Townships, County Board, Road Commission to meet COPPER HARBOR, EAGLE HARBOR ’Äì Meetings in Keweenaw County this week offer concerned citizens multiple opportunities to participate in local government but make it difficult for officials to attend one another’Äôs meetings. Four of the five township boards will meet, two of which ’Äì Grant and Eagle Harbor ’Äì meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8. This same time slot is reserved for the County Commissioners’Äô Ways and Means Committee meeting, at which they plan the agenda for the County Board meeting to be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Courthouse in Eagle River. The Allouez Township Board meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, in the Mohawk town hall; and the Sherman Township Board meets at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, in the township office in Gay. As if that weren’Äôt a full week of meetings, the Keweenaw County Road Commission will hold a public meeting on the interim 2001-2004 Transportation Improvement Program projects at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, at the Road Commission’Äôs Mohawk offices. Keweenaw County Commissioner Don Keith Newly elected Keweenaw County Commissioner Don Keith of Eagle Harbor said he recently wrote a letter to the five township clerks encouraging them to cooperate and coordinate meeting dates. Keith noted for taxpayers’Äô benefit that he used his own personal envelopes and paid for the new 34-cent stamps. He said he plans to attend many of the township meetings so he will be available to the township boards and citizens who wish to communicate their needs. "It’Äôs unfortunate that in the past conflicting meeting dates have forced citizens to make choices that they shouldn’Äôt have to make," Keith said. "As a county commissioner for District 1, I ran on a campaign for better communication and cooperation between the townships and the county board, because we can be a lot more effective if we work together ’Ķ I’Äôm not telling the townships how to do their business. I’Äôm just encouraging what I feel would be beneficial to all of us." Keith said he plans to bring up this need for coordination of meeting dates at the County Commissioners’Äô Ways and Means Committee meeting Monday evening in the courthouse in Eagle River. Also on the agenda for that meeting is a presentation to the Commissioners by Trout Unlimited and the North Woods Conservancy concerning the match for the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant for purchase of land at the mouth of the Gratiot River. The Commissioners will appoint a new County Board Chairman at their meeting Tuesday evening. They are expected to choose from among the commissioners who have been serving on the board ’Äì Frank Stubenrauch, Gordon Roberts and Jeff Turnquist. Newly elected commissioners Don Keith and Eric Bjorn defeated Lyle Peterson and Annette Gagnon in the November election. The Grant Township Board, also meeting Monday night, will appoint a new township treasurer to replace Eileen Plescher, who is moving to Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park because of her husband Dan Plescher’Äôs transfer to the manager position there after over a decade as manager of Fort Wilkins State Park near Copper Harbor. Also on the Grant Township agenda are the transfer of a liquor license from the First National Bank to Lac La Belle Lodge, Inc. (which includes the Seasons at Lac La Belle Restaurant, formerly The Landing) and a discussion of a township building use policy. Grant Township Supervisor Ken Korhorn Newly elected Grant Township Supervisor Ken Korhorn said the board also intends to appoint members of the Land Use Study Committee, in response to the November 16, 2000, letter from Zoning Administrator Jane Pelto requesting that each township form such a committee. The purpose of the land use study committees is to bring findings and recommendations back to the Zoning/Planning Commission for consideration or inclusion in the County Comprehensive Development Plan, now being updated. Said Korhorn, "We will appoint a committee from people who responded to the posting put up last month (in Copper Harbor and Lac La Belle)." Korhorn said Friday he had received only two responses from people willing to serve on the committee but he hoped more would volunteer by the time of the meeting Monday. Eagle Harbor Township has already formed a Land Use Steering Committee, which will hold its second meeting Wednesday, Jan. 10. Committee members include Barbara Been, Robert Crampton, Paul Freshwater, Robertine Freshwater, George Hite, Virginia Jamison, Marilyn Marshall, Janet Shea, Douglas Sherk and Phoebe Wienke. Committee member Paul Freshwater said Lori Hauswirth, associate planner of the Western Upper Peninsula Planning District Region (WUPPDR), will likely attend the Jan. 10 meeting to help with goal and task discussions.  Other than committee reports, no new business is yet listed on the agenda for Monday’Äôs Eagle Harbor Township meeting, but old business includes Board of Review training, relocation of mailboxes and reimbursement of improvements to the Fire Hall. Also on Wednesday, Jan. 10, the Keweenaw County Road Commission will hold a public meeting for review and comment on the interim 2001-2004 Transportation Improvement Program projects. The Keweenaw County Task Force ’Äì which includes the Road Commission, Village and Transit representatives ’Äì is currently preparing this program in accordance with requirements of the Transportation Equity Act (TEA21). The act governs the distribution of federal aid for transportation projects across the country and requires that each county develop a three-year transportation program. These funds can be used for construction projects; public transit systems; the purchase of buses and vans; capital equipment; capital and operating assistance; facility expansion and renovations; and grants for research, training and related services. Agendas for the other township board meetings were not available at the time of this writing. -Michele Anderson January 7, 2001