007-01
There is a story on the radio -
http://www.ask4direct.com/InfoRead.asp?id=WJNR&InfoID=269287 - that says
the downtown land for the new strip mall is worth $8,000.00. A recent
post said the Khoury property was worth a million. How can that prime
downtown land have such a ridiculously low value?
I thought the bricks, trees, clock, flower
pots, lamp posts, Cool Cities, DDA, band shell, Hog Wild, public restrooms,
farmer's market, blah, blah, blah made the downtown area a virtual goldmine
with all the money that has been sunk into it. Could it be that the
value has NOT gone up proportionally with other areas in town? What an
incredible waste of taxpayer money. I find it very hard to believe
there will be 50 $10.00 an hour jobs in the new mall. Maybe there will
be 45 minimum wage jobs and five big owner/manager salaries bringing the
average up.
2-19-2007-03
Adding to the comment that the person made about downtown Iron Mountain’s
store hours; I’d like to say that downtown Iron Mountain is not easy to find
on-line either. I can’t find websites for any Iron Mountain stores. I found
some listed on the Dickinson Chamber site; but that site is so limited in
whom they list (members only, I guess) and is also outdated (for example: it
still lists Blimpies, The Gathering Place, & Mel’s Diner, in Iron Mountain).
The City site, under tourism, just links you to this unreliable site. They
offer no information of their own.
When planning a visit or a shopping trip, a person is hard-pressed to find
anything that lists businesses along with their hours. We even tried phoning
a few places and, because it was after hours, didn’t even get an answering
machine that could tell us their hours. Why bother coming? When we travel,
we check websites for the area (including business, City sites, tourism
sites, etc.) We have Cities and local Chambers that offer to send brochures,
discount coupons for area attractions and businesses. We’ve found nothing to
entice us to Iron Mountain.
I’m sorry, but Iron Mountain is just someplace people have to drive through
on their way to somewhere else. Go ahead with your planned facades. Your
store-front windows don’t even have appeal. Your sidewalks, though new, are
seldom kept swept. Your hours are inconvenient. Your restaurants are few,
and “fine dining” even fewer. And your Mayor is unaccommodating (even rude)
and unwilling to assist prospective visitors
(see the October post:
10-6-2006-02), losing those visitors
(and any that they share their experience with).
We know a lot of people in and around Iron Mountain; but when we visit the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan, we stay elsewhere (where we’ve been
accommodated and welcomed) and invite our Dickinson County friends to join
us.
Your Mayor talks to (and about) you, the citizens, as though you are an
inconvenient annoyance in HIS plans for your City. He basically calls you
liars and accuses you of having petty concerns. I’ve lived in numerous
counties and cities in my lifetime, and I’ve never seen an entire Council or
Administration that seems to have so completely forgotten that they were
elected by those they consider peons and are supposed to be representing
them.
This current administration and council is hurting your area and driving
people away who may never want to come back. It won’t matter what they do to
your downtown or what new motels are built. Right now I wouldn’t care if you
had the most attractive downtown or the best shops, I will not spend my time
or money in Iron Mountain anymore; and you have your Mayor (and those who
choose to keep and support him) to thank for that!
2-19-2007-02 When the City Council pushed for the Water System
improvements, which involved putting a new water tank on Millie Hill to improve
the water pressure to the Hospital, Wal-Mart and Home Depot, then
Acting City Manager Joe Rogina, in a memo to Council, outlined his plan to
increase, by flat fee, a monthly amount of $22.50 for
Commercial/Industrial users, and an increase of $4.50 for residential
accounts.
2-19-2007-01
In answer to post # 2-15-2007-04, TIFA
was asked to purchase entire area of the Khoury property where the
factory that has since been demolished stood. I heard the figure was
around $1,000,000. At a 10% commission on commercial property, it
would amount to $100,000.
2-18-2007-01 I recently saw the payroll and vendor reports for January, 2007. I hope someone can get a copy and post them, as I don't know how. Anyway, I was specifically looking for payroll for the new code enforcement officer. When I could not find that in the payroll report, I looked at the vendor report. I could not find a payment to him there either. A little help? I know he's been working, so how is he getting paid? 2-16-2007-02
In response as to which tax levies are captured by TIFA and which are not,
we need to go back to about 1992. Jim Urbany, Ted Corumbos, and others at
that time saw that TIFA could become a future cash cow monster and had
agreements signed by the City, County and Schools.
Basically it capped the total amount of millage that could be captured, each
year. In the case of Breitung Township Schools, the bond issue for the
Woodland and the Middle School was voted in prior to 1992 and is captured
because it was voted in prior to the agreements. A later bond for the high
school expansion was voted in for Breitung after 1992 and it was not
captured because it exceeded the cap in the agreements. Consequently, the
Iron Mountain School Bond or Debt was voted in after 1992 and was not
subject to capture.
