Ely council members gathered for the first time in 2026, but not for long.
A brief agenda greeted the group Tuesday night, and members made quick work of it, disposing of many routine items in about 45 minutes.
“It was your typical first meeting of the year,” said mayor Heidi Omerza.
The council did deal with some unfinished business from 2026, issuing three-day license suspensions to a local businesses that was found to have sold cannabinoid edibles to underage persons during a December compliance check conducted by the Ely Police Department.
Following a pubic hearing, the three-day license suspension was approved for Clark - Voyageur Short Stop. The business could remain open but could not sell cannabinoid products for three days this week as a result.
Nine businesses were subject to compliance checks in December, and the remaining eight all passed, according to police.
The council also put off approving committee appointments advanced by Omerza.
Omerza kept the council’s committee lineup largely intact, including the reappointment of Paul Kess as the city’s representative of the Ely Area Lodging Tax Joint Powers Board.
Last month, council member Emily Roose was unsuccessful in a bid to have Kess removed, and a handful of citizens had also requested that the council appoint a new member.
Kess came under fire from some when, last fall, he went against a council recommendation to set aside 95 percent of lodging tax proceeds for VisitEly, also known as the Ely Area Tourism Bureau.
The subsequent motion to remove Kess as the city’s representative failed, however, on a 6-1 vote.
Omerza’s committee appointments will be considered at the council’s Jan. 20 session.
• Also Tuesday, the council received year-end statistics from the Ely Fire Department.
The numbers showed the department responded to 341 total calls in 2025 - with the vast majority (279) medical along with 62 fire calls.
The fire call numbers were the second highest in the last seven years with only 2021 (72) having more fire-related calls.
Total calls were up 16 from last year, and second in the last seven years to the 2023 total of 358.
All but five of the fire calls were either in Ely or Stony River Township, with three mutual aid calls with Babbitt, one with Tower and one with the Morse-Fall Lake department.
In other business, the council:
• Moved the regular council meeting slated for Feb. 3 to Feb. 10, because of precinct caucuses.
• Approved annual membership dues for the League of Minnesota Cities ($4,495) and Range Association of Municipalities and Schools ($864).
• Authorized various inkind services for the upcoming Ely Winter Festival.
• Approved employment agreements with the AFSCME bargaining unites, pending final revisions.
• Approved a 10-year lease with the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department for use of City Hall.
• Authorized council member and staff to attend meetings outside of Ely.
• Approved a charitable gambling permit for the Ely Igloo Snowmobile Club to conduct gambling activities at The Frisky Otter.
