City supports target market analysis on housing

by Angie Asam-Staff Writer

The Onaway City Commission approved a resolution of support Monday evening for the Iron One Foundation’s application for a $15,000 grant through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) to complete a housing target market analysis on.

City manager Joe Hefele has been working with the Presque Isle County Economic Development Commission (EDC), Moran Iron Works and MSHDA over the past few weeks. The groups shared many phone conversations. “The purpose of those conversations was to arrive at a game plan that we hope will result in bringing new housing into Onaway – housing needed by new employees hired by Moran Iron Works,” said Hefele.

According to MSHDA the first step in the process is the target market analysis which will breakdown the city’s existing housing situation in detail and based on that spell out housing needs based on the anticipated demand.

The original plan was for the city to get the grant, which would be m

atched in full by Iron One. However, Hefele believed that MSHDA preferred that Iron One be the applicant for the grant with the city adopting the resolution of support.

Hefele said that James Espinoza from MSHDA was going to be out of the office and Hefele remained unsure of who exactly was going to be applying for the grant. The city commission thus made two motions, one authorizing a resolution of support for the grant application if Iron One applied and the other allowing Hefele to submit a grant application on behalf of the city if that was needed.

IN OTHER CITY COMMISSION NEWS:

• Proposals for the city’s water system general plan and reliability study were received from four different companies. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality requires the city to do the study prior to Dec. 31, 2013. The commission accepted the bid of Gourdie-Fraser of Traverse City in the amount of $9,750, the low bidder on the project.