Grand Marais seeks survey responses to qualify for wastewater grant

Kalli Hawkins | October 22, 2026

The City of Grand Marais is asking residents to complete a community survey as it prepares to apply for a state grant that could help fund improvements to the city’s wastewater treatment facility.

The survey is part of the application process for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) through the Small Cities Development Program. The program offers grants of up to $600,000 for single-purpose projects, including wastewater treatment infrastructure.

Grand Marais has worked for several years to address needed improvements to the facility, built in the 1940s and last receiving major infrastructure improvements in 1988. In 2023, engineering firm AE2S estimated the cost of full rehabilitation at $8.95 million.

With rising costs, city officials now estimate the project could cost $10 million or more.

Over the past year, the city has secured $2.9 million in federal and state funding and continues to pursue additional funding opportunities to close the gap.

Maddi Lehman, the city’s management assistant, said that, under the DEED grant guidelines, Grand Marais must show that at least 51% of its population qualifies as low-to-moderate-income to meet the state grant program’s requirements.

DEED’s Small Cities Development Program uses income limits established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine low-to-moderate-income eligibility. Those limits vary by household size and are based on area median income, allowing larger households to have higher incomes and still qualify.

According to 2020 census data, Lehman said, 46.8% of the city’s population falls within that category, with a margin of error of plus or minus 9.2%.

To qualify for the grant, the city needs 682 survey responses to establish eligibility. The survey asks how many people are in a household, the household’s total income, and an individual’s residential address within city limits.

“Which doesn’t mean individual responses, but that many household totals,” Lehman said. “So if there are five people in your house, only one of you needs to respond, but then that counts as five of the 682.”

Individual responses will remain confidential, Lehman said. Only city staff will have access to the responses, and the grant application will include summarized data rather than individual information.

City residents are asked to complete the survey by Nov. 18, giving city staff time to review responses before the grant application deadline of Nov. 25.

“If we don’t get enough responses, we can’t apply for the grant,” Lehman said.

The survey is available through the City of Grand Marais website and Facebook page. Residents without internet access can visit the Grand Marais City Hall to complete a paper copy with assistance from city staff. For additional questions or more information, contact Maddi Lehman at City Hall.

Fill out the survey at the form here: https://forms.gle/6zNR5Et9rw4qUMs37

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Grand Marais Management Assistant Maddi Lehman about the survey. Audio below.