The Grand Marais City Council is working with the Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District to begin making plans to upgrade the city’s stormwater management plan. One of the goals is to alleviate some of the flooding that takes place during a heavy rain in the Cook County Whole Foods Co-op parking lot.
Ilena Berg, district manager, Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District, came before the Grand Marais City Council on November 30 to discuss the city’s stormwater management plan.
The city developed a stormwater management plan in 2001 and made anther plan in 2007, which was updated in 2009.
In 2005 the city tried to tackle one of the biggest problems when it hired JPB Engineer, a company that works to find ways to repair or reduce flood damage. JPB devised a plan to ease the flooding that occurs after a heavy rain in the city parking lot next to the co-op and Stone Harbor. During the work the lot was excavated, re-graded, drain tiles installed and then the lot was repaved. It helped some, but flooding still occurs there.
Since 2001, said Berg, much of the stormwater plan had been accomplished, but there have been changes in precipitation (rain/snow) amounts that now impact stormwater issues in the city, and a new management plan is needed.
“Over the past three summers, Cook County SWCD has been working with volunteers to monitor five locations near the shore of Lake Superior,” Berg said. “All sites but one are near stormwater management outlets. This project aids in telling some of the story of the stormwater management in Grand Marais.”
The volunteers have been testing for E. Coli, temperatures, clarity, phosphorous, chloride, nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, conductivity, and solids in the water along with checking the pH levels.
A new stormwater management plan is needed, said Berg. This new plan would include an inventory of culverts, their size, where they are located and where the water drains. The new program will also include a modeling of precipitation events, as well as ideas to mitigate the problems caused by excessive stormwater.
Berg said there is a grant of $188,000 available if the city would commit $25,000 to help secure that grant. Because Grand Marais is a Tier 1 Priority area, the city has a good chance to secure this money.
The grant money will go towards making a plan, which would include scheduling, costs, and an assessment of what each improvement would accomplish.
In separate actions council voted to put the golf course department into the General Fund and also voted to establish a fund balance for the Recreation Department (Grand Marais Recreation Park and campground) starting with a balance of $448,000. The park board has long asked to have this done so when they make a yearly budget they know how much money they have for improvements. Before this, the park board would make plans for upgrades and then ask the council if there was enough money in the city’s General Fund to cover those expenses.
Kim Dunsmoor, the city’s finance director, made the recommendations to the council. Dunsmoor explained, “In 2001, the board moved the park, pool, and marina into the general fund. As we discussed in August, the golf course has lost money for the past 12 years. It is my recommendation to move the golf course accounting to the General Fund where the recreation activities are located.”
Dunsmoor recommended a starting balance of $484,000 to the park because “it is roughly equal to 50 percent of the operating expenses. …
“The park board has expressed concerns about how excess recreation park revenues are spent. The council should determine how much of the recreation revenues should be used to lower property taxes or for other purposes each year. This is the same way we (city) handle liquor revenues. The General Fund receives $200,000 from the Liquor Enterprise Fund to lower property taxes. Also, we charge the liquor store rent in the amount of $39,000 per year.”
Council also passed Ordinance No. 2016-03, which opts the city out of the requirements to allow temporary housing to be built (granny pods) on residential lots that already have a house on them.
Last but not least, council approved the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) rates for 2017. Electricity is going up 2 percent, water 2 percent and the sewer fund is going up 3 percent.
Leave a Reply