2-16-2007-01 Everyday a lot of us of all ages walk the cemetery for safe and peaceful exercise or walk through it as a shortcut between different parts of town -- for example, from my Crystal Lake neighborhood down to K-mart or Wal-Mart or the hospital and sometimes back to ShopKo or JCPenney. Therefore I know there are quite a few witnesses to what I am about to write. A number of us have noticed lately and remarked how regularly city machinery -- DPW dump trucks and big DPW vehicles with buckets on the front and backhoes on the rear -- just sit over there in the cemetery, practically every day, and idle for hours on end, doing nothing, just idling in one spot, with no employees anywhere in sight and it seems sometimes nowhere in the whole cemetery! When we actually looked, we were not able to find a single employee. When a couple of us finally called the DPW, they said it is not so, we must be mistaken. End of conversation. Yet we called from cell phones as we stood beside the equipment! The gentleman I then later spoke to at city hall said he would look into it but never called me back. When I called again, he told me he had spoken to the DPW and that I was mistaken. End of conversation. When I finally was able to track down the mayor himself and complain, he was very rude, condescending, and smartalecky with me, implying strongly that he did not have the time or interest to be bothered by such a petty issue. Again this morning (Friday) a bucket and backhoe vehicle was running there, and when my daughter drove me over there just to check out of curiosity this afternoon, it was still idling in the same place, four and a half hours later, with no work done around it during that time. Are the city workers and their bosses such dimwits, frankly, to think these vehicles will not be noticed, or that all sorts of people are not going to be going over there in upcoming days with cameras? How stupid are they to lie so baldly about something so easily checkable? Or do they just not care? In either case, these are the type of people we have working for us? We cannot do better than them? This machinery is stinking up and polluting the air. It is an eyesore. It is noisy. It is burning gas unnecessarily for hours at taxpayers' expense. It is also costing taxpayers for the wear and tear and eventual early retirement and replacement of each vehicle -- even I know that it is not good for a motor to let it just run idly like that hour after hour. And what is to stop anyone from simply stealing it? I bet they do not let their own cars and trucks run like that when they go into Wal-Mart to shop. But as much as all of that is wrong and bothers me, it is nothing compared to how incensed I am about the city employees and city management lying about it to me so disrespectfully in the very face of it happening. Their bold and brassy dishonesty is breathtaking. Does this not bother other residents of Iron Mountain? What kind of people do we have running this city and working for it? And what can we do to fix it? Something is haywire. This is not the same city I was born, raised, and lived in all these many decades. It has changed. And not for the better. 2-15-2007-04 On the Khoury property referred to in comment 2-15-2007-03 - Are you referring to the Khoury office building that was across the highway from the plant? I thought that was sold quite some time ago . . . to Mr. Rigoni. Are you saying he was trying to get TIFA to buy HIS building? That's like a two for one sale - two council members benefiting from one special interest item. Unbelievable, as you say. 2-15-2007-03
You can check the following information with
any TIFA Board member or City Council member.
I've known this information for some time,
but it didn't occur to me to post it until I read some of the
conflict-of-interest posts I've read on this site lately.
Bacco VP and City Council Member Doug
Rigoni, with the Mayor Tousignant sitting next to him, suggested to the
TIFA board that it purchase the Khoury property. Was it a
coincidence that the real estate firm the Mayor is connected with had
the listing, and his mother was the listing agent as seen on the sign
that is on the property to this day?
At a subsequent joint meeting of the City
Council and TIFA, the subject came up again by Mr. Rigoni. TIFA
Chairman Ted Corombos stated, quite emphatically I'm told, that TIFA is
not in the land speculation business and has no intention of getting
into it.
The deeper you look, the more self-interest
and conflict-of-interest you see. Unbelievable.
2-15-2007-02
The Iron Mountain School district also has
debt. I see it on my property taxes every year on the property I
own in Iron Mountain. Yet on the breakdown on the very
informative post # 2-14-2007-02 it shows TIFA capturing
$26,344.37
on Breitung Township School debt, but nothing
on Iron Mountain School debt.
How can this be? Why is TIFA
capturing Breitung Township School debt by notIron Mountain School debt?
2-15-2007-01
Ted,
Thank you for responding to my post
2-11-2007-04. You have cleared up several of my questions.Thanks for
not making an issue of my spelling. You must not be the web-site
"human dictionary". I would like to attend meetings, but I like the
majority of the citizens work days and can't make any of the special
meetings the city holds during the day. I suppose this is why good and
accurate meeting minutes are so important to the citizens of the city. I
guess I owe you a reply to your questions.
1. What projects would I consider unauthorized
and why. First, I would say any project that exceeded the $9,656,000.00
shown on the Estimated Tax Increment Revenue and the same amount on the
Proposed Project List.
Why: Section 125.1813 (b) of the
TIFA Law states ; (The plan shall have) An estimate of the captured assessed
value for each year of the plan. The plan may provide for the use of part or
all of the captured assessed value, but the portion intended to be used
shall be clearly stated in the plan. Section 125.1813 (g) states; (the
plan shall have) The costs of the plan anticipated to be paid from tax
increment revenues as received. And finally, the governing body approved the
plan by resolution based on the considerations of Section 125.1818 of Act
450, specifically Section 125.1818 (e); Whether the amount of captured
assessed value estimated from adoption of the plan is reasonable.
Second, I would say any project that is not
specifically listed in the Development Plan.
