ELY- In an hour and a half meeting of mostly routine items, the Ely City Council approved a preliminary 2025 property tax levy of $2.318 million, a 7.4 percent increase from this year.
The council’s preliminary figure represented a slight reduction from the 8.46 percent increase originally developed by the city’s budget committee. But the committee made cuts at their Sept. 16 meeting, including $8,000 in expenditures from the police department, $8,900 from public works, $4,900 from the cemetery, and $20,000 from the capital projects fund.
“There’s not a lot of wiggle room here,” said city council member Paul Kess, commenting on places to reduce expenses. “The $159,600 will be the maximum that the city can increase the levy for 2024. We will continue to explore ways to reduce the levy amount before the budget is finalized (in December),” he added.
Ely ambulance
The city council accepted the resignation of former Ely mayor Chuck Novak as Ely’s representative to the Ely Area Ambulance Board. Novak is also resigning from his position as the chair of the ambulance board. The council voted to send a letter of thanks to Novak for his many years of service as its representative to the nonprofit ambulance service. The council appointed council member Paul Kess as the new representative on the ambulance board.
In other action, the city council:
• Heard the report from Kess that lodging tax revenues are down. “The slowdown is not huge,” Kess said, “but it’s something we should keep an eye on.”
• Heard a presentation by Paul Peltier, the executive director of the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools, outlining the history of the organization, which was founded in 1939. He outlined all the areas that the organization advocates for its members, which include 17 schools, 27 cities, and 27 townships on the Iron Range. Ely is one of its members.
Peltier also asked the council for its feedback for the issues the city would like to see addressed in the upcoming legislative session. The feedback from the council members included affordable housing, local government aid, and EMS.
• Heard a presentation by Lacey Squier on the Ely Leadership Workshop scheduled for Monday, Nov. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Grand Ely Lodge. Squier stated, “This workshop will be an opportunity for Ely-area nonprofit and business leaders to share who they are, what their respective organizations are working toward, and our visions for collective growth. The goal of the day is to strengthen our social fabric as a step toward increasing our capacity and achieving our full potential.”
Registration for the event will start on Tuesday, Oct 1, and end at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 11. The $20 registration fee covers breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. Scholarships will be available. The web address for registration has not yet been released.
• Approved a quote from the Overhead Door Company for a $1,565 hanger door repair at the municipal airport.
• Approved submitting a grant with a 25 percent local match to purchase an aviation gas refueler. A new refueler truck costs $165,350. Ely Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski remarked that the estimated lifespan of a refueler is 25 years. The current AV refueler was purchased in 1986.
• Approved the recommendation from the projects committee to prioritize the Harvey Street project for 2025, which includes repaving and road improvements for Harvey St. from Central to 9th Ave., Conan St. from 2nd Ave. E. to 3rd Ave. E., and replacing the water main for one block on First Ave. E.
• Approved soliciting sealed bids for the construction of six vault privy toilets for the Prospector Loop Trail.
• Denied the heritage preservation commission’s request to have the city of Ely pay for conference registration, mileage and hotel costs to send the commission’s two co-chairs to the annual Minnesota State Historic Preservation Conference on Sept. 18-20 in Red Wing. The city does not customarily provide funding for committee members to attend conferences. The request was also not timely, with the conference being held this week.
“Every year we go through this,” said Langowski. “If committees are looking to fund certain projects, the requests need to be made in July so they can be incorporated in the budget. Certainly, there can be a proposal brought forward. It will be up to the councilors and the mayor to figure out if there was some room in the budget for that.”
• Approved a $392,340 bid from Mesabi Bituminous to repave and improve Conan St. from Eighth to 10th Aves., Ninth Ave. from White to Harvey; and 10th from Pattison to Harvey.
• Approved a quote for a Perkins Diesel Engine from Road Machinery and Supplies of Virginia for $5,817.
• Approved a temporary liquor license for the Ely Folk School on Dec. 14 for the winter bonfire and beach party at Semer’s Park.
• Approved a commercial renovation loan application for Dexter Inc., doing business as Canoe-On-Inn for $12,000 for a new roof at 201 W. Sheridan St.
• Approved a residential rehab loan application for Kelsey Ivancich for $10,000 for a new propane furnace at 940 E. Chapman St.
• Approved a residential rehab loan application for Deann Carlson for $10,000 to update the sewer and install a new propane furnace at 1304 E. Harvey St.