Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton City Manager Eric Waara and City Clerk Amy Zawada are seen at Wednesday's regular meeting of the Houghton City Council.

HOUGHTON — The Houghton City Council scheduled public hearings for a community development block grant and application for Commercial Rehabilitation Exemption by L & Z Rental during Wednesday’s council meeting. The council also approved three contracts regarding the city’s Water Related Infrastructure (WRI) Project and discussed the tabling of a rezoning request at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting.

City Manager Eric Waara said the Houghton is eligible to get some infrastructure improvement money through MSHDA’s Community Development Block Grant. The city applied and MSHDA invited the city to continue the application process so the city could pay for street improvements. The application has to get in by Sept. 17, but a public hearing must be held first. The council agreed to hold the hearing regarding the grant on Sept. 10.

The council approved another hearing for Sept. 10 regarding the Commercial Rehabilitation Exemption application for L & Z Rental’s project on 109 Sheldon Ave. Waara said the council approved the commercial rehabilitation district for the old Kirkish building on April 24, which was in preparation for when the project got to construction.

“Part of the financing package is a tax exemption on the improvements for a number of years after construction has started. While construction has started, we’re about a month in. We’re sold in on it and things can seem to be going well down there. So part of that process to go through that is now a public hearing on that exemption.”

In regards to the WRI Water Project contracts, Waara explained the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) is requesting filings that are grant eligible. “In addition to the engineering, you’ve got an environmental review, you’ve got to have a State Historic Preservation Office, otherwise known as a section 106 review on history work that you’re doing on there.”

The manager added, “And then when you get the grant and dole out the funds through the grant as construction continues, they make you have a certified grant administrator that does that. And they have these pre approved lists of firms throughout the state that provide those services. So working with MEDC, we got the RFPs out to all the certified grant administrators, the Environmental Consultants, the history consultants and so on.”

According to Waara, the city received responses back from those to whom the requests for proposals (RFP) were sent, and the firms’ awards would require contract services not to exceed the amounts for the WRI grant. Waara told the Gazette, the state is requesting professional grant management and allows the city its own procurement process with exceptions to the environmental and historical work being done though the grant administrator. Waara said those to whom the RFPs were sent are pre-approved by the state to conduct the work. He added that basically the city contacts everyone on the list given by the state and the city sees who comes back with a good price. The council approved the contracts with concurrence by MEDC.

No action was taken for arranging a public hearing regarding a rezoning request by the Houghton Housing Commission for property on Waterworks Drive near the BHK Child Development Board due to the Planning Commission tabling the matter. The Planning Commission met on Tuesday to discuss the rezoning and the meeting ran for nearly three hours. The Housing Commission is proposing to build quads, duplexes or both on the property, but may amend their request following multiple concerns such as road access and traffic expressed by residents at the Planning Commission meeting. Waara said the request could possibly be turned into conditional rezoning, which would place conditions on zoning which would play some to fate trepidation from the neighbors. The subject will be brought up again at the next Planning Commission meeting.

The council also approved the fall clean up for seniors schedule, which will fall on days from Sept. 26 through Oct. 26 with pickup dates for seniors and those with mobility challenges on Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 and 27.

“To be clear, the dumpsters are available Friday, Saturday, Sundays during that window of time,” Council member Mike Needham said. “So it starts on a Friday, ends on a Sunday. So those three-day weekends are when the dumpsters are available.”