City Council Meeting

Mayor Hakes and Councilors Costello, Kennedy and Lenz were present for today's City Council Meeting. Councilor Jan Sivertson was absent. Also in attendance were Mike Roth and Kim Dunsmoor.

Open Forum
Maggie Barnard, Events Director of the Cook County Visitors Bureau (CCVB), informed the Council about the CCVB efforts to fund raise for maintenance and expansion of the downtown holiday lights and decorations. Council supported the CCVB efforts to raise funds to provide greenery for the City window boxes and planters, add outlets to the lamp posts on the Harbor Walk between Java Moose and the Angry Trout, add lights to the centerpiece tree in Harbor Park, replace light strings as necessary. Council expressed gratitude to the CCVB for heading this effort and acknowledged the success of the 2009 combined effort between the City of Grand Marais, CCVB and downtown businesses to decorate for the holidays.

Consent Agenda
Consent Agenda was approved with no changes.

Park Board Application
Crystal Clemons has applied for the open position on the Park Board and was available to the Council for introductions and questions. Council unanimously approved the appointment of Crystal Clemons to the Park Board and thanked her for her willingness to serve.

Council & Staff Reports
Tim Kennedy reported that the PUC replaced water lines in (2) areas of Grand Marais last week. This work was funded in part through a $100,000 IRRB grant and included the replacement of 3-4 fire hydrants. Kennedy also reported that the Planning Commission will be addressing the request for rezoning a portion of Grand Marais at their next meeting to be held at 4 PM on Wednesday, November 3.
Kay Costello reported that the Library Board Executive Committee met with their architectural firm to discuss the library expansion project. She also reported that $60,000 of 1% Sales Tax funding has been approved by the County Board for this work. The estimated project cost will be $800,000.
Bill Lenz reported that the roof blew off of the Pool Building during last night's storm. Mike Roth added that the Insurance Company adjuster was on site today to assess the damage. Lenz also reported that the Community Center Steering Committee had a productive meeting with Construction Manager ORB.

Mark Your Calendars
Wednesday, Nov 10 at 4:30 pm, City Council Meeting
Thursday, November 18 at 4:00 pm, Joint CCST Meeting, Location TBD
Wednesday, November 30 at 4:30 pm, City Council Meeting (NOTE THIS CHANGE IN DATE!!)
Wednesday, December 8 at 4:30 pm, City Council Meeting
Thursday, December 8 at 6:00 pm, Budget Comment Meeting