Grand Marais City Council refinances business park

City councilors accepted the bid from Northland Securities of Minneapolis for $1,675,000 of general obligation bonds in support of Cedar Grove Business Park financing. Among the two bids received, the city accepted the lower interest rate of 4.2419 percent. The bonds will be paid over a 20 year period.

The sale of the bonds allows the city to re-finance the business park. Poor lot sales and a down economy prevented the city from making good on the original temporary bonds. According to the city, when the initial bonds were adopted the Business Park had 20 of its 37 lots reserved and it appeared the bonds could be retired quickly. To date three of the lots have sold, which is enough to cover the interest payments on the temporary bonds, but not enough to pay them off. If all 20 of the originally reserved lots had sold, $1.2 million would have been generated. The remainder of the temporary bonds would have been paid through assessments.

Grand Marais Mayor Sue Hakes requested a marketing plan for selling the remaining lots in the Business Park from the EDA in October. The next meeting of the EDA is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 23 at 10 a.m. in the City Council Chambers. The board will be reviewing the results of an open request for proposals to hire a realtor to list the Business Park lots. The EDA will also revisit lot prices.