The Grand Marais Street Department designated this parking space on First Avenue West as handicap-only earlier this week after city council approved a request from the American Legion as a way to help their elderly and disabled clients. Council plans to discuss and establish a policy governing the number and placement of the restricted parking spaces at an upcoming meeting.
Grand Marais City Council’s Sept. 25 meeting began with a visit from Rebecca Thompson of the American Legion.
The manager of Post 413 was there to request a handicap parking space in front of the Legion’s First Avenue West building. Thompson said there are many elderly veterans who are experiencing difficulty walking and having trouble getting into the building from their vehicles, especially when there are no vacant parking spaces nearby.
“We have older clients now, and there is a whole generation of military veterans with severe issues of mobility,” said Thompson, noting that that has changed in recent years and will probably continue to worsen. “Our concern is for our clients as they become more disabled.”
Thompson requested that one parking space in front of the Legion’s building be designated as handicap only during the Legion’s hours of business— a request which was granted by council following a brief discussion.
City Administrator Mike Roth said the city has no policy governing the creation of handicap parking spaces, and each request is handled on a caseby case basis. He said it’s not a big issue—there have been only two such requests in about the past seven years. “There are not a lot of requests for this, but it’s not a huge downtown either,” Roth said.
Councilor Tim Kennedy asked what would be a reasonable policy and pointed out that if the city is going to designate handicap parking spaces, it ought to be done right with curb cuts and proper signage. The way the city has been marking the handicap spaces, they don’t meet the accessibility requirements anyway, he said.
Mayor Larry Carlson said he is not against designating the handicap space on First Avenue West, but agreed there should be a policy. What if every business asked for a restricted space, he asked. Whose would be granted? Where would people park?
There was consensus that a handicap parking policy would be a good idea, and councilors approved Kennedy’s motion to direct Roth to conduct research and recommend other spaces in the downtown district.
In the meantime, the space in front of the American Legion has been marked with blue paint, and a sign to be posted by the city’s street department is forthcoming.
In other matters, councilors also talked about recent flooding in the city’s municipal parking lot on Broadway. Councilor Bill Lenz said he received complaints about the situation last week and suggested that some signs be posted there to warn unsuspecting visitors that the lot floods and becomes a lake following heavy rainfall.
Roth said he has spoken with the city’s insurance agent about the situation and potential for damage to vehicles parked in the lot, and signs are being considered. “That’s the level we’re dealing with—I don’t think we can solve it engineering-wise,” he said.
In other city business:
. Councilor Lenz said that in addition to a complaint about the downtown flooding situation, he was also contacted about vehicles speeding up and down Eighth Avenue West.
. Lenz took part in the Sept. 19 “Moving Matters” kickoff seminar and said there was a good discussion about sidewalk placement and other ideas the city could implement to improve pedestrian safety. Council spent a few minutes discussing the city’s long-range plan and coordination with the county to both design and pay for sidewalks and other improvements.
. Councilor and Public Utilities Commission member Tim Kennedy said the commission voted at its last meeting to raise sewer, water and electric rates 2 percent next year. The rates have held steady since 2010, said Kennedy, and the commission members felt it was necessary to implement the small increase.
. Council voted to accept a $4,246.65 grant from the state Department of Natural Resources to be used for improvements on the pump-out station at the marina. The improvements are necessary for compliance with the Clean Vessel Act.
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