One of the top priorities for the Grand Marais Recreation Park is upgrading the fish cleaning house at the Grand Marais Marina. Parks Department Manager Dave Tersteeg said the current house is a “one-person” cleaning station that is not meeting the needs of the anglers who use it.
Grand Marais Parks Department Manager Dave Tersteeg presented a review of the past five years of capital improvements (CP) to the campground and marina to the park board at its July 1, 2014 meeting.
From 2009 to 2013 the park board budgeted $526,000 for capital improvements and of that $244,691 was spent adding four moorings to the marina, adding new sewer/ water hook-ups to some campsites and purchasing new grills, picnic tables and paving roads and refurbishing a bath house.
While Tersteeg noted that the $308,309 carryover was good, he encouraged the board to put more money away for future expansion and upgrades.
“Given the past five-year trend for capital improvements and budgets, we should continue to prioritize projects and plan for short- and long-term improvements based on the vision of the Master Plan and make sure these plans are budgeted accordingly.
“In order to afford a new office/bath house complex (a million-dollar project) and to continue annual improvements to park infrastructure in the $20-40k range, it may be necessary to increase the amounts we budget for capital towards a goal of roughly $100k annually. Marina capital budgets could certainly be increased if we continue to buy moorings and budget for eventual dock replacement costs,” he said.
Tersteeg told the board that he wasn’t high on building a new office. “I like the old office. It’s got character, but I suppose you should keep a new building on your radar.”
Some of the items on the list Tersteeg presented (which followed the Master Plan) include putting in new site upgrades to high value camping sites; refitting and rebuilding bath house #3; refit bath house #1; plan and construct new office/bathhouse; increase parking at the old pool site; build a new, larger, fish cleaning station; build a new playground at the recreation hall site; and develop a new ball field area, among other things.
The board, which was two members short, gave alternative Tersteeg a list of its three thattop priorities to concentrate establish on. They are: pave fiveroads; install upgrades to high-value campsites; and thebuild a new fish cleaning andstation. isn’t “For $10,000 to $15,000 we should be able to build a new fish cleaning station. withThe one we have now is pretty much a one-person cleaning station. It’s not consultant adequate,” Tersteeg said. the Board members Walt Mianowski, Reid Dusheck and Sally Berg directed Tersteeg to also ask the city council to use up to believed$20,000 in funds to pave roads in the park this Authoritysummer. Tersteeg will take couldthis request to the next city council meeting.
Gunflint Hills looking good
Gunflint Hills Golf Course Superintendent Mike Kunshier said that revenues are up 13 percent over last year, but that the number was misleading. “Frankly I’m disappointed in the numbers so far,” he said.
Last year the greens suffered from winter burn and it took all summer to get them back in shape, which caused a big drop-off in golfers for 2013.
Season passes are up 10 percent from last year, from $24,198 to $26,678, but, he added, “There are people out there that still live here that used to golf but aren’t golfing this year. I don’t know why. Maybe the winter was too hard on them financially.”
The course is in great shape, he said, adding, “Now all we need are more people out there playing on it.”
Little Free Library project
Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux was scheduled to appear before the park board but failed to make the meeting. Last month he asked if he could build and install a Little Free Library (LFL) in Harbor Park. The park board referred him to the city council, which approved his request and asked him to come back before the park board.
DeCoux received $800 from Moving Matters – Great Place Race to build and install three or four LFLs in the county, one of which he hoped to erect in Harbor Park (HP).
Tersteeg told DeCoux that before anything permanent could be placed in HP that the Minnesota Land Trust and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had to review and sign off on any additions to the park. The park board also told DeCoux that they needed to see final plans for the LFL so they knew what it would look like.
Mianowski, Berg and Dusheck said they would like to see the LFL placed somewhere other than Harbor Park. Because they were two board members short, they tabled the matter and will continue discussion at the next monthly meeting.
Music in Harbor Park
Joe Paulik came before the board and asked if he could play music in Harbor Park on dates that aren’t already taken by special events like the Fisherman’s Picnic.
The music is free of charge but there would be a hat to put money in if passersby wanted to make a donation. Paulik said he and several musicians would like to have their acoustic instruments amped so they could be heard better.
“I don’t like loud music. But I would like people to be able to hear us,” Paulik said.
Paulik said he would play from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. but asked for hours to be open from 12 to 6 p.m.
Sally Berg said she liked the idea but asked what would happen if other musicians wanted to play in the park.
“I would be open to working with them. I don’t want to be greedy about this,” Paulik said.
Tersteeg told Paulik that he needed to get a vendors permit from the city first, but the park board was okay with the idea. Mianowski excused himself from the conversation because his son was one of the musicians who plays with Paulik.
Financial report
Tersteeg said that yearto date revenues were up 8 percent over last year and the next two months look very strong based on calls coming into the office asking for reservations.
One thing that campers ask for is Wi-Fi, but Tersteeg said neither he nor his staff has time to deal with installing antennas or dealing with Wi-Fi questions. He recommended that sometime in the future the board look at getting in a third party that could handle the business.
“Boreal has a suitable service, Century Link. … and others that are out there can provide Wi-Fi,” said Tersteeg, adding, “I don’t want to administrate it. I just don’t have the time, nor does my staff.
“People are going to stay here whether we have Wi-Fi or not, but it is something we need to look at for the future,” Tersteeg said.
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