Matt Geretschlaeger
One of the first orders of business at the Tuesday, May 8 meeting of the Cook County – Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) was action to end the employment of EDA Director Matt Gerets chl aeger. The action was no surprise—at previous EDA meetings, the director alluded to the fact that he may be stepping down if his new enterprise— a zip line attraction adjacent to the Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais—became a reality.
EDA Board Member Mike Littfin brought up the topic, which was not on the agenda. “We have all had an inkling this is coming,” he said. “We all know Matt has been involved in a private business enterprise. To avoid the appearance of conflict of interest for our director, I recommend that we lay him off, effective 30 days from today.”
There was considerable discussion of when Geretschlaeger should actually be finished. EDA Board Member Bruce Martinson said it would be good to have Geretschlaeger on staff until at least the next EDA meeting, June 12. His colleagues—Littfin, Mark Sandbo and Bob Spry—agreed and a motion to that effect passed. EDA Board Members Hal Greenwood, Don Davison and Scott Harrison were absent.
Geretschlaeger said, “I’ve appreciated the time I’ve worked with you over the years and I agree the board is taking appropriate action.”
Geretschlaeger added that he would be willing to work with the EDA in hiring a new director and with finishing up matters such as the legal wrangling with KGM Construction over invoices related to Cedar Grove Business Park construction.
Ironically, one of the topics on the EDA agenda was the creation of a job description for the EDA director. The EDA employee committee presented a draft job description which states the terms of employment as: exempt; flexible hours to fulfill needs of the job; salary dependent on experience and education; employed on an “at-will” basis; terminable at any time with or without cause by either employee or EDA. The job description was approved with a unanimous motion.
A meeting of the EDA Personnel Committee was scheduled for Friday, May 11 to put together an advertisement for the EDA director position.
Geretschlaeger has been working on a zip line project since March 2012, when he approached the city council seeking annexation and a zoning change for a piece of property near the city’s west entrance, near the Grand Marais Inn. That plan was met with opposition from neighboring property owners and council was reluctant to approve it without consent of adjacent land owners.
Geretschlaeger returned to the city council on April 11 with the latest proposal—to construct a zip line on 20 acres of city-owned land on the Gunflint Trail near the water tower. Geretschlaeger asked to purchase the property. An appraisal was conducted and at a meeting on April 25, city councilors voted to enter into a purchase agreement with Geretschlaeger, who agreed to the price of $75,000.
In other business:
. Nancy Grabko of Community Fundraising Solutions reported on progress on the EDA’s website. She said the EDA housing program would have content on the page to provide an overview of the housing assistance available through the EDA and the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency. It was also agreed that the EDA board members’ photos and contact information would be included on the website.
. Superior National at Lutsen (SNL) Manager Bob Fenwick gave a report on activities at the golf course. He said he had “good news” from SNL Grounds Superintendent Mike Davies. He said the ground temperature is still below 50 degrees for the most part, so the greens have not “popped” quite yet, but he said overall the grounds are in good shape.
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