HOUGHTON - Preparations for Houghton's upcoming streetscape project for Shelden Avenue are ramping up.

Houghton City Manager Scott MacInnes said a historian from the State Historic Preservation Office in Lansing will be visiting the city to provide advice on the color of brick to be used, the style of street lights, what to do at intersections and other issues.

MacInnes said bid-letting on the streetscape project is scheduled for April. Construction is projected to start the next month.

Additionally, MacInnes said, he will be presenting bids at the next council meeting for eight more facade projects in the downtown.

Councilman Gernot Joachim asked if the historian would be making recommendation on signage for the downtown. MacInnes said they would not be going with additional sign poles, because of the added difficulty in snow removal. MacInnes said the Suomi Restaurant is planning to put up a historic-looking sign similar to the ones at the Houghton City Center and the Portage Lake District Library.

"We've been pushing that look in the area," he said.

Councilman Craig Kurtz also suggested looking for alternatives to sandwich-board signs to find something with a less temporary look.

In other action, the council:

heard a report from Director of Public Works Mark Zenner. Ameritech has cleaned up two utility work sites by Sharon Avenue and M-26 and near the Dollar Tree Store on Brickyard Lane. Zenner said exterior work on the Nara Nature Park building is being wrapped up; topsoil should be completed by the weekend. Crews from Camp Kitwen will come up and do work on the Nara trails.

The city was also the high bidder on a 1977 Oshkosh sand truck from the Houghton County Memorial Airport, paying $13,579.90.

Zenner said the city is looking to construct a permanent 8-by-10 structure by Frog Pool Lane to monitor methane emissions, replacing the trailers currently there. Zenner said the last measurement of levels there found no detectable amounts. Leachate levels at Huron Creek are also declining, Zenner said.

heard a report from Police Chief John Donnelly. Parking fine receipts are up several hundred dollars per week over prior years' amounts. Donnelly said the department would table the purchase of an electronic ticketing device for two years until after the completion of the downtown streetscape project. Additionally, part-time officers and a new full-time officer are being trained on radar.

gave city approval to the U.P. Firefighters Tournament, which will be held in Houghton from July 24-26.

authorized the purchase of a 10,000-gallon fuel tank for $9,000. The money will come out of the Tax Increment Financing Authority fund.

set a public hearing for a Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant for July 23. The money would be used to create a green space/conservation park on land currently owned by Shalini Suryanarayana on east Fifth Avenue between Agate Street and Emerald Street.

Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com