Visit Cook County Director Linda Jurek came before the Grand Marais city council during the public comment period and expressed frustration with the city for their lack of communication with her or with Jeremy Kershaw, organizer of the Le Grand Du Nord gravel bike races that will take place May 23.
Kershaw, who lives in Two Harbors, reached out to the city by email on February 5, seeking information about the finish line area for the three bike races, which have grown from 200 to 600 riders in the last couple of years. The competitions for the 110 mile, 54 mile and 20 mile races have ended at Voyageur Brewery, but with MnDOT planning to work on Highway 61 this summer, Kershaw wanted to know if that finish line would still be a safe area for race participants.
No one from the city or law enforcement got back to him, said Jurek, so he enlisted her help, and she sent an email to the city, which was likewise ignored.
Jurek noted that VisitCook County was instructed to increase tourism in May and June, often called the “shoulder season” and she cited those increases, 94 percent in May and 67 percent in June for the city of Grand Marais, and 58 percent in May and 59 percent in June for the entire county.
However, she said, to increase tourism in the offseason, events need to be staged to bring people into the area. Visit Cook County helps promote more than 40 events in the county, including the Le Grand Du Nord, noted Jurek.
“Events are important,” she said, sharing with the council the complexity of staging something like a bike race that entails layers of permitting, planning, and promoting. And to successfully pull that off, she said it was critical for Visit Cook County, area businesses, and the city to work together with promoters like Kershaw.
“I’m completely baffled by the lack of response,” she added. “Who do I? Who does Jeremy respond to at the city level to get a response?”
As Jurek was leaving the council table, she noted that 2020 and 2021 were going to be especially trying times for the city in light of the Highway 61 construction that will take place here, and open lines of communication will be more critical than ever.
Because she appeared during the public comment period, the council didn’t respond, other than thanking her for her input.
Creative Economy Collaborative
Council listened to a presentation by Mary Somnis, EDA director, who was at the meeting to answer questions about the Creative Economy Collaborative (CEC) working document distributed to the council.
Somnis said CEC organized to become an art advisory council to the City of Grand Marais but would have no authority to vote on what projects were accepted. That would be the responsibility of the city council.
The CEC is working on developing a “Public Art Guiding Principles” document, and Somnis wanted feedback from the council on the material.
Council members asked for a few changes to the draft and wanted clarification on the CEC’s role.
Somnis pointed out CEC was a voluntary board that was working to develop a process to evaluate proposals brought forward to the town and then determine the ability for this process to be standardized or to be done on a case-by-case basis. The council had the power to reject or accept their recommendations. The board will only consider art projects for city-owned land, not private property.
Councilor Tim Kennedy thanked Somnis, saying he thought the work CEC was doing could help the city streamline a process that most councilors needed help with. No formal action was taken. However, the council gave consensus for CEC to move ahead with their work on behalf of the city.
* Council passed a resolution granting 2020 tobacco licenses to Buck’s Hardware Hank, Gene’s Food Inc., Grand Marais Marathon, and Mike’s Holiday.
* Council granted Mickey and Dee Brazell’s application requesting a conditional use permit to operate a vacation rental property at 20 3rd Avenue West, which is located in a Commercial- Residential Mixed-Use District. The Brazell application noted the area is zoned commercial, and most of the houses around the property are already used for vacation rentals.
The planning commission approved the conditional use permit with the condition of maintaining two off-street parking spaces by a 4-0 vote, with Stacy Hawkins abstaining because she is Dee’s sister.
Mickey Brazell appeared before council and said in the future he might add a garage or a small rental duplex to the property. Mike Roth, the city administrator, told Mickey that was a separate matter. He advised Brazell that if he decides to add another structure to the property, that he would have to appear once again before the planning commission for approval and then come back before the council on that matter.
* On February 5, the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission stated their continued support for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act and once again forwarded a request to the city council asking them to consider adopting a similar resolution.
The PUC resolution recognizes “climate change as a national security, economic, and global humanitarian crisis; and calls on Congress to pass the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (H.R. 763).
Councilor Tim Kennedy, who is the city’s liaison to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) board, presented the resolution to the board and asked for their support. Kennedy said, “this resolution is a small step to address a global problem.”
Mayor Jay Arrowsmith-DeCoux said the council didn’t have to take action on the PUC request, noting, “There is a lot going on in this resolution.”
Kennedy called for a motion of support, seconded by Jay, who wanted to keep the conversation going.
Councilor Kelly Swearengen said she didn’t disagree with the goals of the resolution but as a council member, she wanted to, “deal with things we can help people with at a local level.”
Councilor Craig Schulte pointed out the resolution looked at one side of a larger agenda. He wondered how a carbon fee would affect business. “Who knows how this thing is going to work?”
If enacted, Schulte said there could be potential surges in the cost of goods, increased gas rates, increased utility rates, and many other unknowns. Until he knew more, he wasn’t in favor of passing the resolution. Councilor Swearengen also wondered how the federal government would do in reimbursing dividends to the public in light of its handling of social security, Medicare and Medicaid.
The vote was taken and Kennedy and Arrowsmith-DeCoux voted for and Schulte and Swearenegen voted against and the measure failed because it ended in a tie. Still, the council felt the conversation was healthy and the debate good, with both sides airing their differences without recrimination or reproach of any kind.
* Following interviews with finalists for the library director job, Grand Marais Assistant Library Director Amanda St. John was nominated to be the new director. Amanda has been acting as the interim library director following Steve Harsin’s resignation to take a new position in southern Minnesota. Council voted unanimously to award the job to Amanda St. John, and Arrowsmith-DeCoux said the city was lucky to have her in the job. Now, however, said Arrowsmith-DeCoux, the process will begin again to replace Amanda in her assistant library director position.
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