City requests more information from county on YMCA operations

The Grand Marais City Council met Tuesday, October 30, and had discussion on a number of ongoing matters.

The council heard from County Land Commissioner Lisa Kerr about the Sawtooth Bluffs Master Plan. Kerr distributed a copy of the draft plan and told the council that she and the plan facilitators, the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission, wants some direction. She said she would come back at the end of November to see if the city wanted to approve the plan.

The council asked what would happen if it agrees to adopt the plan. Kerr said the next step would be to create a joint powers board to manage the Sawtooth Bluff area amenities. And, she said, the city and county would have to decide what the make-up of that joint powers board would be—just city and county officials or user group representatives. And, Kerr asked the board to decide if it wanted an at-large representative of some sort, not affiliated with trails groups at all.  

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The council had discussion of YMCA financials on its agenda, along with a spreadsheet detailing Y program revenue and expenses. Councilor Kelly Swearingen, the city’s YMCA representative, said that the Y hopes to have a profit of about $30,000 at the end of the year.

Swearingen pointed out the membership numbers—in September 2017, there were 1,679 members. In September 2018, 1,801.

Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux asked for the definition of membership and there was discussion of memberships versus program fees. There were also questions about what those membership and program fees are used for.
County Administrator Jeff Cadwell was at the council meeting, following up on a county request to meet with the city to discuss possible changes to the city/county joint agreement on funding the YMCA. Cadwell suggested the council direct its questions to YMCA Director Emily Marshall.

But, he added that the agreement between the city and the county regarding operations of the building were not related to the YMCA’s programming.

City Administrator Mike Roth disagreed and said the current agreement spells out the city, county and YMCA responsibilities. He said it makes sense to make changes, but to do so, the city needs to understand its current commitment.

The council agreed it needed more information to proceed. Swearingen asked her colleagues to give them her questions about YMCA operations. She will gather that information. The city council also asked Cadwell for copies of the current county/city contract; the county’s new contract with the YMCA and what the county has spent in maintenance at the YMCA.

Cadwell said he would get that documentation to the city and that he would include the county’s budget for the YMCA costs for the last five years.

The council and the city will meet on Friday, October 9 at 10 a.m., at a location to be determined.

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In other business, the council heard an update from Grand Marais Liquor Store Manager Chris LaVigne who answered questions that had been raised by the city’s recent audit about store inventory and how price changes are handled.

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Administrator Roth also shared information on the city’s proposed change to the employee health insurance plan from the Northeast Service Co-op to the Public Employees plan. Roth said the city will save over $10,000 with this change.
Roth said there had been discussion with employees about increased out-of-pocket costs versus lower premiums and increased contributions to individual health savings accounts. He said he appreciated the interaction with employees to figure out the best plan.
The city union voted to accept the change in plans, which Administrator Roth called a “win-win.”

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Councilor Swearingen noted that the city administrator does not get an employee review. She asked her colleagues if they were interested in conducting a review. She suggested the current board get this in motion as the makeup of the council could change after the November election.
Swearingen said she could bring in some sample evaluation forms. Roth said he would appreciate a review. He said he also has some staff review templates. They will bring those to the next council meeting for consideration.

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The council also approved the hiring of a new volunteer firefighter, Elizabeth Fragale.
And in a light-hearted piece of business, the council approved a street use permit and fireworks permit for the “Oh Ole Night” celebration on Friday, November 23.

Click below to hear some of the council's discussion about the county/city YMCA contract.