City Opposes Prison Work Program Cut, Telephone Tax
By Ryan Schlehuber

St. Ignace City Council, meeting Monday, August 6, opposed two state legislative proposals, one to cut the state prisoner work program and the other to impose a $1.35-amonth fee tacked on telephone bills to fund state public safety programs.

The State Department of Corrections announced to the City of St. Ignace and other Michigan municipalities that its public works contracts across the state will be canceled as of Friday, August 17, owing to budget constraints. The Kinross/ Hiawatha Correctional Facilities reports an annual $8.9 million loss in the program.

"The fees charged for the crews simply do not come close to covering the actual cost to the Department," wrote Linda Metrish, the Kinross and Hiawatha Correctional Facilities warden, in a letter to St. Ignace City Manager Eric Dodson July 19. "Unfortunately," she writes, "we have come to a point where we can no longer afford to support this program."

The state prisoner work program provided a labor force for municipal lawn care, tent set-up, painting sidewalk curbs, posting signs, maintaining community ball fields, and installing Christmas decorations downtown.

Mayor Paul Grondin, who is a corrections officer with the rank of sergeant at the Kinross prison facility, said he believes the state department will find a way to keep the program.

"I don't think they will (cut) it," he said, "but it will be the 11th hour," meaning it may come down to be a last-minute decision. "It's been a hot topic at the prison and, personally, I'm opposed to having this program cut. The (prisoner) work crew is a fantastic asset" to the city.

Council adopted a resolution opposing the cut, 6-0, with Councilman Don Gustafson absent.

Mr. Dodson, who has no vote, was also absent from the meeting.

Proposed Public Safety

Telecommunications Tax

Council voted 6-0 to oppose a bill in the Michigan House of Representatives, HB4852, would tax every communications service user $1.35 a month to raise nearly $200 million for state public safety programs.

Mackinac County 9-1-1 Coordinator Bryce Tracy told Council the fee may not benefit all of Michigan's 83 counties and that the money would be placed in the state's general fund, which, he said, raises many questions.

"There's no accountability for where the funds are going through," he said. "Once it's in the General Fund, the state can do what they want with it."

The bill was proposed by State Representative George Cushingberry Jr. (D-Wayne County), who is the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

The state's Public Safety Communications System would receive the biggest chunk of the funding, 24.4%, followed by the Forensic Science Division of the Michigan State Police at 23%. Other agencies that would benefit are Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards, Criminal Justice Information System, Prosecuting Attorney's Coordinating Council, Bureau of Fire Services, Traffic Law Enforcement and Safety Fund, and the Detroit Police Department crime lab.

"I think City Council is doing the right job by having this resolution that opposes this," Mr. Tracy said, "but I do think there is a need for money for these things, but this kind of funding is not the right way to go."

Council didn't discuss the matter, but voted against it.

Fort de Buade update

City attorney Prentiss Brown, Jr. told Council he is waiting on the attorney representing the family of the late Donald Benson on an agreement to purchase the Fort de Buade Museum building. In exchange, Mrs. Benson will donate the museum artifacts to the city.

The Internal Revenue Service has approved the agreement between the city, the Bensons, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, which is providing $708,000 to purchase the building. The estimated 5,000 artifacts must be re-appraised, he noted, and the city would have 60 days after the agreement is finalized to complete the appraisal.

The appraisal would be beneficial to the city, since many artifacts are not included in the inventory list from a 2005 appraisal that was done by a Dr. James Hansen of Minnesota, said Judy Engle, president of the Michilimackinac Historical Society, which will operate the museum and its gift shop under an agreement with the city.

The gift shop inventory will hopefully be included the purchase price, Mr. Brown said.

"With my suggestions to the Benson's lawyer," he said, "the purchase of the personal property of Fort de Buade will include everything, from the dirt on the floor to the curtains" and all of the items currently in the gift shop.

Mr. Brown said the Bensons were interested in keeping some paintings of Native Americans, which made him and other Council members wonder if there will be other items in the museum that the Bensons will ask to keep in the future, which could potentially upset details in the agreement, however, Ms. Engle said the paintings are not as important to the Historical Society.

"They are not unique to the area and are not important in relating to the local history," said Ms. Engle.

Mr. Brown said he will again contact the Benson family's lawyer to expedite the procedure.

"I'm not allowing this deal to close until we have a full understanding of the agreement," Mr. Brown said. "We can close tomorrow, but I feel that there are issues that have been brought up to make us ask 'What ain't we buying?'"

The city hopes to close the deal by Monday, August 13, and have the museum open for the Labor Day weekend, September 1 through September 3.

St. Ignace Public Marina Director Eugene Elmer reported marina revenues up 15% this year.

"We're up in every category except boat launch fees," he said, "which tells you, basically, the big guys aren't worried about the fuel prices and they're traveling. The little guys, however, are feeling the high fuel prices more."

The city does not keep occupancy figures for the marina, so the number of boats using it is not known, however, Marina Harbor Master Jeff Davenport believes this summer is the busiest in the eight years he has worked there.

Mr. Elmer told Council he hopes to cut down on water expenses for the marina by limiting the number of times the grass there is watered.

Mayor Grondin said Bruce Dodson has resigned from the city's Harbor Authority and a replacement will probably be appointed at the next meeting Monday, August 20.

He also said repairs to the crack on the city's water tank at Evergreen Shores and electrical corrections are complete and that the 100,000-gallon tank now has 10,000 gallons of water in it.

The tank will be filled once testing of the water and its chlorinating process is approved, which, he said, could be as early as Friday, August 10.

"It looks like we finally are done with it after 13 months," he noted.

Council set a public hearing to be held at 8 p.m. at City Hall Monday, August 20 to discuss the adoption of amendments to the city's Zoning Ordinance. Many of the amendments are corrections within the ordinance that have been submitted by Building Inspector Paul Sved through the past six months.