City to clamp down on youth hangout spot with fines for loitering
Onaway City commissioner Bernie Schmeltzer said it is a shame that the board has to deal with an issue such as loitering in town, but it has become a problem, prompting the city?s elected decision makers to adopt a loitering ordinance.
The purpose of the ordinance is to regulate and control loitering on private property in the City of Onaway. It was adopted as presented by city attorney Mike Vogler.
Some commissioners have identified an area in the heart of the business district, which has become a gathering place for young people, as a problem spot in town.
?Last night someone had a motorcycle parked up on the lawn,? said Schmeltzer. He indicated that there were five or six people congregating in front of the abandoned State Street house that sits across the roadway from the Onaway Chamber of Commerce building in the darkened Carter?s Food Center parking lot.
?They were not kids, they were certainly older, but I did not recognize any one of them,? said Schmeltzer.
PEOPLE WALKING or driving by the area have complained of hearing offensive language and seeing bad behavior. City commissioner Brad Porter said he experienced it first hand. He was at the Dairy Queen with his two children recently and he could hear cussing coming from the gathering spot.
?Another time we were driving through town and some young lady walked across the street and stopped traffic in both directions,? explained Porter. When someone from a vehicle made a comment to her, the response was not pleasant, said Porter. ?She did finger signs in the middle of the street in front of everybody. I have young children in the car, and that does not work.?
The ordinances describes loitering as: standing, sitting, walking or idly milling about; obstructing the free, unhampered passage or pedestrians or vehicles; obstructing molesting, interfering with, or using foul and abusive language with or to any person lawfully upon any private or public property; congregating in groups or singly upon the private property of another; refusing to disperse or move on when so commanded by a police officer, provided such officer has exercised his discretion reasonably under the circumstances in order to preserve or promote public peace or order.
MAYOR GARY WREGGLESWORTH said a study was conducted a few years ago in the City of Cheboygan. He attended meetings when the findings of the study results were presented and discussed
A world-renowned consultant advised city officials in Cheboygan ?to keep those problems out of your downtown. Older people who could be knocked down are very intimidated.? He said it is nothing but bad.
?Work with your court system,? said Wregglesworth, ?and try to get them punished by making them do community service in that area.?
Schmeltzer said the longer the commission waited, the more problems there are going to be. Wregglesworth said, ?The weather is going to take care of this.?
?It is not going to go away,? Schmeltzer responded. ?We are trying to do something, and I believe that is what our job is, because it is certainly not getting any better. There are certainly enough people that have seen it, and talked about it.?
City attorney Mike Vogler advised the commission that higher courts have struck down loitering ordinances because they might restrict the Constitutional right to freely assemble. The new Onaway ordinance was constructed to not conflict with that right.
SCHMELTZER SAID he wanted some people hanging out in downtown Onaway from out of town ?to go some place else. They don?t live in Onaway but yet they want to come in here and make it uncomfortable for many of the good citizens who live here. Something like this (loitering ordinance) could chase them out.?
The vote was adopted by unanimous vote. Commissioner Mel Perkins was not in attendance. The ordnance goes into effect September 7. Violators will be fined $100 for the civil infraction.
IN OTHER matters to come before the board:
? Pine River Cable has been stalled and is in a wait-and-see mode regarding cable equipment they need. The delay could come to an end in the coming weeks.
? City manager Joe Hefele updated the board on the unplanned speed bump on M-68 on the east end of town. It was caused by a bore under the road that pushed some type of large object through.
The bore was three feet lower than the city?s water main on the south side of the road, but it still forced the object into the water main and caused a leak that was fixed relatively fast. It would appear from digging to repair the water leak that the problems were caused by large amounts of manmade fill, such as concrete and wood, used many years ago to build the road. Hefele said the bore itself was good.
? There were informational meetings on grant proposals for a plow truck and further restoration work on the courthouse building.