With the Northland awash in beautiful fall colors: a mosaic of oranges, reds, yellows, and golds that splashed across the Sawtooth Ridges and painted the deep valleys, it’s the color green, as in greenbacks, that caught the park board’s eye.
Grand Marais Parks and Recreation Director Dave Tersteeg noted the fall colors and splendid September weather helped drive the rec park numbers. September revenues came in 15 percent higher than 2019 September revenues, he said to the park board at the October 6 meeting.
As of September 30, the park brought in $1.225 million, down $33,000 from 2019. Dave said he expects that when the year closes, the numbers will be nearly on par with 2019, which is phenomenal after the park was all but closed for April, May, and half of June because of COVID-19.
“I want to thank all of the staff for the hard work they have done this year, especially in light of working within the rules around COVID-19,” said Tersteeg.
Public Parkside water access
Permits from the Army Corps of Engineers to construct the new Parkside public water access break wall have been acquired. Plans are to bring in boulders this winter and start construction next summer, Tersteeg said, with the boat launch closed during the construction period. Work on the public access and area surrounding the boat launch will take place in 2022.
Steps will be taken to schedule a meeting with the Minnesota Land Trust to review plans to demolish the municipal building and dog pound onsite. First, testing for environmental waste in the old city garages must occur, and that work is scheduled for this fall. Once the test results are revealed, the old city garages will be demolished, along with the dog pound.
Because of COVID- 19, The Landing in the Community Connection corner (above the timber framed bridge) will not be constructed this year. Plans now are to have the work done in 2022 after MnDOT has completed the Highway 61 project through town.
Rec Park rates
At the park board’s October 6 meeting, Grand Marais Parks and Recreation Director Dave Tersteeg laid out a strong case to raise 2021 rates at least incrementally for the Grand Marais RV Park and Campground and the marina.
“The number one priority of our revenue is city tax relief; every dollar our operation nets is one less dollar levied from the pockets of city taxpayers,” he noted.
Other reasons to raise rates are to maintain a healthy budget and reinvest in the park and marina.
Over the past six years, occupancy from May to October has been trending steadily upward, rising from 45 percent to 59 percent. Tersteeg noted that occupancy seems to be influenced more by weather than price. “We rarely lose a guest, based on price,” he added.
In the recent past, the park board has made marginal rate increases, sometimes across the board, and sometimes more strategic price hikes depending on where one stays in the park.
Using 2018 as an example, nightly rates increased by 0-8.9 percent, depending on the site. The average across 14 different sites was a 2.8 percent hike over 2017. Tent sites rose the least, while lakeside, full hook-up RV sites jumped the most.
Rate increases at the marina have increased between 1.5 and 1.8 percent annually.
After discussing several rate hikes, the board voted to increase nightly rates and marina rates by five percent for 2021. A further discussion will be held at the November meeting about monthly RV rates, and a discussion will be held on policy and procedures used to establish waiting lists at the campground.
Capital improvement projects
Over the last 14 years, an average of $92,000 per year has been spent improving the RV park and marina. This includes upgrading sewer service and installing power to some sites, building a new bathhouse, blacktop and overlays on the park roads, a marina finger-piers expansion, and remodeling the park office, to name a few of those improvements.
In the future, significant capital improvements include building a new bathhouse, improving the public access area, continuing to add electric, sewer and water to RV sites, creating a new entrance sign, and upgrading the Community Connection Landing.
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