The Grand Marais City Council met on Wednesday, November 28 to discuss several items, the top being to find a replacement for newly elected city councilor Pete Gresczyk.
Elected candidate Carl “Pete” Gresczyk, winner of the special election, has officially declined the position. Gresczyk was elected to fulfill two years of the existing term. As a result, Resolution 2018-23, the Declaration of Vacancy for the City Council was approved unanimously.
The council will be appointing an individual into the two-year and one-month term, following official advertisement of the position. City council is hoping several potential candidates will submit interest by the deadline of Dec. 7. Council will begin the review process on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at its 6:30 p.m. meeting.
Sawtooth Bluff Master Plan
Cook County Land Commissioner/ Parks and Trails director Lisa Kerr returned to continue discussion of the Sawtooth Bluffs Master Plan. Kerr asked that the city reconvene the Sawtooth Bluffs Steering Committee, with the intent of participating in the next steps in the projects development.
The plan is the first step in completing the long-term projects. Kerr clarified that the joint parties will not be responsible for all the 640 acres, as most of them will be funded and maintained by the user groups.
To date, there has been a lack of conversation between the city and the county, specifically regarding how both parties would be involved in the plan. According to Councilman Tim Kennedy, city council has had zero conversation about what a joint powers agreement would look like. Once a draft comes out of the steering committee, then both parties can make sure that they agree on how things will be structured.
After a great deal of discussion, a motion was passed to approve the plan. This is contingent upon creation of an acceptable management plan between the City of Grand Marais and Cook County. It is essential to the council to be active partners in drafting that agreement.
Variance denied
Resolution 2018-24 was presented by Mayor Jay Arrowsmith-DeCoux, which Kennedy made a motion to accept. This was a quick process as the findings are consistent with the discussion of the past two meetings.
A motion was unanimously approved, denying the variance to allow Berner Properties to construct a 31.5-foot-tall commercial structure, taller than the maximum allowed height of 30 feet on their property zoned DW (Downtown Waterfront). The denial of the variance was clearly based on the failure to meet five established criteria.
Health insurance
A motion was passed to accept the Business Associates Agreement between the A.T. Group LLC and the City of Grand Marais. For the public’s reference, the A.T. Group is managing the health insurance plan for the city.
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