Menominee council looks to extend sign moratorium

MENOMINEE — The Menominee City Council is poised to extend a sign moratorium by four months.

The council met in special session last Wednesday, but could not take any action because the matter was not listed as an action item, as pointed out by council member William Plemel.

“I’m not opposed and I’m not in favor,” Plemel said. “I think six months is too long. My point is this is a special meeting and there’s nothing on the agenda that this is an action item. It’s against parliamentary procedure, against Robert’s Rules of Order.”

The council will take up the matter at an upcoming meeting. The lack of action, however, didn’t halt discussion on the topic.

City Manager Brett Botbyl said the council previously set the sign moratorium at two months. “I expressed that that’s not long enough to get everything done,” he said.

The proposed ordinance would extend the sign moratorium to Oct. 26.

Council member Doug Robinson expressed some frustration over extending the moratorium.

“I know we have to be careful on this,” he said. “We have to be careful on everything we do. However, time is money. We have businesses here that want to put up signs and now we’re telling them four more months. I’m not talking about marijuana shops. This does not affect one or two companies. This affects the whole town.”

Council member Donna Marineau called the marijuana situation in the city “a blessing in disguise.”

“It is making us focus on this issue and get it right,” she explained. “Because eventually it probably would have shown up, reared its ugly head and bit us in the rear. So, right now, because of marijuana, it’s forcing us to look at this particular ordinance and get it done right rather than rush through it. I don’t see anything wrong with giving them an extension.”

Robinson said the city has been discussing the sign situation since 2013. “There’s always a reason not to move forward,” he said. “Time is money for people that are out here trying to run a business. Every month that goes by is thousands of dollars. I’ve been on that side owning a business waiting for council to move. We have to take that into consideration.”

“Do you want to move or do you want to move right?” Marineau asked.

The Planning Commission has met twice on this matter and at least two council members believe that panel has a lot on its plate.

“They have a lot of stuff to process through,” council member Cheryl Haupt said. “They are a bit overwhelmed — looking at what they are being expected and asked to do in such a short time.”

Council member Joe Dulak added, “I agree that we don’t need to haphazardly jump into something. The Planning Commission is well intentioned, but overwhelmed. They need guidance.”

He said, by charter, the city attorney is responsible for drafting the sign ordinance.

Botbyl said some things have not been done properly in the past. He noted that probably two of 15 billboards are in compliance with city rules. He didn’t blame anyone for the issues.

“I’m trying to clean up this mess and trying to establish a process,” he said. “Planning and zoning commissions, if we don’t included them, how to you expect to be aggressive and move forward? If council is going to overrule them, why have them?

“Sometimes council has to listen to people who have a little more knowledge or understanding of things that are at hand and work together on this.”