Why: Section 125.1818 (2) (e) States; To
the extent necessary to accomplish the proposed development program the
development plan shall contain: The location, character, and
estimated costs of the improvements including rehabilitation contemplated
for the development area and an estimate of the time required for
completion.
2. I would say one project that is in
the TIF Development Plan that is not complete would be the sidewalks in the
entire TIF district. I would also agree with your statement that TIFA paid
for other jobs, but I'm not sure they fit into the projects described in the
plan.
3. From the documentation I've seen, it appeared
that TIFA was in the mix of buying, selling or trading for the Systems
Control parking lot.I have also seen documentation of other bills TIF has
paid (Bacco, STS) but I've never seen or heard any information on how the
city acquired this land. So the city owns the parking lot and is leasing it?
That is surely a good bit of information. Jim Urbany has not been a
consultant since John Marquart became city manager. We can tell!!
4. It is quite evident by your concern, Mr.
Urbanys' and the city attorney that the Systems project was not legal
according to TIFA law, yet Mr. John Marquart, Mayor Ken Tousignant and the
members of the city council continued to vote on spending money on matching
grant funds.
5. Bacco is getting $62,873.75 dollars for that
job? I know our DPW boys could have done that for less. That's two annual
salaries. This is the kind of stuff that makes me sure TIFA has gone beyond
what it was originally developed to do.
6. Thank you for your continued concern!
7. I have no doubt that you and Jim Urbany did
things right. I respect both of you for the contributions you have made to
the city. I also believe that TIFA should not have received the bill for the
city computer.
8. You are correct in stating the Hamilton Shaft
Force Main was the project I was referring to. As I noted this project was
removed from TIFA to investigate funding from other jurisdictions that
benefited from the project. I understand that it was in the discussion of
the April 20, 2004 meeting that City Manager John Marquart pressed to have
TIFA fund the entire project. Again, Not a project in the TIF Development
Plan.
As you stated TIFA has done a lot of good
for the city, but I also believe you realize it has become a real monster.
Twenty Five percent of the cities annual revenues going to TIFA just doesn't
work anymore. Thanks Ted!
2-14-2007-04
Greetings,
I felt compelled to respond to a previous
posting regarding local politicians not benefiting from their positions.
Please, show me one politician that gains nothing from being in office!
It may not always be monetary, but their agenda
alone, can sometimes be their reward.
Let's take for example Doug Rigoni: HE certainly
has benefited from this city in more ways than one. The city has spent well
over ten million dollars on excavating/ paving projects in the last few
years. As a previous post indicated, most of Baccos' jobs though the low
bid, always seem to come up with "change orders". These
unchallenged change orders sure are an effective way to prepare future
bids to insure being the "low bidder". One example that comes to mind is
when part of the US 2 project went from 1.2 Million dollars to 1.4 Million
dollars for "mobilization and flagging costs". Are you serious? This should
have been part of the bid! Others are well documented.
Then you have this councils approval on June 19,
2006 for Kramer Road Safety Enhancement. Why, of all the streets in
Iron Mountain that need major repairs, would the city spend money on Kramer
Road? Could it be that Doug Rigoni and Eden Caudell have homes up there?
Or perhaps it's just because Doug Rigoni is part of the corporation that
owns the land? I'm sure someone would have cut the trees down just for the
wood. That would have made it safer than it was. Did Bacco get this job? Hm
mm!
What about the Traders Mine Road
Utility Project. Didn't this council approve $341,362.00 to Bacco for that
job? And how many acres of empty land does Bacco own on Traders Mine Road?
Is this the land Marcus is talking about developing in the industrial park?
Do you think a few extra tees' were put in place just in case? This sure
would save the developer a few bucks.
Who can forget the August 7, 2006 meeting were
this city council approved acceptance of the Pine View Estates Developer
Agreement related to the drainage system. Did any of the council
members read this agreement before approval? Again, Doug Rigoni is part of
the development corp. Are there 54 structures built within the development
area? Is the drainage acceptable and to code? Was this developer held to the
same standards as the developer on East "C" Street, or will complications
arise that will fall on the tax-payers shoulders?
You get the point!
2-14-2007-03
Let me tell you what I think has been a huge contributing factor to the
demise of downtown Iron mountain and many other downtowns. It has been, and
continues to be, the hours that most downtown businesses are open (or should
I say, NOT OPEN)!
First of all, most people work these days. It’s not like years ago when
women had all day to shop. Even the local people can’t shop downtown if they
work typical weekday hours. By the time they get off work, everything
downtown is closed.
How about tourists? Many people are weekend travelers. If they come through
town on a Friday evening or later on Saturday afternoon, what will they find
open? How about when they travel through on their return trip on Sunday?
When we travel, we get checked into our motel between 3 and 6 p.m. and go
out to look around. Most areas we travel to have stores open until 8, 9, or
even 10 p.m. What about Iron Mountain? Try to find anything open downtown on
any evening, later on Saturday afternoon, or on Sundays. Downtown is DEAD!
If people don’t find things open on their weekend trips, why would they
consider coming back for a longer vacation? You can have all the bricks,
trees, facades, and parking you want; but if you aren’t open, you can’t get
people in.
