Following the governor’s most recent edict covering rules and regulations to hold outdoor events, the Grand Marais Park Board voted 4-0 to deny a special event permit to the Grand Marias Lions Club to host fireworks or have music played in the Harbor Park over what has traditionally been the Fisherman’s Picnic weekend.
The decisions were made at a special meeting held via Skype on Thursday, July 23. The meeting lasted approximately 20 minutes.
Whether there will be a fish burger stand or even a 50-50 raffle is also up in the air. (See page 6).
City administrator Mike Roth asked if the Lion’s had a COVID-19 mitigation plan to make sure the rule concerning social distancing and masks wearing would be followed. Lion Bob Spry admitted the club had no such plan.
Roth told Spry the state had recently upped its limit from 25 to 250 for outdoor gatherings, but Spry agreed there would be many more than 250 people attending the fireworks.
When discussing music in the park– which was going to be played for free by area musicians–Spry noted music was now being played almost daily in the park, and there were never 250 people stopping to listen.
Still, because this would be a city-sanctioned event, a plan would have to be made and enforced before a permit could be granted, said Roth.
In discussing the fireworks, Bob brought up the recent July 4th fireworks. “We (Lions) did it over July 4 and we didn’t have any trouble.” And, he added, “The harbor is large,” with plenty of space for people to keep six feet from each other.
Following the discussion about fireworks and bands, Spry noted, “It appears that we will not do the fireworks or the bandstand,” adding there was no way to gauge how many people would be attending either event.”
“I don’t want anyone to get in trouble over this thing,” he added.
In discussing the fishburger stand, Bob said the Lions had masks and face shields for the workers and had ordered gloves, but the gloves were on backorder. Still, he didn’t think it would be hard to get gloves. Harder, Bob said, might be finding enough people to staff and run the fishburger stand. But, he noted, he would attempt to find volunteers to work the stand.
He added he wasn’t sure how to mark the gravel at six-foot intervals for the fishburger stand. Signs would also have to be made instructing the public about the COVID-19 rules in place, said Roth.
Roth said he could help Bob and the Lions set up a COVID-19 preparedness plan for the fishburger stand and raffle, but he wanted any plan to be brought before the Cook County Public Health department for review.
Craig Schulte, the city counselor liaison to the park board, asked Roth if the city would require a food vendor working in Grand Marais to have a COVID-19 preparedness plan, and Roth replied yes, at this time, the city would require such a plan.
One of the park board members asked about the pens that would be used at the raffle, and Bob said hand sanitizer is being given away that could be used to clean the pens after each use.
After more discussion, the park board voted 4-0 to approve the fishburger stand contingent upon the Lions forming a COVID- 19 preparedness plan approved by Cook County Public Health. Spry wasn’t guaranteeing that the Lions could do all of that in one week.
Water skipping
Grand Marais City Parks and Recreation Director Dave Tersteeg told the park board that he hadn’t received an insurance certificate from the water skipping event coordinator Justin Bystrom.
The water skipping event had initially been approved pending the park board receiving proof of insurance, but a lot has changed about how events can be staged in recent weeks.
The water-skipping event—where snowmobiles traverse across the water in short races—was planned for Saturday, August 1.
“Justin was invited to this meeting,” Tersteeg said, noting he hadn’t heard from him since last week.
Tersteeg said he gave Bystrom a deadline of July 17 to get the insurance certificate and then gave him a drop-dead deadline of July 23 to get the form in, and it hadn’t come.
Originally, Bystrom received permits from the DNR, Coast Guard and Cook County Law Enforcement in February, but since then, all of the rules have changed about staging events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, Bystrom had not submitted a COVID-19 preparedness plan to the park board.
With that, the park board voted 4-0 to rescind their original approval of the water–skipping event, noting far more than 250 people would attend the popular event, and a larger crowd would violate the new rules concerning outdoor activities.
COVID-19
Cook County has two COVID-19 cases recorded for county residents. One was documented in early June and the second came two weeks ago when a young woman in her 20’s was diagnosed with the illness.
So far, there haven’t been any deaths in Cook County.
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