IRON RIVER—Consolidation for the city of Iron River took another step forward with the appointment of a single housing commission for the city at the Iron River City Council meeting on March 19.

Elected to the newly established Iron River Housing Commission were: Harry Krans, five-year term; George Brunswick, four-year term; Judy Mariani, three-year term; Marilyn Pennanen, two-year term; Willard Olson, one-year term.

Consolidation in 2000 left the new city with two housing commissions, a “no-no” by standards set out by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

After several years of trying to find a solution, City Attorney Mark Tousignant suggested the city simply go ahead and consolidate by merging the two boards.

City Manager John Archocosky had written a letter to all members of the two boards, asking those who were interested in serving on the new commission to apply for the positions. Eight names were submitted: Krans, Vivian Leonoff, William Swienty, Brunswick, Pennanen, Joyce Gasperini, Mariani and Olson.

In a memo to the council, Archocosky noted that “the only logical method to select the new board members was by a lottery system.” Through that system, five names were selected. At the council’s March 19 meeting, Archocosky again turned to the “pick a number” lottery system to determine the staggered term limits for each of the five board members.

As Brunswick is not a resident of the city, Archocosky said he checked with the city attorney and was told this would not be a conflict as residency is not a requirement. Pennanen is a resident of one of the two housing units in the city and therefore meets that HUD requirement.

As with other boards, the new housing commission members can re-apply for their positions once their terms expire.

The council approved the new board which takes effect on April 1.

In other business, the council approved spending up to $6,000 for engineering studies for the Downtown Development Authority’s (DDA) streetscape project and the applications for two grants

DDA Chairman Jim Gibula was at the city meeting to explain that the DDA was asking for council support for the project which would tie in with highway projects planned by MDOT (Michigan Department of Transportation) in the city in the next three years (2009-2011).

Gibula said the cost preliminary engineer design is not to exceed $32,000.

By “piggy-backing” the city’s streetscape plans to MDOT’s, there would be a better chance for the grants to be approved.

The council approved the budgeted amount of $3,386 to the Iron County Community Schools’ summer recreation program.