Publication of the city's audit report proved to be a major stumbling block to any decision on the City Charter as the St. Ignace City Council continued its discussion on the remaining four conflicts discovered during the review of the document that began last year.

At council's request, City Manager Eric Dodson will present the cost, if any, for auditors to prepare a budget summary and the manager's annual report, and the cost to publish them in the local paper as the charter requires.

In February, Council said the cost to print the complete audit, which is more than 60 pages, and the manager's annual report would be expensive.

With the financial information available, charter discussion is scheduled to resume at council's Monday, March 2 meeting.

At the March meeting, the city council also will discuss three ballot proposals to change the charter. They were presented by Councilman Don Gustafson at the council meeting Monday evening, February 2.

"The language is not difficult to change, but it's not difficult to comply with either," said Mr. Dodson.

Changing the city charter through a ballot proposal will require approval by three-fifths of the council members, approval by the state, and a public hearing.

During Monday's meeting, Mr. Dodson, who discussed the issue with auditors, was told they could provide an audit summary to comply with the charter requirement. The audit contains supporting documents which would not be a part of the summary, said Mr. Dodson, although they would be available in the clerk's office for public review.

The intent of the charter, said Councilman Paul Fullerton, was to make the financial information available to residents. He claimed that the city already is meeting the intent of the charter by attempting to make the document available, although he didn't elaborate.

Councilman Don Gustafson offered three resolutions to bring the charter into compliance, one of them to eliminate the audit publication requirement. The audit, he said, should be made available for the public at the clerk's office. Publishing it in the newspaper, he said, would be an added expense for the city.

"Is this something you want to have taxpayer money spent on?" he asked. "We're not trying to hide anything, from my viewpoint, not pay for something that's not necessary to be paid for."

Council did not discuss whether it would charge the public to make copies of the audit.

Mayor Paul Grondin said that publishing the audit summary, a once-a-year cost, would fulfill the charter requirement and not require a ballot proposal. He wondered what, if any, cost there would be to the city to have the audit summary prepared by auditors and also wondered what the cost would be to print the summary in the newspaper.

Resident Dean Baker said he thought the city is trying to hide information from the public by not publishing the audit in the newspaper

Mr. Gustafson said he is trying to save the city money, not hide any information.

Mr. Dodson said all municipal audits are also available on the state treasurer's Web site.

Mr. Gustafson's second resolution would make the auditor's management letter available at the clerk's office and eliminate the requirement that it be published in the newspaper.

The third conflict in the charter is the board of review meeting time, which is scheduled for the fourth Monday in March. The city's review board has been meeting on the third Monday at the request of the county Equalization Department.

The city could comply with the charter, said Mr. Dodson.

Treasurer Gene Elmer said the county still could prepare its reports in time if the city moved the board of review meeting to the fourth Monday as required by the charter, although the county "would be scrambling."

Mr. Gustafson suggested the charter be changed to move the meeting to the third Monday in March.

The charter requires the city manager present Council with a proposed budget each year in October. This was not followed until last fall when the city reviewed the charter.

Council's only concern with the October requirement is that it is too early. It had been suggested that the audit be presented in November, to have a better financial picture of the year, but Mr. Dodson said reviewing the budget in October "really wasn't that cumbersome a process."

If the resolutions are accepted by Council and approved by the state, they would be voted on in the November 3 election.

"There would be no special election," Mr. Gustafson said. "The proposals would go on the city ballot along with whatever else the city is voting on that day."

In other business, Council moved to the next step in dealing with the bird hazard facing pilots landing and taking off at the Mackinac County Airport. Members approved spending $7,500 for a feasibility study that will shed light on the best solution to redirect sewer plant effluent, which is now discharged in the bay at the end of the airport runway. The warm water, which can reach 94 degrees, attracts birds looking to feed on the fish drawn to the warmer water.

URS Corporation of Grand Rapids won the job over an $11,500 bid from Wilcox Professional Services of Escanaba.

The city council also approved the concept of establishing a city Web site. It is working with a Newberry company to develop three main sites, one for city government, one for the city's parks and recreation, and one for the marina. All 13 departments, including the library and the Department of Public Works, will each be required to chip in $261 for the development, said Mr. Dodson.

A resolution to designate the summer of fireworks special events status was approved at the meeting. The resolution gives the planning committee authority to control the vending on the Saturdays beginning July 4 and ending September 5. Mr. Dodson and Councilman Willie LaLonde said the committee will try to use local vendors.

Councilwoman Susan Tamlyn- Massaway reminded Council the Policy and Procedures Committee needed to meet to review outdated policies. Mr. Dodson said he had been working on them and he would schedule a meeting. Committee members include Mrs. Massaway, Mr. Gustafson, and Mayor Grondin.

Mayor Grondin said he had received plaques that list the city's mayors, attorneys, and clerks. The cost is $725 and he has received $400 in donations to pay for them. If he does not receive donations to cover the entire cost, he will pay for them himself, and no taxpayer money would be used, he said.

The first plaque will be presented at the Monday, April 22, meeting, which will be near the 52nd anniversary of Prentiss Brown, Jr. serving as city attorney.

Mr. Grondin reported that he had visited Standish earlier in the day to meet with third grade students who were learning about cities in Michigan. He answered questions about the favorite part of his job, education, the type of car he drives, what is St. Ignace like in the summer and in the winter, and is there snow on the ground.

The trip was in response to a letter from one of the students, who had picked St. Ignace as a city to learn about.

State Representative Tim Moore also visited the three third grade classes Monday.

The students gave Mr. Grondin a signed welcome poster, which he showed to the city council.

Council next meets Monday, February 16, at 1:30 p.m. at LaSalle High School in Moran Township.