2-14-2007-02
The following is the amount of tax dollars which are paid by the taxpayer,
that do not go to the City, School and County but instead are redirected
into the Iron Mountain TIFA Authority to spend on their pet projects.
This information can be found on page 8 of the 2006 Apportionment Report for
Dickinson County. A copy can be obtained from the County Equalization
Department.
City of Iron Mountain……………………….908,657.61
County Operating…………………………..316,029.01
Library……………………………….............. 46,472.58
Health Department………………………….. 10,327.24
Senior Citizen Programs………………….... 20,654.48
State Education Tax……………………….. 144,963.46
Iron Mountain School Operating…………... 317,160.02
Breitung School Operating………………... 101,683.84
Breitung School Debt……………………...... 26,344.37
Dickinson-Iron ISD……………………............. 4,049.31
Technical Education……………………........ 23,812.67
Special Education………………………....... 23,812.67
Total tax dollars paid into TIFA in 2006 .....1,943,967.26
It should be noted that the TIFA district was formed in 1985. The district
stretches the entire length of US-2 and Carpenter Ave in the City of Iron
Mountain. The district gets its operating money by taking all increases in
taxes over the 1985 level plus all taxes on any new construction.
The Breitung Township School District in the City of Iron Mountain came
about when the City of Iron Mountain annexed land from Breitung Township
into the City in the 1970’s. They added the land but did not change the
school district boundaries. Hence part of the Breitung School District is in
the City limits and anyone with children in these areas of the City go to
Kingsford schools. This includes part of the Northside where the Bay college
is building, and it includes most of the area near Econo foods to K-mart and
Wal-mart. So, with all the new construction occurring within this Breitung
area, TIFA keeps getting more, instead of Beitung Schools getting the
benefit.
One note of interest is that the taxpayers of the County voted in extra
taxes for the Health Department. If you look at the amount that TIFA is
taking from the County, it sure looks like the county could have funded the
Health Department without extra voted taxes. And then after the extra voted
taxes were approved by the voters of this county, low and behold TIFA grabs
another chunk of change from the newly voted tax.
Also the Senior Citizens Programs tax had to be increased by the voters as
TIFA was capturing a larger amount of their money each year. When
representatives of the Senior Citizens Program approached the City to ask
that these dollars not be taken by TIFA, the answer was something to the
effect that the board is not interested in discussing such a paltry sum of
money.
Another interesting note to all of this is that part of the City tax that
people living in the Breitung School District pay for, is an extra voted tax
for a school liaison officer that is only assigned to the Iron Mountain
School District. Anyway, the more you look at things, the more you want to
look deeper.
2-14-2007-01
In response to 2-13-2007-02 post. I believe the
revenues you are referring to are associated with the special millage
assessment for the Kingsford High School debt. And YES, you are correct in
stating the amount of at LEAST $40,000.00. The research I've done shows the
following numbers captured by Iron Mountains TIF (County Tax
Records1990-2004):
1990- $ 8,189.10
1991- $21,656.80
1992- $24,716.38
1993- $26,089.56
1994- $35,557.71
1995- $26,111.58
1996- $37,767.62
1997- $45,827.28
1998- $46,284.54
1999- $38,027.07
2000- $38,027.07
2001- $48,833.48
2002- $48,494.04
2003- $48,983.65
2004- $45,369.64
If my math
is correct, that should add up to $539,935.52 dollars. Certainly one could
assume that the last two years have been at least $40,00.00 plus dollars.
That would indicate too me that over $600,000.00 dollars of B.T.S.D. school
debt has been captured. It would appear our taxes helped pave the
way for more revenue too be lost! We need to wake up people!
2-13-2007-02
I just found out that TIFA is capturing over
$40,000 a year from Breitung Township School District (BTSD). A
friend told me about it and says it can be verified by calling the
Dickinson County Equalization Department.
What the hell is going on here? It has
something to do with part of the BTSD on the northside of Iron Mountain
is within TIFA boundaries. Here is TIFA rolling in money capturing
money from the BTSD which is starving for money.
Does the BTSD Board of Education know about?
If so, what are they doing about it?
2-13-2007-01
The quality of the posts on this site is
getting better and better. More and more good and accurate
information is being posted. Disclosures about various actions, many of
them questionable, are found here that most of us would never have known
otherwise.
The Daily News
does little or no investigative reporting. They will report
controversies that take place in a public setting, but seldom dig in
behind the scenes. Channel 6 TV and Aaron Harper
of
Frog Radio are repeatedly showing or featuring the
mayor and City Manager. Naturally, they are going to put their
best foot forward at every opportunity. When they get a question it's
get is a "soft" one. Have you ever heard these reporters thrown a
hardball at them?
This site is the only place where
free-wheeling, continuing discussions take place. Fortunately more
and more people are finding out about it and telling their friends.
Almost all the information found in the
various Home Page categories, such as contracts, Vendor's Reports, City
Budget, Litigation, TIFA, DDA, Rental Ordinance, etc. is public
information. Much of it had to be extracted by the Freedom of
Information Act by various individuals.
