Kent Kraft/For the Gazette Village Manager Megan Haselden, left, discusses the proposed Copper Dog street closures with the Calumet Village Council Tuesday evening.

CALUMET – Though Copper Dog finishes in Laurium this year, it is still set to kick off in Calumet. At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Calumet Village Council, approved the road closure application for this year’s event, which indicated changes from previous years.

This year, 5th Street will be closed from Scott Street to Spruce Street and the “Snow Road” where mushers begin their race will start at Portland Street this year. 5th street crossings at Portland Street, Oak Street, Elm Street, and Spruce Street will be closed with police intermittently closing the Pine Street crossing. These closures are set to be from 3 a.m. Friday, Feb. 27, to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.

The parking lot for Agassiz Park will be a staging area and therefore closed and 4th Street will be closed between Park Avenue and Oak Street. The block of Oak Street between 4th and 5th streets will be closed for the street party, and the same block of Scott Street will be closed. These closures are set to be from 1 to 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 27.

Trustee Kelly Ryan praised the village’s efforts to work collaboratively with the Village of Laurium and Calumet Township in several areas. Progress continues on a combined Fire Authority between the three entities, as does a plan to bring recycling to the area.

Also, Village Manager Megan Haselden is advising the managers of Laurium and Calumet Township on their applications for the $400,000 grants from the Michigan Neighborhood Community Development Block Grant run by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Calumet was awarded the full funding last year.

Haselden mentioned that progress continues with the program and she has another meeting imminently. She also said the grant from the Financially Distressed Cities, Villages, and Townships program to repair and replace the roof of City Hall has finally been paid to the Village.

The Michigan Department of Labor and Opportunity Office of Rural Prosperity started a new Leading Rural Michigan program, a 12-month program designed “to increase engagement, collaboration, recruitment and retention rates in leadership positions in rural communities,” according to their website. Haselden was invited to participate and is one of 31 individuals in this inaugural cohort.

As is the case throughout the Keweenaw, snow removal issues have plagued the Village of Calumet. Haselden said the village is “hanging in there” with equipment. The new loader is functioning well at the moment and the smaller loader should be up and running again on Wednesday.

The village’s grader is “on life support” according to Haselden, but is still running. While the village has purchased blades for the loaders, mounts still need to be built to put affix them. The snow dumps are also getting pretty full but were recently pushed back to provide more room.

As soon as the snow lets up, the village plans to cut back the banks again, something they have done once so far this winter. While the village is in good shape currently, the relentless snow lately has been trying for the village and the employees tasked with snow removal. “I’m really proud of our crew,” said Haselden. “They have good attitudes and are staying really positive.”

The Organizational Development Committee provided an update saying representatives will start providing updates to the Council starting with the Downtown Development Authority in March and the Planning Commission in April.

In February, the Council will have a workshop focused on their annual budget on the 10th. The public hearing on the budget and regular meeting of the Council will take place on the 24th. Both of these meetings will start at 6pm in the Calumet Village Townhall.

In other action, the council:

• Approved paying bills and salaries totaling $70,419.14

• Appointed Chris Gren to 3-year terms, expiring 12/2028, in both the Historic District Commission and the Planning Commission

• Approved slight changes to the placement and look of the Big Annie Statue in the Greenspace next to the Calumet Theatre.