City doesn’t want to run marina

Talk about it

The Two Harbors City Council is not interested in running the proposed Two Harbors marina.

At a joint meeting between the council and Two Harbors Planning Commission, many councilors felt that the city should not run the marina.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently asked the city about the management of the facility.

City Councilor Dan Jones did see a positive side to running it, he said, but the negatives far outweighed it.

“(An advantage would be) we can choose who runs it,” Jones said. “I see a lot more disadvantages.”

Planning commission member Robin Glaser agreed.

“I think the city would be foolish to enter into it,” she said. “It would be in the taxpayers’ best interest if the DNR took it over.”

Councilors cited many reasons for not wanting to take on the responsibility including: a history of other cities operating entities such as a marina didn’t work out, there’s no profit to be made, the city doesn’t have the expertise to run a marina and it would be an unwise use of taxpayer’s money.

The city of Silver Bay, however, does run its marina, though it is owned by the Minnesota DNR.

“Financially, it’s a disadvantage,” said Mike Guzzo, the head of parks and recreation in Silver Bay. “Seeing your community have a lot of input in a marina is an advantage. It’s been good for us.”

He said the city and the DNR have a good working relationship.

Guzzo said the marina in Silver Bay might be facing a financial loss this year because of the current economy.

A conceptual design for the Two Harbors marina will be released formally Aug. 17.

Tags: two harbors, news, marina, northland, outdoors, fishing