Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Crews pave the east parking lot on Lakeshore Drive Thursday. It is planned to be open for parking permanently on Monday, after having been reopened for temporary parking last month.

HOUGHTON — The Lakeshore Drive streetscape project took another step toward completion as paving of the east parking lot started Thursday.

Both the east and west lots should be fully paved by Monday, City Manager Eric Waara said at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

“The plan is that Public Works is going to stripe the east lot on Friday, so that Monday morning that lot is officially open for business in its final form,” he said.

More work will follow, like planting and the installation of guardrails, Waara said.

While the east lot will be open, MJO will use the west lot for staging as it completes work on the walkway being built on Pewabic Street. That work should continue through October.

The first phase of work by the Lakeshore Center is finishing up, Waara said. The work is repairing the site where the Lakeshore Center dock partially collapsed in 2021. Crews are installing a sidewalk between Dee Stadium and the Mattila Square pier.

The city’s large paving project has also finished up for the year. Phase 3 water and sewer work on College Avenue has also been completed.

In other action, the council:

Heard from Waara the city had reached a settlement agreement with Ed Gregory. He had sued the city in Houghton County Circuit Court over the Planning Commission and City Council decisions not to approve his requested rezoning for property on Canal Road from R-1 to R-3. As part of the settlement, the Planning Commission and City Council will rehear the request over the next couple of months.

Heard from Waara the city had talked with Equipment Loans of the Keweenaw about acquiring a beach wheelchair for Kestner Park for people who are unable to walk to the sand. Funding could potentially come from a Keweenaw Community Foundation grant, Waara said.

Approved the purchase of a 2008 International sander for $71,280. It will replace the city’s 2002 Peterbilt sander, the frame of which was found to have massively degraded. The cost will come out of the city’s equipment fund.

Approved a lot split on Hope Fellowship Church property.