The Mackinaw City Village Council, meeting Thursday, April 15, approved a political Tea Party the day before Labor Day, extended contracts for its department heads and administrators, and approved its new ferryboat overflow parking ordinance.

Patti Vincent of Petoskey, who is organizing the Tea Party rally at Mackinaw Bay Trading Company on South Huron Avenue Sunday, September 5, told the village council the event is expected to draw about 10,000 people and that her group of about 40 volunteers would be responsible for security and arranging for emergency medical services. She assured village officials that the event would be peaceful.

Mrs. Vincent also said she would fence off the rally from public streets and provide portable toilets, after village officials said they are concerned her event would interfere with large crowds already moving into Mackinaw City for the annual Labor Day Bridge Walk Monday.

Village President Jeff Hingston asked Mrs. Vincent to fence off the rally area because it is near a street that will likely have high traffic the day before the Bridge Walk. Trustee Richard Perlick noted that portable toilets available for the bridge walk are provided by the state, and may be locked before Monday.

A stage will be erected on the site for musical entertainment and a program on the U. S. Constitution is being planned for children, Mrs. Vincent told the council. She speculated that local school bands could play patriotic music during the rally. In response to further questioning from the village council, she said she is still looking into how overflow crowds could be managed.

The unanimous council approval for the rally stipulated that a site plan of the stage would be required for review.

Department Heads Reappointed

Reappointments were made for James Tamlyn as Department of Public Works superintendent, Patrick Wyman as police chief, Pat Rivera as Water and Wastewater Department superintendent, Dave Paquet as recreation director and harbormaster, and Fred Thompson, Jr. as fire chief and ambulance director.

Jeff Lawson was reappointed as village manager, Tom Evashevski as village attorney, and C2AE as village engineer. All appointments are for one year

Mr. Hingston asked the Finance Committee to look into extending Mr. Lawson's appointment for longer than one year , and the committee is scheduled to discuss it Monday, April 19, at 4 p.m.

Boat Line Overflow Parking Amendment Approved

Council approved a zoning amendment addressing boat line overflow parking lots and also agreed to provide copies of amendments to the public during the meeting. Former planning commissioner Rosada Mann requested the council make the second reading of the amendment out loud, since it waived the first reading at the last meeting. She also asked that copies be provided in the future so that visitors attending the meetings would know what is going on, and all board members approved of the idea.

The amendment enables boat lines to use their own lots for overflow parking for up to nine years without paving them, provided the lots are shielded from public view. Requirements include using earth berms and shrubbery where the lots are exposed to public streets.