The city has create a very expensive
website, yet none of that information appears there. That brings up the
question - why not? Who is hiding
and who is shedding the light.
My heartfelt thanks to the people who are
running this website. Since I found out about it about a month ago, I
have learned a great deal about city government I would never have known
otherwise.
2-12-2007-06 This post is in response to various issues raised by post # 2-11-2007-04. Ted Corombos, Chairman, TIFA First, I would like to congratulate the writer for doing a good deal of research. It takes time, dedication and a deep interest in the subject. TIFA operations are not readily understood by the public in general. The TIFA button on the home page of this site is a close approximation of an article I wrote for The Daily News quite a while ago. It tried to give an overview of how TIFA operates. I think it’s been changed somewhat, but I didn’t save the clipping from the newspaper, so I’m not sure how much it was changed. It’s clear to me whoever posted it had my article in front of them, however. Let me first address amendment changes to the original plan. As the writer correctly points out, the original plan named the streets and the boundaries where TIFA could reconstruct the street system and utilities. As a result, TIFA couldn’t go beyond those boundaries because they weren’t in the plan. On the advice of legal counsel, the new language allowed TIFA to build anywhere within its total boundaries. It was a common sense change. As for any unauthorized amendments, trust me, it didn’t happen. Amending the TIFA plan is a complex and lengthy process. Every unit affected by TIFA must be notified and allowed to comment. Both the City Council and TIFA must approve the changes formally. The new amendment is then filed with the state. The forward financial and project projections made by TIFA in its original plan and changed when an amended plan is adopted are a requirement of the TIFA plan under state law. They are, and we all understood this, just a guess, and a pretty wild one at that. Nobody could possibly predict in 1985, 1988, or any time thereafter, how much TIFA would be capturing five, then or fifteen years down the road. We made conservative estimates based on past historical trends of the preceding ten or fifteen years. It came out, as I recall, to 3% per year. That estimate would have brought TIFA’s total capture for its entire 25-year life to something around $2,000,000. If someone would have suggested in 1985 that TIFA, in fact, would by capturing more than that in a SINGLE YEAR, his sanity would have come into serious question. TIFA has exceeded the most optimistic projections by a very wide margin. It is not necessary to change to TIFA plan because more money comes in that anticipated. TIFA simply finds itself in the position to do more infrastructure work, street paving and other projects than originally anticipated. I’ll now try to answer some specific questions of the writer as best I can, but in some cases I will ask for clarification because I’m not sure of the question. Question 1: Please specify the unauthorized projects to which your are referring so I may comment each project specifically. Question 2: TIFA has spent more on certain projects than was originally project because (a) it had the money to expand them, (b) inflation since the original estimates, (c) unforeseen projects that fit with the plan. What projects are you referring to that are in the TIFA plan that are authorized but not completed? Question 3: To my knowledge, the only TIFA property purchases were the current city Hall and the former Eureka building that was razed to build the parking lot between Sikora’s and the Mellon Clinic. These transaction were clearly within the TIFA plan. We were skating on somewhat thinner ice when we budgeted $100,000 for the purchase of 5 acres from Peninsula Beverage. We also spent around $50,000 on that property in environmental studies, even though we didn’t own it. We did this because it was a city disposal site at one time. North Star Industries (Systems Control) wanted to build their offices on that site. As events turned out, the city swapped some land with Timberstone for that site and the city now leases it, I understand, to North Star. It is a large parking lot now. I’m not clear on the rest of the question. Jim Urbany has not been a consultant to TIFA since John Marquart became City Manager. He helped us on the North US 2 project. (Saved us around $200,000 and charged us next to nothing.) Question 4: I don’t know what you mean by “the job wasn’t legal” Explain. Question 5: The Carollo Street project had three bids. Bacco had the low bid of $62,873.75. The other bids were $71,862 and $98,995. I voted against the whole project. The owners would have moved their septic system at their own expense. The TIFA Special Meeting of October 9, 2006 on the city website is now correctly posted. Question 6: Your question was why TIFA is paying for (environmental) studies on the old Khoury site. This was another close call. TIFA voted $20,000 for this study. On second though I suggested to the TIFA board that we seek legal opinion since it wasn’t in the TIFA plan. The opinion came back from Miller-Canfield that we can’t do it, so we haven’t. Question 7: TIFA has budgeted altogether over $160,000 for technology at City hall, including the computer system and all it entails, website, phone, etc. We had spent money on the original computer system as well as all the furnishings when we bought and remodeled the current city hall. I guess our premise was that if it was legal under the TIFA plan then, it is now. Jim Urbany was the City Manager. I’m confident he did it right. I don’t know about the computer requested by whoever was fire chief then. I know we can’t buy fire trucks or DPW equipment. I ran the fire truck idea up the flagpole one time on the premise that maybe TIFA could pay a percentage of it. I got shot down. Question 8: You asked why John Marquart shoved the Hamilton Shaft project down TIFA’s throat. I don’t know of any Hamilton Shaft project. If you are referring to broken pipe we replaced going through the Recreation Parking lot that was a TIFA project. At the same time, we changed its location to accommodate a small room the Comfort Inn wanted to build. We had to get new legal easements, but they paid for it. The cost to TIFA did not change. If it had anything to do with the Hamilton Shaft itself, TIFA was not involved. Question 9: You ask when is the City Council going to stop unauthorized spending of TIFA funds? TIFA makes up its own budget and the City Council has to approve it. We get some input from them. I’m not pleased with some requests. Sometimes we put them in the budget with no intention of ever actually making the appropriation. Finally, I do have some concerns about ideas that are thrown our way from time to time. TIFA is not a cookie jar for every whimsical idea somebody thinks up. We have changed Iron Mountain forever with the projects we have completed. We will look at projects that make sense and can stand up to financial analysis and public scrutiny. If we can’t spend the money wisely, it should be passed on. We all know the City Council is faced with daunting problems down the road. I wish more people would come to TIFA meetings. We meet on the third Tuesday of every month at 3:00 PM. Webmaster: You may want to add this post to the TIFA button. 2-12-2007-05
All of the large expensive projects mentioned by
post 2-12-2007-3 were funded by TIFA. Got to the City Budget icon on the
home page. Click on pages 49-50, which shows the TIFA budget.
