TOWER- The Tower Economic Development Authority, on Thursday, discussed the formation of the new community broadband committee, that will be working on the issue of broadband connectivity in our area.

Stephanie Ukkola, who is helping lead the effort, updated TEDA on the working session she and Michael Wood attended in Grand Rapids last month. Among other goals, she said they’re hoping to recruit 10-12 members, including township representatives, community members, and business owners, to serve on the committee.

The newly-forming committee will hold its first working session on Thursday, Jan. 10 from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Tower Civic Center. They will meet with representatives from the Blandin Foundation to learn about the task ahead, and funding opportunities. The group will host a community visioning session on Feb. 13 at the old Legion Building on Main Street from 4 – 7 p.m.

“The training session in Grand Rapids was very helpful,” Ukkola said. “I feel more confident about my knowledge of the program.”

TEDA member Steve Peterson Jr., who is also clerk of Vermilion Lake Township, said that Vermilion Lake intends to send a representative to the committee. Contacts will be made with other area townships.

Main Street trees

TEDA member Marit Kringstad asked Tower City Clerk/Treasurer Linda Keith about the city’s policy on Main Street trees. Kringstad noted that Keith had told the Main Street Committee that the city council had voted to remove all the trees planted in the sidewalk area.

Keith said the city policy was to simply remove any dead or dying trees, and not replace them.

“People don’t want them,” Keith said. Keith added that the root systems of the trees had damaged the electrical boxes that had been installed at each tree location, and that the salt and other de-icing chemicals used on the street and sidewalk were not good for the trees either.

TEDA member Joan Broten noted that many of the trees are not strategically placed, and block the view of storefronts.

Harbor committee

Broten asked what was happening with the city’s harbor committee and said she would like to see the committee become active again, as well as have community and business owner input.

Keith said the committee, which was a city council committee, had been disbanded since it had fulfilled its duties relating to getting the harbor area ready for development.

Incoming Mayor Orlyn Kringstad said the issue of the harbor committee would be addressed at the council’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 8.

Other business

 TEDA is still interested in the idea of having a disc golf course in Tower. A disc golf developer visited the area adjacent to the city ski trail parking lot and would like to explore it further. Some of the area needed may be on county land. Keith said the county would be interested in leasing the land to the city, as long as it didn’t infringe on the gravel pit and access road in that area. TEDA will have the disc golf group go and flag the area it is interested in, and then TEDA may ask the city council to approve hiring a surveyor to see if any of the area infringes on the adjacent county parcel, or if it is all on city-owned land.

Broten discussed the idea of starting up a community garden. TEDA will contact Victoria Ranua, who has experience in this field, to see what steps need to be taken, and find a good location.

Keith told the TEDA board that the city had received a data request for all emails from the TEDA chair in 2017. The TEDA chair at that time was Marshall Helmberger, who was using his own business email, not a city email account. Keith refused to tell the board who the request was from, falsely claiming it was private data. In fact, the name of a requestor is typically public data unless the person is the subject of the data requested and the information is otherwise protected.

 Steve Peterson Jr. asked if the data request was specific enough to meet city guidelines, and Keith said it was. He noted this was a request that needed to be handled by the city, not by the TEDA board. As of this week, Helmberger had already notified Keith that the emails were prepared for release, but Keith has not responded in recent days regarding the request.

TEDA holds its next meeting on Thursday, Jan. 3.