New Search Engine Added to Website

A new search engine has been added to the Watersmeet website which now allows a user to search for key words not only in pages and posts but documents as well.

We hope you will find this addition helpful when navigating the website.

Gogebic County Public Notice – Establishment of Early Voting

In November 2022, Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment that gives voters the right to vote early and in person before statewide and federal elections. Early voting takes place for a minimum of nine consecutive days, ending on the Sunday before an election.  Early voting sites must be open for at least eight hours each day during the early voting period.

At least one early voting site must be available to all voters in every city and township.  Local clerks may partner with other cities and townships, or their county, to run an early voting site together.  This decision is based on population density, site accessibility, and expected voter turnout.

For the 2024 election year, Watersmeet Township has partnered with Gogebic County and several other townships to share a single early voting site, located at the Gogebic County building in Bessemer.  Voters from more than one precinct, city, or township can vote at this single site.  The schedule for early voting at the Bessemer site is below.

Election Day in-person voting for Watersmeet voters will continue to be held on election day, at the Watersmeet Township Community Center.  Absentee voting will continue as it has in the past.

For additional information about early voting, please visit the Michigan Secretary of State website at:  https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/voting/early-in-person-voting, or contact Julie Mathiesen, Watersmeet Township Clerk, at 906-358-4501.

 

GOGEBIC COUNTY PUBLIC NOTICE
ESTABLISHMENT OF EARLY VOTING

 To All Qualified Electors in Gogebic County

Notice is hereby given by resolution of the Gogebic County Board of Commissioners under authority granted in Public Act 81 of 2023, that the location of early voting site for all Federal and Statewide election dates will be the following:

 

Name: Gogebic County
Address: 200 N. Moore Street
Conference Room (Basement)
Bessemer, MI 49911

 

All qualified electors in Gogebic County have the right to mark a ballot and deposit the ballot in a tabulator beginning the second Saturday before an election and ending the Sunday before the election.  Early voting will be available at the early voting site for the following (CST) hours:

Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30 8:30-4:30

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Clerk’s Office at 906-663-4518: Email: clerk@gogebic.gov

 

Watersmeet Fire Department Emergency Response Call Statistics – 2023

Watersmeet Fire Department Emergency Response Call Statistics
2023

MonthEMSFireAutoSnowmobileATVTotal Runs
13Year To Date18933641215
December17100018
16November11310013
15October13610018
14September20600026
08August29300032
07July20300020
06June732009
05May14300017
04April15320117
03March20001020
02February11001011
01January12202014

Notice of Public Hearings: Zoning Board of Appeals 1/11/24

NOTICE OF HEARING     

The Watersmeet Township Zoning Board of Appeals will conduct a hearing on Thursday January 11, 2024 at 6:00PM in the Watersmeet Township Community Center, N4689 1st Street, Watersmeet, MI.  The purpose of the hearing is to consider a dimensional variance requested by Gary Dalsbo to replace a dock at 21935 Crooked Lake Rd. Parcel No. 27-06-57-001-200, in Watersmeet Township.  The variance request involves the minimum distance of a dock from a property line.

The public may express its views at this hearing or send written comments to: Chairperson, Watersmeet Township Zoning Board of Appeals, PO Box 306, Watersmeet, MI 49969 by Monday January 8, 2024.  Documents associated with the variance request may be examined during normal business hours at the Watersmeet Township offices, also located at N4689 1st Street.

THE COMMUNITY CENTER IS HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE

 

NOTICE OF HEARING

The Watersmeet Township Zoning Board of Appeals will conduct a hearing on Thursday January 11, 2024 at 7:15PM in the Watersmeet Township Community Center, N4689 1st Street, Watersmeet, MI.  The purpose of the hearing is to consider two variances of the Watersmeet Zoning Ordinance requested by Mark and Diana Sullivan at N3716 Musky Rd. Parcel No. 27-06-30-502-720, in Watersmeet Township.

The first variance request is a Dimensional Variance of setback requirements for a garage from a property line.  The second variance request, a Use Variance, is to allow the use of an outfitters tent on a permitted structure on the property during and post construction of the dwelling.

The public may express its views at this hearing or send written comments to: Chairperson, Watersmeet Township Zoning Board of Appeals, PO Box 306, Watersmeet, MI 49969 by Monday January 8, 2024.  Documents associated with the variance request may be examined during normal business hours at the Watersmeet Township offices, also located at N4689 1st Street.

THE COMMUNITY CENTER IS HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE

Highline Internet – Construction Update

Highline’s partner, AEG, has crews very busy laying cable to the West end of the Township.  Highline’s project manager, Jake Stedman, recently issued the following construction update on November 14, 2023:

 As of yesterday (Nov. 13), the crews are finishing up getting fiber placed along Thousand Island Lake Road. There is around 2.5 miles left to place in the existing conduit and then the path will be complete all the way back to town. Splicing has already started on the fiber that they have placed. They still have to finish the public portion of Maplewood Road and build Crooked Lake Road. Other than that, they are still working down Roddis Road toward the very southern end of Cisco Lake Road.

Highline is hoping to get a contractor on Deerpath Road and the private portion of Maplewood Road before the end of the year.

Crews have also started working on the Cisco Lake Road leg on the west side of the zone. One contractor has nearly completed the entire path on Old US-2 from Thousand Island Lake Road to Cisco Lake Road. Crews have gotten fiber down Cisco Lake Road to Sylvan Isle Drive where another crew had already built the public road portion and placed fiber last week.

Production may be a little slower this week with some crews taking a few days off to hunt, but they are trying to shuffle crews around to compensate.

