HOUGHTON — The Copper Country’s state legislators met with the Houghton County Board Friday morning to discuss COVID-19 restrictions and other issues in the county at a special meeting Friday.

The meeting was the idea of State Sen. Ed McBroom, R-Vulcan, who answered questions from the board along with Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock. McBroom had intended to meet with counties after taking office in 2019, he said, but had been delayed — first by legislative work surrounding mental health, then by COVID-19.

McBroom said he hopes to hold the meetings quarterly.

COVID-19 had scrambled the dynamics in the legislature even beyond the partisan divide, McBroom said.

“You’ve got my colleague from Southfield, Michigan, who could show me a text message he has from a mayor saying, ‘We’ve got to go to the governor and get her to not open up the restaurants,'” he said. “And I’ve got a resolution and text messages and communications from all over my district saying the exact opposite.”

Several boards have passed resolutions in opposition to all or part of the restrictions, including Houghton County, which last week unanimously approved a resolution calling to suspend restrictions on indoor dining, bars and indoor rinks.

McBroom said legislators had been frustrated by their lack of control over the coronavirus guidelines. Since October, pandemic orders have been issued through the state Department of Health and Human Services using an emergency law enacted in response to the 1918 flu pandemic.

“Perhaps that is best in the long run, but it’s leaving a lot of us who are elected, and I think a lot of our citizens feel very disempowered, left with no recourse to have their opinion heard, and then to be sure it was heard, and then to be sure that it’s not the minority opinion,” he said.

McBroom estimated 80% to 90% of constituents he had heard from in the U.P. had been against the restrictions.

In the 110th District, it’s about two-thirds, Markkanen said. The House’s new budget director, Rep. Tom Albert, R-Howell, released a budget plan this week that would make $2.1 billion for K-12 schools contingent on the governor ceding authority on school reopenings and school athletics to local health departments.

“We’re going to use the budget to try to get the governor and her administration to the table to try and work things out,” Markkanen said. “There’s that segment of the population that wants things open, and we have it in Houghton County.”

The legislators also addressed the continued operations of Cafe Rosetta, which has continued to offer indoor dining in violation of the state order. McBroom said most of the restaurant and bar owners he had spoken to supported their stance.

“Mostly it’s just some pride that somebody is fighting the fight for them,” he said.

The issue had been especially acute for businesses in counties along the Wisconsin border, where indoor dining is allowed, McBroom said.

Legislators also talked about the issues surrounding involuntary transportation of mental health patients in the Upper Peninsula, which has been a constant concern because of the costs and manpower involved in the long-distance treks. In Houghton County, about 80% of mental health transportation are to locations below the bridge, Undersheriff Kevin Coppo said. Each of those trips costs the county at least $2,000, he said.

McBroom said next week he will reintroduce legislation that would allow counties to create boards similar to those for concealed-carry permits that could recommend private security firms to conduct the transports.

A similar bill was approved in the Senate last year, but failed to pass in the House.

It would be less expensive for the counties, McBroom said. By being more streamlined, it could also be easier to get funds from the state.

“Right now, the billing comes from such a disparate amount of parties that the DHHS can basically say ‘Oh, we can’t do it,'” he said.

The bill would not be a mandate, but would allow counties to see if it could save them money, McBroom said.

Commissioners also stressed the importance of reopening the recreational trails damaged in the Father’s Day Flood. The county’s new recreational authority has been working with the Department of Natural Resources on progress.

About $4.7 million was allocated to the Lake Linden trails, with $3.3 million yet to go, Commissioner Glenn Anderson said. Trails had been hoped to be open by this year; even the money allocated to it went away after COVID-19 began, Vice Chairman Tom Tikkanen said.

The trails have a larger importance in the Copper Country, where much of the tourism economy is tied to it, Tikkanen said.

“It’s a devastating blow to our communities such as Lake Linden and our recreation industry in general not having that loop from Lake Linden to Hancock/Houghton,” as well as the Freda trail, he said.

Further suggestions include coordinating involvement from senior design students at Michigan Technological University, Tikkanen said.

McBroom proposed lining up a visit to the area by State Sen. Jon Bumstead, R-Newaygo, who chairs the DNR budget.

“I know the impact that not having this loop is having,” he said. “But then I have to continue to communicate that third-hand to John and I think it’s probably best if I get him to sit with your trail clubs, with you, and then go out and look at it. Because it’s taking too long.”

While Bumstead is in the area, county officials would also like to show him Houghton-Douglass Falls, which has the state’s tallest waterfall. The state purchased the site in 2018. It had indicated it would collaborate with Calumet Township on the planning for improvements such as a parking area, but later changed its mind, Tikkanen said.

The board also discussed efforts to improve recycling in the county. In the short term, the county will issue a request for proposals for a recycling center at the transfer station. Longer-term, the county is investigating selling or leasing the transfer center to a private entity. As for what the legislature could do to help, Anderson said it would be to know what the state policy would be for the foreseeable future.

Former Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyatt had been working on an overhaul of state recycling before the Flint water scandal, McBroom said. The sticking point in reforming state recycling has been the need for an update of the state’s 10-cent deposit law, McBroom said. He predicted the issue would not be resolved soon.

Following the Houghton County meeting, McBroom was scheduled to hold a similar meeting in Escanaba with State Rep. Beau LaFave.