TIFA spends well over $1,000,000 a year. The DDA budget is a mere $36,000. The TIFA budget is 30 times bigger than the DDA. The DDA is a bunch of busy bodies concerned about 4 - 5 blocks in the core Old Downtown area and they are stooges of the "downtown clique" They make a lot of noise about practically nothing, get articles in the paper and have a sign in the front window of City Hall praising themselves. The Mayor, certain council members and Marquardt are also compulsive members of the 'downtown" clique. Every one of the study on downtown is like every previous study. There is only so much you can do for the Old Downtown, and it's already been done. From this point forward, it's money down the drain. The downtown has been stabilized. Maintain it as necessary and move on. The carpet-bomber analogy post a number of posts back had it right. They want to revitalize the downtown by destroying half the parking places? What planet are these people living on? The city spent tons of money to create the parking in the first place to satisfy the down town clique of yester year. In fact, even the down town clique of today is opposed to this most recent lunacy. Power to the people. November isn't that far away. 2-12-2007-04
The discussion here about the location of the
coming Italian Fest has been very lively, with many good points made,
including those made by Pat Nicometo. No one can deny that the DDA came up
with the idea, and that it is their mission to promote the downtown area. If
they don’t promote the downtown, they don’t belong on the DDA board. No one
should fault the DDA for getting what they want. It just shows they are
doing a good job in reaching their goals. I hope everyone can see the logic
in that.
With that said, I hope the DDA members can see
the logic in the other points being made about the downtown area. There is
more to the city than a little downtown area. It is not - or should not be -
the mission of the city council to continue to pump money into the downtown
at the expense of the residents and business owners in the rest of the city.
That is the rub here. The DDA has done SUCH a good PR job that some council
members now have tunnel vision. All they see is the "vibrant downtown," -
the rest of the city be damned.
Now, on this Italian Fest thing - GREAT IDEA!
One of the best I've heard in a long time. For the entire city, I mean.
However, the logic of having such a neat festival downtown just because it
was the DDA’s idea is like saying we should have the ski jumping tournament
downtown, too, if it’s the idea of a DDA member. Or, say a DDA member comes
up with the idea of resurrecting the annual ice fishing derby; should it be
held in the city hall parking lot?
2-12-2007-03
Marcus mentioned in one of his posts that the property owners in the
Downtown District pay an extra millage. This is true. Please take a look at
the Downtown Development Authority Budget which is part of the City Budget.
http://www.ironmountainissues.org/2007%20Budget/57-58.pdf
It shows total tax revenues for 2006-07 at $36,227. This is the amount
generated by the 1.5 mill tax on all property in the Downtown Development
District. This district not only includes the old Downtown, but also the
Midtown Mall area and Carpenter Ave all the way to Woodward Ave. The money
is to be used for projects within the District.
If the entire District takes in about $36,000 a year in revenues, can
someone explain to me where the rest of the money came from to fund all of
the Downtown projects. How could the district spend over $400,000 in 2005 to
completely rebuild a block of “B” Street between Carpenter Ave and US-2.
This included all utilities, sidewalks, bricks and trees. How were all of
the other streets paid for which include A Street, Hughitt and Ludington.
How was the rebuild of the City Parking lot behind Photo One funded in 2002.
How do you suppose the proposed parking lot project along with the downtown
band shell will be funded. It is obvious that the Downtown tax levy alone is
not enough to fund even a portion of these projects. Mr. Lefebvre is right;
these projects are being funded on the backs of the taxpayers of Iron
Mountain. And in direct competition with the businesses that are not located
in the Downtown District.
Ask about the history of the Downtown. You will be surprised that you the
taxpayer have been involved in this so-called revitalization since about
1970. This began when millions of dollars were spent in moving the train
tracks away from the downtown buildings along US-2. Then in the late
seventies after the formation of the DDA, the City purchased buildings and
demolished them to make way for City Parking lots. Remember the Wards
building at A and Iron Mountain Street, the A & P store behind the current
City Hall and the Eureka Tire Shop on Hughitt. Then in the early 90’s, a
multi million dollar storm sewer project was bonded to eliminate the
flooding in the downtown area.
