ELY - Sir G’s will be closed until further notice for clean-up after a city sewer backup flooded the iconic Sheridan Street business last Wednesday.

According to Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski, mild temperatures, melting snow and rain, created flooding on Third Avenue East and Conan Street to the alley behind Sir G’s where the city deployed sandbags around the building to keep the flooding at bay.

“Around 8:30 we noticed water coming through the doorway and the walls around here,” Dan Peace, owner of Sir G’s, said. “It only took 15-20 minutes before the whole dining area was flooded,” he told a Duluth television station.

The problems were exacerbated by the nearly seven feet of frost in the ground, which prevented rain water and snow melt from soaking in. According to Langowski, as much as 200 feet of the city’s storm sewer was frozen solid.

A house on Conan Street ended up with as much as four feet of water in the basement as a result, he said.

At Sir G’s, on Wednesday night, it didn’t take long for the community to spring into action. The Ely Fire Department and personnel from the Public Works Department assisted with sand bags to help minimize flooding. “I was surprised how fast people showed up; we had a lot of people just show up to see what’s going on. We had people bring trucks of sand bags,” Peace said. “It’s a great town, the community steps in when they have to help out.”

In a Facebook post, Heidi Peace, who bought the Italian-style restaurant last fall with her husband, wrote, “Thank you to everyone that helped us (Wednesday) from sandbags to moral support. We are waiting on the insurance adjuster, and we have been cleaning and ripping out carpet and now scraping glue. All the restoration companies I have called are not able to help since so many places have had trouble like this.”

She added, “A huge ‘thank you’ to Jennifer Janeksela, Bret Janeksela, Steve and Chris from Arrowhead Outfitters, and also all of our employees who have been helping us with this huge clean up. You all make this seem more bearable.” She said they plan to reopen the business as soon as they can.

G-Men suspended service

Due to the flooded and snow-packed alley and road conditions, G-Men workers were unable to service many of their customers last Thursday. “We sent out a four-wheel-drive truck ahead of the collection truck and it got stuck multiple times. We are doing what we can and will resume service when conditions allow,” they said.

After colder temperatures last weekend, the weather turned milder toward the end of the week with highs forecast to reach close to 50 degrees over the weekend. More melting and flooding is possible.

“I know the city crews are doing what they can to keep the roads cleared,” said Ely Police Chief John Lahtonen. “They were hit pretty hard and fast with the warming and melting conditions. Please use caution on city streets.”