Marquette City Commission approves grant to add electric vehicles to city fleet, approves increased city manager salary

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - The Marquette City Commission voted unanimously at a meeting Monday to allow the city to purchase two electric vehicles (EVs), an electric lawnmower and two EV chargers for the city’s vehicle fleet.

As part of the approved agenda item, Marquette will receive a MI Next Cities Smart Grant. The grant will reimburse Marquette up to $200,000 to purchase two 2023 Ford eTransit Vans for the city’s public works and engineering departments.

The city said it also plans to use the grant funding to purchase a Mean Green electric lawnmower for its facilities department and two level two EV chargers to be installed at the Marquette Municipal Service Center.

Marquette City Commissioner Jermey Ottaway said this grant is a big step towards preparing Marquette for the electrification of vehicles.

“This is a huge win for Marquette,” Ottaway began. “First off, it is costing us nothing, and electrification is coming. Seeing that Marquette is going to be a chosen city for being a leader in the state on this is just an awesome accomplishment all around.”

Alongside Dearborn and Flint, Marquette is one of three cities in Michigan to receive a MI Next Cities Smart Grant.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the city commission voted unanimously to approve a 2% base salary increase for Marquette City Manager Karen Kovacs and Marquette City Attorney Suzanne Larsen. This increase is retroactive to Oct. 1, 2022.

This brings the city manager’s annual salary to $127,500 and the city attorney’s to $117,300.

The city commission also unanimously approved a bonus for the city manager and city attorney. This totals $625 for the city manager and $575 for the city attorney.

In addition to increasing their salaries, the commission extended the city manager and city attorney’s contracts by one year.

Each contract will now end on Dec. 30, 2025.

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