ELY—In a stunning about-face, the city council here voted 5-2 to send a letter to the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources in opposition to a grant application by the White Iron Chain of Lakes Association, better known as WICOLA, and two environmental engineering firms. The grant request, if approved, would fund a pilot plant designed to reduce sulfate pollution on the Dunka River using large containers filled with sulfur-consuming bacteria.
This action reversed the council’s 4-2 vote, on Feb. 18, to draft a letter of support for WICOLA’s grant proposal. The city clerk was to write the draft letter and the council was expected to approve it at Tuesday’s meeting.
Instead, the council voted 5-2 to send a letter of opposition to the WICOLA grant request, signed by the mayor. City council members Al Forsman, John Lahtonen, and Jerome Debeltz advocated for the change, claiming that the grant was based on bad data and was an attack on regional mining and mining jobs.
Mayor Heidi Omerza joined them. “I am so upset with the way this has happened,” Omerza said. “We have better things to support. This is for something that’s not even in our county.”
City Council member Angela Campbell stated she could not support the grant after contacting WICOLA with further questions. She said Dave Holt at WICOLA could not provide her with answers she said she needed to evaluate the validity of the grant’s claims.
Council members Adam Bisbee and Emily Roose, who voted against the opposition letter, said they did not interpret the WICOLA materials as an attack on mining, but rather an attempt to reduce sulfate and mercury contamination in the Dunka River as well as demonstrate the viability of a low-cost technology for treating sulfate pollution.
Originally for WICOLA?
The start of this saga was on Feb. 18, when Holt, acting president of WICOLA, made a presentation to the city council on a joint grant proposal in partnership with environmental engineering firms Bay West and Clearwater Biologic. Because of the well-known correlation between sulfates and mercury in fish, the project aimed to hopefully reduce the bioaccumulation of mercury in the river. The project site would be a mile below where WICOLA says untreated mine drainage enters the Dunka from the Northshore Mine through Langley Creek. That pollution discharge has been well-documented by test data accepted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Anti-mining?
Freshman city council member Lahtonen remarked that he interpreted the grant as an attack on local mining. “I read this article provided by WICOLA numerous times. It is obvious that these anti-mining articles are nothing more than an attack on mining but also attack on a way of life. (These people) are not only going after copper-nickel mining, but they are going after taconite mining … Before this council even considers supporting a study like this, we need to consider the possibility of losing hundreds of mining jobs.”
Debeltz echoed that sentiment. “If a letter of support means we are saying we’re against mining, I totally have a problem with that.”
Reaction
Bisbee pointed out that the council had an alternative in addition to letters of support of opposition. “There is a third option, and that’s not to do anything for or against.” His suggestion was rejected by the five council members who seemed to want to punish WICOLA for asking for the city’s support.
Residents Ozzie Rief and Nora DuBois asked to speak at the public forum at the end of the meeting. They both expressed dismay at the WICOLA vote.
“I’m concerned,” said DuBois. “The project is outside our jurisdictions. It is confusing to vote to disapprove of the grant instead of not saying anything at all. That seemed like that was the middle ground.”
“I’m confused why this happened, why the city voted against clean water.”
Won’t waive dog
park fees
The city council received the report from the Ely Board of Adjustment that it granted a conditional use permit, or CUP, to the Ely Dog Park. The details of the permit were reported in the Feb. 28 edition of the Timberjay. Police Chief Chad Houde expressed concern that the terms of the permit and lease specify the requirement for rabies vaccination. City Attorney Kelly Klun stated that the condition for specifically requiring a rabies vaccination could be included in the lease agreements when she drafted it.
The council then declined a recommendation from the Board of Adjustment to waive the $250 CUP application fee for the Ely Dog Park group because they were a nonprofit. At a Feb. 19 meeting, Board of Adjustment member Joe Prioreschi moved that the board recommend the fee waiver to the city council, a measure that received unanimous approval.
At Tuesday’s meeting, city council members Forsman and Roose both made statements against waiving the fee. “I don’t like setting a precedent to waive fees. We’ve never done anything like this,” Forsman stated during the discussion.
