The configuration and infrastructure of the trail leading from the Highway 61 sidewalk into the east end of the Grand Marais Recreation Area and down to the marina, called the “Community Connection,” is still up in the air after the park’s engineering consultant, SEH, came up with a design that would cost about half a million dollars.
The trail is one of the first big projects outlined in the park’s twoyear old master plan that the park board has started to work on. When the consultant came up with a cost estimate much larger than the board had envisioned, they started talking to SEH’s Jamison Mehle about downscaling.
Park Manager Dave Tersteeg told the park board on December 6, 2011 that SEH had made some assumptions about what elements of the design were really important to the board. Stormwater management infrastructure is what makes a project like this so expensive, although the park has some options in regard to the level of stormwater management it invests in. “It’s more than just a little trail,” Tersteeg said in a separate phone interview.
They basically have three choices, Tersteeg said: cheap, effective, or effective and pretty.
The board ranked numerous elements involved in a project like this in terms of what they believed was most important. Those elements were cost, cost effectiveness, aesthetics, maintenance frequency, maintenance difficulty, impact on useable space, pollutant removal, and sediment load reduction. The board’s top three priorities were cost effectiveness, aesthetics, and cost.
Tersteeg will forward this to SEH, and Mehle will create a new design based on those priorities.
Big sale at pool
November cash register receipts at the pool were higher than they have been in the last eight years, reported Head Lifeguard Charles Christiansen. This year’s revenue looks like it will be higher than ever before.
The pool has been seeing increased use by locals, with a good response to the fitness classes, swim lessons, and log rolling practice. Sadly, two of the main log rolling coaches, Vicki and Barry Shaw, have moved to Texas. The program will continue but will be restructured and have new practice times. Tersteeg said Vicki, who was also a lifeguard at the pool, will be missed.
The pool has a big sale going on through the holidays. People who have not had a pool membership for the last year can purchase sixmonth memberships at half price: $62.50 plus tax for individuals and $100 plus tax for families. Tenpunch passes are 20 percent off.
Tracy Benson said Buck’s Hardware (owned by her brother) would be selling gift certificates and punch cards for local businesses that don’t have a physical presence in the community or are not open all year. They are not taking a cut to offer this service, she said. She offered to sell pool pass punch cards there, which the board appreciated.
North House renovations
North House Folk School director Greg Wright updated the board on the renovation of the school’s commons area and parking lot. The asphalt between the red and blue buildings is being replaced with permeable brick pavers with sand in between them.
The weather will prevent the last of the work from being completed this season. “We’ve made progress,” Wright said. “I hope it hasn’t made too big a mess for our neighbors.”
Wright asked the board for permission to continue storing the bricks in the rec park through the end of April at the latest. The board agreed to the request and passed a motion allowing North House to store the bricks at a cost of $64 a month, the same amount it would cost to store a boat or trailer over the winter.
Amber Humphrey moving on
After over three years as assistant park director, Amber Humphrey will be leaving to take another job. She will be starting on December 21 with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources as a waterways and trails specialist based out of Two Harbors. “I look forward to serving Grand Marais and Cook County,” she said, “—just in a different venue.”
Leave a Reply