On Monday night, the Two Harbors City Council approved a proposed development agreement between the City and NAI Legacy, a real estate brokerage firm out of Bloomington Minnesota. Representatives from NAI spoke with the Council last September about the possibility of building a boutique hotel and event center on city owned land west of Waterfront Street and adjacent to the Castle Danger Brewery.
The Council briefly closed the meeting to determine an appropriate asking price for the land and to consider the offer to purchase from NIA. The Council authorized City Attorney Tim Costly to draw up terms for a purchase and development agreement in September. While specifics of the agreement are not available to the public at Monday night’s meeting, Costly told the Council that the agreement has been written in such a way that will allow City officials to have input regarding design features and size of the hotel / event center. City leaders and the Economic Development Authority will also have the right of first refusal should NAI ever decide to sell the property to another entity. Some of the land in question for the development is owned by the North Shore Scenic Railroad and city officials will be working on an agreement to acquire that parcel.
There has been a lot of activity among local groups who have a stake in developing the land that fronts Agate Bay. While there has been some concern about increased commercial development along the waterfront, representatives from Friends of the Waterfront and the Citizens Institute For Rural Design (CIRD) seem open to the NAI development agreement.
In other action, the Council voted to authorize the formation of a Waterfront Task Force, to help support and coordinate the work of the Friends of the Waterfront, CIRD, the Veterans Memorial Association and the Edna G Commission in their various efforts to revitalize the Agate Bay waterfront. There are multiple design options that are in play from each of the stakeholders and the task force will be able to help with organization as plans move forward. The proposal for the task force is that it be made up of three council members and eight residents or business owners from Two Harbors.
The Council also approved two plans, one for needed improvements to the Golf Course irrigation system and a maintenance agreement for the course’s golf carts. Funds for improvements to the irrigation system have been allocated as part of the city’s Capital Improvement Plan, in the amount of $100,519. Golf cart maintenance will be handled by Club Car LLC for the coming season and will cost $8,250.
The next Two Harbors Council meeting will be held on February 24th at 5:30 PM.
