Grand Marais Fire Fighters receive a modest pay raise

It’s been a long time since pay raises have been granted to Grand Marais firefighters. With that impetus, Grand Marais Fire Chief Ben Silence brought an unfinished budget issue to the council.

Firefighters currently get $10 per call. Grand Marais City Administrator Mike Roth suggested paying $20 per call. Roth also recommended bumping up the pay for the three officers—the fire chief and assistant fire chief from $400 to $1,500 and the secretary from $100 to $500. Fire Chief Ben Silence has been with the fire chief for 14 years, and he said the paperwork and time spent on fire issues has gone up a lot over those 14 years. Silence also noted that with the cost of fuel, some firefighters driving their vehicles to a fire were lucky to break even because of the distance they had to travel.

Council agreed on the raises, and from now on, the pay for firefighters will be discussed yearly.

“We’re not doing it for the money,” noted Silence. Still, he thanked Roth and the council for the bump in pay.

Further city business

Council discussed a request from Kat Meyo, the Executive Director of the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP), who asked permission to use space in the city’s Outpost office. Currently, the area is used part-time by the Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District (Cook SWDC).

In a memo to the council, SWCD Director Illena Hansel said her department uses the space sporadically for virtual meetings and as a quiet place to get work done. She said she had no problem with Kat utilizing the space as long as CCLEP helped pay for the internet, which CCLEP agreed to do.

However, City Attorney Chris Hood weighed in on the request. Hood said CCLEP would have to lease the space or figure out how CCLEP benefits the city by using the building.

Council took Hood’s advice, and the request was put on hold until a lease between CCLEP and the city could be worked out.

Council approved a change to the city ordinance amending off-sale brewery packaging size requirements. This change reflects the changes made by the state in the last session. Under the change, small breweries like Voyageur Brewing can now sell up to 128 ounces per person per day of beer designed to be used off-premises. Before this change, small breweries that sold less than 7,000 barrels per year could only sell (typically) 64-ounce growlers. City Administrator Mike Roth said the change would allow small breweries to sell a six-pack (72 ounces) instead of a growler.