City of Grand Marais awarded grant funding to improve coastal resilience in harbor
In late November, eight cities surrounding the Great Lakes were awarded funding by the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to advance and enhance coastal resilience projects.
The $2.98 million in funding will address resilience issues due to coastal flooding, erosion, failing infrastructure, compromised public safety, and habitat degradation.
One of the eight recipients of the coastal resilience funding is Grand Marais, Minn.
The city of Grand Marais was granted $120,000 to begin preliminary design work with coastal engineers to address failing infrastructure and erosion issues in the Grand Marais Harbor.
“The sheet piling that runs along the east side of the main harbor, where people tend to dock their boats,” Grand Marais Mayor Tracy Benson said in a recent interview with WTIP. “That’s where we settled on a project with them and that’s what we were awarded additional grant funding for the design work.”
Benson said the grant money, which the city will receive in January 2025, has a two-year timeframe.
Throughout the following year, Benson said the city would work with engineers to address issues in the harbor and formulate design plans for needed improvements. The city is also seeking additional grant funding to begin implementation of the design plans.
“We’re kind of hoping that this is a little starting point for which they may be able to continually help us with,” Benson said.
The city is also exploring applying for grant funding through a newly launched Great Lakes Environmental Justice Thriving Communities grant program. The program provides $40 million in funding to support local communities in addressing environmental challenges and public health and safety issues.
The other coastal cities selected for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative grant funding include Dunkirk, New York; Toledo, Ohio, Sheboygan, Wis.; Waukegan, Ill.; Romulus, Mich.; and Euclid, Ohio.
Kalli Hawkins December 20, 2024
