It was another full agenda for the Sept. 12 Grand Marais City Council meeting. As large issues are discussed, a greater number of locals have come out to listen and offer input. While many view the proceedings online, it is always encouraged for community members to attend meetings, to speak at the open forum or to listen to the council’s discussion purely to stay informed.
Pete Gresczyk came before the council during the public comment period with some concerns about how much money North House pays the city for land it leases from the city.
Telling the council that he likes the folk school and the business it brings to the community, nevertheless, he said, if the school has the dollars to pay for private buildings and land adjacent to it and across Highway 61 from the campus, they should have the funds to pay more for their lease payments to the city.
Gresczyk reiterated his point before he finished speaking that he appreciates the folk school, but he feels the lease with the city should be renegotiated to reflect fair payment of land to the city.
Following the public comment period the board quickly approved all five issues on the consent agenda before jumping into a lengthy discussion on the North House lease.
As discussed at prior meetings, North House Folk School approached the council in hopes of renewing and extending its lease agreement by 55 years, although they still have 14 years remaining on the original lease.
The main goal in the extension request is to extend the lease through the North House’s 75th anniversary. That commitment would greatly aid in their ability to raise outside funding, by proving that North House Folk School is an organization that is here to stay.
Greg Wright, executive director of North House, spoke extensively on how the school has met the original goals, how it has given back to the community and made it clear the school is hoping to have the city’s backing.
While most of the community recognizes the positive contributions that North House brings to Grand Marais, citizens are concerned that they are not paying the fair market value in renting the space from the city.
Community members have requested that the council consider the going rate of other commercial leases and feel that North House should be required to pay a fair amount.
The council applauded North House’s efforts thus far but did clarify that different criteria need to be established and provided before further discussion of a lease extension occurs.
Council agreed that it is important for North House to physically invest in Grand Marais. The ideas of potentially using classes to construct structures that would reduce the costs of current city projects or create items that would be utilized by the community were emphasized.
Additionally, the council would like to see greater expansion in community education, specifically targeting the local youth. Councilors were very interested in what percentages of local children have utilized the programs in the past. Ideally, those offerings would increase so that our youth can learn skills that can keep them in Grand Marais as working adults.
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