Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Hancock resident Danielle Ahrens comments on the draft of Hancock’s five-year master plan during the Hancock Planning Commission meeting’s Wednesday. The commission recommended council approval of the plan with revisions. It is expected to come before the council in May.

HANCOCK — The Hancock Planning Commission recommended the draft of the city’s five-year master plan for approval with updates at its meeting Wednesday.

Following a work session on Monday, the planning commission added another set of objectives under environmental hazards mitigation aimed at reducing and mitigating the effects of climate change. Action items included conducting a climate change impact study to identify carbon footprint, increasing access to composting and adding language regarding green building and infrastructure.

Some of the changes had been suggested during Monday’s meeting by Jonathon Nagel, who bought and is renovating Finlandia’s former Hoover Center. Resident Danielle Ahrens also called for more investments in sustainable infrastructure, such as solar energy, as well as studying the impact climate change would have on the city. One effect could be warmer summers, she said.

“A lot of people don’t have air conditioning, so how can the city help with that?” she said.

The section on Winter Cities was also rewritten to provide a more positive portrayal of winter. Commissioner Steven Walton, who amended the section, compared the previous text during Monday’s meeting it was “like hiring a Bears fan to write for the Packers.”

“I just took each paragraph and rewrote it with a more positive spin,” he said. “Rather than ‘Oh, it’s so dreadful here,’ it’s like ‘It’s wonderful and beautiful, and some people have to endure it.'”

Babcock said given the updates that would need to be made to the plan, it would likely not come to the city council for approval until its May meeting.

In other action:

• The commission approved the city’s six-year capital improvement plan. Updates include $1.8 million for erosion control along the Hancock Waterfront Trail, which would be bonded and paid for the Downtown Development Authority fund. Also from the DDA would be $200,000 for transient boat slips at Porvoo Park. Another $700,000 would come from the major street fund for infrastructure upgrades for the new business and technology park and other developments. While the money will be disbursed from city funds, much of it will come from state or federal grants, City Manager Mary Babcock said.

• Babcock updated the commission on the feasibility study on the three former Finlandia University buildings the city had purchased. OHM is conducting the study, which is starting with an examination of what facility improvements need to be made to bring the buildings up to date. The final of the three steps will be trying to identify the types of businesses or uses that could occupy the buildings.

• Extended the zoning approval for six months for a Bywater Properties project located at 306 Hancock St.