South Range — The South Range Village Council held its regular meeting Wednesday evening to a packed house. The council heard multiple reports from village workers and are looking for ways to address the concerns of flooding in the village.

After the heavy rain last month, residents shared concerns about rising water levels around the area with culverts overwhelmed with rainwater. The village will look into obtaining a camera to monitor the drainage system, though it is not the only option being considered.

Marcia Goodrich of Wild Ones was present to offer some ideas, especially for the areas around the village’s ballfields. Goodrich said she has talked with Village President George Eakin about the makeup of terrain around the ballfields. There is a ditch that takes in drainage from a hillside and the water rises and creeps into the field itself.

“I talked with a couple of people who are associated with our organization, and they suggested that one possible way to remediate this would be to start planting in that area some water loving native plants, things like pussy willows, tamaracks and red twig dogwoods,” Goodrich said.

Goodrich explained these plants soak up water from the ground and release it back into the air though evaporation. She also said another member of Wild Ones suggested to consult with a professor at Michigan Tech who possesses expertise with land remediation.

“I got in touch with him, and he said he would be thrilled to help out. He ran by there, took a look at it, he said that he thought the plants might help, but there also there might be a need for some drainage there,” Goodrich said.

Goodrich said the organization would not ask the city to pay for anything since communities are on tight budgets. More ideas will be further explored to address the drainage issues throughout the village.

The council discussed an issue with an alley behind property on Trimountain Ave. The prior property owner accumulated much debris which spilled onto the official access point for the alleyway behind the property, and over time travelers have gone around the protruding debris and have formed an unofficial access point to the alleyway which cuts into private property. After the meeting Trustee Justin Marier explained the council will be looking to correct the access point.

“So it will just be the alley,” Marier said. ” It’s not going to go through their property and allow them to have room for themselves.”

There was a proposal to put up a fence in the area to better distinguish the boundaries and prevent snow from being piled up in unwanted areas which can make certain areas on the property inaccessible.

The Fire Department report revealed a new firefighter has joined the team to replace a retiring member. The department also wrote two grants for $10,000 to replace an old firehose and one for $10,000 at a 50-50 match for $5,000 for communication equipment. The department is also in need of new uniforms, with some of the uniforms being over 20 years old.

The council also discussed updating the village’s website to include pictures of the council members and to obtain nameplates for each member for future meetings.