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North House Folk School Director Greg Wright came before the Grand Marais City council last week with a proposal for the Folk School to purchase the city-owned land it now leases from the city.
The leased property contains the main campus, both the red and blue buildings used for classrooms and events, as well as the parking lot.
During public comments, several people came before the council to express their support for the purchase. Adrianna Brisson read a letter from North Shore Fisheries in support of the sale North House. Two members of the Scott Fish house family also supported the sale. Jane Alexander also favored the deal, explaining that the “North House mission is about community.” However, Stephani Rattloff opposed the sale. “Once you sell it, you won’t get it back,” she said, adding the city should update the lease agreement because the current payments to the city are too low.
Forgotten in the public comments was an email sent to Mayor Jay Decoux. Just before the city council meeting ended, Mayor Decoux announced he had forgotten a letter to be read during the public comments. It was from Jason Zimmer, who said if the beachfront property comes up for sale, he would like a chance to purchase it.
During the business portion of the meeting concerning North House, the mayor recused himself from the discussion and turned that portion of the meeting over to Craig Schulte to lead because he is a contractor for North House.
Appearing with Wright was Tina Hegg Raway, Treasure, and Mike Prom, past President of the Board of Directors and Tom Morse, a current board member. Also coming forward was North House Communications and Marketing Director Joe Beres.
North House Folk School needs to expand its classroom space, said Wright. An earlier attempt to get a variance to build a 2,400-square-foot building on the shore was rebuffed after the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended to the City Council to deny the 40-foot variance request. Part of the reason the request was denied was that it would involve moving the iconic Scott Fish house. Northouse bought the “Dockside parcel” from Harley and Shele Toftey in 2018. That land is adjacent to the main campus. It contains the Dockside building where the Fisherman’s Daughter restaurant operates, the Boat Barn where classes are held, the Scott Fish house, and North Superior Fishery, which prepares its fish for sale on site.
Tina Hegg proposed, “Seems we have six years left on the lease and 25 years to auto-renew. So, we will be on the property for 31 years regardless.”
Over those 31 years, the city would collect $166,000 in lease fees, said Tina, or it could sell the land now for approximately $1.2 million.
Wright said when North House first leased the land, it was for six months at a time, and then five-year leases which moved eventually to 25-year leases. One of the things the city asked was that North House improve the property. Wright said the property was appraised at $138,000 in 1997 and is now appraised at $1.2 million. “I think we checked that box,” he said, adding the school was thriving but needed two more classrooms.
Craig Schulte said, “I don’t know if I am ready to vote on this tonight. I’ve gotten phone calls and emails, bumped into people, and talked about this. So, I think all of that should be considered in this discussion.”
Schulte also asked, “Will this solve your classrooms? Eventually, you will run out of land. Is there a point where you are comfortable?” Wright replied North House wanted eight quality classrooms on the harbor, “a compact school that is a quality institution.”
Councilor Tracy Benson commented, “There’s more here than just the money; this community is bigger than North House. The lake, harbor, everyone benefits from the lake. But unfortunately, over time, we (the city) have given up views and open space. Everyone should have access to it. I don’t think anyone of us is on a different page, but how we get there matters. Scott Fish house is not an either-or proposition. We really need to hear from the public as well. Your (Wright) proposal a year ago was to build on every square inch, but now you have pivoted.”
Councilor Michael Garry asked how the city could take steps to get an appraisal of the land.
Speaking remotely, City Attorney Chris Hood said the council could close the meeting to the public if it wanted to discuss the land sale. But none of the councilors moved on his suggestion.
Schulte weighed in, “As Tracy said, we need to be careful in how we proceed. For me, that piece of land is very valuable to the city.” However, he added that the city had to decide whether there was any interest in selling the land or not.
“We need to think out of the box,” said Benson, advocating for the city to “Stay with our long-range plan and make sure that harbor is accessible to everybody.”
Wright said the Folk School would hold “a lot more listening secessions,” and he invited the council to come and be part of those sessions.
Wright added that North House needed to hear from people with concerns and questions about the proposal, and the school would advance the idea (in a friendly way) to begin this conversation relatively soon. “We are not trying to make light of the topic. Our need is to come forward,” and he thanked the council and community for the time and energy invested in this process.
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