Jeff Anderson, from the Costin Group, shared a recap of the legislative year with the Silver Bay City Council at Tuesday night’s meeting. Anderson lauded the efforts of Senator Grant Hauschild and Representative Roger Skraba who both worked to bring much needed State funding to the communities of Lake County. These efforts include securing $8 million in funds for the Lake Superior School District, an $81,000 public safety grant, $11 million for the Highway 61 project, $400,000 for an environmental bill, tax relief for Social Security recipients and an extension of unemployment benefits for North Shore Mining employees. Anderson said that Hauschild and Skraba always made time to talk with him about the concerns and needs of Lake County residents. 2024 will be a “policy year” according to Anderson and the Costin Group will work to make sure that policies that benefit North Shore communities get a hearing in Saint Paul.
Arrowhead Transit will be offering bus service between Grand Marais and Duluth starting on July 11th. The route will run on Tuesdays and the time schedule is as follows:
Depart Grand Marais: 8:00 a.m.
Depart Silver Bay: 9:00 a.m.
Depart Two Harbors: 9:45 a.m.
Arrival at medical facilities in Duluth: 10:15 a.m
The return schedule will be:
Depart Duluth: 3:35 p.m.
Depart Two Harbors: 4:05 p.m.
Depart Silver Bay: 4:50 p.m.
Arrival in Grand Marais: 5:50 p.m.
Reservations are required and the folks at Arrowhead ask that you do so before noon on the Monday prior to your desired travel date. If you have further questions, please call Arrowhead at 1-800-862-0175.
The library in Silver Bay will be getting some much needed renovation and Library Director Shannon Walz was on hand to share the architectural plans with the Council. If the plan goes as presented, there will be a new entry to the library. A multipurpose room will be added along with a new teen area, two meeting rooms and a patio. In addition there will be a landscape redesign including new sidewalks, a resurfaced parking area and a reworking of the water drainage system on the property. The Council approved the plan and bidding for the project will be opened on July 11th.
The Planning and Zoning Commission has been working on a design plan for the downtown area. Ideas that have been talked about include the possibility of adding some roads in the business district, creating a green space that would include a park and amphitheater, possible movement of the Post Office to make it easier to access and housing and commercial development. The design work that has been done so far is simply a preliminary plan that will give the Council a starting place for moving toward a more formal concept plan. As things move forward, a public meeting will be scheduled to get input from residents.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for July 3rd at 7:00 p.m
