Skraba to pitch garage project in Washington, D.C.

When federal lawmakers consider whether to allocate funding to help Ely pay for its share of a joint public works garage, they may get a nudge or two from local officials.Mayor Roger Skraba will head to Washington, D.C. next month to lobby for federal assistance. He’ll join another Elyite - St. Louis County Commissioner Mike Forsman - in the nation’s capital.Skraba’s trip was authorized last week by his fellow council members. About $1,500 in city monies were set aside for the mayor’s travel-related expenses.Ely is seeking a $1 million federal grant for the project - to help offset a $2.6 million city share should the council decide to join St. Louis County in the $6.3 million initiative - and funding is sought as part of a federal transportation bill.Skraba said the trip with Forsman will be timed so that they’re in D.C. as Congress considers the legislation in early-June.Council members voted unanimously to support the trip, and member Butch Pecha said he hoped the unanimous endorsement would show federal officials that Ely is behind the project.Later this year, the council must decide whether to move forward with the garage project. The county wants city approval before it sells bonds for the project and initiates a process that includes construction bids this year and groundbreaking next spring.Plans call for a joint facility on Ely’s east end - on a gravel pit adjacent to the cemetery - that would replace the county garage on the west entrance to Ely and the city garage off of Central Avenue.The proposed garage, patterned after similar joint facilities at Hibbing and Pike Lake, would be nearly 73,000 square feet, more than twice the total combined size of the current city and county garages.The plan calls for the city to acquire the property now utilized for the county garage, and the new facility would free that site as well as the existing city garage site for other development.In another development related to the garage project, the council appointed Skraba and council members Mark Zupec and Chuck Novak to a committee that will look at the financing for the project. City financial adviser George Eilertson will also serve on the committee.In other business, the council:• Referred Young Life Ely’s request to coordinate July 4 activities to the police chief, fire chief and public works superintendent for review.• Appointed Shirley Riemer as Northern Lakes Arts Association’s representative on the Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust.• Authorized that a market analysis be performed on available lots in the business park at a cost of $500. Attorney Larry Klun and economic developer Pat Henderson are working on a marketing plan for the lots.• Referred to the employee relations committee a recommendation that Lee Rannels be awarded a lineman position.• Accepted Larry Reedy’s retirement from the Ely police force, effective June 25. Reedy has worked in the department for 25 years.