There was consensus at a special meeting of the Grand Marais Park Board on Tuesday, November 15. All of the members shared the same response to the $595,190.70 price tag for a walkway and stormwater management area at the east end of the campground—shock. The special meeting at the Rec. Park office was called to talk about ways the “Community Connections” project could be completed at a price the city could afford. Who is responsible for the stormwater?
Board members noted that the majority of the cost is related to stormwater management on the site and questioned how much stormwater control is the park’s responsibility. According to the proposed design memo from Jamison Mehle of Short, Elliott, Hendrickson Inc. (SEH) of Duluth, “The total drainage area that contributes to this stormwater system is approximately 31 acres, most of which is residential lots.”
Mehle also said much of the sediment that gets to the site is road sand from winter maintenance. The board acknowledged that the problem is that the runoff, whether it is directly from the Rec. Park land or from above, is a problem. It creates a “sediment delta” in the marina basin that periodically needs to be dredged.
But, asked board members, what if they can’t afford the plan presented by SEH? “The building of the path isn’t that expensive,” said Park Board Member Todd Miller. “By doing some landscaping, maybe we are helping. We’re not dealing with what’s above, but we are doing what we can.”
Park Board Member Paul Anderson agreed, “Right now it’s an open trench.”
Board Member Tracy Benson reminded her colleagues that they had stressed the importance of stormwater management. “We emphasized stormwater management. Maybe there are other options,” she said.
Grand Marais City Administrator Mike Roth was at the meeting and he said, “I’d like to see SEH prioritize these things. I’d like them to let us know—if we can only do one thing, what is most important? Is it stabilizing the bank?”
Benson agreed, noting that there may be grant funding available for stormwater work. “We need to know which of these stormwater items can be left out and which would be eligible for grant money.”
Roth said, “That would be a good story for potential grantors. We can show them—this is what we’d like to do—this is what we can afford to do.” What about the walkway?
The board also considered costs of the walkway itself. Board Member Anderson pointed to the probable costs list and said, “Maybe we need to look at this and re-work it. We want to create a handicap accessible path and some drainage. Maybe we don’t need $1,800 benches and flagstone paths,” he said.
Miller agreed. “This is the Cadillac plan. Can we create a down and dirty plan? We can always build the house—and furnish it later.”
The board looked at the conceptual design and came up with some ideas that could possibly reduce the cost. Miller said, “Maybe we can get SEH to do one more drawing and we can shop it around. We can take it to the city and ask them, ‘What do you want to spend?’”
“Whatever happens, we need to remember when we worked on the master plan, there was a lot of emotion about this connection,” added Miller. “Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Let’s get this neutral path to the water for the public.”
City Administrator Roth said, “I’d like to see more options. I’d like SEH to put together a ‘bare bones’ plan and tell us what that would cost, then add a few features and tell us the cost.”
Roth said that is what happened with Harbor Park. The first proposal for design of the park was $800,000. The city and the park board worked with planners, local contractors, and master gardeners and created the park for approximately $300,000.
The board agreed, and directed Park Manager Dave Tersteeg to contact SEH to say the board wants to see a plan for less.
“A lot less!” said Board Member Robin DuChien.
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