A WTIP radio announcer wasn’t sure if the flooding city municipal parking lot was dubbed Lake Mianowski or Lake Sandbo. No matter what you name it, it’s proof that taxpayers pay for our leaders pretty, mistakes.
It doesn’t take an educated person to realize building in a flood zone is only asking for problems. Plus, like biomass, we’ve already been down this road! It’s been a flood zone since before I was born, 57 years. An educated, responsible storm water runoff plan in place, or a un-stacked zoning board using common sense, representing the people first, the building permits would never have been issued, problem solved!
To actually build in a flood zone, and later complain, expecting the world to stop to fix your problems, “at any cost”, cries selfish at best, and that’s when Jim Boyd usually shows up! It’s a flood zone. Coming from the Cities, I’m sure Mr. Boyd noticed all the storm water runoff ponds and flood zones down there. Did they build in the middle? No! Now add our hill into the mix. Boyd’s eloquent speech does not hold water, nor common sense, let alone truth, questioning why we listen to him, “at any cost”! Last year he wanted property taxes doubled! He represents almost no one!
I keep talking about our lack of good leadership when following non-profits. I look at Grand Marais’ new Information Center next to the DQ, with it’s port-a-pottys outside last summer. With a shortage of public bathrooms, the new information center should have had proper indoor public bathrooms. Now owned by a non-profit, the property came off the tax rolls, hurting property taxpayers, and the community went backwards in service. Will people simply quit needing bathrooms in the name of a non-profit? The only real winners I see were the non-profit who seems to not care about service to tourist in Grand Marais, and the former owners, who finally dumped a overprice building on the market too long! I wonder who that was?
But do not fear, there will be state of the art bathrooms at Tomteboda, where they are needed!
One year ago it was biomass, over $1,000,000,000 spent, now dead. Today we send George Wilkes of the Public Utility Commission on a solar safari chasing a large solar array. It would be interesting to see what could be accomplished if all that time, energy, and money were actually put towards the peoples needs!
Tod Sylvester
Grand Marais
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