After about a year of thinking and talking about improvements to the Highway 61 corridor through Grand Marais, city councilors set July 16 as the date for a three-hour workshop designed to set the “complete streets” project in motion.
Councilors reviewed a design proposal from LHB and C.J. Fernandez at their June 25 meeting. City Administrator Mike Roth explained that the proposal was only a draft, and will need to be pared down in its scope and cost. However, Roth said a finalized version will likely be available for council’s approval at their next meeting in two weeks.
The city has been working in partnership with the Sawtooth Mountain Clinic to come up with a streetscape redesign for Highway 61 as part of the Moving Matters program. Through a Blue Cross-Blue Shield grant, the Clinic has contributed $30,000 toward the effort; the city has agreed to kick in $15,000. Roth said the original cost of the project was about $62,000, and some cutting has brought the price down to $52,000. More trimming is ongoing to bring the plan into alignment with the $45,000 available, said Roth.
As envisioned by Fernandez, the project will largely focus on pedestrian access, safety and connectedness along the Highway 61 corridor through town, with an emphasis on improvements to create a more “human-scaled, safe walking and biking corridor, as well as a more inviting ‘front door’ to Grand Marais.”
Roth said the plan calls for the targeted corridor to be defined as between Eighth Avenue West and the Gunflint Trail intersection. However, he said, that area can be reduced as a way to lower the project cost, and the city staff (as opposed to consultants) will do a lot of the needed information gathering from affected stakeholders to further cut costs.
Roth said he was especially pleased that the state Department of Transportation – one of the biggest stakeholders in the project – has offered to conduct the workshop. It is, after all, the agency’s “complete streets” program that addresses the use of the highway right of way by various types of users. “This is an important opportunity for us to engage MnDOT in the project, to learn about the design ground rules, and to get people thinking about the possibilities,” Roth told council.
Toward that end, councilors debated what would be the best day and time to hold the workshop, which MnDOT estimated will take three hours. Councilor Tim Kennedy said it was important to get participation by as many business owners as possible, and suggested an evening meeting. However, others felt that an evening start time would interfere with dinner plans and run too late into the night to be productive. It was finally decided that the workshop will be advertised for July 16, beginning at 1 p.m.
Roth said he would make an effort to contact interested business owners, particularly those along the highway corridor, and inform them of the meeting and encourage them to attend. Upon completion of the plan (within 60 or 90 days), councilors and members of the Moving Matters committee will begin the task of looking for grants or other sources of funding to implement the plan’s recommendations. In other business: . Street Use Permits were approved allowing the Grand Marais Lions Club to conduct the Fisherman’s Picnic July 31 through Aug. 3, and the North Shore Federal Credit Union to host its annual customer appreciation cook-out from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 24. There are no major changes planned for either event. . In conjunction with Fisherman’s Picnic, the American Legion was granted a temporary liquor permit to operate the beer tent in its parking lot during the event. . The Cook County Visitors Bureau was granted a Street Use Permit for the Fourth of July parade and related events downtown. The parade begins at 8 p.m., followed by music in Harbor Park until the fireworks begin at nightfall. . Organizers of the Cook County Farm & Craft Market were given permission to set up and conduct their outdoor sales on Friday, July 4 in the Municipal Parking Lot, in addition to the usual weekly Saturday set-up. Hana Senty told council that the number of rainy and cold weekends this spring have not been good for the vendors, and the additional day on the holiday weekend would be appreciated. The market will be open on the 4th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. . Liquor Store Manager Chris LaVigne reported that installation of a new point-of-sale check-out system has begun. A representative of the software company doing the work said the new system brings the store into PCI compliance for credit card transactions, has a three-year warranty, and is “very simple to learn.” The old check-out system was 30 years old and has had several facelifts over the years. . The city learned that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term and underlying ratings two notches to “AA” from “A+”. Roth attributed the upgrade to the city’s property values, strong financial performance, conservative approach to planning, and its diverse revenue stream which includes the liquor store and campground. . There was some discussion about the recent installation of “Flood Zone” signs in the city-owned parking lot on Broadway. Councilor Jan Sivertson said she heard some concerns from Jack Stone, whose business abuts the parking lot, that the signs are too overwhelming and send the wrong message, and thus may possibly scare customers away. Mayor Larry Carlson said the fact that the lot is prone to flooding following very heavy rainfalls is “a reality…not a new situation,” and the city should do something to warn unsuspecting visitors, since the city owns the lot. Roth said the city has made many improvements to the lot over the years, and although it’s not perfect, the drainage system works pretty well. In order to prevent the occasional floods, Roth said, it would require a big investment in both engineering and construction costs. “I don’t really know what else we can do,” he said. “Just to ask and answer the question would cost tens of thousands of dollars.”
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