Since the establishment of the DDA, numerous expensive “studies” on the
revitalization of the downtown have been conducted. These studies cost
anywhere from 10 to 30 thousand dollars each, and to this day collect dust
on a shelf at City Hall.
I remember, a report that was written on the amount of money poured into the
downtown over the past 30 years. If anyone has a copy of it, please post it
so all of the taxpayers can read it.
How many more studies or wasted money will it take to realize that the old
downtown is no more than memories. How much more will be spent on the Old
Downtown to the neglect of the rest of the City.
2-12-2007-02
I agree that the new downtown is on the South Side; so, now it could use
some sidewalks, trees and bricks to pretty it up.
People traveling through Iron Mountain are not going to seek out downtown
parking lots to look in a few high-priced shops. If they are going to stop,
they will stop at the south end where there is affordable shopping,
plentiful parking (that they can see immediately), and a new motel; or the
mid-town area where they see several stores and places to eat with easy
access. Let’s make the mid-town area and K-Mart mall area more appealing.
Let’s fill up any vacancies in those areas to the benefit of both the
shopper and the merchant. Let’s get more restaurants, jewelry stores, and
novelty shops where people can access them from one parking area. If we lose
stores in our malls, we will definitely suffer.
Where do people stay when they go to other places? Look at Appleton or Green
Bay. People stay near the malls. Once there, they may seek out the downtown
eventually, but they don’t go for the downtowns. Get people to stay in the
area to shop (including local people) and then put some attractions or
unique shops & restaurants downtown to draw them there. So much is being
wasted Downtown that we’re losing the opportunity to turn this area into a
place worth stopping.
Any tourist area had to first find a way to draw people in. Then the rest
follows. A couple of annual events isn’t going to do it either. We need to
be appealing on an on-going basis. People coming just for a little
“parking-lot event” are not coming to spend anywhere but at the vendors in
that ‘party area’. Most come from within driving distance and spend nothing
more than their entrance fee and a few snacks. Let’s give them a reason to
come from farther away. They can enjoy the event and get some shopping done
while they’re here. Let’s make it worth stopping in Iron Mountain instead of
doing on to Green Bay or Appleton.
It’s time, as another poster already said, to let the old downtown become
office-type businesses and the like; and start concentrating on making the
rest of Iron Mountain a place where people will want to stay and shop. Let’s
get the money put where it will actually help. We’ve tried and proven it’s
not working downtown.
2-12-2007-01
The writer of 2-11-2007-03 is right, of course.
I guess my sarcasm in the post about duplicity did not show through clear
enough. So, in the spirit of acknowledging that Mr. Zurcher most probably
did mean to say duplication, I’ll stand "corrected". Of course, that means I
have to retract my statements citing thanks, acknowledging courage, and
bringing something out in the open, too.
One thing I will stand by is that Mr. Zurcher
was defeated in Kingsford’s election because of his participation with John
Marquart in duplicitous talk on the subject of manpower, among other things.
As things stand right now, there is no duplication of manpower; there
are skeleton crews in every city department, except for administration,
which has seen a surge of new and unnecessary positions. The people that
actually do the work of the City are stretched to the limit. If you combine
that with Kingsford, you have to take into account the doubling of the area
involved.
The only area where we have too much manpower is
administration. Two city councils, two city managers, code enforcers,
assessors, department heads, even unnecessary departments, etc. The people
of Kingsford used the power of the voting booth to supplant their
worker-hostile and double-talking mayor. We should take our cue from them.
If we don’t, there should be no complaints.
I would also suggest that the writer of
2-11-2007-03 go back and carefully read what the governor
had to say about consolidation, and you will then see more duplicity in
Zurcher's latest words.
2-11-2007-04 Looks like Marcus is spewing more of the mayors' goo again! Everything on this web site is not negative. Numerous people have posted with facts and documentation. Some people just don't get it. Here are a few things that I'm POSITIVE about. Do your homework and you will find the documentation. On December 23, 1985 the city adopted the Tax Increment Financing and Development Plan, pursuant to Public Act (Law) 450 of 1980 as amended. The Plan included seventeen (17) Proposed projects at an Estimated cost of $5,272,000.00 dollars.
On April 15,
1988 then City Manager James Urbany,
proposed a Plan Amendment to the TIF Plan.
This proposed amendment was given due
process in accordance with P.A. 450
125.1818 Sec. 18
(2). On February 20, 1989 the TIF plan was
adopted as Amendment #1.
Changes to the
Plan include removing projects that were
100% complete, adding a few new projects and
increasing the Plan cost to $ 9,656,000.00
dollars. The schedule of revenues thru 2010
amended to $ 9,656,000.00 dollars.
