Although the flooding in downtown Grand Marais drew a lot of attention, there was water damage throughout the county. Above: Gunflint Hills Golf Course gained an additional water hole on the course because of the flooded ditch. Right: The 3.5 to 3.75-inches of rain that fell overnight on July 20 caused damage to a lot of roads like Linnell Road. Far right: Solveig Vick was another Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply staffer who helped ferry customers and merchandise across the flooded city parking lot.
The thunderstorm in the wee hours of the morning of June 20 dumped 3.75 inches of rain on the city, Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Water/Wastewater Superintendent Tom Nelson reported to the PUC board at its semi-monthly meeting that afternoon.
The municipal lot outside the Cook County Whole Foods Co-Op, Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply, and the Cook County Senior Center was flooded as it usually is after a big rain, with Stone Harbor employees kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding around and helping deliver scones to the Co-Op for Staci Drouillard, owner of Lola’s Sweet Life Bakery.
“What causes that problem?” PUC board member Hal Greenwood asked.
“Rain!” quipped Nelson.
Commissioner Tim Kennedy explained. The water table underneath that area is high, and water must filter through beach gravel. “It’s not like a river that can flow fast enough to escape,” he said. “It’s better than it used to be,” he added — the lot used to be flooded for a week after big rains.
“We had a lot of water,” Nelson said of the rainstorm. “We’ve been running at hyperdrive at the waste treatment plant.” They were dealing with six times the normal flow of storm water, he said.
Mud washed into Lake Superior by rivers would also be drawn into the city’s water plant, and the department would have to deal with that as well.
Shadow billing/rate study continue
Electric Superintendent Mike Taylor said the “shadow billing” that the city’s electric consortium, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA) has been doing to compare what cities would be paying if SMMPA added a third “super peak usage” rate is showing that Grand Marais might pay about $2,000 more per month for its electricity if the proposed rate structure is implemented. Utility Administrative Specialist Jan Smith said the shadow bills have averaged about 2 percent higher than the actual amounts the city has been paying.
City generating its own power
Recent hot weather has been greatly increasing the amount of power people are using throughout the Midwest. SMMPA gets its power from Midwest Independent Transmission System Operators (MISO), which covers parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa and the Dakotas. To cover the additional need, MISO asked SMMPA to bring on additional plants and SMMPA in turn asked Grand Marais to run its plant, to put out more power over the transmission lines. “We’ve been generating power all week,” Electric Superintendent Mike Taylor told the commissioners.
The city always has an employee at the power plant when it is generating electricity so that equipment is not damaged if something malfunctions, such as a hose breaking. City Administrator Mike Roth said the city has a large investment in its power plant and keeps close watch on it because of this. “I’d be pretty uncomfortable not having someone there,” Superintendent Taylor said.
The city has a 20,000-gallon fuel tank to draw from when it needs to generate its own electricity. “Where does this fuel come from?” Public Utilities Commissioner Hal Greenwood asked.
“North Shore Oil [and Propane],” Taylor answered. “…Saudi Arabia, maybe!”
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