Grand Marais Mayor talks city infrastructure

The Grand Marais City Council held a meeting on July 30 to review two developer agreements regarding the installation of city sewer and water by private developers. 

The first developer agreement the city reviewed and approved was for Hamilton Habitat to build and install utilities on 11th Ave near Homestead Cooperative. Hamilton Habitat is building two homes on a property located on 11th Ave above 2nd St. 

The second developer’s agreement the city reviewed was for the Bjorkberg on 3rd St. Various iterations of the proposed Bjorkberg housing project have been before the city council for over a year. The latest request by the Bjorkberg developer, Jon Petters, is to install water and sewer on 3rd Street between 6th Ave. W and 7th Ave W. Additionally, the Bjorkberg developers would widen the 3rd St pavement by 3 feet on that section of the street. Rather than vote to approve or deny the developer’s agreement, the city council decided to continue the conversation at their next meeting. In the meantime, the city will explore an updated cost to improve 3rd St with an engineering firm and reach out to property owners on 3rd St to gauge interest in the installation of city sewer and water along the entire length of 3rd St. 

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Grand Marais Mayor Tracy Benson following the meeting about city infrastructure and more. The audio from the interview is below. 

Kalli Hawkins August 7, 2025