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Muskegon Commissioners consider campfire ban

One commissioner raised air-quality concerns about backyard campfires. Staff said a total ban would be hard to enforce.

At the September 23 Legislative Policy Committee meeting, Commissioner Kochin asked fellow commissioners whether the city should ban campfires because of air quality. The Legislative Policy Committee is usually attended by all seven city commissioners, yet the meeting is not live-streamed or recorded by the city. The following recording was made by a resident who attended the meeting virtually under the city's Virtual Public Participation Policy.

Fire ban discussion

During discussion, City Manager Seyferth explained the city already limits where a backyard fire can sit and what can be burned. Enforcement of a total ban would be complex

Kochin voted no on the Hartshorn park grant

City Commission

Commissioner Katrina Kochin asked the manager to elaborate on the site. The packet had no map, address, or legal description.

Kochin voted no on the Hartshorn park grant — Commissioner Kochin seeks information missing from the agenda packet

Commissioner Katrina Kochin was the only no vote on the $730,200 state grant for 2.15 acres next to Hartshorn Park. She asked the manager to elaborate on the property. Manager Seyferth and Mayor Johnson took turns describing the parcel: the grassy area east of Fricano's, the driveway from Western Avenue to Hartshorn, a portion of the adjoining parking lot, and a stretch of bike path the city sold nearly a decade ago as part of Hartshorn Village. This deal would bring that stretch back into public hands.

Kochin said that was why she brought it up. She

Meeting Rundown - City of Muskegon Commission Agenda Tuesday Oct 13

City Commission

A $246,405 housing settlement, a $730,200 park grant the owner has not agreed to sell, and a wharf report that shows $347,000 spent.

Meeting Rundown - City of Muskegon Commission Agenda Tuesday Oct 13

Tuesday's commission meeting puts real money on the consent agenda and a report on the wharf. The items below are ranked by community impact and overall budget. Tap any photo below to visit links with supporting information.

Infill housing brownfield amendment — Infill means building houses on empty lots already inside the city, instead of new land at the edge. A brownfield plan lets a developer get reimbursed from the new property taxes those houses create. This amendment covers that program, about 555 parcels. It also records a $246,405 settlement with West Urban Properties, the company that was supposed

Mayoral proclamation to extend community admiration and gratitude to Purple Heart recipients

City Commission

Muskegon is preparing to call itself a Purple Heart Community, and to mark August 7 as Purple Heart Day.

Mayoral proclamation to extend community admiration and gratitude to Purple Heart recipients — Joseph Beyrle • photo: The original uploader was Beyrlejr at English Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Purple Heart goes back to George Washington, who created the Badge of Military Merit on August 7, 1782. National Purple Heart Day is observed on the same day. Next Tuesday's document would let Mayor Johnson proclaim Muskegon a Purple Heart Community and mark August 7 as Purple Heart Day.

While the documents in the agenda packet name no Purple Heart recipients, Muskegon does have them. Joseph Beyrle was born here on August 25, 1923, jumped with the 101st Airborne on D-Day, and is the only known American to have fought in combat for both the U.S.

He used to want the books open. Now he voted to close them.

Government

In 2020, Ken Johnson said $195,000 in gift cards was spent the wrong way, and he asked for an outside audit. In 2026, he voted to let the city manager spend about $2.8 million on Third Street Wharf without bringing each job back to the Commission for standard approval.

He used to want the books open. Now he voted to close them. — Does Mayor Johnson still embrace RADICAL TRANSPARENCY?

This is the same man, six years apart, looking at the same kind of problem and doing the opposite thing.

In 2020, Ken Johnson was a city commissioner, not the mayor. Then-city manager Frank Peterson had spent $195,000 on gift cards from local restaurants to support them during pandemic lockdowns. That money came out of a city fund, and the Commission never voted on it. The city attorney, John Schrier, said that spend was not allowed. Johnson's answer was to ask for an outside audit, which means a person who does not work for the city goes

Experienced designer chooses Muskegon for Scandinavian-inspired 5-story building

Downtown

Dustin Sommer told The Commission his five-story building at 118 W. Clay is meant to activate the economic corridor between Pine and Western. A minimalist design is purposeful, inspiring future tenants to see neighborhood businesses as amenity extensions of the building.

Experienced designer chooses Muskegon for Scandinavian-inspired 5-story building — 118 W Clay Rendering

Dustin Sommer, founder of The Development Studio, is building a place to live simply, where tenants are inspired to leave the apartment and explore their neighborhood. He shared his vision at the September 22 City Commission Meeting. His plan for 118 W. Clay is forty apartments over small shops: 12 studios, 21 one-bedrooms, and seven two-bedrooms. Sommer says he thinks about the project the way he would if he lived there.

Sommer shares his vision for Clay Street

The design is modern, Scandinavian, and minimalist. Efficient layouts that will likely include laundry in the units. Excluding amenities like

Muskegon Commissioners consider campfire ban

Kochin voted no on the Hartshorn park grant

Meeting Rundown - City of Muskegon Commission Agenda Tuesday Oct 13

Mayoral proclamation to extend community admiration and gratitude to Purple Heart recipients

He used to want the books open. Now he voted to close them.

Experienced designer chooses Muskegon for Scandinavian-inspired 5-story building

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