sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz
Alpena Building Official Don Gilmet poses at Alpena City Hall on Monday.
ALPENA Many changes have taken place at Alpena City Hall in the last year and more are on the way.
The Alpena Municipal Council voted Monday to approve a pair of contracts that will allow a local company to temporarily oversee the Planning/Development/Zoning Department, and have the City’s former Director of Planning, Development, and Zoning Andrea Kares work remotely.
Kares quit unexpectedly late last month for personal reasons.
The Council voted 5-0 to hire Donald Gilmet, of Gilmet Construction Services, to provide plan review services, train new staff, and ensure that the City of Alpena is compliant with Public Act 230 of 1972, which allows a local unit of government to legally adopt and enforce the state plumbing code at the local level.
sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com
News Photo by Steve Schulwitz
Suez employee Ben Lankheet monitors the City of Alpena’s water system while at work Thursday. Yesterday, the state’s moratorium forbidding water shutoffs due to non-payment expired and utility customers will need to pay what they owe. It is possible the state could extend the order, but it has yet to do so.
ALPENA Residents may have to pay unpaid water bills soon because of the State of Michigan’s moratorium on water shutoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The order by the state, that forbade the shutoff of water during the pandemic, expired Thursday, and unless new action is taken in Lansing, water providers can send out notices of shutoff.