Monday, June 15, 2009

County Commission Meeting & New Airport Discussion

This reporter attended the Iron County Commissioners
first monthly meeting.

Among other things discussed was the evaluation of
the veteran county administrator Jan Huizing, which
will be done as a committee of the whole. Mr. Huizing
told the board the he had asked them many times to set
some goals and targets for him, but as yet no metric
has been established.

County Planning Commission Chairman John Faccin reported
that the members his commission have refused to discuss
a plan for a new County Airport as requested by County
Commission Chair Rosalie King. Ms. King, the chair,
told Faccin that HE, not the members of the committee,
sets the agenda and directs which tasks are to be
undertaken by the Planning Commission.

In other matters, the chair informed other members of
the commission that she was authorized to make an
appointment to the County Housing Authority and it wasn't
necessary for her to advertise for applicants. Therefore
Ms. King appointed former associate and county
commissioner Lawrence Harrington to the post. Also
mentioned was the re-appointment of Michael Henschel to
the soldiers relief fund by Probate Judge C. Joseph
Schwedler .

Director of the Iron County Economic Development
Corporation (EDC), Julie Melchiori, gave the
commissioners copies of the new rules set by the
State of Michigan for the revolving fund managed
by the local EDCs.

Ben Smith

=======================================================

Commentary by Bill Vajk:

Neither WIKB news nor the Iron County Reporter has
discussed the re-emergence of planning for a new
airport.

The new airport issue, shouted down by some of the
Iron County population a few years ago, is back for
review and possibly implementation. I moved to Iron
County after the last big dispute over a new airport.

If you'll look at your Iron County plat book at
T.45N-R.33W you will find in Section 20, 4 quarter
sections marked "State of Michigan Airport." There
had been some discussion a while back about
attempting to bring this area into functional use
as a real airport. Older plat books do not show this
land as an airport.

It seems to me that there is a significant anti-
progress faction in this county, a faction that is
afraid of change of any sort. They do not represent
a significant voting block, but they are very vocal.
They need to appreciate that stopping progress is
much like trying to stop time itself. Things are
already very different in Iron County than they were
the day you were born, and change marches on, hand
in hand with time. The only one able to stop it is
the all powerful. In the history of mankind that
hasn't seemed to have ever happened.

Let's take another look at the basics. Building a
new airport isn't going to use money belonging to
anyone living in Iron County. It isn't going to be
on land belonging to anyone who lives in Iron County.
It will provide services to all living in Iron County,
either directly or indirectly. It is bound to bring
several new jobs to Iron County. And it will support
economic growth here.

You can't often get such a good deal.

Look in the back of a recent plat book. See how much
land is owned by the State of Michigan in Iron County.
Compare this list to any plat book from the 1970's or
1980's. Given the growth instate ownership of land in
the county, what is it you would have the state do with
the land in section 20 mentioned above? Leave it unused?
Or since it is possible to get a modern airport in Iron
County, and that isn't going to deplete even once cent
of your disposable income or alter your lifestyle in any
way, why not let that land become an airport that could
someday save your life with an emergency flight out of
our wonderful backwoods to Marshfield or perhaps to the
Mayo Clinic at Rochester, Minnesota? How about your child
or grandchild who could be saved if only we could get
them to one of those places in time?

I moved to Iron County because generally speaking the
people are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. I
certainly didn't come here to deal with people who have
issues locked into the 1880's. Perhaps the state would
lend us a nice piece of land and those who are afraid of
progress could live, for a month or two, in tents without
TV, radio, computer, electricity, automobile, prepared
ready-to-cook foods, to see how they like no progress
from the time the community was settled.

A new, up to date airport, with better runways, would be
of great benefit to Iron County. It is possible that
there is a conflict between the proposed airport site
and a military exercise zone.

Bill Vajk

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