TOWER — After years of delays, it appears that major development at Tower’s harbor is set to get underway this spring. At their regular monthly meeting here on Monday, the Tower City Council voted to award contracts for the water and sewer extension along with soil mitigation to clear the way for Pine City-based Eagle Ridge Estates LLC to start construction of seven twin homes, a 10-12-unit apartment, and approximately 7,000 square feet of commercial space.
The utility extension will also connect the first six housing units already under construction at the Marjo RE site located across Hwy. 169 from the harbor. That development calls for the eventual construction of as many as 40 homes, although additional utility extensions will be required to serve those additional units.
The contracts approved by the council include a base bid of $301,812 from Hoover Construction for soil mitigation work that would encompass the apartment building along with three of the twin home sites. The rest of the soil mitigation will get underway later in the summer once additional funding is available.
The council awarded the utility work to Duluth-based Veit & Company, based on their low bid of $1.559 million.
While the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation will provide the bulk of the funding, at $1.423 million, the project includes other funding sources, including a $180,000 grant from MN Housing, $100,000 from the developers, $125,000 from the Tower Economic Development Authority, and $400,000 from the city of Tower. The city’s contribution is expected to come primarily from remaining proceeds from the minerals tax bonding measure approved by the Legislature in 2023, which included $3 million for the city of Tower.
The total cost of the work, including engineering and project management, is expected to come in at just under $2.14 million.

Propane tank still a point of contention
Under public input, the council heard again from Al Kirkpatrick, a Mill Point resident who inquired about possible action to address concerns about the recently installed Superior Fuel propane tank at the intersection of Hoodoo Point Rd. and Lake Ave. “I still don’t believe that’s a good place for something like that,” said Kirkpatrick, who said it did not appear the city was following its own zoning ordinance.
Under later council discussion, council member Kevin Norby, a Lake Ave. resident, insisted he wanted to talk to the city attorney to better understand how Superior Fuel was legally issued a land use permit from the city for the propane distribution station. The city’s volunteer zoning administrator had issued the permit after reviewing the city’s ordinance on non-conforming uses of property. The site, which is zoned residential, had been grandfathered in as a fuel oil storage facility, but residents of the high-value neighborhood say they were promised the site would revert to residential use only if the business was sold or the owner retired.
In response to Norby’s request, Mayor Dave Setterberg said any conversation with the city attorney would need to remain unbiased. Council member Joe Morin said he already talked to the city attorney, who had told him that the issuance of a permit appeared to comply with the city’s ordinance.

Other business
In other action, the council:
• Gave final approval to the city’s new blight ordinance, which replaces a blight officer with a blight committee. For now, the committee will be comprised of council members Norby and Morin, along with TEDA executive director Marshall Helmberger.
• Approved a motion to purchase ice rescue equipment for the Tower Fire Department, at a cost of $8,166, all of which will come from proceeds from the relief association.
• Approved moving ahead with a revision to the joint Tower-Breitung comprehensive plan at an estimated total cost of just over $25,000. Setterberg said the IRRR is expected to cover half of that, with the city and township to split the remainder.
• Discussed but took no final action on the possibility of having the city’s absentee ballots handled by St. Louis County. Clerk-treasurer Tammy Mortaloni said the county auditor had recently informed her that the city had sent out just four mail-in ballots in the last election, and none were actually dropped back off at city hall.
• Noted that the city had been awarded a Firewise certification for 2026.
• Discussed but made no final decisions on how to re-route ATV traffic into the city this summer, as the existing Prospector Trail route is undergoing relocation.
• Approved three pay applications from Lakehead Constructors totaling $1.073 million for work on the drinking water plant.
• Approved a pay application from Mesabi Bituminous totaling $272,523 for utility work done on S. Second and Third Streets.
• Approved the low bid of $19,500 from LaFavor Heating and Cooling for the installation of new heating registers at the city’s new public works building.
• Approved the low bid of $42,532 from Iron Range Plumbing and Heating for the installation of new boilers at the Herbert R. Lamppa Civic Center.