ELY – The city of Ely is looking for more than a few residents to step up and serve the community for a term or two on a variety of governmental advisory committees, boards and commissions.
As many as 12 committees have at least one or multiple positions that will be vacant by the end of this month. At their first business meeting of the new year on Jan. 4, Mayor Roger Skraba called for residents to consider lending a hand in running the city by serving on committees.
“This is your opportunity to start your voyage into public meetings,” Skraba said. “It’s an opportunity to meet once a month, four times a year, whatever it is, and if you like it, you can stick around and run for where we are. This is a good place to start if anyone is interested.”
Many city of Ely committee seats become open on Jan. 31, including:
• Airport Commission;
• Cemetery Committee (two seats);
• Gardner Trust;
• Heritage Preservation Committee;
• Housing and Redevelopment Authority (two seats at the end of 2022);
• Library Commission;
• Planning and Zoning (three seats);
• Police Commission;
• Projects Committee (three seats);
• Telecommunications Advisory Board (two seats for two-year terms);
Ely Utility Commission (two seats);
• Tree Board (four seats).
Application information and more details on meeting days and times for the committee seats can be found on the city of Ely website, www.ely.mn.us, or at the City Clerk’s office in City Hall.
Other business
• In other action at the brief meeting on Jan. 4, city council members agreed with the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation and voted unanimously to rezone parcels of land at 301, 303, and 305 West Sheridan Street from Industrial to Central Business (C-1) to coincide with the longtime business and retail sales operation at that location.
“When the plat map went through the last time, the changes were not made at the time,” Skraba said. “We are just cleaning this up now. It is a mystery. You can go through this map and find all kinds of things.”
• Designated Boundary Waters Bank, Frandsen Bank and the 4M Fund as the city’s official depositories.
• Authorized the assistant city treasurer to monitor the preparation of various financial notes and reports for the city audit.
• Authorized city officials and staff to attend meeting outside of Ely.
• Approved in-kind services from the city of Ely in support of the Ely Winter Festival, Feb. 3-13.
• Issued $549,561 in a General Obligation Revenue Note for the wastewater treatment plant mercury mitigation project.
• Selected a scoring-interview committee for the equipment operator trainee, equipment operator II and equipment operator III positions.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the execution of the Minnesota Department of Transportation Airport Maintenance and Operation Grant.