IRON MOUNTAIN — The enclosed deer habitat at Iron Mountain City Park will come under scrutiny in the coming months as the city awaits an inspection report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

City Manager Jordan Stanchina said Monday there are some issues and concerns, though “nothing super-pressing.” On the whole, he told the city council, it may be time to consider whether the feature is worthwhile.

“Is it that much of an attraction?” he asked, noting the abundance of deer in most city neighborhoods.

The council had no immediate response, as Stanchina advised the USDA report is pending.

One concern is the covered enclosure in the deer pen, which Stanchina said is structurally adequate but not large enough for the 24 animals sometimes held.

The park drew widespread attention in 2008 when an albino buck was born. Blizzard lived to the age of 9 and was frequently photographed.

As for the herd outside the park, the council learned that 12 antlerless deer and one buck were culled as of Monday through the city’s managed archery hunt. Last year, 56 deer were taken. The season runs from Oct. 1 through Jan. 1.

In other action, the council:

≤ Heard Stanchina report that new legislation allows communities of greater than 5,000 people to process absentee ballots up to eight days before the Nov. 5 election. “We will be taking advantage of that new rule in an effort to have a majority of the absentee ballots processed prior to Election Day and have the last few to take care of on Election Day,” he explained in a memo. Although those ballots will be processed through the tabulator, no actual counting will take place until the close of polls on Election Day, he said.

≤ Agreed to donate to the Dickinson Area Working K-9 Program as requested by the KIND Drug Team, with the amount to be determined. The city has $16,148 remaining its K-9 fund after the retirement in February of K-9 officer Falcon. The city plans to still use some of these funds to provide money for Falcon’s future care and to retrofit the Dodge Durango that had been used for its K-9 program. After those amounts are known, the remainder will be donated back to KIND. Although Iron Mountain has discontinued its K-9 program, both the Kingsford Public Safety Department and the Dickinson County Sheriff’s Office have taken on K-9s. Those agencies are getting fundraising help from KIND, just as Iron Mountain once did.

≤ Scheduled a public hearing for 6 p.m. Nov. 18 on a proposal from Albert Santoni of Dickinson Homes Inc. to donate a parcel to the city on the south side of Walker Street, west of Forest Street. The parcel is swampland and generally not developable, but it would be low maintenance and ownership would give the city control of any future use, Stanchina said.

≤ Reappointed Stanchina as the city’s representative on the Central Landfill Authority, which manages closure activities for the former landfill east of Hydraulic Falls Road. The landfill, which is mostly within Breitung Township, began operation in 1966 and was closed and capped under a state consent order in the early 1990s.

≤ Reappointed Jeff Freeman to a six-year term on the Police and Fire Civil Service Commission.

≤ Approved invoices totaling $2,136 for unpaid blight chargers at 13 properties, all for grass cuttings. By ordinance, owners have 30 days to pay or the expense will be added as a special assessment on their tax bill. Similarly, invoices will go to 16 locations for unpaid rental housing certificate fees totaling $405.

≤ Authorized advertising used equipment for sale through the Wisconsin Surplus online bidding site. The list includes three hand-held meter reading devices that have been replaced by cellphones, along with some public works shop items, including a 10-ton floor jack.

≤ Renewed a five-year contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation for city maintenance, such as plowing and street sweeping on M-95 and U.S. 2.

≤ Approved its annual contribution of $5,000 to the Dickinson Area Economic Development Alliance.

≤ Received a report from Anda Tavonatti, coordinator for the Feeding America West Michigan Mobile Food Pantry distributions that are taking place monthly in the Tri-City Cinema 8 parking lot in Quinnesec. A total of 1,128 people benefited from the Oct. 9 distribution, including 342 children, 370 seniors and 85 veterans, she said. The next distributions are Nov. 13 and Dec. 11.

≤ Advised residents to check the city’s Facebook page for updates to the leaf collection schedule. Crews have been out since Monday. Loose leaves should be placed in the grassy area along the edge of the roadway. Leaves with brush mixed in will not be collected.