The Winter Snow Fun Holiday Parade & 43rd annual Tree Lighting Ceremony is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 30.

The parade will begin at 6 p.m. on Fair Avenue and will venture down North Third Street, ending at the Marquette Commons. The Marquette Commons is also the site of the tree lighting ceremony, which will take place promptly following the conclusion of the parade.

This downtown tradition transforms Third Street into an enchanted scene from the North Pole, featuring numerous festively decorated floats, vehicles and marching units. The United States Postal Service will be collecting letters to Santa along the parade route. Letters should include a return address. Following the parade, the fun will continue with the tree lighting ceremony and photos with Santa Claus at Marquette Commons.

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A sanitary manhole repair at the intersection of Fair and Lincoln Avenues will be conducted Wednesday, Nov. 28. Fair will be closed to through traffic between Norway Avenue and Lincoln. The northbound lane of Lincoln will be closed from Kaye Avenue to Fair.

This closure will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until the repair is completed. Estimated completion time is 2 p.m. A detour will be provided.

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The regular meeting of the Fire and Police Pension Board scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 27 has been canceled due to a lack of quorum.

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Winter tax bills totaling $1.7 million will be mailed to Marquette City property owners on Nov. 30. Tax collection begins Dec. 1 and payments are accepted at the City Treasurer’s office without penalty through Feb. 14, 2019. A penalty of 3 percent will be added to unpaid winter tax bills on Feb. 15, 2019. On March 1, 2019, taxes are considered delinquent and will be transferred to the County Treasurer for collection.

The 2018 winter property tax bill represents millage levies for Marquette County Transit, County Aging, County Medical Care Facility, County Dispatch, County Rescue and County Veterans’ Affairs.

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On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 22, from 9 to 11 a.m., the Marquette Senior High School will hold its annual 5K and 10K Turkey Trot Run/Walk.

This longstanding event will begin at the Marquette Senior High School and proceed west along Fair Avenue to the multi-use path where it will then cross Fair Avenue and proceed northerly along the path to Hawley Street, then east along the path to Lakeshore Boulevard, then north along the path on Lakeshore Boulevard to the ore dock. Runners and walkers will return along the same route to finish at the Marquette Senior High School.

The 5K event will follow part of the same route but turn around near Tourist Park.

An alternate route may have to be followed in the event of inclement conditions.

No City streets will be closed for this event and the public is asked to use caution while driving in these areas.

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City offices located at Marquette City Hall, 300 W. Baraga Avenue; the Lakeview Arena, 401 E. Fair Avenue; the Arts and Culture Center, 217 N. Front St. (in the Peter White Public Library); and the Municipal Service Center, 1100 Wright Street, will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 22 and Friday, Nov. 23, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Marquette Police, Fire, and Public Works and Utilities will remain fully operational during this time.

There will be no change in garbage pickup for City residents.

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In celebration of the holiday season, enforcement of the metered parking and two-hour customer parking areas will be suspended throughout the downtown district Monday through Friday after 3 p.m. This process began Thursday, Nov. 15 and will continue through Friday, Dec. 28. Visitors to the downtown may park without restriction in any of the public parking spaces within the district, with the exception of handicapped spaces, 24-hour reserved spots and loading zones.

This applies to parking along North Third Street, the lower and upper level of the Bluff Street Parking Ramp, the Commons Lot, the Main Street Lots, the Lakeshore Boulevard Lot, the Rock Street Lot, the East Baraga Avenue Lot and the Spring Street Lot.

The complimentary parking is offered compliments of the Marquette City Police Department and The Marquette Downtown Development Authority.

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On Tuesday, Nov. 20, starting at 8 a.m., East Ridge Street will be closed to through traffic from Front Street to High Street for a water service installation. Work is expected to be completed by Tuesday, Nov. 27.

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The City of Marquette Compost and Household Rubbish drop-off site, located at 1415 Pioneer Road, is closed for the season effective Monday, November 12.

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Dear Community Members,

In response to recent concerns involving drinking water testing for lead and copper, the City of Marquette decided to perform lead and copper testing on water sources found at City facilities. Lead and copper testing at City facilities is not mandated by the rules and regulations promulgated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Lead in drinking water is primarily from materials and components associated with service lines and home plumbing. Corrosion control in our water system is accomplished by adding sodium hydroxide, which raises the pH, making the water less aggressive and causes a coating to form on the pipe from the calcium carbonate in the water. This helps prevent lead from leaching into the water from the plumbing.

City staff completed lead & copper testing of the water supply drawn from fixtures at City facilities including drinking fountains and select sinks during the months of September and October. The fixtures tested were located at the Marquette Area Wastewater Treatment Facility, Water Filtration Plant, City Hall, including the Senior Center, Lakeview Arena, both Fire Departments, Park Cemetery and various City park facilities. In total, samples were collected from 48 fixtures. The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for lead is 15 parts per billion (ppb) and the MCL for copper is 1300 parts per billion (ppb). A summary of all the results can be found on the City website. To date, we have had no test results that exceed recommended levels of lead. It should be noted that the raw water and plant tap were both tested at the Water Filtration Plant (WFP) and did not register and lead readings. The WFP would be considered the source water for the City water system.

The four fixtures testing over the MCL included two drinking fountains at Lakeview Arena, a drinking fountain at the Senior Center and a hand sink in the Police Department locker room. There are seven total water fountains located at Lakeview Arena. The two fountains testing over the MCL are in the south hallway of the Russell Rink. These fountains are relatively low use fountains as they are not located near the locker rooms. The Friends of Lakeview Arena donated four filtered drinking fountains with bottle filling stations to the facility which City staff are currently installing. The drinking fountain at the Senior Center has since been replaced with a filtered drinking fountain with bottle filling station. The bathroom sink in the men’s locker room of the Marquette Police Department is designated as a non-potable water source. The sink will have the fixture replaced and will then be retested to determine inf the signage will stay or be removed.

The City of Marquette is responsible for providing high quality drinking water. The City is fully committed to ensuring the safety and welfare of the general public, specific user groups and staff who use City facilities.

Please contact the following City staff with questions or concerns:
Curt Goodman, Director of Utilities at 225-4055 or cgoodman@marquettemi.gov
Scott Cambensy, Director of Public Works at 225-8977 or scambensy@marquettemi.gov
Eric Stemen, Director of Facility Maintenance at 225-8978 or estemen@marquettemi.gov

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