Council Meeting Summary for January 28th, 2015

The City Council met for the second time of the year at 4:30 on Wednesday the 28th to discuss a wide range of topics from the more or less run of the mill to the very specific.

Right after calling the meeting to order, we opened up the floor for public comment and received one resident voicing their concern about the then imminent vote facing the hospital board to discontinue elective obstetrics services at North Shore Hospital.  As this issue has been in the news considerably and since I have been drafting another post to summarize what the City can do moving forward.  Needless to say, the Council engaged in the conversation and committed to remain engaged in the issue.  More to come on this soon.

The consent agenda didn't contain any novel information apart from a few minor corrections to the meeting minutes and so was approved and we were able to continue on to the very important item of selecting the fifth member of the council who will fill the seat vacated by Jan Sivertson at the last meeting.  The person selected will serve for the remainder of that term, until the next election in 2016.

It was an honor to have FIVE great candidates interested in the open position... They didn't make it easy for us!  Each of the candidates brought specific talents, skills, and perspectives to the table, but we could only pick one!  After a lot of deliberation the Council voted to appoint Tracy Benson to the Council to serve as the City's 5th representative.  We felt that her background with the community as well as her experience with local business and organizations made her a fantastic choice.  We look forward to working with her and are excited to see her contribution to the community!  She took the oath of office right after the appointment and took her seat at the table!  To Tracy and all of our applicants, thank you for being willing to serve!

The next two things on the agenda had to do with beer.  Yes, you heard me right.  Beer.  In order for Grand Marais to have a taproom with beer on sale, the City needs an ordinance/license to govern that sort of thing!  Last year the prior City Council drafted and approved the first reading of the ordinance and so it was left to the new Council to approve the second reading of the ordinance to make sure that the language and fees were as they should be.  

After that item passed unanimously came the practical application of that ordinance.  The owners of the new Voyageur Brewing Company and Taproom had their license application in and, with everything in order, the Council approved their application.

Returning to the Council as requested at the last meeting, representatives of the District Heating Task Force appeared before the Council to update he City on progress made.  The District Heating Task Force has taken the first step in their process, hiring a coordinator for the next stage of the project.  This stage includes seeking customer contracts, vendor bids, a public communication plan, and a financing plan.  In addition, the suggestion was made that the District Heating Task Force be adopted as a formal City committee.  The conversation about this pointed out that this would allow the City to have stronger oversight in the process and would streamline the updates that the Council receives about progress made.  This vote was taken and was accepted.  

How are we going to move forward as a City?  What does the future hold?  What rules do we need or not need to keep Grand Marais the special place we all love?  These questions and many more are rolled into the next agenda item, strategic planning.  The Council was presented with information regarding different approaches to strategic planning and their pros/cons.  The Council discussed these options and decided that before we move forward we need to look backward and inspect the plans that have already been completed by past Councils.  These include the Comprehensive Plan for the City, the City Code, as well as other plans that have been put together such as the Park Plan.  The Council will be reviewing these throughout the coming months and will be seeking public input as to how the City should look at planning for its future.  All of the Councilors agreed that the residents of town need to be involved so that there is investment in the plan and so any actions we take are taken as a City and for a solid reason.

Onto the HR item!  The Library Director requested the Council hire a part time Library Cataloguer on recommendation of the Library Board.  The Library has seen the need for a cataloguer increase since another employee reduced their hours.  The Library Director and Board feel that this is a sustainable and needed hire that will speed up the arrival of new materials on the library floor.

Already an hour and a half in, the Council took new business, of which there was a fair amount.

-An update on the estimate for installing public bathrooms in the section of City Hall vacated by the Visitor's Bureau was requested and will be sought for the next meeting.

-Councilor Kennedy brought up the suggestion that the City join Greater Minnesota Parks and Trails, an organization that the County is a member of.  The organization focuses on developing outdoor recreation opportunities in greater Minnesota and the Council agreed that it would be good for the City to show solidarity with non-profits and other governmental agencies to support this development.

-In addition to that, Councilor Kennedy suggested that the City look into joining the Cook County Trails Coalition when that opportunity arise.  This group, very much like the GMP&T organization, seeks to unite ALL users of outdoor trails so that we can push for help maintaining and developing our trail networks.

-The developers of the proposed Grand Lakeview Twinhomes requested that they be put on the next agenda to discuss a development agreement on their undeveloped property immediately behind the Gofer Cabins near the East end of town.

-At the first meeting in February the Council will go over committee assignments and will include Ms. Benson in the assignments, thus re-distributing many of the appointments.

-Also, in February there will be a joint meeting of the City, County, Tribe, School at the City Chambers on February 26th.  This meeting will be to discuss items of regional significance to all of the parties involved.

Hearing no further business, the Council adjourned a little after two hours into the meeting!  Whew!

*As always, if you have any questions or comments on this, please let me know and I will do what I can to find you an answer or address your comment.