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The Babbitt city council had previously made it clear there wasn’t support to continue with a marina project on Birch Lake. At the May 20 meeting, the final nail was put in the coffin for the project.
Council member Duane Lossing said a conference call with LCCMR, that provided $200,000 for the project. He said any expenses can be submitted for reimbursement.
He said there would be no penalty if the project is stopped.
Mayor Andrea Zupancich said, “We would need to submit it by the June 1st reporting date in order to receive all the funds back. Nothing has been submitted so far for reimursement, which actually should have been sent as we were getting the bills. So as of last December, was when the first bills hit. We have about $69,000 coming back to us.”
Deputy clerk Sara Powell said the city has paid SEH $45,000 and there was another bill for the remainder that was in question. She said the bills would be submitted by the end of the week.
“We are not going to be penalized and, we do not have to reimburse that money back, those funds will cover what we’ve already spent,” said Zupancich.
“So now the decision has to be made is, do we want to go forward with it and shelve it for in the future, then that information will be already had or do you want to just stop with the project entirely since it is basically fully funded? Now, the money would go back to LCCMR and again, we would not be penalized and that money is from the lottery and that would go back to like DNR studies and things like that,” said Zupancich.
Lossing said there wasn’t public support for the project.
Lassi said he would like the city to go forward with the plans that could be used down the road.
“Building something for so few to take away from so many does not make sense to me,” said Lossing.
He reiterated his opposition to the project, including the lack of sand beaches on Birch Lake and that when he campaigned for office, people were not for the project.
“I will make a motion right now that we stop the project, return the money, and move on to some of the stuff that we need to take care of that we already have,” said Lossing.
Lossing’s motion was seconded by John Fitzpatrick and passed with Lassi voting no.
In other business the council:
• Approved advertising the city clerk position in the Babbitt Weekly, the city’s official newspaper. So far, 14 applications have been received.
• Will have a representative at the IRRRB meeting on May 29 for the city’s application for a grant for the Hideaway utilities extension (see separate story).
• Approved a lease agreement for the deep winter greenhouse project by sending it to the planning commission for review.
• Approved purchasing an ad in the Ely Echo’s ATV Map for the city campground.
• Tabled an offer from Gary Kurpius of $9,030 for 6.5 acres for city land near Cherry Circle. The city had rezoned the parcel light industrial and one reason for the offer was to keep the area from being developed.
• Approved issuing the police chief a city-owned cell phone.
• Meeting as the Economic Development Authority, the council heard a pitch from a company called Community and Economic Development Associates.
• Approved a $14,000 reduction in the cost of the $1.5 million project to replace the ice making machines at the arena.
• Tabled a trial run at the outdoor rink on the possibility of creating a dog park in town.
