Last week’s meeting was delayed until Tuesday due to Labor Day. The short and straightforward session began with Mayor Wade LeBlanc giving a quick summary of a RAMs meeting the previous week that featured a presentation by Mesabi Metallics. LeBlanc cautiously described the presentation as interesting, adding that in his view a lot of information was still unknown, especially as to how their operation would coexist alongside the more traditional mines in the area.
The two larger agenda items both concerned the City of Silver Bay’s Citywide Street and Utility Improvement Project. First, the special assessments on properties along the roads improved by Phase 1 of the project were approved. These special assessments underwent a period for feedback from residents during a public hearing held at the end of August. During this hearing, City staff answered many questions regarding the assessment and took objections. They received one written objection over a parcel, and an arrangement was made to have the assessment waived due to the parcel’s status of being a vacant property without utility access or driveway access, as well as the provision of a permanent drainage easement to the City by November 16.
Residents with an assessment should have received a notification from the City with payment information, an application for deferment, and other information. The assessment can be paid off without interest, up to the full amount of $9,500 per residential household, at City Hall until 4:00 p.m. on November 16. After that point, payments can only be made after the New Year, payable to the Lake County Auditor’s Office, with interest.
The second order of business concerned the next part of the project, Phase 2. Silver Bay City Engineer Josh Stier went over the basics of the project, which is expected to begin construction as early as 2028 but most likely 2029. This portion will cover streets south of Penn Boulevard, including Quincy Drive, Shaw Lane, most of Reed Drive, most of Marks Drive, Nelson Drive, Edison Boulevard between Penn and Law, Law Drive, and Lee Circle. This area was chosen as it was identified as the most in need of fixes, having had the majority of Silver Bay’s water main breaks and the highest amount of inflow and infiltration (I&I) leaks in the sanitary sewer. Nelson Drive alone had several water main breaks last winter, leading to emergency rush after emergency rush to band-aid the problem. The area is hindered due to being built on taconite tailings, which are corrosive and have exacerbated the issue of aging underground pipes.
This stage of the project is currently estimated to be around 20 million dollars, though the cost of materials and other changes may cause that to change with time. Both Public Works and Public Utilities recommended beginning Phase 2 as soon as possible. At this time, the Council passed a resolution allowing for preliminary engineering of the project by Bolton & Menk. Stier explained this investigation of the project area would allow for a better idea of costs, which would allow Bolton & Menk to finalize funding packages and work with the state to identify additional sources of funding to aid Silver Bay.
Stier also gave a brief update to the Council on the current state of Phase 1, which is going smoothly. The Banks Boulevard section should be wrapping up shortly, and the Arthur and Adams sections will follow and possibly be completed later this year.
One additional piece of business was on the costs to add certain security improvements to City Hall. After researching cheaper alternatives and at City Administrator Lana Fralich’s recommendation, the Council voted to approve work from Northern Door & Hardware.
The final piece of business may give hopeful cheer to some residents of Silver Bay: the Council gave its formal approval for the Burk & Banks Block Party, a gathering on September 25th from 5-8 p.m., which will be open to residents of Burk and Banks Streets. It was confirmed that the event will not conflict with construction in the area, and it was noted that when held last year, the group worked well with the Silver Bay Police Department.
