The city has signed a purchase agreement for about 6 acres fronting the highway at the site of the former Tomteboda Lodge. In all, the parcel covers just over 21 acres, but city planners believe only 3½ to 4 acres are needed to accommodate a proposed public works storage facility.
Grand Marais city councilors approved a purchase agreement Sept. 30 for property at 1800 W. Highway 61 for possible relocation of the Public Utilities Commission’s storage facilities from the Recreation Park lakefront.
The agreement states that the city will pay $250,000 for the 6-plusacre parcel, which was the owner’s counter-offer; negotiations started at $210,000.
City Administrator Mike Roth said it was time for a decision following the results of an environmental report that contained no surprises. “There is some risk, but not much,” he said, adding that the biggest concern is contamination from neighboring sites that may migrate.
However, Councilor Tracy Benson said she was concerned that the assessment didn’t go far enough and asked Roth to request additional information about the property. “It would be nice to know what’s left behind there,” she said, adding that it wouldn’t have been much more work for the assessors to contact former owner Steve Quaife and talk to him about a vacant house and other assorted items on the site.
“It’s something they should’ve done for what we paid….it’s not some big scientific complicated thing.”
Following some discussion Roth said he would contact Environmental Troubleshooters again to see if there were any significant environmental hazards or risks found on the site not detailed in the report, and if so the matter would come back before council. Roth also cautioned that the council’s action “doesn’t hold the site forever,” and another purchaser could come forward with a better offer at any time.
Council has been looking for a place to build a new storage facility in order to remove the garages and other structures from the city’s campground to make way for proposed boat launch improvements. It’s also possible a facility will be built on the highway site near the former Tomteboda Lodge to house City Hall and other administrative offices as council moves forward with its long-term plan to either abandon or make improvements to the current municipal office building on Broadway.
The site is currently owned by the North Shore Federal Credit Union; David Parsons was the previous owner and before that it was owned by Steve Quaife.
In other action:
. Council gave approval to Visit Cook County to hold a “Moose Madness Moose Mosey” as part of the Moose Madness festivities at 2 p.m. Oct. 17, beginning at Bear Tree Park. Council okayed use of the park and sidewalks for the event as requested and will provide orange safety cones.
. Linda Kratt of the tourism agency said she was contacted by two out-of-county food vendors who want to set up shop in Harbor Park during Moose Madness days, and criticized as cumbersome and outdated the city’s policy and procedure for approving and allowing vendors on city property during special events. Roth said no food truck vendors have ever asked the city for such permission before, and if they do they need to talk with council. Kratt was told to talk with the park board about the current request, however, because it has the authority to decide what activities take place in Harbor Park.
. Council approved renewal of its liability insurance policy at an annual rate of $60,156. Agent Paul Coe of Security State Insurance said the price is 8 percent lower than last year. The liability coverage provides a $2 million per occurrence limit.
. A brief discussion was held regarding the ongoing negotiations between the city and county about the public library’s 2016 budget. Although city council has already approved the requested 16.4 percent increase, the county commissioners have balked at the proposal and instead suggested an 8.2 percent increase. Roth said the real venue for the conversation about how to respond was before the library board; under the terms of the joint operating agreement, each entity is responsible for half of the library’s budget but only if the increase is no greater than 5 percent.
. A public hearing at which no members of the public were present was held to accept the reassessment roll for 28 available lots in Cedar Grove Business Park. Council granted its approval.
. There was discussion about an invoice received from FVB Energy of Minneapolis, which was working on plans for the proposed biomass heating facility. Roth and other councilors had questions about some of the items the city was being billed for, and council approved payment of the $30,112 only if satisfactory answers were received in a follow-up phone call to Mark Spurr, FVB’s president. Roth noted that $100,000 was budgeted for the now-defunct plan (mostly through grants), and about $60,000 of that has been spent. It is hoped that the information produced from the studies will prove to be useful for future projects.
. Councilor David Mills reported on an appearance before the state Senate Bonding Committee at Split Rock State Park he attended recently as part of a delegation from Grand Marais. Mills said the session was informative and interesting, and he believed the presentation went well. The city is asking for $2.1 million from the DNR for development of a public water access in the Rec Park.
. Councilor and Public Utilities Commission member Tim Kennedy said the PUC met earlier in the week but has made no decision yet on a rate increase for 2016. Although the agency has a healthy reserves fund built up, Kennedy said those funds will likely be needed for necessary infrastructure improvements and pointed out that the rates have remained flat for several years.
. Councilor Benson said she attended a meeting of the North Shore Management Board, which is working on improvements to its website to illustrate and explain its rules and regulations by geographic areas. Some local participants are needed, she said.
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