Mackinaw City Infrastructure Projects Underway
By Paul Gingras

The South Huron Street sewer project in Mackinaw City, estimated to cost more than $300,000, went out for bids following approval by the Village Council at its Thursday, July 19, meeting. Very little of the village will be shut down by the project, which will take place after Labor Day. The sewer passes under the sidewalk at the entrance to Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry, but at no point will the business be blocked completely, said Village Manager Jeff Lawson.

Council approved two special events. The first is the 18th Annual Corvette Crossroads Auto Show, scheduled for Friday, August 24, Saturday, August 25, and possibly a portion of Sunday, August 26. The second is the Labor Day swim. Swimmers will arrive in Mackinaw City after crossing the Straits of Mackinac from St. Ignace. The event is organized by Governor Jennifer Granholm's Council on Physical Fitness, and swimmers will be selected by the council, Mr. Lawson said. Village approval is a formality for the local government, which must approve all special events on village property, he explained.

Council member Lana Jaggi will replace former Community Development Director Steve Schnell as the village liaison to the Mackinaw Area Visitors Bureau following Mr. Schnell's resignation in June. Having a village representative at Visitors Bureau meetings will foster communication between the organizations.

Advertisement for the community development director position, now renamed the planning/zoning administrator, has yielded several responses, and Council will review the applications in August, Mr. Lawson said.

Mr. Lawson has been reviewing the activities of the village Economic Development Corporation (EDC), on which Mr. Schnell also served. His goal is to ensure that EDC committees are "on task," he said. The main goals of the EDC are to keep the village's tourist economy vibrant and to diversify its economy. From the EDC have come projects such as the village's affordable housing project, its wind turbines, and renewable energy conferences.

The EDC is approximately 1.5 years old and was developed in response to a state-sponsored study that identified the municipality's key needs.

The village is close to implementing a free recycling project for area residents, promoted by Emmet County. Council is expected to vote on village participation in the project this month.

The project is expected to include drop-off containers behind Mackinaw City Public Schools, where residents will be able to dispose of glass, cardboard, office paper, tin, and plastic. The village has not had a recycling program since the mid- 1980s, and area surveys indicate that residents have been in favor of a recycling program for years, Mr. Lawson said.

Following two years of work, the final drafts of firefighting contracts between the village and Wawatam and Mackinaw townships are nearly complete. They will spell out the precise monetary commitments of the townships to the village, which provides both municipalities with fire protection. Mr. Lawson said he will submit final information to the town- ship boards shortly.

The payment formula will be based on total land value, population, and the number of estimated runs each year for each municipality. The contracts draw on information from the village's most recent audit, Mr. Lawson explained.

The agreements are expected to be signed this fall and be implemented in March 2008. They call for the formation of an advisory board, which will oversee implementation of the contracts and assess costs for each unit.

There has been no fire service contract update since the 1980s, Mr. Lawson said. Each township has been paying approximately $15,000 per year for fire protection, but until now, the village has not determined its cost to provide the services.

A person in a bear costume soliciting business for a local store generated a complaint, to which the village responded by informing the property owners that such activity breaks a longstanding hawking and peddling ordinance which forbids businesses from attracting customers with outside demonstrations, Mr. Lawson said.

"Too much of that would not be a favorable way to do business, so it is restricted," he said.