Grand Marais city councilors met Wednesday, August 29 to discuss a litany of items over the course of two hours.
The council voted in favor of the city PCU granting a license to allow ZEF Energy to place two electric vehicle-charging stations in the City Hall parking lot. The license is good for seven years, with the understanding that if the building uses change, then the city will find an alternate location for the stations.
Cook County Highway Engineer Krysten Saatela Foster, P.E. addressed the council on behalf of the Cook County Highway Department. She formally invited the City of Grand Marais to participate in the steering committee for the long-range transportation planning process.
The objective of the committee is to create a 20-year vision. Council agreed that representation is important, especially to keep the lines of communication open. Councilor Kelly Swearingen was appointed to represent the city. The council and community will be advised of the public outreach schedule as soon as it is released.
Ordinance No. 2018-01 was unanimously passed following its second reading. The ordinance amends that the parcel in question be rezoned from RC Recreation Commercial to R-1 Permanent Residential.
The council approved the Winterstone preliminary plat submitted by Anton Moody. This plat consists of 2.74 acres of property zoned R-1 split into eight lots intended for single-family homes and one out lot. The plat includes one new public street and new municipal utilities.
There was some discussion and concerns presented from affected neighbors, specifically regarding the potential for increased property taxes and increased traffic. Those concerns were heard and acknowledged. Overall, the council members seemed excited for local teachers, government officials and hospital staff to potentially have options to purchase homes.
The council also reassured those with concerns that the new road would be city maintained, meaning they will put speed restrictions and parking regulations into place and modify them as needed. With the plat passing, all adjoining properties will be notified of the street vacation. Then the plat will move to the hands of the engineers and surveyors. Finally, Moody will need to negotiate a developer’s agreement prior to the building timeline and final plat being presented to the council.
Turning to the Highway 61 reconstruction project, a motion to approve the two contracts created for design work for Highway 61 features was approved. There is a steering committee and MnDOT design meeting in late December. At that time, it is hoped the local community will have a concrete understanding of the timeline for the project.
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