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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Tower’s harbor project

Encouraging progress, but bureaucrats must deliver on permits

Posted 8/10/14

It’s been a long, long time coming, but it appears that Tower’s harbor project is finally ready to shift out of neutral. In this week’s issue of the Timberjay, the city is seeking bids for a …

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Tower’s harbor project

Encouraging progress, but bureaucrats must deliver on permits

Posted

It’s been a long, long time coming, but it appears that Tower’s harbor project is finally ready to shift out of neutral. In this week’s issue of the Timberjay, the city is seeking bids for a contractor to complete the river dredging and harbor excavation, two critical elements to bringing the city’s vision to reality.

City officials expect to have the bid opening on Aug. 28, which will hopefully coincide with the signing of a development agreement with Cobblestone Inn and Suites, which is planning a new hotel at the site.

Waiting in the wings are other exciting possibilities, including a possible condominium development near the harbor. At the same time, the former Tower marina, now in private hands, has finally been put on the market. Located just downstream from the harbor, the marina property opens up still more possibilities for related development with the right owner.

It all has the makings of exactly the kind of economic renaissance that city officials had envisioned when they embarked on this journey more than 20 years ago.

Like any big undertaking, there have been plenty of bumps along this road. And as we sit here today, with the potential for major progress, the city is still waiting for the necessary dredging permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Natural Resources.

The struggle to obtain permits has been a frustrating one, and it has slowed progress on the harbor renovation at virtually every step. It all highlights the sometimes contradictory impulses of government. On the one hand, this project has enjoyed significant state and federal funding, as well as regional dollars from the taconite production tax. Yet, too many of those dollars have been expended in the time-consuming and tedious quest for state and federal permits. And each go-round with the bureaucrats has come with yet another expensive pound of flesh. MnDOT required more rock blasting than seemed reasonable for the Hwy. 135 reroute, which consumed tens of thousands of extra dollars. The DNR required the now infamous “frog-walk,” a $7,500 wooden plank, which has been the subject of not just local ridicule, but even rated a mention on a Twin Cities television station’s investigation of wasteful government spending.

The harbor restoration is a valuable undertaking, and it’s been frustrating to see it bogged down for years in red tape. Those delays have not only consumed too many project dollars, the city has actually had to give back scarce state grant dollars because deadlines on the use of the funds expired. It’s all contributed to even more delay.

With everything now in place, and with developers ready to get to work, its time for the bureaucrats to do their jobs and get the permits signed, sealed, and delivered.