The city of Grand Marais has sought ways to move its public utilities maintenance/storage facility in the Grand Marais Recreation Park for many years, looking at sharing a location with the city, county and school district and more recently considering the purchase of sites at the Cedar Grove Business Park. Those plans fell through or were found to be too expensive, so the city launched a search for another location. On October 24, city councilors voted to purchase the former Tomteboda Resort property at 1800 West Highway 61 at a price of $225,000.
The news of the purchase surprised some citizens although it had been discussed at a number of meetings, the first time on August 12, 2015 when Councilor Tim Kennedy suggested that the city take a “serious look” at finding a new location for the city garage, city hall and possibly the liquor store. One of the locations discussed was the Tomteboda Resort site.
At the August 26 meeting the city council adjourned into closed session to discuss the possible acquisition of the property on West Highway 61. No decisions were made and at a subsequent meeting on September 9, the council heard a detailed report from architect Nancy Schultz of CR-BPS, a firm hired to conduct an energy and space efficiency survey of city hall.
The Cook County News-Herald reported that the architect said the 12,148-square-foot municipal building on Broadway had many deficiencies and shortcomings. Schultz told the council a replacement building to meet the city’s needs would likely cost about $2 million; the price tag for the needed repairs and renovations is estimated at $1.7 million over the next 10 years, but that amount would still not address many of the bigger issues such as the building’s constant shifting and watercaused “hydro-thermal” problems.
The building, which currently houses the city’s administrative offices, the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) office, the Cook County Chamber office, public restrooms, liquor store and council chambers, has previously served also as a jail, fire station and visitor information center.
After hearing the report, the city again discussed efforts to acquire the former Tomteboda Resort property. On October 14, after a report on the property from Environmental Troubleshooters, the council voted unanimously to purchase the property.
Since then the city council has been receiving calls with questions about the purchase. On October 26, Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux responded on his blog with an explanation of the process to get to the point of purchasing the Tomteboda site.
Arrowsmith DeCoux said moving the maintenance/ storage facilities from the Recreation Park has been on the city’s “to-do list” for many years. Recent talks with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources gave a new impetus to get the facilities moved, to provide space for renovation in conjunction with boat launch improvements.
Arrowsmith DeCoux explained that the city did consider building a facility in the Cedar Grove Business Park, as was suggested in a recent News- Herald letter to the editor. However, he explained that the EDA owns the lots, not the city. Arrowsmith DeCoux acknowledged that the city could possibly get a deal on business park lots, but noted that since the city is covering part of the bond payments at the business park, it would not benefit from a reduced price.
The large size of a potential garage facility and office space would require use of four or five business park lots and considerable site prep, costing an estimated $3-$4 million.
In contrast, Arrowsmith DeCoux explained, the Tomteboda site offers a more affordable option because most of the necessary utilities are already in place; the location is flat and easily accessed; there are no wetland mitigation concerns; and the location is large enough to accommodate the needs of the city departments.
“Any expenditure by the city is a big deal and something that needs to be thoroughly considered,” said Arrowsmith DeCoux. “The council did and will consider these decisions at length and felt that we were making a decision that would best serve the community by being the most cost effective, and would have the most positive long term impact.”
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