Mayor LeBlanc thanked firefighters and other responders for “helping with the latest tragedy in Lake County,” the recent Stewart Trail Fire north of Two Harbors. The fire was contained with remarkable speed, especially given the high winds faced, and the temporary road closure between Silver Bay and Two Harbors was lifted within a few days.
Councilor Fitzgerald will start attending meetings concerning the Superior National Forest Scenic Byway. Meetings have not been held regularly for some time, and Mayor LeBlanc supports renewed efforts for Silver Bay officials to be present and part of proceedings for the area.
The Multi-Modal Trailhead Center has reached completion and is now open to the public as of this past weekend. City Administrator Lana Fralich mentioned the project had come in under budget and that they are considering using the leftover funding to do landscaping and purchase further supplies for the facility, such as tables and chairs.
Consent agenda items of note approved included: two summer part-time hires for additional aides; Lake County ending their lease at the Mary MacDonald Center effective June 30th; temporary liquor licenses for the Silver Bay Liquor Store during the Bay Days event July 10th-12th and the Music in the Park event which will be every Friday from to July 17th to August 21st; two used air compressors bought from Lake Superior School District for $2 for use in the Mary MacDonald building, “saving our city approximately $12k” according to the Mary Mac’s Manager; a new City of Silver Bay website set to go live June 15th pending final approvals; Personnel Policy updates; and added at the beginning of the meeting, the purchase of fireworks by the City for $10,000.
Larger topics on the agenda began with Resolution 2026-35, which will start preliminary engineering for an improved perimeter ditch system around the northern and western sides of the city to help protect against flooding during heavy rainfall. To complete the project, the City is hoping to receive a grant from the Minnesota DNR’s Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant Assistance Program (FHM) and federal funds from FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. Bolton & Menk’s Josh Stier, covering the resolution for the Council, said Silver Bay’s project has a good chance of being accepted for funding, but that a large part of how grant recipients were graded was based on project readiness at the time of application. “If you can’t check that [30% engineering complete] box, it’s really not worth applying for.”
This 30% is about equivalent to having a complete preliminary design, according to Stier, with a project plan that’s “not constructable, but we have a pretty good understanding of what we need to do, what the challenges are going to be, what it’s going to cost to do it,” he explained. The preliminary engineering would start with an aerial survey using drones; Stier covered how drone surveying is ideal for a project like this because, while not as accurate as a human ground crew, it can cover a large amount of densely wooded area far more quickly. The City has until July 3rd to complete its application, making time of the essence to complete the initial plans for the perimeter ditch. The Council approved the resolution. “When you don’t have a flood fresh in your mind, you forget how important this is,” Mayor Leblanc stated. “It’s good to stay on top of it.”
Matthew Johnson from the Lake County HRA was on hand to go over the approved Resolution 2026-36, covering a Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) Workforce Housing Development Program (WHDP) grant application for the SilverPointe II apartment building. Silverpointe II is planned to be 25 market-rate workforce housing units, all residential, on an acre and a quarter of land located adjacent to Silverpointe Apartments, behind the shopping center. The developer would be Vision Inc., headquartered in Superior. Johnson spoke highly of the company, stating that “this developer builds really high-end, nice-looking apartment complexes,” and noted they have a good reputation with the cities they operate in, as well as great customer service with their residents. Their work in the region extends from approximately 2,000 units built in the Duluth/Superior area to Gunflint Vue in Grand Marais. Aside from money from the developer, Lake County, the IRRR, Minnesota Housing, and the Lake County HRA would also be funding the facility. It is hoped that the project can start in the spring of 2027.
The Board approved an operations policy for the new Multi-Modal Trailhead Center, with City Administrator Fralich noting that overall, the terms of use for the property are “very similar to what we currently have with the rec buildings.” There was some discussion over user fees for renting the facility, with concerns about potential issues cleaning up after heavy or negligent use. The policy was approved with the added change of a $100 security deposit for non-large event reservations (a large event reservation security deposit is $250).
Councilor Ben Bautch took the lead on talks over the potential purchase of a trailer for the Liquor Store to be used during events like Bay Days. Although an example trailer for sale was shown, he clarified he simply wanted the goahead for funds up to $14,000 to purchase an appropriate trailer for the City, and that the County Health Department is on board with the idea. The Board agreed, provided the County Health Department and any mechanics who would be working on it vet the trailer before its purchase. Bautch has long wanted the simplicity a trailer would bring for event preparation: “Instead of loading the back of a truck up, handling everything twice, you’re handling it once,” he explained. “It’s all in the trailer, you set it up the way you want it, you’re done.”
The Board also approved temporary signage for two parcels for sale in Boathouse Bay, with the addition of there being no fee for the first year of the signs’ use, but a fee if used beyond that time. The parcels are located near the Black Beach Inn and at the corner of West Lakeview Drive/East Lakeview Drive.
Finally, in his absence at the meeting, Councilor DeRosier was volunteered by Councilor Bautch to run this year’s Bay Days Parade, which has a theme of ‘Birthday Bash’. The motion was passed with Mayor LeBlanc lightheartedly dissenting.
