After months of opinion-gathering and discussion, the Grand Marais Park Board has decided on the basic components of the Recreation Area Master Plan it has been working on for months.
At its regular meeting in the park rec hall Tuesday, July 7, 2009, each member of the park board weighed in on the ideas that have been generated throughout the community and by consultant Bob Bruce. In the end, they disagreed very little with one another’s opinions and formulated a list of elements for Bruce to incorporate into a final design map.
Todd Miller, who could not attend the meeting, sent an e-mail to his fellow park board members earlier that day. He expressed a sentiment echoed at the meeting regarding the plan Bob Bruce proposed to them at their June 23 work session. “All opinions are valid, but I believe Bob prefers to listen more to the opinions of those that prefer an expanded wetland, the removal of the campsites [in the northeast corner], and the moving of the boat launch in to the current/ future marina area.” According to Miller, Bruce’s promotion of one plan over another “puts us on the defensive….”
Miller supported a plan presented at a May 19 public meeting that keeps campsites in the northeast corner and leaves space in the southeast corner for an events pavilion. Miller said this plan “is the natural fit that provides the least disruption to our current town culture of camping, creates space for consideration of
an events pavilion, maintains the existing ramp – thus preserving space in the marina for more needed slips, and shows the way for the future marina. It does not require a digging up of the whole park to accomplish its purpose. “I would support this plan with the condition
” that as our long-term seasonals give up their spots on their own, we turn the sites over to nightly use because that is double the revenue. …Thecreation of a marina and an events site adds revenue without taking revenue away from other sources.”
One of two options presented to the public May 19 turned the northeast and southeast corners of the park into “green space.” Miller said while that plan was “elegant and well-thought out,” it would cause “just too many human casualties, and we need to preserve all our existing income, not trade it for other potential income [such as music festivals in open space].”
Board Chair Lindsay Mielke rejected Bruce’s latest plan as well. She believes getting rid of campsites east of 8th Avenue West, which are most popular and bring in the most revenue, would be “extremely risky on our part.” The Grand Marais community will be “slapped with higher taxes” if the park does not continue to make money, she said. “We can’t afford to throw away this wonderful asset we have in the community.” Turning the east side of the park into all green space would just create more grass to mow, she said.
Grand Marais seems to be developing a reputation for being unwelcoming and greedy, Mielke said. Some of the proposed changes would threaten to make this an “anti-tourism” destination, she said, adding that snowmobilers have already taken their business elsewhere. She was not in favor of expanding the current wetlands area to include the area it once occupied. She said she does not believe the park needs more green space and cited numerous open spaces already in Grand Marais.
When this process started, said Bill Lenz, he didn’t think they were going to try to create “a whole new style of park.” Any changes to the rec park, he said, are predicated on other things happening – a new pool being built elsewhere, the ball field being relocated to the Community Center property, the city having garage space elsewhere, and funding becoming available.
Lenz did recommend that the two trailer sites nearest North House be removed to make room for an improved path leading into the park from Highway 61. While he didn’t think the park needs more sites than it has now, it just needs better sites, he said.
Paul Anderson recommended keeping an events pavilion separate from the park office so it could remain unheated when not being used.
Park guests create a “part-time community” that brings in money to the city and local businesses, Walt Mianowski said. He agreed with the others on keeping trailer sites in the northeast and designating room in the southeast for an events pavilion if it would draw people to the area. Any money the park has for improvements should be used first to upgrade campsites, he said.
Mianowski did not want the usefulness of the current pool to be forgotten. “The pool is an attraction yet,” he said. “Nothing is going to happen overnight.”
Carol Backlund recommended continuing to get as much revenue out of the park as possible. “We have to keep this place viable and make money for the town of Grand Marais,” she said. “That’s our job.” She also suggested improving handicap accessibility along the lakeshore.
“There’s room for everything,” Robin DuChien said. She recommended that their priority should be making improvements to what they already have. They could highlight the existing wetlands and connect them with the Sweetheart’s Bluff trail system, she said.
Molly Hoffman of Harbor Friends spoke up, saying that Harbor Friends’ proposal to restore three acres of historic wetlands has not been considered during this process. Money might be available to remove the city garages and restore the wetlands, which would be a draw for visitors, she said.
In the end, the park board drew up the following list of what they will include in the Master Plan:
»»Keep the DNR boat ramp where it is.
»»Feature but do not expand the existing wetlands.
»»When the ball field is relocated, replace with full-service RV sites.
»»Save room in the southeast corner for an events pavilion.
»»Retain most of the camping sites east of 8th Avenue.
»»Remove two campsites adjacent to North House to make room for a walking path.
»»Connect the park with the motorized trail to the west.
»»Upgrading the campsites and building a better office building will be priorities.
»»Make no projections regarding future changes to the marina and harbor.
»»Build a boardwalk along the lakeshore that would connect to the Honeymoon
Bluff trail system.
»»The park board hopes to present its Master Plan to the public near the end of this
month after it approves the final design map.
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