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Kelly Swearengen
Near the end of the July 28 city council meeting council member Kelly Swearengen read a tearful letter, announcing,
“It is with great regret that I inform you of my resignation from the council this evening.”
Swearengen thanked the council and the members of the public for their support but cited no reason for her resignation, only mentioning that she hoped to serve again one day in a public capacity.
Grand Marais Mayor Jay Decoux, who attended the meeting remotely, thanked Swearengen for her knowledge of financial issues and strength of character and said he was going to miss serving with her.
Kelly said her resignation was effective at the end of the meeting. She has served on the council since 2018 and narrowly lost the 2020 mayoral race to Jay Decoux.
In city business:
Council approved purchase of new Toshiba e-STUDIO 3515 AC copier to replace the current copier which, said Administrator Mike Roth, should have been replaced two years ago. Cost of the replacement copier is $5,874.01. Cost of black and white copies will be $0.0041 cents and color copies will run $0.0385 cents for each color copy. All ayes.
Grand Marais Coast Guard Station update.
Council passed a motion asking the U.S. Coast Guard Station to reconsider its decision to vacate the Grand Marais Coast Guard station.
The U.S. Coast Guard announced on June 9, 2021, that the Coast Guard facility in Grand Marais was on a list of Great Lakes to be consolidated, meaning it will be closed.
In a letter that will be sent to the U.S. Coast Guard, council cited the Cook County Sheriff ’s records of 23 water emergencies on Lake Superior from 2018 to 2021, and said, “The council feels that there is a substantial need for a Coast Guard presence. Local agencies are not equipped to provide an adequate response quickly enough in emergencies likely leading to an increase in preventable loss of life. Council also mentioned that if the Coast Guard leaves there will be a lack of enforcement on the water and there will likely be an increase in non-compliance which could lead to situations where boaters can’t help themselves.
Councilor Swearengen asked that the document be cleaned up and hoped that it would include the letter would include a recreational category, noting there is an increasing number of kayakers, paddle boarders, and even more people swimming in the lake than there used to be.
The draft concluded, “An increased amount of non-local tourist traffic in the past several years also warrants the continued presence of the Coast Guard as those unfamiliar with the dangers and temperament of Lake Superior explore and engage in the lake without the understanding and capacity to deal with mistakes or bad decisions.”
Administrator Mike Roth said the city department heads and his staff were working on a preliminary 2022 budget.
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