A large portion of July’s second Two Harbors City Council meeting was a closed session discussing the possible sale of real estate owned by the City of Two Harbors, namely the building and attached parking lot at 630 7th Avenue, and a proposal for future industrial development. Later in the meeting, the Council rejected the sale proposals. The open portion of the meeting was short by comparison, with Councilor Glaser leading the meeting in Council President Hefter’s absence.
City Engineer Brotzler had several positive project updates, with the 2024-2025 Street Project almost complete and the Lighthouse Point Road Project progressing to underground work. The 4th Street Watermain Project, extended due to some additional work needed, now has the road projected to reopen by mid-August. Finally, he gave a heads-up that although the city’s 15th Street Watermain Project is wrapping up, Lake County will be following up with their own project along the road as part of preparations for the Highway 61 Project next year.
Many of the Committees had an update this round, starting with Utilities having had to handle emergency repairs and pump replacements at the campground lift station, along with updating the City’s water meters to a new system. In Public Affairs, the reimbursement policy for campgrounds came up due to cancellations during the recent bout of smoke from fires to the north, though no changes are planned for the policy at this time. The NOAA Coastal Resiliency Grant was also discussed, with a decision to use the grant as originally planned.
Trees & Trails covered temporary signage for trails and made plans for tree planting thanks to a Relief Grant, with 130 trees going to boulevards and 100 in parks. 30 of the trees will be from Anderson’s Greenhouse while the remaining 200 will be from Duluth Dirt. Personnel is handling ongoing hiring and scheduling a City Administrator Annual Review.
Public Arts is in talks with the artist on the electrical box wrap project, but work on the bandshell cover mural has been complicated by issues with the bandshell and has been largely delayed until next year. The city is currently pushing for a possible $12,000 Engage Rural Civic Arts Cohort grant offered by the non-profit Department of Public Transformation. If received, Mayor Conner said he hopes to find a way to support residents during the Highway 61 construction next year, to “make things a little bit easier on citizens during that period of time.”
Public Works has several issues on their plate, with a special meeting being planned for the bandshell to go over safety concerns and plans looking forward, including the possibility of an alternate performance space until the proposed new bandshell in the Waterfront Plan is built. Additional discussion covered state aid for planned drainage improvements at the Two Harbors Helgeson Airport, problems with the Business District/1st Avenue sidewalk and its planned reconstruction in 2027, and leaks in the Public Library’s roof. Councilor Glaser wrapped up the reports by announcing Council President Hefter’s appointment of Councilors Redden and Erickson to the upcoming labor negotiations team and thanking them for their work.
Business items approved included the appointment of Heidi Dean to the Trees & Trails Commission; the planting of a memorial tree on site 15 of Burlington Bay Campground, already reviewed by the campground manager, to honor the 50th Anniversary of David and Nancy Johnson’s marriage; the first reading of an ordinance amending city code chapter 3; an easement with CO-OP Light & Power for the Airport AWOS (Automated Weather Observing System); and a very slight amendment to a previous resolution to change the name on a conditional use permit from the business owner’s name to the business’s name.
