Grand Marais city councilors’ last meeting of the year was also the shortest.
Councilors met for about 10 minutes on Dec. 26 to put the final stamp of approval on the city’s 2013 budget and levy. As adopted, the levy for next year is $824,152.44, which is a 1.12 percent property tax levy increase.
The action concludes the lengthy budget process, which began in late summer with meetings between council and the city’s department heads. In September, council set a preliminary levy of $866,552.44, which would have represented a 6.3 percent increase over the prior year. City administrators worked since then to reduce that increase.
The budget includes $357,500 for capital projects including $42,500 for fleet replacement, $90,000 for street maintenance/reconstruction, and $125,000 for park projects.
There is also $75,000 included for council priorities. The list of identified priorities includes a public works facility; liquor store facility study; Rec Park community connection; Highway 61 corridor improvements; campground site upgrades; a park office/bathhouse project; street/utility reconstruction in the First Street area; and City Hall/public restroom improvements.
In other business, Councilor Tim Kennedy reported that he just learned that a state Legacy Grant application, which was supported by the city and submitted by the Superior Cycling Association, has not been approved.
The city of Grand Marais and Lutsen Township each committed matches of $10,000, and West End businesses promised $7,000. In addition, the Cook County commissioners pledged a match of $25,000 for the $914,120 grant.
If approved, the grant money would have enabled creation of 23¼ miles of mountain bike trail at Britton Peak in Tofte and 7¼ miles of mountain bike trail at Pincushion in Grand Marais, with up to 1½ miles of handicap-accessible trails.
Kennedy said he was disappointed the local project was rejected, but noted that the state agency received applications totaling $47 million in requests, with only about $7 million available for distribution.
Hopefully, he said, local planners and advocates of the project will learn from this year’s application process and plan to seek feedback on what they can do better to achieve a higher score on next year’s application.
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