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City looks to warmer months

GLADSTONE — Despite the looming threat of snow, spring was in the air at the Gladstone City Commission meeting Monday night, where city residents were updated on summer parking restrictions, spring cleaning, and composting.

After a few years of attempting to regulate the city’s compost site to prevent users from dumping non-compostable materials like toilets and other refuse, the city has decided it will no longer open the site to individuals who live outside the city limits or to contractors.

Last year, residents and non-residents were asked to pick up a sticker for their vehicle at city hall. Residents were given the stickers for free, but township and Escanaba residents were required to pay a fee for usage of the site.

The gates to the compost site were also locked except for times when volunteers were available to unlock and supervise the site. However, volunteer labor was hit and miss, frequently leaving city commissioners with the task of opening the compost site and ensuring that only users with stickers used the facility.

The compost site opened for the season on April 1, and this year the site will be unlocked and accessible to residents 24/7. Cameras that were installed last year will continue to monitor the site, and a seasonal employee will be at the site part-time to check the residency of users.

Other rules about compost site usage are posted at the site and questions may be directed to Electric Department and Public Works Supervisor Mark Polega at 428-1701.

Residents who have non-compostable debris from their spring cleaning will be able to pick up a spring clean-up voucher at city hall between May 1 and June 30. The vouchers allow homeowners and business owners to drop off up to 1,000 pounds of debris at the Delta County Landfill for free.

“The permits will be available on May 1, so you’ll have two months to get rid of any unwanted waste in your yard,” said Interim City Manager Eric Buckman.

Cleaning wasn’t the only spring-related topic discussed at the meeting. Public Safety Director Paul Geyer took time to inform the public it is against city ordinance to park on a boulevard, the portion of land between the curb and the sidewalk along a street, when winter parking restrictions are not in place. Residents are allowed to park on the boulevard between Dec. 1 and April 1 to comply with winter parking restrictions that limit when vehicles can be on the street, but parking on the boulevard during the warmer months causes significant damage to the unfrozen ground.

“In the winter you can. In the summer, please don’t,” said Geyer.

In other businesses, the city presented plaques to former Public Safety Officers Dawn Sailer and Terry Larson, who both recently retired.

“They both have 27-and-a-half years with the city — (a) long, dedicated, outstanding service to the city,” said Geyer prior to presenting each officer with their plaque.

Also recognized at the meeting was Gladstone High School student Lindsey McCann, who received a $1,000 scholarship from WPPI Energy for her essay on the value of public power.

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