Much of May’s first meeting concerned the first part, or Phase 1A, of Silver Bay’s City Wide Street and Utility Improvement Plan. The plan’s goal is to provide necessary updates to the City’s vital yet rapidly aging infrastructure, especially as it has begun to show increasing signs of failure in recent years. This meeting approved three Resolutions relating to the project: 2026 – #31, #32, and #33, which were covered in detail by City Engineer Josh Stier.
Resolution 2026 – #31 is a Cooperative Project Agreement between Lake County and the City confirming part of how they will collaborate to help finance and divide up work on the project, which will include construction on both the City’s and the County’s land. The County tentatively agreed to their part of the arrangement during their meeting in late April, and Silver Bay followed suit at this meeting, pending the City Attorney’s approval. Financial details of the arrangement are still to be decided, as it is too early in the project to know exactly what costs will be involved. Resolution 2026 – #32 approved A-1 Excavating LLC to work on Phase 1A of the project. The Bloomer, Wisconsin-based company has worked on several projects in Northeastern Minnesota previously and comes with a Letter of Recommendation from Bolton & Menk. The Council also confirmed that their work will be held to Minnesota state standards. There are concerns about the overall low number of bids and their higher than anticipated pricing, both due to the rapidly rising cost of diesel fuel and current economic turbulence, but with thorough use of grants, the City may not need to take out bonds to cover funding. Resolution 2026 – #33 allows Bolton & Menk to offer Construction Administration services for Phase 1A, essentially helping oversee the project to ensure construction, funding, and other related aspects are on track.
In other business, Resolution 2026 – #34 approved the renewal of the Silver Bay Veterans’ Home to use City owned facilities; there were no changes to the contract other than updating the dates. The Silver Bay Visitor Center will be undergoing a management change, with the Bay Area Historical Society Board handing over operations to the Best of the North Shore. Best of the North Shore is currently experiencing a staffing shortage, which may delay the Visitor Center’s opening Memorial Weekend.
Much of the meeting focused on an overview of the City of Silver Bay’s upcoming website redesign. Shannon Walz, Deb Hoffman, and Lisa Christenson have been working as a team to craft the new site and update it to modern standards with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. It will also now be at ‘.gov’, which is reserved for official government websites. The review covered much of the new design and additional features, with a focus on ease of use for residents. Several members of the Council noted that the website was looking “very nice” so far; they will have some time to look over the current draft in detail and offer feedback for further improvements. The website is expected to go live by June, with everything being finalized by no later than the end of that month.
Consent Agenda items of note approved included: job postings for additional Public Utilities Aides due to the need for extra staff this year as well as an additional Library Aide; doing a free OSHA consultation of city buildings on June 25th; the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Multi-Modal Trailhead Center at 11 am on May 21st; a letter of support to for senate file 2766 – 2026 Minerals Article involving monetary distributions from Mesabi Metallics towards settlements and school districts within Northeastern Minnesota (the same supported by the City of Two Harbors during their meeting last month); and the Lake County HRA Home Rehabilitation Grant aimed at aiding low income residents by providing up to $10,000 for fixing health and safety issues in owner-occupied single-family homes.
Last but not least, the Council and City Administrator Fralich took a moment to acknowledge May 3-9 as Public Service Recognition Week, stating: “We want to recognize and thank City of Silver Bay Council, Board and Commission Members, City Staff, and all the volunteers who publicly serve the community during Public Service Recognition Week. We also want to recognize all those who serve the County, State, and Federal government. It is important to recognize public sector workers and volunteers who do imperative work that affects all of us every day.”
