The year-long process to develop a long-range plan for the Grand Marais Recreation Park concluded September 30, 2009 when City Council approved the recommendation of the Park Board by a 3-2 vote.
Park Manager Dave Tersteeg presented the final plan and outlined the process which began in August 2008. Development of the plan was made possible by a grant from the Lake Superior Coastal Program. Tersteeg said future land use was a big part of what the plan was attempting to answer. Even if the municipal swimming pool and ball field are eventually moved from the 60-acre site, said the park manager, the plan’s goals and policies adopted unanimously by the park board on March 12 take steps to ensure that the Rec Park does not become “exclusively a campground” and remains a part of the Grand Marais community.
Councilor and Park Board member Bill Lenz said he supported the plan, and recalled that there were numerous public meetings to develop the plan, often with a lot of discussion and varied opinions. Lenz said the meetings were all very well attended, and the public’s input was taken into account when it was time for the board to vote. “Opinion was split a lot of times, and the Park Board had to make a decision — and when necessary, we did that,” he said.
City Administrator Mike Roth said there was no set process or timetable for how council should proceed with the matter. But, he said, the end result needs to be for councilors to accept the plan as recommended, or modify it. “The park board’s role is done,” he said. “It’s council’s project n ow.”
Councilors Kay Costello and Jan Sivertson voted against the proposed plan.
Costello said she was disappointed that there wasn’t more open space, and wondered how the community was supposed to feel like it was a part of the Rec Park, especially if the ball field and swimming pool are relocated. Costello also said she would like more public input. “I want a chance to listen to people who have opinions on this plan. I just don’t feel the public’s had enough of an opportunity to talk to us,” she said.
Sivertson said she disagreed with the recommended plan, known as version 5.1, because although it calls for about 30 campsites to be removed from the northeast corner, some would remain in that section. “I think that land is way too valuable to sell by the night,” she said. “There’s room to have both things.”
Both Costello and Sivertson said they believed some community members felt ignored during the process, and should be given one more chance to make their opinions known. “It’s important to hear from people who felt they weren’t listened to,” said Sivertson.
Mayor Sue Hakes, however, pointed out that there is a process in place for “how city government works.”
“It was a unanimous vote by the park board, and that gives me great confidence in the plan,” she said. “I respect their work and their decision, and if we didn’t support that, we’d be doing them a disservice.” The mayor also noted that “nobody got everything they wanted,” and called the proposed changes “reasonable and do-able.” Hakes cautioned the naysayers that the plan is a “good start” that, although designed to guide park policies for the next 20-30 years, can be talked about and changed whenever necessary. Lenz said the purpose of the plan is simply to offer guidance to park administrators so they know where and how to spend money as improvements are made. “This can change at any time,” he said. “I’m after a grander vision than this.” As approved, the plan includes an improved entrance and more pedestrian friendly trails in the northeast corner; new and improved trails along the water’s edge featuring the wetland area and natural shoreline; reserved space for a motorized trail under the power line; improved public space at the former power plant site, including an events pavilion; and the removal of about 30 campsites east of the highway to allow more open space and accommodate a new park/marina office. New replacement campsites are planned for the area now occupied by the ball field, which along with the swimming pool could possibly be relocated to the new community center on County Road 7 if the 1 percent local option sales tax referendum passes this fall. Hakes emphasized that there are no immediate plans to remove the ball field — and that won’t happen until a new field is built, she said.
If the master plan is fully implemented, the Rec Park will have a net increase of 21 campsites, bringing the total to 321.
In other business:
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Jodi Yuhasey of the Violence Prevention
Center asked for permission to set up a 6- or 7-foot tree in the city’s grassy triangle in front of the Java Moose Coffee Shop in recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The tree will be decorated with purple lights, and lit from dusk to dawn beginning Oct. 8 through the end of the month. Council gave its approval, but Roth said there is no power to the requested site because of a mix-up dating
to the 2004 construction project. The tree will
instead be located in Harbor Park.
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Mayor Hakes will write a letter to the Economic
Development Authority asking that a more aggressive approach be taken to the marketing of lots in the business park. “It’s fair for us to ask — what are you doing?” said EDA board member and councilor Jan Sivertson, adding that “they have a problem we have to pay for.”
Roth said the city is out of time and will have to sell a bond next month in order to repay a $1.6 million general obligation bond the EDA is unable to repay. The question council has to answer, said Roth, is “how much do you want to borrow?” Other councilors expressed frustration as well with the EDA ’s apparent lack of direction and action in marketing the lots. “If they’re truly interested in selling the lots, they need to put them on the market at a price that will sell,” said Councilor Tim Kennedy, who added that there needs to be a written plan and strategy in place.
The EDA also owes the city $100,000 it borrowed earlier this year and promised to repay by October. Asked by Hakes whether the city should be worried about that, Roth said he has
been assured by the EDA director that it will be
repaid by the end of October.
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Kennedy lauded the Public Utilities
Commission staff and electrical workers who put in long hours to restore power and keep the roads open during and after the September 28 wind storm. Roth echoed the sentiments, and said the city had planned on painting some of its older utility poles soon, but after at least one was toppled by the wind, the staff will now look at their structural soundness to see if replacement is necessary.
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