Grand Marais City Council convened for a brief meeting May 25 and approved permit requests for a bakery bike, airplane rides and a liquor license.
Staci Drouillard, owner of Lola’s Sweet Life Bakery, appeared first before council to ask for a peddler’s permit that would allow her to sell a variety of baked goods in downtown Grand Marais along the bike path, bike lanes, or “anywhere it is legal to ride a bicycle.” Drouillard said she plans to use a bicycle vending cart to sell such things as muffins, scones, cupcakes, cookies, pies and quiche. All of the items will be prepared at Lola’s licensed kitchen on First Avenue West.
Drouillard said she understands the city’s ordinance allows moveable carts, but she needs council’s go-ahead because she will be selling goods from the bike lanes. The application states that the hours of operation will be weekend mornings from 7:30 to 11 a.m., or until everything is sold; additional hours may be included, based on demand.
Councilors said they had no problem with the request and approved the application unanimously. They wished Drouillard well in the endeavor.
Next up was Dan Anderson of Anderson Aero, who asked to renew his permit allowing scenic airplane rides from the Grand Marais harbor. Anderson said he has been flying small planes in Grand Marais for 30 years, operating tours from the harbor since 2006 in addition to the Grand Marais airport.
Although there have been no problems with the harbor landings and take-offs, City Attorney Chris Hood suggested that council adopt a license agreement to lessen the city’s liability. He said such an agreement was “pretty common” for such permits. Anderson said he had no problem with that, and provided the necessary proof of insurance and other documentation.
Asked about the popularity of the plane rides, Anderson said, “This is truly something that people enjoy seeing. Cameras come out, and people like to come up to the plane and talk aviation.” Anderson said there are a number of rules and regulations he must abide by, such as inspections by the FAA and Coast Guard, and there haven’t been any problems.
The pilot stressed that he has always been safety conscious, and in addition to the aforementioned regulations, he must pay careful attention to the weather and wave conditions. Last year, for instance, there were only 37 days during which conditions allowed use of the harbor.
And when using the harbor, Anderson said he has three routes, or “landing lanes,” in the harbor to come down between sailboats. He said he has heard some concerns about his low approaches over downtown, but does that only when wind or weather conditions dictate. “I usually come in over Artist Point…I prefer not to come in over town,” he said.
Councilors agreed that the plane rides were a benefit to the town and a popular attraction and approved Anderson’s permit application unanimously.
He said he hopes to begin offering rides from the harbor at the end of June.
Finally, council approved a strong beer and wine license application from the Pie Place Café, which has moved from its West Highway 61 location to the Harbor Inn on Wisconsin Street. The license will allow the restaurant to serve beer and wine with its meals.
In other business:
. Rod Dockan was appointed to the park board.
. Council authorized a feasibility study and survey to evaluate construction of the entire block of 11th Avenue West between Second and Third streets, and also to evaluate the cost of curb and gutter. City Engineer Jaime Mehle had previously quoted a price of $1,000, but that was based only on paving the existing gravel surface, without curb and gutter. City Administrator Mike Roth said that because the scope of the request has increased, it is likely the survey will go up in price as well. The project is being done at the request of the Homestead Cooperative board, which submitted a petition in April.
. Councilor Tim Kennedy said it was time to put the orange flags back out at the highway crossing at First Avenue. The flag program was adopted by council last year in an effort to increase pedestrian visibility and slow down traffic. The flags were stored away for the winter.
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