Kent Kraft/For the Gazette James Flood, owner of the Mineral Train Depot in Calumet, addresses the Calumet Village Council and gathered public at Monday's public hearing.

CALUMET – The Calumet Village Council held the public hearing Monday prompted by the council’s unanimous passage of a resolution of intent to vacate a portion of 9th Street. The action was taken at the Council’s April meeting. Conversation around this potential vacating started back in September 2025 when the council postponed a discussion in favor of setting up a public information session before their October meeting.

A total of 19 people attended and the council received 22 letters which were later posted to its website for public review. In comparison to the October meeting, Monday’s hearing was significantly less attended. Nine residents showed up and three joined on Zoom, and, according to Calumet Village Council Clerk Lori Weir, one letter was received. Anticipating a turnout similar to the previous meeting, public hearing was held in the Calumet Theatre ballroom.

Documents on the Calumet Village Council website for that October session included a letter from James Flood, owner of the Mineral Range Depot, dated April 5th, 2024 requesting the vacate vacate 9th Street. This 9th Street issue was initially on the agenda for December, but it was remobed because of “last minute legal correspondence.” The issue was on the April agenda where it was passed. Several public comments at recent meetings have mentioned the 9th Street issue.

At Monday’s public hearing, Village Trustee Kelly Ryan updated her efforts to better understand both sides of this issue. Starting off by acknowledging Flood as a local developer with a successful track record of building rehabs, Ryan went on to recommend the council get a full survey of 9th Street to assist in their full understanding of the ramifications of vacating.

Father Gracious Pulimoottil of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church was commended by Ryan as a long-term friend and advocate of the Village of Calumet and said he and the church have no intention of putting anything at the end of 9th Street that might hinder first responders. Should the council decide to vacate, the land would return to the ownership of the church which is why Ryan asked.

There are six houses on the portion of 9th Street most directly impacted by this decision, and Ryan talked to many of the residents living there. She reported all she talked to are in support of the renovation to the depot, but many are opposed to vacating.

After Ryan’s update, members of the public were given the chance to address the council, each allotted five minutes. Flood was the first to speak, saying he’s lived in the community for more than 30 years and feels the village has a lot of potential. “I’ve been waiting for 25 years for the village to flourish,” said Flood, “and the only thing standing in the way are the people who don’t want it to flourish, frankly.” He went on to stress he “cannot open up the building for an event or to the public” with the liability issues he sees in the current state of 9th Street.

Virginia Dwyer, a resident of 9th Street and a vocal critic of both the motion to vacate and the way the council has handled the issue thus far, said the residents are the most important voices and their concerns need to be taken into account. “I’m 100% for the renovation, but 100% against vacating 9th Street,” she concluded.

Marlain Birdi, another resident of 9th Street, stressed there are other entrances to the depot building on other streets and this project could be done without vacating the section in question. Should the council vacate the property, she said it would impede the residents and the council needs to look at what is best, not just for the village, but specifically for the residents of the street.

Kelly McGrath addressed concerns regarding how much the vacation would end up costing and who would be paying for anything involved. In all the years she has lived in the area, she claimed to not see any safety concerns, unsure what liability worries Flood has. She also voiced her personal offense at Flood’s comment implying those who oppose his efforts oppose improvement of Calumet.

Sandy Johnson similarly had money concerns, wondering how this move could impact the village’s budget. “Snow removal costs will go up; who would pay for it,” she asked. Johnson also gave several suggestions on alternative plans for the depot that wouldn’t impact 9th Street, looking at Flood often and acknowledging he’d probably already looked into many of them.

Jim Therrian who said he was representing St. Paul’s church council said they are actively talking to legal counsel about 9th Street. His suggestion to the council was to make sure to talk to the church again before making any final decisions.

Peggy Germain addressed the council via Zoom, saying technical issues with the platforrm were prevalent throughout the meeting, not allowing her to follow everyone’s comments. She said more pressing was the limitation of five minutes for each person to talk. Germain wanted people on both sides of the issue to have as much time as they needed to finish their thoughts because listening to the public was the whole point of the meeting.

Calumet Village Council President Rob Tarvis stressed the five-minute time allotment is what they always use for their meetings, but he would open it up to the council to see if more time should be given. Ryan agreed this meeting was important and voted to give people three more minutes of speaking time if they desired. Trustee Bernice Smith voted in agreement with Ryan.

Trustee James Tercha said he had already heard everything he needed to from those that had gathered for the meeting, and voted no. President Pro Tempore Pamela Que agreed with Tercha and also voted no. That left the tie-breaking vote to Tarvis who also declined to extend more time.

Before adjourning, he reminded those in attendance the council would not be addressing the 9th Street issue at its meeting schedule for last night. He added the public has its five-minute petition period at the beginning and ending of the meeting, and they can use it to talk about anything.

He also told those gathered there would be a special meeting of the council at 6 p.m. June 23 to vote on vacating the portion of 9th Street. This meeting is contingent on getting a full survey of 9th Street done beforehand.

The Daily Mining Gazette will have coverage of Tuesday’s council meeting in our Thursday edition