The Two Harbors City Council met on Monday night to, among other things, make decisions about how to move forward with the Highway 61 project. Readers will remember that the initial cost proposal for the project was in the amount of $6.4 million dollars, which was going to be covered by funding from MNDOT. Due to inflationary costs and supply chain issues, the amount needed to complete the entire project as proposed, grew to $17 million. For the City to retain that $6.4 million, the Council needed to act.
After a lengthy discussion on Monday night, the Council voted to move forward with the downtown sections of the project. Interested residents can see which sections of the project were decided on by visiting the Two Harbors City website and looking at the minutes for the February 13th meeting. The renderings for the project are on pages 136 to 142 of the PDF. The sections of the project that the Council is moving ahead with include sections EC (from 9th street to 4th streets) and E (from 4th street to north of Park Road). The Council will give MNDOT the go-ahead with section W1A if MNDOT needs an alternative as they put together their master plan. Section W1A is located near the Scenic Drive entrance to town. All of this work falls within the $6.4 million that MNDOT has earmarked for the project.
The Council unanimously voiced the desire to move forward with the completion of the entire project, but due to the funding shortfall and the closing window of opportunity to have MNDOT start work during the coming construction season, a decision had to be made. There are efforts underway to find additional funding sources. In the meantime, it is thought that starting construction with the downtown section of town will be the least disruptive, both for those businesses and for the community as a whole.
Efforts are underway to enhance the Two Harbors waterfront. A concept plan has been proposed for a housing development on Lighthouse Point. The Council is asking for more information from the developers and will be scheduling a public hearing on the project on February 27th.
City Administration will be applying for Assistance to a Firefighters Grant for the purchase of self-contained breathing apparatus for use by the Two Harbors Fire Department. The grant will include the fire services of Silver Bay, Beaver Bay and Finland.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for February 27th at 6:00 PM.
