Upcoming city improvement projects dominated Monday night’s Two Harbors City Council meeting. Joe Rhein of Bolton & Menk informed the Council that the bidding process for the 2024/25 street improvement project would begin this week. Construction should begin in May and council members discussed setting up neighborhood meetings so residents who are receiving new sewer and water utilities can learn about logistics and ask questions about what they can expect when construction starts. Stay tuned to the Northshore Journal in the future for more information on this as no dates for those meetings have yet been set.
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Liquor Store is being planned for the first week of April. Residents may have noticed that contractors have begun to haul in sand and other materials to the site. The “shortcut” entry into Culvers off of Highway 61 is being closed, but folks are still being “welcomed to delicious” via the 7th Avenue entrance. WSB Engineering, out of Duluth, has been awarded the Construction Testing contract for the Liquor Store site.
Acting on the recommendation of the Public Works Committee, the Council voted to approve the removal of the parking lane on 8th Street from 13th Avenue to 16th Avenue. Lake County will do the work. Residents along 8th Street had voiced concern about the close proximity of the Odegard Trail to their properties. Removal of the parking lane should alleviate their concern.
Jolene Brink spoke with the Council about submitting an application to the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities Program to add to the resources that folks who are working on development of the waterfront have at their disposal. ESMC is a program that was established by the State Legislature in 2023 to support small Minnesota communities and local government units with the added capacity to develop resilient, sustainable, and adaptable infrastructure projects. There is no cost to the city for this support and it will allow Friends of the Waterfront and the Rural Design team to access resources from the University of Minnesota as they continue to plan for development of the waterfront.
The One Roof organization has two houses that are about ready to go on the market in Two Harbors. One Roof is also planning on developing other properties in the city. City Administrator Patricia Nordean mentioned that talks have begun with the owners of the John A. Johnson property and that she believes that a plan to get housing on that site will be in the works soon.
The Council approved the appointment of Mary McGilligan and Ashley Sibik to the Public Arts Council.
The next Two Harbors Council meeting will be held on March 25th at 6:00 PM.
