Grand Marais city councilors voted Jan. 30 to go ahead with the first step of a planned public works facility by approving a pre-design proposal from LHB of Duluth.
Under the terms of the $10,844 agreement, the engineering firm will compile information based on the city’s needs, such as function, size and furnishings. The firm will then provide a programming document, site recommendation, preliminary project budget and schedule.
An alternative storage site is needed to allow the city to move its vehicles and equipment from the existing garages in the Rec Park along the shore of Lake Superior. While such a project has been discussed for several years, it has just now gotten a push forward due to the DNR’s plans for public water access improvements, which will involve the area now occupied by the city’s PUC structures.
The city had originally considered taking part in construction of a shared facility with Cook County, the DNR, Mn/DOT and the Cook County School District, but each of those entities has opted out of such a joint plan for various reasons. The city, therefore, has decided to move forward on its own.
The city has already done some of its own investigation regarding a site for the facility, and there are three locations under consideration: a lot on the Cedar Grove Business Park; a city-owned site adjacent to the hospital on Fifth Avenue West; and the city’s defunct brush site on County Road 12. Each site has yet to be evaluated and compared to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each. Some of the criteria to be used in the evaluation include capacity, future expansion opportunities, topography, accessibility, wetlands, visibility, neighborhood compatibility and land acquisition cost (if any).
City Administrator Mike Roth said the LHB proposal is the same one discussed by council last fall, and it has been reviewed with the appropriate department heads and met with their approval.
City Councilor Tim Kennedy asked if the old brush site was really viable, and noted that that area has been set aside for recreation. Why leave it on the list if it’s not really practical, he asked?
Roth conceded that it’s “not a great site,” and added that a driveway would have to be constructed there, and it’s the farthest away from the city of those on the list. “It seems clearly in third place, but it won’t take long to review a list of three sites…the price is not likely to change if we remove it,” Roth said.
In response to a question from Mayor Larry Carlson about possible grant funding for the project, Roth said he is exploring possibilities, such as the Small Cities grants for infrastructure the city has received in the past for projects downtown and in Creechville. However, he said, the city has to fully define its project and scope of work before grant applications can be submitted.
In a related matter, council reviewed and will submit to the DNR the latest draft of the agreement with the DNR regarding the public water access improvement project. Roth said more discussion is needed with the state agency about some of the revisions inserted by City Attorney Chris Hood, but Hood said he sees no “significant” stumbling blocks that the DNR should object to. The project is still moving forward, Hood said.
In other business, council voted to list the city’s 1984 General pumper for sale on e-Bay. The fire truck is considered surplus equipment, and the city needs to sell it in order to make room for a new tanker slated for delivery at the end of February. Roth said the process to sell the fire truck began about 18 months ago with listings in various publications and websites, and there has been some interest shown, but no buyers have come forward. The first asking price was $10,000, which was then cut in half. “Make us an offer,” said Roth.
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