At a special meeting on Thursday Sue Anderson, left, and Jamie Glenn from Superior Alliance for Independent Living talk about the ADA-compliant features of the Negaunee Downtown Enhancement Project and the importance of making the community more accessible at a special meeting on Thursday. (Journal photo by Dreyma Beronja)

By DREYMA BERONJA

Journal Staff Writer

NEGAUNEE — The Negaunee City Council passed its Downtown Enhancement Project during a special meeting on Thursday.

Before the vote, Negaunee residents and business owners had time to speak about the project and voice their support and concerns with it.

Negaunee resident and Downtown Development Authority Chairman Gary Nelson spoke in support of the project.

“I think this is a great project to enhance our downtown,” Nelson said. “It’s one of those projects that I think can enhance your whole downtown. In today’s world I think that’s what we are trying to do, we are trying to attract people to our downtown.”

He also said the project would coordinate well with the already established social district.

Campfire Coffee owner Ryan Nummela also voiced his support for the project. He said having a vibrant downtown community is important.

“It is an attraction and something that when we talk to people every single day, they talk about how important it is to have a vibrant downtown,” Nummela said. “I firmly believe that from an economic standpoint, this (project) will only help our community.”

Midtown Bakery & Cafe owner Marybeth Kurtz said she has been in the community for 30 years and noted that Negaunee has lost many businesses over the years. With the project, she said the city would gain so much.

“It’s just nice to see that the town is coming back,” Kurtz said. “Please support this project because the city needs you.”

Bill Anderson, co-owner of the Union Station Depot, said he thinks the project is a good idea but addressed the parking situation of the project.

“On the streetscape project, we (Union Station Depot) lost nine parking spots,” Anderson said. “I would just like to see it in another project in the community where we start developing more downtown parking.”

According to the project presentation, downtown Negaunee will go from 108 parking spaces to 98 regular parking spaces, four electric vehicle spaces and 15 spaces for firefighters.

At the end of the meeting, councilors voiced their opinions on the project before voting.

Councilman Anthony Stagliano said he grew up in the area and said this project is how Negaunee will be rebuilt.

“This is the start to bring Negaunee back,” Stagliano said. “This is how you spur investment, this is how you attract business.”

He said overall the project had a lot of voices and passion put into it. Stagliano said the project addresses everyone and will make the city more Americans with Disabilities Act-complaint for residents and visitors with disabilities.

“Everything has been thought of and planned out,” Stagliano said. “This is perfect, I couldn’t say enough about how great this project is.”

Councilman Matt Howard said he has no issue fixing what is broken, but believes the project is turning Negaunee into a park.

“It’s not like you just want to make one park. You don’t want to use one little space,” Howard said. “You want to block off streets that we have been using for years that you are losing parking on.”

He also said that some of the project features would need year-round maintenance, such as shoveling snow and watering flowers.

“Fixing what’s broken, not a bad idea. This just seems like over the top when there are a lot of other spots in town that need to be fixed and should have been years ago,” Howard said. “I’m all about having tourists but it is what it is. You can’t just make the whole thing beautiful in one summer and forget about the rest of the town. We have streets that should have been on the five-year plan years ago.”

In the end, the council passed the project 5-1. The project is expected to start in July and run through October of this year and then pick back up next May until the following October.

Dreyma Beronja can be reached at 906-228-2500 ext. 548. Their email address is dberonj@miningjournal.net.