Next Steps:

Once the cable is laid on the roads, Highline will be calling MISDIGS to mark utilities for all the driveways of homeowners requesting Highline internet service on the roads noted above.  Homeowners are also encouraged to mark any underground services that they installed privately (i.e. sprinklers, irrigation, invisible fence, electric lines not run by We Energies, etc.).   As the driveways get marked, Highline will be phoning all those homeowners and letting them know crews will be installing the fiber down their driveways (homeowners need not be home). 

After the fiber is laid to the house, Highline will be calling homeowners again to arrange a time for a Highline technician to come into the home and connect the fiber to a Highline provided router (homeowners will need to be home to allow the technician access).  For those homeowners unable to be present (snowbirds, etc), Highline will be back in the spring to finish the installations.

Also in the spring, Highline will also be back to Watersmeet to connect the rest of the Township that qualified for the RDOF grant to lay fiber optic cable.

Any questions – please call Trustee Yvonne Clark at 906-477-3029.

Watersmeet Broadband Task Force

            Yvonne Clark, Trustee
            John Oliver, Trustee
            Bob McGuffin
            Greg Clark

 

Planning Commission to Hold Town Hall Meeting – Zoning for Marijuana Retail Sales

The Watersmeet Planning Commission will be holding a Town Hall Meeting to receive input from Watersmeet residents and property owners on a proposed zoning change.  The proposed zoning change involves allowing for retail marijuana sales within the township.  A proposed zoning change has NOT yet been drafted or submitted to the Town Board.  Retail marijuana sales can be a controversial issue and could have substantial effects on the township. We are inviting the public to give direct input on this subject before the Planning Commission votes on a recommendation for a zoning change.  The meeting will be hosted at the Watersmeet Township Community Center on December 6th at 5:30 p.m. and will also be available online for those individuals who have subscribed to Watersmeet News on the township website:  www.watersmeet.us.

Before the start of the public comment portion of the meeting, the Planning Commission will provide a brief history of the township discussions involving this issue and a summary of research into the topic.  Residents and property owners will then be allowed to ask questions and offer their preference of being in favor of or against this proposal.  Attendees will be allowed to speak and ask questions in turn and will have a 3-minute time limit.  While non-residents and non-property owners are welcome to attend the meeting, we ask that they not speak as this is a Watersmeet Township issue.

If you intend to speak or ask questions, we request that your comments be kept brief and to the point.  The audience could potentially be large and we would like to give speaking opportunities to as many people as possible.  This meeting will be conducted in a courteous and respectful manner.

If you are unable to attend this meeting, written comments will also be accepted by mailing them to:  Watersmeet Township Planning Commission, PO Box 306, Watersmeet, MI 49969, by Wednesday, November 29, 2023.

Watersmeet Township 911 Address Audit to Begin in November

Watersmeet Township representatives are conducting a 911 audit to:

  1. Confirm all addresses within the Township
  2. GPS locate all property driveways
  3. Inventory and photograph all fire signs
  4. Inventory and photograph all road signs

The representatives who have been authorized to conduct this audit are:

  1. Joe LoMastro
  2. Chris Wegner
  3. Robert Wheeler
  4. Zoe Coleman

The purpose of this audit is to improve GIS applications used by emergency response personnel (fire, medical, police) to locate addresses when responding to 911 calls.

The above individuals may find it necessary to enter some properties to verify property structure, driveway and fire sign locations.  The only photographs that will be taken are of road signs and fire signs.

Please allow these individuals to complete their duties in the interest of emergency response safety.

If you have any questions regarding this project, please call the Watersmeet Township office at 906.358.4501.

Michigan DNR Issues Final Recommendation on Cisco Chain Local Watercraft Controls

In May 2022, the Watersmeet Township Board of Trustees formally requested Michigan DNR conduct a study to assess the need for additional controls, primarily in the form of a “No Wake” ordinance, in 8 channels of the Cisco Chain.  The requested study was conducted in the summer and fall of 2022.  Preliminary reports and recommendation were provided to the Township in November 2022.

Prior to making a final decision, DNR held a public hearing on June 20, 2023 to allow interested persons to present their views on the preliminary reports and the need for special rules.

The DNR issued a final recommendation on October 18, 2023 and determined there isn’t enough evidence to substantiate a need for additional watercraft controls on the Cisco Chain.  Read More>

Highline Internet Update: Status and Private Roads

On Friday, September 29, 2023, the U.S. Forest Service granted Highline and their partner AEG a permit to lay their fiber on Forest Service Lands! AEG is sending work crews up here this week and we should start to see work crews shortly. They are committed to working hard until the job is finished or the snow chases them south. Fingers crossed for a late first snowstorm!

If you signed up for Highline and live on a private road, please download the form below, fill it out and email it to Shannon.sink@aeg.cc. If you have any questions please feel free to email Trustee Yvonne Clark at trustee1@watersmeet.us or call Yvonne at 906-477-3029. Thank you!

Click here for private road right of entry form

Watersmeet Broadband Task Force
John Oliver, Trustee
Yvonne Clark, Trustee
Bob McGuffin, Member
Greg Clark, Member

 

Fire Department Receives Gift from LVD Tribe

The members of the Watersmeet Volunteer Fire Department would like to take this opportunity to thank the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians for their generous donation that enabled us to purchase a Lifepak 15 cardiac monitor with a built in AED for the Watersmeet EMS volunteers.

This will enable them to perform a 12-lead EKG and notify the ambulance of the Lifepak reading in case the person may need a Flight For Life called ahead of the ambulance arriving on scene.

Precious time, and possibly lives, will be saved because of this generous donation to our community.

Thank you LVD!