HOUGHTON — Houghton approved the common areas for its social district at its meeting Wednesday night.

Nearly 110 municipalities have established the districts since Michigan legalized them in 2020, including Marquette and Negaunee. Houghton approved the district boundaries in June.

Within the districts, people can buy alcoholic drinks in special containers from licensed establishments, then carry them within a commons area. They can only be consumed in a designated part of the commons.

Police Chief John Donnelly said he didn’t anticipate the district causing problems.

“Especially with our hill, we’re not going to have people going for four or five drinks back and forth, which is a good thing,” he said. “It’s usually middle-age people that are going to have one cocktail, maybe two.”

Wednesday’s resolution outlines both the district within which the alcohol can be sold, and the commons area where they can be carried or consumed.

The commons area is primarily concentrated between Shelden Avenue north and between Bridge and Isle Royale streets, with the exception of spurs near eligible businesses — on Huron and Isle Royale streets to the south and extending along Shelden to Franklin Square to the east.

People can only drink alcohol in the portion of the commons area north of Shelden Avenue.

The district boundaries run from the Portage Waterway shoreline to the north, with the southern boundary at the north side of Montezuma Avenue. From west to east, it runs from the Bridge Street right-of-way by the Downtowner to the east side of the Isle Royale Street right-of-way before extending to Franklin Square.

The social district will be in effect from noon to 11 p.m. Monday to Sunday.

The city’s application to the state required two businesses to express interest. Waara said those two, The Den and the Keweenaw Brewing Co., will be joined by others when it becomes closer.

In other action, the council:

• Discussed deficiency findings in a Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) water supply evaluation. Regarding cross connections, where water could be contaminated by other sources, the city and EGLE will work with Michigan Technological University to install backflow devices, Waara said.

To address a deficiency flagged in the distribution system, the city will work with U.P. Engineers & Architects to complete a hydraulic analysis previously requested by EGLE. The city had been waiting for the conclusion of improvements to the College Avenue water system, which were completed earlier this year. The analysis is expected to take three to four months, Waara said.

The hydraulic analysis is also needed to complete the third item requested by EGLE, a reliability study, Waara said.

“They have to list them as deficiencies because they have dates on them, but there was a good reason we were waiting,” he said. “And now going forward into ’24, we’ll start looking at actually getting those done because we’ve checked off a lot of the projects that we want to do in the last couple of years.”

• Heard an update on the 2023 Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER) for the city’s street system. The Western Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR) conducted a visual inspection of 35 miles of city roadway, rating it on a scale of good, fair, poor or very poor. More than 40% of city roads fell under the good category, poor was the second-most common, at just under 30%.

Since 2019, the amount of good and fair roadway has increased by 8% — good by 20% and fair by 2%. Over the same span, the amount of poor or very poor roadway dropped by 8% — all due to a drop in very poor, which fell 25%.

• Tabled approval of the city recreation plan. It will go back to the Planning Commission for consideration of adding language regarding dedicated pickleball courts in the city. Local pickleball players who attended Wednesday’s meeting said the proposed options, including adding pickleball courts at the Garnet Street tennis court, would cause conflict with other users.

• Authorized Waara to sign an interlocal agreement with Houghton County to designate TAG Consulting as assessor in case an audit determines the city is non-compliant and the city does not have one. Although the city has an assessor, the agreement is needed for the county, Waara said. Houghton County is making similar arrangements with every other taxing jurisdiction within the county.

• Approved a special land use permit for 7023 Sandpiper Drive. Property owner Gregg Nominelli requested the permit for an accessory dwelling unit as part of the house he’s building.

• Scheduled a December council meeting for Dec. 20, while canceling meetings scheduled for Dec. 13 and Dec. 27.

• Added Jonathan Primeau to the Houghton Fire Department. It now has 27 members.