Due to a number of schedule conflicts, Grand Marais city councilors held their second meeting of the month a day earlier than usual, convening at 9 a.m. Sept. 27 in City Hall. The brief meeting began with an appearance by Tod Sylvester, who spoke during the open forum. Sylvester cited a section of the city’s zoning ordinance regarding portable signs... READ MORE >
After 10 years at its present location in the Grand Marais Municipal Parking Lot, the Cook County Farm and Craft Market is moving – but patrons won’t have far to go to visit the new site. In fact, the vendors are only moving a short distance, across Broadway to the City Hall parking area. The move is intended to alleviate... READ MORE >
North House Folk School Director Greg Wright visited the Grand Marais City Council March 9 to give his annual update and report, and as usual, it was good news. Wright began by talking about the school’s recent acquisition of the neighboring Mayhew building, a sale which took place earlier in the month. Wright said the new building – former home... READ MORE >
Emily Marshall, director of the Cook County Community YMCA, presented the Y’s annual update and “road map” for 2016 to Grand Marais city council Feb. 24. It was mostly good news, as Marshall reported there were 88,000 visits to the YMCA in 2015, which includes 6,874 out-of-town visitors. Additionally, there are 1,648 year-round members; 346 members who participated in a... READ MORE >
In response to citizen concerns, Grand Marais city councilors voted February 10, 2016 to impose a moratorium on large-scale building construction along Highway 61 at both the east and west ends of the city limits. The action came two days after a special three-hour council meeting at which more than 80 people filled City Hall to voice their misgivings about... READ MORE >
Is there a public art commission in Grand Marais’s future? City councilors spent some time during their Jan. 27 meeting discussing the need for such a panel, a topic which has been considered before, but never carried through to completion. “People are continually giving us stuff…and it’s up to you [council] to decide,” said City Administrator Mike Roth, who recalled... READ MORE >
The first meeting of the new year brought an old problem back to the Grand Marais City Council agenda – the question of how to stop frequent flooding of the municipal parking lot on South Broadway. The topic was brought to the forefront by Jim Boyd, executive director of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, who presented a letter expressing... READ MORE >
Grand Marais City Council met briefly Dec. 30 to take care of some routine end-of-the-year business. Attending the last meeting of 2015 were Councilors Anton Moody and Tim Kennedy, and Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux. They moved quickly through an agenda that called for the payment of bills; approval of annual tobacco licenses for five businesses (Buck’s Hardware Hank, Gene’s Foods,... READ MORE >
Following numerous meetings and discussions over the past several months, Grand Marais city councilors convened Dec. 18 to approve the final version of the 2016 budget. The spending plan, which was approved unanimously at the outset of the three-minute meeting, sets the levy at $871,865, a 5.79 percent increase over the current levy. However, that number is down significantly from... READ MORE >
There was good news for Grand Marais taxpayers Dec. 9 as City Administrator Mike Roth told city councilors that some adjustments in the 2016 draft budget resulted in a lower levy increase than that which was previously approved. The major change occurred due to adjustments in what the city will pay for medical insurance. Specifically, Roth said one of the... READ MORE >
