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Following a presentation from Visit Cook County Director Linda Jurek and Richard Olson who was representing the Creative Economy Collaborative (CEC), the Grand Marais City Council approved bidding for three interpretative kiosks at the council’s February 9 meeting.
The action taken came without a resolution or vote, just a nod of approval.
One kiosk will be located at the Community Connecting Corner leading into the Rec Park; the second will be at Wisconsin Street and Highway 61 (the harbor). A third kiosk will be located near the Grand Marais Library.
A ballpark figure is that it will cost about $150,000 for the three kiosks. However, Richard said a local builder said he could do it for less. In addition, Richard noted the slab foundations for each structure are already poured and in place.
Each kiosk will have a map locating where the visitors are. The informational panels will also contain maps of landmarks, photographic images, some history, fishing, logging, geological points of interest, Anishinaabe history, QR codes so people can google for the latest events or programs to attend, and general information about the location of the hospital, law enforcement, or government buildings, but no sites of businesses will be mentioned.
According to the CEC document submitted to the council, other content possibilities include “a wide, BIPOC, multi-gender embrace of human history, culled from pre-settlement Anishinaabe to present-day events, issues, beliefs, practices and personalities and a similarly wide historical and bicultural embrace of the natural histories of flora, fauna, water, geology, ecology, meteorology (modern dark sky status) and climate assets of the area.”
The fashionable structures will be made of steel and wood so that they will be durable and long-lasting. There will be no electoral hook-ups or lighting in the kiosks. Plans are to keep them evergreen, simple and needing minimal maintenance.
As Mayor Jay DeCoux noted, the kiosks were planned to be part of the two-year Highway 61 rebuild and infrastructure work, but they were “pulled as part of the bid project for the highway project because the bids for that construction work came back very high.”
However, the Creative Economic Collaborative kept planning for the stands. Still, before getting into the discussion, Richard asked, “Is there money for kiosks in some (city) pot? Adding he wanted to make sure there was funding, “So we aren’t just spinning our wheels.”
When he was told yes, the discussion continued.
Addressing the council, Mayor DeCoux explained this project “had been a long time in the planning” and had gone through about thirty stages. “Designs for the kiosks,” said DeCoux, “have gone through the wringer a lot.”
City Administrator Mike Roth said the city would seek multiple bids. Meanwhile, a graphic artist will be sought to help design the look of the kiosks. Landscape Architect CJ did some drawings, but they are two years old.
At the end of the discussion, Mayor DeCoux said his understanding was that the city was going to pay for the kiosks all along. “The benefit will be a good investment for the city.
“There are some biddable drawings for this and some expectation of cost, but the only way to know what the cost will be is to bid it out,” added the mayor.
In other city business:
Three strong applicants applied for the two openings on the Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The applicants were Bill Hansen, Charles Hathaway and Ben Peters. Councilors discussed the merits of all three and decided in the end that Bill Hansen and Charles Hathaway should be picked because Ben Peters already serves on the Planning Commission. In his application to the PUC, Peters said it would benefit the planning commission to have someone with knowledge of the city public utilities on board. City Administrator Mike Roth said Peters was correct, and in the future, the city will share information with the planning commission about the PUC’s activities.
*The Fisherman’s Daughter application for a beer license was approved.
Open forum
Janet Ditmanson sent a letter commending the city workers for keeping the downtown city sidewalks clear. However, she said the sidewalk leading the last block (or two) to the post office hadn’t been cleared, and she either had to climb up and over a large snowbank or take the dangerous walk along the busy Highway to reach the post office. She asked the city to take care of this matter.
Todd Miller sent an email asking the city to approve building kiosks. “There is an urgent need for kiosks to promote local events,” Miller said, adding that hanging posters on billboards in stores and on store windows helped attract people to events, but kiosks would perform that function much better. “We need kiosks to inform local events.”
Linda Jurek talked about the “deplorable condition of our alleys in downtown Grand Marais.”
Last summer and fall, Linda and others worked to get the alley behind Visit Cook County paved, but as she noted, “That didn’t happen.” She pointed out that the businesses pay for snow removal for the alleys downtown. Cassidy Gecas came to her recently and told her that he had put snow from the alley behind the Gunflint Tavern out on the street for the city to remove, but instead of removing the snow he got a call from the sheriff ’s office. Jurek called that action punitive and said it should have been dealt with by a call from the city administration, not the sheriff.
“A lot of cars would get stuck in our alley,” said Jurek noting the snow was “like mashed potatoes.”
Jurek added that the city can’t refuse to do the maintenance and snow removal of the alleys and then not tell business owners what to do and where to put the snow when they have to do it.
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