Mackinaw City OKs New Rates
By Paul Gingras

Residents of Mackinaw City will receive higher water and sewer bills this June. The village council approved a rate increase plan developed by Village Manager Jeff Lawson, which charges the highest volume users 20¢ more per gallon than the lowest volume users.

On the low end, in 2008, customers in a zero-to-100,000-gallon bracket will pay $2.41 per 1,000 gallons of water and $4.58 per 1,000 gallons for wastewater treated. Customers using more than 200,000 gallons will pay $2.61 per 1,000 gallons of water and $5.14 per 1,000 gallons of wastewater treated.

An alternative rate proposal developed by Village President Ronald Wallin, which placed a heavier financial burden on highvolume users, was not studied by the facilities committee, said its chairman, Matthew Yoder. Mr. Wallin said the committee should have at least considered his proposal.

Satisfied with Mr. Lawson's plan, the committee did not consider the alternative rate structure, Mr. Yoder said.

Sue Krueger was appointed to represent the village on the Mackinaw Area Public Library board of directors. David Paquet was reappointed as harbormaster for the Mackinaw City Marina, and Tom Evashevski was re-appointed as village attorney. All nominations were made by Mr. Wallin and unanimously approved by the council.

The role of the manager as one who nominates people for other village positions was called into question by Mr. Wallin, who asked the ordinance committee to study the process and report to the full board. He wants the village to document the official method by which appointments are made, and the rationale used in the process.

For decades, village presidents have been making nominations for the chief of police, superintendent of the department of pubic works, recreation director, and fire chief/ambulance director. Mr. Lawson made them this year, after Mr. Evashevski studied the village charter and discovered that it calls for the manager to make these appointments.

"The chair would like to note that when the position of manager was established in 1983, council had no intent to invest appointment (authority) in the manager. Were that not so, village presidents would not have been making department head nominations since then, with final appointments resting with council. Clearly, in this instance, the chair feels council is vesting too much power in the hands of an unelected village officer," Mr. Wallin said.

At the suggestion of Mr. Wallin, Mr. Lawson will look into concerns shared by travelers delayed in Mackinaw City by a snowstorm that closed the Mackinac Bridge February 10, and will report his findings about the nature of those concerns at an upcoming board meeting.