A local group of civic leaders recently attended meetings with members of the Minnesota legislature to lobby for several projects in Cook County that need the assistance of state funding to get accomplished. From L-R: Mary Somnis, Rep. Rob Ecklund, Jay Arrowsmith- DeCoux, Danna Mackenzie, Judy Erickson, Dr. Bill Crandall, Karen Blackburn, Nathan Zneharios (who works for Judy) and Charles Skinner.
With this being a bonding year and only so much state money available for projects, a group of local civic leaders spent three days in St. Paul recently lobbying the Minnesota legislature to pass three bills that, if green-lighted, will have a positive effect on the county.
Attending the meetings were Charles Skinner, Chamber board chair and co-president of Lutsen Mountains; Mary Somnis, director of the Cook County-Grand Marais EDA; Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux, mayor of Grand Marais, owner of Fireweed Bike Co-op and Art House B&B and a Chamber of Commerce member; Karen Blackburn, executive director, Cook County Higher Education, Chamber board member; Dr. Bill Crandall, superintendent, ISD 166, Chamber board member; and Jim Boyd, executive director, Cook County Chamber.
Sought after is $2.3 million in bonding for a new DNR public water access on the southwest corner of Grand Marais harbor; $3 million for three segments of the Gitchi Gami State Trail, a bike trail paralleling Highway 61 that will eventually stretch from Two Harbors to Grand Marais; and $150,000 in additional workforce development funds for Cook County Higher Education. Rep. Rob Ecklund, International Falls, has introduced a bill in the House to accomplish this and Karen Blackburn testified to the legislature.
Two of the three segments are in Cook County. Funds for design, engineering, and construction of a Gitchi Gami continuation from the bottom of Ski Hill Road into downtown Lutsen is especially important.
Public Park Access
The city of Grand Marais has been working for some time with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to improve the failing concrete launch ramps, rubble rock break wall, and erosive gravel parking lot.
Located in the southwest corner of the harbor, the public water access was developed in partnership with the DNR and the city of Grand Marais in the 1980s. It is in an ideal location to walk to all of the shops, lodging, and restaurants in downtown Grand Marais.
If funded, the Parkside Public Water Access project will provide safer boater access; stormwater best management practices (BMPs) in the coastal zone; aquatic invasive species (AIS) control facilities; and barrier-free, pedestrian enhancements.
A new boat launch area would be able to accommodate boats up to 35 feet long, and combined with adequate parking for trucks and trailers will transform the region’s appeal to boaters and significantly stimulate the local economy.
Stormwater improvements will be put in place at a deficient site on the shoreline. Rather than washing directly into the lake from a gravel parking lot, stormwater will be treated in basins and vegetative buffers.
Plans include building an accessible breakwall that allows pedestrian access to the harbor.
The goal is to transform the harbor into the premier, public water access on the north shore of Lake Superior. The DNR and the city have worked on a master plan, preparing the conceptual designs, completing the public outreach and review process, and both the agency and the city have approved the plan and the budget moving forward.
Local Support
The city of Grand Marais is committing $9.1 million of local investments to make this project possible. Included are: $5 million to relocate the public works facilities, effectively making the land available to the state $3 million in land (7.5 acres, 2,000 feet of the most prime Lake Superior shoreline in the region), $1 million in operations and maintenance costs over the life of the project $100,000 of demolition costs to remove city buildings on-site. The city of Grand Marais, Grand Marais Park Board and Cook County Chamber of Commerce support this project.
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