ELY—Signage and signs of the times occupied considerable discussion at the city council meeting here on Tuesday.
Ely residents Frederica Musgrave and Lynn Evenson addressed the council about misbehavior at Ely’s July 4 parade and related festivities. While both mentioned problems with parade marchers and parade spectators throwing things, Musgrave commented at length about “vulgar banners and signage” which cast Ely in a less than favorable light. She referred specifically to items like the “F**k Biden” flag (unedited in real life) flown across the street from the Ely Young Life carnival games for children held at Whiteside Park. The offensive flag and its statewide exposure on social media was the subject of an article in the July 7 edition of the Timberjay.
The council also spent considerable time on a relatively minor expense— an estimated $1,000 to buy signs, hardware, and posts for street number signs for the residents on Pioneer Drive. Despite the modest cost, the council quickly discussed whether the residents should be mounting their own signs or if the city should charge them for the new signage.
“This should be people’s responsibility,” remarked city council member Al Forsman. “The city shouldn’t be doing this.”
While residents in most Ely neighborhoods post their own house numbers, typically near their front door, the homes on Pioneer Road are set back far enough where such numbers would be of little use to passersby, or emergency responders. In most rural parts of the county, providing 911 or fire number signs is typically a government expense.
Ely city clerk-treasurer Harold Langowski said the lack of signs on Pioneer “has been an issue for over 20 years.” Langowski noted that the number of address signs needed was less than 25, and that the posting of house numbers visible from the street on Pioneer “is not consistent … right now, there are no signs.”
Langowski also said that requiring residents to post their own signs was problematic given that most would not scout for buried utilities, running the high probability that erecting their own signage would lead to puncturing fiber-optic cable or other buried utility lines. Alternatively, if the city installed house number signage, it would insure “consistent addressing (of residences) throughout the city.”
Ely Fire Chief David Marshall added that Pioneer was “the most difficult (street) for first responders to locate addresses,” commenting that the lack of visible street numbers was a public safety issue.
After a brief discussion of whether to table the item or send it back to the projects committee, the council decided to vote on the original motion, to spend the $1,000 for the signage and its installation on Pioneer. The motion passed with Forsman casting the one vote in opposition.
July 4 appreciation
Mayor Heidi Omerza thanked the Ely Events Committee, the citizen group that organized the July 4 parade and other holiday weekend activities, including the “Rock the Park” concert on July 1. Omerza had certificates of appreciation from the city for each of the committee members. She also gave the committee the key to the city.
“They didn’t just fill (the holiday weekend) with events, they overflowed it,” Omerza told the council. “Next year, they will do even more.”
County survey
St. Louis County contacted the city and requested that Ely inform its citizens about a survey in progress regarding the county’s family resource center. The survey is targeted at the parents or caregivers of under-18 aged children or vulnerable adults. The anonymous survey is designed to explore what supports parents and caregivers need to help their dependents. The City of Ely has posted the link to the survey website on its Facebook page.
Medical assistance renewals
St. Louis County reached out to the city to highlight that more than 50 percent of the county’s households which needed to apply for their medical assistance renewals did not do so before the July 1 deadline. The Minnesota Department of Human Services has taken advantage of a federal extension until Aug. 1 for application for this renewal. After this deadline passes, further extensions “will not be an ongoing option for future renewal.”
To look up their medical assistance renewal status and dates, Minnesotans can visit mnrenewallookup.com. The county encourages residents with medical assistance to check their status and renewal dates and to take advantage of the federal extension to renew if they’re still qualified.
Recycling center trashed
In his report to the city council, Langowski remarked that people have been dumping trash at the city’s recycling center. He also noted that corrugated cardboard boxes were not accepted for recycling by the city, noting that St. Louis and Lake counties’ transfer stations do accept cardboard. The fine for dumping trash at the recycling center is $300. Regarding recent incidents, Langowski remarked that two offenders were recently identified.
“Whatever you do, you should not be leaving corrugated cardboard on top of the ash pile,” Langowski added, stating that it wasn’t a problem in the summer, but would create “a small problem” during colder times of the year.
Langowski brought the meeting to a momentary humorous standstill when he pointed out that those who illegally dump their cardboard boxes at the city’s recycling center should remove their shipping labels first.
High School milestone
The city council also looked ahead to the 100th anniversary of Ely Memorial High School, approving a recommendation from the Heritage Preservation Committee (HPC) to seek grant dollars to create video interviews of Ely graduates, at least one for every decade since the high school was built. The video would be produced locally and would likely take advantage of an all-class reunion set for next year to celebrate the high school’s milestone.
In other action on Tuesday, the council:
• Approved putting the city’s recently retired but still useable ladder truck out for bid. The retired truck was replaced by a newer tower truck put into service in June.
• Approved a recommendation from the Ely Utilities Commission (EUC) to hire DBC LLC to conduct a rate study of the city’s utilities.
• Approved a recommendation from the EUC to approve the quote from Qualus in the amount of $91,856 for substation upgrades.
• Approved a recommendation from EUC to approve $797,134 for the May EUC bills.
• Approved a recommendation from EUC to approve a payment of $175 to Butch Gornik for consulting services and $500 to Mick Shusta for “A Operator” services.
• Approved a recommendation from the projects committee to install a two-way stop sign on Washington St. at 11th Ave. E, which Langowski noted was the site of several traffic collisions.
• Approved Ely Utilities Commission claims for July 11 for $139,666.
• Approved partial pay estimate #1 to Low Impact Excavators for $137,942 for East End Development.
• Approved Invoice No. 447572 for $3,740 and Invoice No. 448462 for $12,025 for the Prospector ATV Trail to Short Elliot Hendrickson, Inc.
• Approved a residential rehab loan for Alex Povhe at 403 E. James St. for $10,000 for a new propane furnace and new windows, pending proper paperwork and fees, and to direct Attorney Klun to work with applicant and proceed with the loan application.
• Approved Resolution 2023-015 authorizing the city to make application and accept funds from the IRRR Residential Redevelopment Grant Program.
• Approved Resolution 2023-016 authorizing the city to make application and accept funds to the IRRR Culture and Tourism Grant Program.
• Approved a motion for the Ely Watercross Association to acquire the surplus bleachers from the little league ballpark. The association wants to restore the damaged bleachers, and “would be happy to allow the city to use them for future events,” according to correspondence the group sent to the city. The bleachers were wrecked by wind in 2016 and replaced using funds from the insurance claim for the damage.