Houghton City Manager Eric Waara reads a statement during Wednesday’ council meeting thanking Clerk/Assistant City Manager Ann Vollrath, right and Treasurer Jodi Reynolds. Succession planning is underway for Vollrath and Reynolds, who both plan to retire this spring. (Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette)

HOUGHTON — At Wednesday’s meeting, The Houghton City Council thanked two long-time employees who will be retiring this spring, and discussed planning for the steps ahead in replacing nearly 65 years of combined service.

The city began succession planning more than a year ago for Treasurer Jodi Reynolds and Clerk/Assistant City Manager Ann Vollrath, including hiring new people and seeing what the organizational chart would look like, City Manager Eric Waara said.

Reynolds, who had previously worked at a doctor’s office, has worked for the city since 1988. Vollrath, who came to the city from the office of attorney Andrew Wisti, started working for Houghton in 1997.

They’ve been in their current roles with the city for the past 13 years. Both have agreed to stay in their positions through late April or early May to help with the transition, Waara said.

“Since last year, they’ve been documenting their routine duties and scheduled obligations of their offices in order to assist their eventual successors in continuing the high level of service and professionalism that they brought to their offices,” he said.

Over the next few weeks, the city’s personnel committee will make recommendations to the council on appointing their successors and filling other positions within the administration.

“I want to take this opportunity to publicly and personally thank Ann and Jody for their dedication to the continued mission of making a great place to live,” Waara said. “They have been a big part of all that we have accomplished here, and I, for one, will always be grateful for the help they’ve given me over the last 11 years.”

Mayor Bob Backon also thanked both of them for their contributions to the city.

“You’ve been valuable for this whole community for many, many years, and we certainly appreciate everything you guys have done,” he said. “I want you to know that right from my heart.”

In other action, the council:

Scheduled a joint meeting with the Planning Commission and Downtown Development Authority for 5:30 p.m.

Scheduled budget work sessions for March 19, April 2 and April 16. All meetings begin at 5 p.m.

Heard a report from City Manager Eric Waara. Department of Public Works crews plan to widen the streets next week. With temperatures dipping below zero, they have also been keeping an eye on the frost line — still down only two-and-a-half feet.

As part of the process to update the six-year-old contingency plan for a Portage Lake Lift Bridge outage, the city also met this week with state and local entities such as Hancock, Michigan Department of Transportation and Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region.

Houghton also received a final report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on drainage and modeling for the Dodge Street basin, one of the sites that took the heaviest damage during the Father’s Day Flood.

Heard a report from Police Chief John Donnelly. Since the previous meeting, there have been 135 calls for service, six misdemeanor arrests, 11 civil infractions, one city ticket, 29 car accidents and 19 calls for health and safety. Donnelly also mentioned the upcoming Pigs ‘n Heat game, which takes place 4:30 p.m. Feb. 1 at the MacInnes Ice Arena.

Approved a resolution of appreciation for Daily Mining Gazette reporter Garrett Neese for his 21 ½ years of service. Neese is transferring to the Greene County Messenger in Pennsylvania, where he will also provide articles for the nearby Ogden Newspapers dailies in Uniontown and Washington.

Adopted poverty exemption guidelines and asset test for total or partial property tax exemption, as required annually under state law.

The 2025 federal poverty income guidelines start with $15,060 for a one-person household.

Approved a policy for the annual canvassing of personal property. The city’s assessor will drive through the city starting the first Monday in November and going through the end of the calendar year to determine if any personal property has been removed or added from parcels.

The city’s goals include identifying new businesses and verifying which businesses have closed, keeping an accurate inventory of business personal property and ensuring it is being fairly and equitably assessed, and helping business owners to understand business personal property filing procedures.