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City councilors made one of their easiest decisions in a long time when they approved a request by the Grand Marais Area Garden Club for $900, allowing the garden club to purchase plants for city planters and the Harbor Park.
That decision came at the council’s March 31 meeting.
With the upcoming Highway 61, road construction and the MPCA big dig on ‘61 near the Dairy Queen, garden club members wondered if the city wanted them to plant flowers this summer.
“Knowing the town will be impacted by the Highway 61 project, I didn’t want to order plants for the town planters without your authorization,” Sally Berg wrote to the council.
City flower boxes on downtown streets and Harbor Park are planted and maintained by the Garden Club volunteers. Berg noted the total cost for plants last year was $900.92, and the club bought them from Bucks and The Blue Moose.
City Administrator Mike Roth was asked if the council should make a motion to approve the request or just acknowledge it and thank the garden club for their significant contribution to the city. In the past, the council hasn’t been asked to approve funds for the garden club through a resolution, and it was no different this time. Council noted a couple of places the garden club might not want to plant that are near Highway 61 work that will take place, but overall, the council was more than happy to see this project continue.
*Councilors approved a request by the Cook County Curling Club for a Consumption and Display permit.
*A grant for $250,000 for phase two Highway 61 infrastructure from the Iron Range Resource Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) was approved.
At the end of the meeting, City Administrator Mike Roth said the council’s next meeting would be lengthy. The Grand Marais Lions will be preparing a draft plan to have the Fisherman’s Picnic when Wisconsin Street is still used as a detour for the road construction and will hopefully have that ready for a review.
Council will be looking at an emergency ordinance for sidewalks along Wisconsin Street during the period it is used as a detour, he added. And the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) asks, when should late fees be reinstated and shut offs for people behind on their payments occur?
Roth noted several other items that will appear on the next agenda, making for an especially busy session, and with that, this meeting was adjourned.
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