Houghton County adopts updated Upper Peninsula environmental health code over one dissent

The Houghton County Board of Commissioners voted 4–1 on April 11 to adopt the Western Upper Peninsula Environmental Health Code, a district-level update the board said replaces the county's older code for residential and commercial uses.

Commissioner Glenn Anderson, who offered the motion to approve, told the board the new code is an improvement on the 2019 version and said there will be no fee increase tied to the adoption. Commissioner Joel Keranen was the lone dissent, saying several constituents had raised concerns and that “seven (7) areas in the Health Code” should be supported by facts and data before the county signs on. Commissioners Gretchen Janssen and Roy Britz supported adoption; Chairman Tom Tikkanen and the motion's mover voted in favor as well.

The resolution implementing the code cites Michigan law (1978 PA 368, Sec. 244(1)) that requires each member governing entity to approve district health department regulations. The adopted resolution explicitly records that the Upper Peninsula Environmental Health Code shall apply in Houghton County.

Public comment before the vote included multiple residents and local stakeholders who urged both passage and rejection; some speakers, including Faith Morrison and Joan Kopp, urged the board to vote yes on the Health Code, while others used the public-comment period to address a separate “Affirming Support of All Constitutional Rights” resolution later on the agenda.

The board recorded the vote as: Anderson, Janssen, Tikkanen, Britz YES; Keranen NO. The resolution was entered into the meeting minutes as Resolution No. 2023-08. The board did not attach a fee increase to the code as presented.

Next steps: county staff will file the signed resolution with the county clerk’s records and the code will apply in Houghton County as authorized by the board.