Ben Redden and Cathy Erickson were named City Council President and Vice President, respectively, in a fast-paced City Council meeting on Monday night. As the Council looks toward 2023 there are a number of pressing issues that they are wanting to address. Chief among these is to determine how to proceed with the Highway 61 project given the fact that the project faces a significant funding shortfall.
Readers may remember that $6 million was the amount MNDOT proposed to fund the project and that the cost of completing the project ballooned to $17 million due to inflation and supply chain issues. Since the construction is scheduled to take two years to complete, the council has some important decisions to make regarding how to proceed in a manner that best fits the needs of the Two Harbors community.
Options that the Council discussed on Monday night included:
- Selecting certain components of the project that could be completed in the proposed time frame with the funding that is available, while postponing other project components until adequate funding could be secured.
- Letting MNDOT make the selection of where to start.
- And finally, requesting a postponement of the project until adequate funding for the entire project is available.
One problem that exists in all of this is that the $6 million from MNDOT that has been secured for the work could be lost if the city doesn’t get started on some aspect of the project. This leaves the Council in a quandary as to how best to move forward given uncertainty about where the remaining funds needed to complete the project will come from. Several Council members expressed concern that there are too many unanswered questions in all of this to make a comfortable decision about how best to proceed. Of course, MNDOT wants a decision from the city so that they can move forward.
After much discussion, a proposal was put forward to inform MNDOT that the Council supports the project but has significant concerns about the negative impacts that prolong- ing the project will have on businesses along the Highway 61 corridor and the potential disruption to the tourist season if the project is not able to be completed in a timely manner. City Administrators will work with MNDOT and newly elected State legislators Natalie Zeleznikar and Grant Hauschild who have both expressed interest in helping the city of Two Harbors secure all of the funds that are needed to complete the project. Clearly, there will be ongoing efforts by City officials and others to find solutions that will allow for the completion of this important upgrade for the city. Stay tuned for further developments.
In other business, Jay Cole made a presentation to the Council on the possibility of opening a Machine Learning Training Center. Such a center could provide training and job opportunities for interested individuals in the burgeoning area of computer technology. In his presentation, Cole stated that Machine Learning is one of the fastest-growing technological fields re- related to the development of artificial intelligence. Cole is looking to offer informational opportunities so that interested folks can learn more about career opportunities related to AI technology.
Fans of the Edna G should keep an eye out for a meeting which will feature a presentation by Paul Lamare. A time and date for this presentation will be determined soon.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 23rd at 6:00 PM.
