To the editor:

It was last May that Houghton voters overwhelming passed a ballot initiative asking the city to postpone the sale of waterfront parking deck property until the citizens of Houghton and other stakeholders where able to participate in an open decision-making process exploring other options besides the sale to a single private developer.

Well, the single developer is now out of the picture and the city has decided to include the Houghton community in the planning discussion.

On Sept 29 at 5:30 p.m., the Houghton City Council will have an open house where we will have a chance to present our visions for the future use of the “Big Deck” property. As of this writing, the details of where and how this will happen have yet to be decided.

This is what we asked for, now let’s use this opportunity to share our visions for this valuable Houghton property.

Please try to attend even if you do not care to speak. A large showing will indicate to the council that we are still interested and support public input.

Have your comments and ideas in writing and give it to the city clerk before you leave making sure to keep a copy for yourself. If you cannot attend email or mail them to the city clerk, ann.vollrath@cityofhoughton.com, or City of Houghton, 616 Shelden Ave. Houghton, MI 49931.

And keep an eye out for where this meeting will take place.

Look forward to seeing you there.