Page 18 - Mayor Smith News Today

MARQUETTE — The city of Marquette has selected Karen Kovacs as its next city manager. The Marquette City Commission voted 7-0 at its regular meeting Monday night to make an offer of employment to Kovacs, the lone finalist for the position after John Kramer of Aurora, Illinois, withdrew his name from consideration last week. Kovacs is currently the city administrator for downstate Milan, a city of 5,800 people in Washtenaw and Monroe counties, a role she’s held since July 2019. Previously,...

Monday, 10 May 2021, 10:45 am Construction work for Phase One of the Mangawhai shared path and Village intersection improvements is set to start later this month. The work is largely funded by Waka Kotahi NZTA and the Infrastructure Reference Group (MBIE), with the Council contributing approximately $500,000. Phase One includes constructing the section of the shared path on Molesworth Drive from ITM down to about 80m past Estuary Drive, as well as two roundabouts at the Insley Street/Moir Stree...

WATERTOWN — A local woman is accusing the city of discriminating against her for requiring that she prove she was vaccinated for the coronavirus before she can enter the Fourth of July concert at Thompson Park. Genie Weaver, who has residences in Jefferson and Lewis counties, told City Council on Monday night that she shouldn’t have to show proof that she received the COVID-19 vaccine or that she had a negative test for the virus to attend the Concert in the Park. The festivities this...

By Andrew Orr • 3 hours ago Who doesn’t love fire houses? I remember visiting one once when I was a little kid. Oh how much fun it was to slide down the fire pole and climb all over the trucks. Such fun. So it is great that a new fire house has, albeit finally, opened up on Airline Road. The paper detailed this opening in their article titled “Fire Station 4 opens after years-long design, building effort.” Residents cheered in one Columbus Facebook group while other groups jeered. Jeer...

Former council CEO loses lawsuit against ex-mayor A former council boss has lost her lawsuit against an ex-mayor and councillors over claims she was sacked for complaining to corruption officials. Politics by Kelmeny Fraser Premium Content Subscriber only A former whistleblowing Logan council chief executive has lost her lawsuit against ex-mayor Luke Smith and seven councillors over claims she was sacked for complaining to corruption officials. The wee...

Central decision due Kaipara Mayor Jason Smith assured councillors a plan change was not a building consent, and technical aspects would be reviewed in due course. The Kaipara District Council is set to make a decision on a plan change that would allow 500 additional houses to be built in Mangawhai Central at a meeting in Dargaville next week. The decision was to be made at a meeting in Mangawhai last month but was deferred as councillors said they had been rushed. Councillors were to vote on w...

WATERTOWN — After putting off the purchase for a number of years, the City Council on Monday agreed to buy a new fire truck when they unanimously approved a $1.4 million bond for its purchase. Fire department officials have been talking about purchasing a new ladder truck for about five years because of skyrocketing costs to repair the department’s two aerial trucks, but budget constraints have prevented it from happening. The new ladder truck — made by KME with a mid-mounted lad...

WATERTOWN — City officials waited a year to apply for federal funds for a planned Thompson Park amphitheater to give the Watertown Family YMCA the opportunity to score its $9 million grant for its community center project in a former call center on Arsenal Street. A year later, city officials are now preparing to go after that Department of Defense funding for a permanent stage in Thompson Park that’s been discussed for years. They are about to seek an architectural firm to put togeth...

WATERTOWN — Leonard G. Spaziani will have to wait until the next City Council meeting to know if he will be appointed to fill a vacant council seat. Council members met with him in executive session for about 30 minutes before deciding to table the appointment until the April 19 council meeting. “Mr. Spaziani wasn’t shy on his answers,” Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith said after the closed-door session. “We know where he stands.” Mr. Spaziani said he didn’t pull any pu...

WATERTOWN — The Thompson Park pool, which made its debut last season, will be the only one the city will open this summer. City Council on Monday night informally agreed to staff the new $3.1 million pool at Thompson Park this season after learning the Flynn pool at the North Elementary School would need at least $300,000 in major repairs. City Council members also agreed not to open the Alteri pool this summer so data on pool attendance numbers could be collected to see if it would warran...