In the words of Grand Marais Mayor Sue Hakes, it’s “no secret the EDA has had some financial problems,” and on June 9 city councilors spent their hour-long work session discussing those problems and potential solutions.
TheEDA has two beautiful assets, said Hakes— Superior National golf course in Lutsen and the Cedar Grove Business Park in Grand Marais— and since the Economic Development Authority is a joint venture of the city and Cook County, it’s important the two entities work together to make the best use of each. “We have to look at how we work as partners, and what is the city’s role,” the mayor said.
Councilor and EDA board member Jan Sivertson agreed, and stressed the importance of cooperation between the city and county, especially as the EDA changes and evolves. Sivertson and EDA board member Mark Sandbo led the discussion, which focused on the EDA-owned Superior National Golf Course.
Sandbo and Sivertson outlined three primary reasons the golf course is in trouble: declining number of rounds played (down from 22,000 nine years ago to just under 15,000 last year), insufficient marketing, and a lack of capital improvements and maintenance. Sandbo was emphatic that in order to attract more golfers, managers need to increase the $25,000 spent annually on marketing to at least $100,000. He also said it is vital that a number of delayed projects and equipment purchases be done in a more timely manner in order to preserve the facility and keep its stature as one of the finest in the nation.
Sivertson said the EDA cannot afford to let the golf course further disintegrate, as it is one of the county’s major assets. In an economy that is 60 percent tourist-based, that’s especially important, she said. As one solution, Sivertson presented a new public-private plan proposed by a group of West End business owners and the EDA’s golf course sub-committee. In part, the plan calls for a new management entity to coordinate and market the golf course with the Cook County Events & Visitors Bureau, use of Payment in Lieu of Taxes funds and 1 percent tax monies, and an increase in the EDA’s levy. The plan was supported by the EDA’s board the previous day.
Sandbo said his purpose in addressing council was to inform them what was going on, and to ask for council’s support to go to the county board with the plan. Council endorsed the plan, and a number of councilors said they would attend the county commissioners’ June 22 meeting to show their support when the plan was presented.
Hakes warned that the proposal was not really a “management plan,” but rather a starting point to implement needed changes. The mayor also urged the EDA to keep up its efforts on marketing the business park. “That’s another problem, and it also needs some thought. We’re partners in both, and we (city) don’t want to be left holding the bag on the business park,” she said.
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