Girl Scout cookie sales got underway in St. Ignace with delivery of a box of a new caramel cookies named Dulce de Leche to city leaders Monday, January 5. The annual cookie sale begins Friday, January 16, and runs through Sunday, February 1. A box of cookies is $3.50 this year, the first increase in the popular morsels in more than 10 years. St. Ignace senior level Girl Scouts from troop 5340 making the presentation at city hall are (from left) Andrea Perry, Annemarie Horn, and Girl Scout ambassador Dana Perry. Accepting the cookies are Mayor Paul Grondin (left) and City Manager Eric Dodson. Council members were adamant in their opinions as they debated future action on the St. Ignace City Charter revisions. They reached no conclusions other than they need more time to consider the four conflicts they pinpointed after an eight-month review process that began last year in January and ended in August.

The only thing city leaders agreed on during their first meeting of the year, Monday evening, January 5, was that updating the 42-page document would cost the city money.

Further discussion was postponed until February.

Last revised in 1970, the charter is the fundamental document that directs the city in its operations.

Weighing their obligation to follow the document with the cost to revise it, drew a heated discussion.

Council has to be 100% in compliance with the charter, said Councilman Don Gustafson.

"According to our oath," he noted, "we have to faithfully uphold what's in the charter. . . . We have to find a way to comply with the charter or we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing, it's as simple as that."

Councilman Paul Fullerton disagreed, saying the council had not been in compliance for 20 years and, because of the depressed economy, this is not the time to revise the document.

"We need to be saving money, not wasting money on things that we can live with, that we have lived with for 20 years," he said.

Public complaints that the city council is not following the charter, said Councilman Willie LaLonde, is why the document was reviewed in the first place.

Mayor Paul Grondin asked the board members how they would like to proceed, since the city has asked for help from the Michigan Municipal League, which recommended a consultant be hired to make the changes. Consulting fees are estimated to be about $10,000.

Councilman Merv Wyse said the council could not turn its back on the charter now that it has been reviewed and the city has found that some requirements are not being met.

Councilwoman Susan Tamlyn- Massaway said she doesn't think a consultant is needed and that the city can make any revisions on its own.

Any changes to the charter will require a public hearing and a public vote, and Mr. Fullerton noted that those, plus printing a new document, will be at city expense.

Councilman Tom Della-Moretta asked to be reminded of the four conflicts that had been discovered while reviewing the document, which was last discussed in August, although no one could remember all four.

City Manager Eric Dodson said one conflict was having the next year's budget prepared and presented to Council by October, which did happen this year.

A second requirement, he said, is to publish the city's audit in the local newspaper. Publishing the approximate 60-page document would be expensive, said council members.

The other two conflicts that council could not remember Monday evening are the meeting time of the board of review and the due date of taxes. The Board of Review is required under the charter to meet during the fourth week in March, but that does not give the county equalization department enough time to complete state reports. The board, therefore, has been meeting during the third week.

Delinquent tax penalty payments were recognized as an issue during the charter review process, because the charter is not clear on the subject. The city begins charging a penalty for unpaid taxes September 1, the day they are due, but it is not clear if the penalty should revert to July 1, when the tax bills are issued.

Another debated topic at Monday's meeting was the distribution of casino compact money from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians. Under the state compact signed in 1993, the tribe has agreed to distribute 2% of its slot machine revenue to surrounding communities.

Following deliberation concerning $45,000 received from the Tribe, Council approved a disbursement plan submitted by Mr. Dodson. The money will be distributed as follows: $5,000 to Fort de Buade, $1,500 to the St. Ignace Moose Lodge 999 for Christmas food baskets, $3,500 to the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce, $5,000 for St. Ignace community events, $5,000 to the Fireworks Committee, $12,500 to the Ojibwa Museum, and $12,500 to Little Bear East.

St. Ignace resident Donna Pope said she objected to the distribution. She thought the 2% money was for the city to fund infrastructure projects, including street repair.

"The city, itself, is getting less and less," she said.

In other business, Mr. Dodson gave Council a review of projects planned for the coming year. (See story in January 1 issue).

"While the economic times have been tough for Michigan and St. Ignace," Mr. Dodson told Council Monday before reviewing the projects, "we are still very fortunate to have a pretty proactive staff that has worked to pull some projects together to make things happen for 2009, and we have other community groups working to make St. Ignace a better place."

The city also is working with the Michigan Department of Transportation to change the I-75 exit signs at 344A to include the city of St. Ignace, said Mr. Dodson. The signs now indicate Escanaba and Manistique to the west, but not St. Ignace to the east.

"The problem with St. Ignace for so many tourists is you get off 344A and you don't know we're here," he said.

The city is negotiating a contract to plow the Mackinac County Airport, which had been done by the Mackinac County Road Commission.

Recreation Director Scott Marshall provided an update for his plans for 2009, including his desire to bring more hockey, wrestling, and dodgeball tournaments to the city.

A new open skate program at Little Bear East, named Fab Friday, is proving successful, he said. For $5, people receive skate rental, two pieces of pizza, and a soft drink. The program has helped contribute to the $700 earned from open skate last week, which is about twice the revenue of the entire season last year.

Roller hockey will be played at the arena this year and will be open to teams, residents, and visitors. For baseball and soccer, he plans to recruit and train more umpires and referees and establish a traveling team for each sport. New divisions are planned for flag football and he is working to bring back men's softball.

Mr. Marshall said he plans to aggressively market the conference rooms at Little Bear East and is working on setting up a Web site for the recreation department.

City Council next meets Monday, January 19, at 8 p.m. in the St. Ignace Public Library.