The Negaunee City Council has approved a budget amendment to allow council representatives to attend the Michigan Municipal League’s Convention in Grand Rapids and serve as representatives for the Community Excellence Award, for which Negaunee is a finalist. (Journal photo by Abby LaForest)

NEGAUNEE — The Negaunee City Council approved funding to send members of the city staff to represent Negaunee at the Community Excellence Awards in Grand Rapids.

The City of Negaunee’s Downtown Enhancement Project has been chosen as a contender to win this year’s Community Excellence Award in a competition hosted by the Michigan Municipal League. A budget addendum to the Downtown Development Authority’s budget was OK’d by the city council, which increased the Travel & Training line item number from $1,000 to $6,000. This addendum allows for City Manager Nate Heffron to pursue winning this year’s title by serving as an in-person representative of the city, along with two representatives from the city council. Costs would include lodging, meals, fuel and supplies to facilitate a project booth.

“Although I already have monies budget(ed) for myself, this is more or less to allow a couple council members to come down and potentially pay for a little bit of gas money for some individual business owners that might want to come down and help man the booth and represent our community to the organization down in Grand Rapids,” Heffron said at last Thursday’s meeting.

Heffron further explained that the increase in funding would allow for two city council members to accompany him downstate to the event, as well as expenses related to a booth that the city would manage during the event to display the Downtown Enhancement Project.

“Being one of the four communities in the state of Michigan up this year to receive this award, it’s, to me, great public relations,” said city council member Dave Kangas during the discussion period. “It’s also proof in the pudding that what we’re doing with the city is the right thing and to have no one down there for this presentation if Negaunee wins, it would be highly embarrassing. So, I think it is a very good idea to have this and let it go free.”

During the discussion period, concerns regarding budgeting and spending city money were broached. Heffron said that, in the grand scheme of things, the $5,000 being added to the budget amendment is a very “diminutive” amount of money.

“I personally agree with Dave (Kangas), right? We are our community, right? Our community, that we have built (in the) last however many years, has been selected as one of four communities in the state of Michigan, one of four,” said Mayor Craig Ilmonen. “We’re up for an award that one city might get every year, and to not send somebody from this council along with our city manager down there to possibly accept an award as one community from the entire state of Michigan, that would speak volumes, right?”

The budget amendment motion passed in a five to two vote. Mayor Ilmonen and council member Kangas were chosen to attend the MML Convention with Heffron down in Grand Rapids, which takes place Sept. 17.

Meetings for the Negaunee City Council are held at 6:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. They take place at the Negaunee Senior Center, located at 410 Jackson St. The next city council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 11. Council packets and additional information regarding the Negaunee City Council can be viewed online at cityofnegaunee.com/city-council.

Abby LaForest can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 548. Her email address is alaforest@miningjournal.net.