Grand Marais rejects cost-sharing proposal for Sawtooth Bluffs plan

The Grand Marais City Council rejected a proposal to share the cost of a master plan for the Sawtooth Bluffs project with Cook County during its June 17 meeting.

The measure failed on a 3-2 vote. Mayor Tracy Benson and Councilor Bill Lovaas voted in favor, while council members Ben Peters, Michael Garry and Craig Schulte voted against it.

Cook County Administrator Kristin Trebil-Halbersma and Parks and Trails Coordinator Mitch Travis presented the proposal, which would have hired community planning and design firm HKGi to update a master plan for the 640-acre publicly owned hillside overlooking Grand Marais.

“There’s been a conversation over the years: Is there some good use for that land? And we know by and large most residents and visitors appreciate that wooded canvas,” Benson told WTIP.

Known as the Sawtooth Bluffs Project, the effort builds on a master plan HKGi completed in 2018 that examined potential uses for the hillside. The Cook County Board authorized an update to the plan in December 2025.

Because the study area includes both city- and county-owned property, the county asked the city to split the $53,080 cost of the updated master plan. The city’s share would have been $26,540. Under the proposal, the city also would have participated in a steering committee to guide the project until a joint powers agreement could be established between the two governments.

“The reason that we want to partner is that we truly see this as a partnership as we move forward with the park,” Trebil-Halbersma told the council.

“I think we need to be at the table, and it will happen if we don’t. So let’s be leaders and help organize that change,” Benson told WTIP.

City Administrator Mike Roth told council members the project was not included in the city’s budget, but funds were available if the council determined it was a priority.

The county planned to use Payments in Lieu of Taxes, or PILT, funds to pay its share of the project. Schulte argued those dollars already belong to city taxpayers.

Schulte and Garry also questioned whether there was enough public support to justify moving forward.

“I kind of think we need to have a longer conversation about this before we throw any more money at it,” Garry said, “I’ve yet to run anyone that broadly supports this idea.”

Council members generally agreed they did not want to take a leadership role in the project but differed on whether funding an exploratory planning process was worthwhile.

“Projects always start out like this, right? Where you throw a little bit at it, and you have somebody study it, and then you go down the next road,” Peters said during the meeting. “And that’s the slope, right?”

Trebil-Halbersma and Travis emphasized that the current phase was intended to be exploratory. They said the master plan would assess the property’s potential uses and gather public input before any future decisions were made.

Schulte remained unconvinced.

“In my opinion, as just a resident of this town, I don’t think you can get a lot of support to develop it. Maybe they cut a trail through it or something like that,” Schulte said. “How much money do I have to spend to establish that minimum-impact type of activity?”

With the city’s rejection of the cost-sharing proposal, the county will decide how to proceed with the master planning effort without city financial participation.

WTIP spoke with Tracy Benson about the Sawtooth Bluffs project and other city updates. The audio of that conversation can be found below.

Josh Hinke June 23, 2026