On April 21, 1997 the TIFA members made a resolution calling for public hearing on an amendment to the TIF Plan pursuant to Act 450 of 1980. A PUBLIC hearing was held May 19, 1997 and a resolution acknowledging public hearing and approving an amendment #2 of the TIF Plan. The only change proposed in amendment #2 was the description of project #3, FROM: Reconstruct street system and utilities within boundries of Iron Mountain Street to Prospect Avenue and Fleshiem Street to "C" Street and "C" Street to "H" Street and Prospect Avenue and US 2. TO: Rehabilitate, reconstruct, or replace streets, curb, water system, sanitary sewers, and storm sewers within the district boundries.
NO
other changes were made by
amendment #2, including number of projects
or Plan cost and schedule of revenues.
Unless the
current uninformed/know-it-all council
has made unauthorized amendments to the TIF
Plan, the TIF Plan with amendment #2 is the
current "Plan of Record" for the city(so
we've been told). Having said all that, fast
forward to today. I have a few questions.
1. If the TIF Plan shows a current project cost summary of $9,656,000.00 plus the $428,000.00 for the completed projects removed from the plan by amendment #1, why has this current city council allowed the city manager and each other to push the spending on unauthorized projects over the cost of 20 MILLION Dollars? ( I would suggest you all review the projects TIFA has paid for once and has removed from the plan) 2.Why is it that TIFA has spent over 20 MILLION dollars for 10 Million dollars worth of projects and they haven't even completed all the projects authorized by the TIF Plan? 3. If Section "H" of the TIF Plan states: The Iron Mountain Tax Increment Finance Authority owns no property in the Development Area, and therefore does not intend to sell, donate, exchange, or lease any properties to or from the City of Iron Mountain in the Development Area. And if on August 26, 2003 the city attorney Gerry Pirkola sent a MEMO to TIFA Consultant Jim Urbany stating the Development Plan clearly delineates that "the City may aquire through purchase or condemnation private property". The attorney continues to go on saying: In addition, section "K" provides "ThisDevelopment Plan contemplates the purchase or condemnation of private property and the sale of public property in the development area by TIFA Authority or the City of Iron Mountain". After reviewing section "D" of the TIF Plan, the city attorney concludes and recommends "it appeears that TIFA is permitted to purchase private property within the district. However, because the potential purchase of the property in question is not identified in the TIFA Plan, I would recommend that the Plan be amended in accordance with the above-referenced provision authorizing the creation of TIF Districts."Knowing that Jim Urbany and the city attorney informed Mr. John Marquart and members of this council about this, why would City Manager John Marquart authorize the expenditure of close to a MILLION DOLLARS (after the standard BACCO change orders) for a project that has not been authorized according to LAW? I have much respect for Mr. Corombos and the questions he raised in regard to this and other TIFA issues. It's a shame that the "click" wouldn't listen to you.
A quick look at
map #3 of the TIF Plan clearly indicates the
city bought/SOLD land that
is private even though they are
only authorized to buy this land. Nothing
says they are authorized to sell private
land. The purchase of private land was
authorized to insure the city could increase
public property throughout the city
if desired.
4.How could Mr. John Marquart apply for a state grant for a job that is not legal? 5. I see according to your posted documents, Bacco construction recieved about $25,000.00 Dollars for the Carollo Street Project. I don't see any documentation supporting the fact that this job was even put out for bids. I'm sure our boys at the DPW could have done this for a lot less, under the direction of the cities new engineer of course. After all, it was only one property owner requesting the service. What was the big hurry? 6. Why is the city (TIFA) paying for studies on the old Khoury site? Is this authorized?
Oh YEA, I'm
positive we lost all those jobs and
taxes, along with the jobs at the
former Khoury/Wittock Supply building. It
appears both companies found Kingsford a
much better group to deal with. But then
again this council would consider most of
them riffraff because they actually do
physical work. Marcus, that adds up in your
book! Lose a couple hundred
existing jobs for a few possible jobs
if the declining market climate will allow.
7. How is it that TIFA could pay for a whole computer system in city hall? I didn't see that in the TIF Plan. In fact, as I recall, consultant Urbany stated in April of 2003 that a computer the fire chief requested be denied because it did not meet the requirements of project #5. 8. Why did city manager John Marquart shove the Hamilton Shaft project down TIFAs' throat? That was another $50,000.00 dollars the TIF board didn't authorize. In fact it was removed from the TIF jobs list in January 2004 because of the legality of it. Mr. John Marquart made the decision to pay this. 9. I guess the biggest question I have is when is this council going to stop all the unauthorized spending of TIF funds? Take a break and seriously LOOK at the TIF Plan. If amendments need to be made, let the people have a say. After all, we the 'average homeowners' are the ones getting stuck with making up all the taxes TIF is spending.
The object
behind TIF Districts is to bring run down
areas back into standard. ANY old chipmunk
could take credit for putting a building up
on what has always been vacant property.
I've said enough for now. I'm glad I was told about this site, Thanks! 2-11-2007-03 I
think it's quite clear from the overall tone of
his letter that Steve Zurcher meant duplication
and not duplicity. Let's give him the benefit of
the doubt. 2-11-2007-02
Let me
be the first to thank former Kingsford Mayor
Steve Zurcher for being the first public
official to have the courage to acknowledge
the duplicity that has been going on
locally for the past few years, mostly in
relation to manpower.
Here is the link to his Daily News letter to
the editor:
Here are a |