It’s that time of year again, time to make final arrangements for the upcoming Lions Club Fisherman’s Picnic.
With that, the Grand Marais City Council went over the plans to close downtown city streets for the Aug. 3-6 picnic at the council’s June 28 meeting.
Mike Carlson, president of the Grand Marais Lions Club, was there to answer questions.
Carlson asked for permission to barricade the west courthouse parking lot so it could be used for vendors. “We have used it before, even for lodging,” Carlson said. Council approved his request as long as the Cook County commissioners approved it.
Crazy Days is making a comeback, said Carlson, and the Lions aren’t having vendors selling items on Thursday, Aug. 3, “Except for a few food vendors,” he added.
As far as blocking off streets, the city has been asked to deliver barricades to the corners of the street entrances. The Lions will move the barricades into the streets at the appropriate times.
Barricades will need to be moved to block off the entire streets at the corners of Wisconsin Street and Broadway (on the north side, east of the Beaver House entrance) and First Avenue West at the southwest corner of Harbor Park.
Also, a single barrier will have to be left at the alley leading to Joy & Co. towards Wisconsin Street. Carlson asked that the city not place that barricade where it will block anything. It will be dragged into place when it is needed, he said.
There will be vehicle access to Wisconsin Street from Highway 61 for First Avenue West to Broadway on Thursday for Crazy Days to accommodate local business. From 3 p.m. on Thursday through the weekend most downtown streets will be closed to traffic or have limited access to vehicles.
Council also approved the annual bingo permit for the Sons of American Legion. Bingo will be held under the big tent next to the American Legion Post 413 (Grandma Ray’s).
Public works project
John Hegenmeir, McGough’s site superintendent for the public works project, gave the council an update on the progress of the $5 million public works facility. So far the footings and foundation have been poured and two-thirds of the precast wall panels are now installed, said Hegenmeir. Pending the weather, this should take two to three weeks. Once the bar joist and metal deck are complete the underground mechanical rough in be installed. When the exterior is enclosed the roof will be installed at the end of July or first of August. Following that the slab will be placed in the building when the underground mechanical work is finished.
The roof has been designed for solar panels, but a feasibility study showed that there would be a 90-year payback to install solar panel.
The building has been designed to have an R-value of 28. It will also have in-floor heat and be equipped with LED lighting, which should lead to great efficiency in both savings on heat and electricity for lights.
Music festival
Todd Miller came before the council with a request for the city to help pay the cost for Porta-Potties that will be placed in Bear Tree Park for the upcoming Stars of the North Music Festival.
In its first year, the festival is taking the last July weekend left open by the Dragon Boat races, which were discontinued two years ago.
Miller, who was representing the Grand Marais Music Collaborative, the sponsoring and organizing group for the July 28-30 event, said his group underestimated the number of Porta-Potties, but Pete Gresczyk, who rents out the units, pointed out that not just festival participants, but the general public would be using them. To meet that demand, six or seven Porta- Potties would need to be onsite and would have to be emptied daily. “Pete said that would cost $750, but he gave us a break and said he would charge $600,” said Miller, adding his organization had figured rental costs in the range of $200.
Goals of the festival, said Miller, are more than to provide public entertainment and a chance for local musicians to showcase their abilities. The festival will also earn funds to provide music lessons to local kids who couldn’t otherwise afford to pay for them.
“I honestly think that music is a huge part of our community,” said Mayor Jay Arrowsmith-Decoux. “We’re talking about a couple hundred bucks. Offering a bit of assistance this year and then expecting you to pay for it next year is reasonable. That’s what I feel, anyway.”
Councilor Dave Mills said, “I think it’s (festival) great. It’s a super small cost for an open weekend that is really good and going to benefit everybody, it makes a lot of sense.”
“Since this is your first year and you are trying to figure things out, I’m sure we can help,” said Councilor Tracy Benson.
Neither Councilors Tim Kennedy nor Anton Moody were at the meeting to cast a vote.
Mills motioned for the city to pitch in and pay the Porta-Potties entire $600 cost with Arrowsmith- Decoux seconding. Benson voted for the measure, which passed 3-0.
Miller thanked council for its support and said this year his group was laying the groundwork for future festivals.
In councilor reports Benson asked, “Have we thanked the people who did all of the work on the (city owned) public bathrooms? Can we send a letter to the editor for the work they did? They are business owners, busy people. Look at all they accomplished.”
Arrowsmith- Decoux said he was very impressed with the work the group of volunteers did to clean up and paint the building and make the upgrades needed for the facility connected to City Hall. The mayor promised to get a letter of thanks into the newspaper to publicly thank the volunteers for their time, effort and expertise.
Administrator Mike Roth reported that the city sent out about 50 surveys asking if businesses would open their restrooms to the public and got back 30 responses. The town runs short of rest rooms in the busy summer months and has been wrestling with whether to build more or to come up with another solution for a two-to three-month problem.
Roth said comments received were interesting. He will flush out the statistics and have a report on the results at an upcoming meeting.
Leave a Reply