The Empire Village Council scheduled a special public meeting to interview candidates for its Department of Public Works (DPW) superintendent position and took steps to become a Tree City USA during their March work session.
Council members voted to hold the special meeting on Thursday March 19 at 5:15 p.m. at the Township Hall to interview the final three candidates for the position. Council member and chair of the personnel committee Linda Chase introduced the discussion, “We have some really good candidates…I would like to find a (salary) range that we can offer them to get their attention to possibly come over to us.” Council members discussed a potential salary range for the exposition, comparing Empire’s pay scale to other municipalities in the county. In researching other comparable communities, Chase found that Northport pays its DPW superintendent $100,000 annually while Suttons Bay pays about $88,000. However, those communities operate larger systems that include marinas and sewer infrastructure. The council was able to reach a consensus on a salary range, though no formal vote was taken. Next, the council approved an amendment to the village zoning ordinance related to the Front Street District. The change separates building size requirements from permitted uses and clarifies that mixed commercial and residential use is allowed. “The rationale was that Front Street in Empire is a mix of commercial and residential use,” council member Maggie Bacon explained. “This change aligns with being designated as a redevelopment ready community.” The section also now specifies that the maximum building footprint in the Front Street District is 5,000 square feet. The amendment passed unanimously with little discussion. Next, Bacon reminded the council of the need to stay updated on the master plan. “We have this master plan, we have this recreation plan, and these are things that we are supposed to say are important to us. These are our priorities.” She expressed a worry that the village residents might be under the impression that once the master plan is put together it “gets put on a shelf somewhere.” “It is my recommendation that every meeting includes something that says how we are moving forward on (the master plan),” Bacon said, garnering agreement from the other council members. “I think every month we should at least review these in some way to make some decision about what might be a priority.” Council President Dan Davis has suggested putting up a poster in each office to track what is on the CIP and master plan to help track progress. Ultimately the council agreed to prioritize the regular review of master plan and CIP items. Council member Dye proposed organizing an Arbor Day celebration event this spring as part of efforts to strengthen community engagement and move toward becoming a Tree City USA community. As of January 2023 when a tree care ordinance was passed in the Village, recognizing Arbor Day became the last requirement needed for Empire to earn the designation. “Being a teeny tiny village sandwiched between the national park I think this is the very least that we should be doing, and I think this is a fantastic way to foster engagement,” said council member Ella Skrocki, adding that celebrating Arbor Day would be “fun, and an easy lift.” Rounding out the agenda, the council directed the Parks Committee to review the village’s beach parking pass procedures.
According to Deputy Clerk Alicia Acton, parking passes “have gotten out of control” due to too many passes having been issued. The system was originally designed to issue new passes annually, but that process was never consistently followed, leading to the current confusion and administration challenges. The discussion also looked at who should be eligible for the passes, particularly whether passes should be limited to full-time residents or extended to all taxpayers, including property owners who do not live in the village year round. “If somebody is paying taxes in this village or in this township, they get a pass,” Bacon stated, noting that was the original intent of the policy. No formal action was taken on the policy by the council and the issue was sent to the parks committee to develop recommendations.