Mayor Heidi Omerza commented, “We as a city need to pay our bills, too, and fees are one of the few things we can do for that.”
The vote was 6-0 not to waive the fee. City council member Angela Campbell abstained because she is on the board of directors of the Ely Dog Park nonprofit.
In other business matters, the city council:
• Approved the recommendation from the Ely Sanitation Committee to not advance the dumpster enclosure ordinance as suggested by the Planning and Zoning Commission, or P&Z. The dumpster ordinance has been bouncing in and out of P&Z, sanitation, and the city council since summer 2024. Forsman asked Roose, who was the P&Z chair when the commission first sent the proposed ordinance to the city council about the impetus for the measure. Roose said it was a letter of complaint about trash blowing out of dumpsters but couldn’t recall exactly when the letter arrived.
• Approved two ordinance updates to the definitions of camping areas-RV parks and resorts as recommended by P&Z.
• Set the date of Spring Clean Up Days for May 2-3.
• Approved the second reading of Ordinance 388, to amend the city’s land use laws to conform to a Federal Emergency Management Agency requirement with a March deadline. Passing the ordinance before the deadline will enable Ely landowners in flood zones to obtain flood insurance and federal emergency flood relief in the future.
• Approved the hire of Cody Lehn as an equipment operator pending a pre-employment physical, testing, and background check. The council also approved keeping Josh Pohlman on the hiring list for one year if a position opens for an equipment operator trainee.
• Approved the right-of-way vacation for Warren Johnson, property owner at 1003 S. Second Ave E., who requested that the city vacate a platted but unimproved street right-of way, described on E. 10th St. Ss from S. First Ave. E. to S. Third Ave. E. in the Tower View Estates Addition Plat, “from Block 1 Lot 5 to Block Lot 4 (sic).” The right-of-way is next to the radio station antenna on Beacon Hill.
• Approved a $17,500 note and mortgage for Kannas Real Estate LLC for the commercial renovation loan at 224 E. Harvey St. to install new energy efficient windows. The vote was 6-0 in favor with city council member Emily Roose abstaining.
• Approved a recommendation from EUC to amend the city’s fixed sewer rate. The sewer fixed rate will be increased by $1 instead of the $2 recommended by the utilities rates subcommittee. The council directed the city’s staff to schedule a public hearing for March 18 at 5 p.m. to hear testimony on the proposed change to the rates.
• Approved the first reading of Ordinance amending Chapter 20, Section 20.2.41 of the Ely City Code regarding the sale of lots in the Plat of East Spaulding First Addition Plat. This ordinance will allow the sale of two city-owned lots for $38,000 total. The sale was approved by the city council in January. Because the ordinance affects city property, the city council scheduled a public hearing for the law change, which will be held on March 18 at 4:45 p.m.
• Approved the following claims for payment: $393,458 for the city of Ely and the Ely Utilities Commission through March 4; pay estimate No. 7 from Max Gray Construction for $193,222; and an AES2 general consulting invoice for $1,524.
• Approved the appointment of Laurie Kess as a representative from the Northern Lakes Arts Association on Gardner Humanities Trust.
• Approved change order No. 2 for the Ely Regional Trailhead Building site date. The current completion date was March 1. The revised completion date is now June 15.
• Approved change order No. 4 for the Ely Regional Trailhead Building. During the discussion, Forsman brought up that while he would vote for the change order, he also noted it was necessary because the architect made a mistake in the design of the building. He added that the city’s clerk-treasurer, Harold Langowski, should pursue discussions with the architect over the matter. The cost for the change order to fix the design for the solar panel attachments and add fixtures in the vestibule is $4,557.
• Approved a residential rehab loan application for Adam Bisbee at 1004 E. Chapman St. for up to $6,000 to install a high-efficiency propane furnace, pending proper paperwork and fees. City council member Adam Bisbee abstained from the vote but did comment during the brief discussion that a furnace breaking down when it was 15 degrees below zero was “scary.”