Duluth City Council Meeting – March 10, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Duluth City Council Meeting – March 10, 2025
The Duluth City Council met on Monday, March 10, 2025, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting lasted 37 minutes and included routine approvals, public testimony on federal policy impacts and downtown safety, first readings of two zoning ordinances, and council discussion of local responses to federal actions. All nine councilors were present.
Consent Calendar
- Resolution 25-0072R: Authorized a five-year agreement with Visit Duluth as the city's destination marketing organization (DMO). Councilor Mayo emphasized the importance of returning to a local DMO with a diverse board.
- Resolutions 25-0194R and 25-0195R: Approved property insurance contracts with Hanover Insurance Company (cost not to exceed $350,000) and an agreement with the Duluth Airport Authority for insurance coverage.
- Resolutions 25-0153R, 25-0154R, 25-0155R: Authorized the purchase and installation of sanding body equipment from Bert’s Truck Equipment of Moorhead, Inc. in amounts of $232,274.00, $173,494.00, and $173,494.00 respectively.
- Resolution 25-0188R: Renewed a one-year agreement with SFM Risk Solutions, Inc. for workers' compensation administration for $72,312.
- Resolutions 25-0189R through 25-0193R: Approved liquor license transfers, temporary expansions, temporary on-sale licenses, permanent on-sale licenses, and lawful gambling applications.
- Resolutions 25-0161R and 25-0162R: Confirmed the appointments of Chiamaka Enemuoh and Anna Bailey to the Duluth Economic Development Authority (DEDA).
- Resolutions 25-0158R and 25-0159R: Approved DEDA resolutions increasing a contract with Ehlers and Associates by $75,000 (new total $300,000) and authorizing up to $252,200 for Phase 2 building demolition.
- Resolution 25-0163R: Authorized the third amendment to the Duluth Legacy Endowment Fund agreement.
- Resolutions 25-0134R through 25-0172R: Awarded contracts for the 2025 Gas Blanket Project ($1,110,895 to Minncomm), Northwest Passage bridge repairs ($284,200 to Northland Constructors), and accepted 11 permanent easements for street and utility purposes in the Duluth Heights neighborhood at no cost to the city.
- Resolution 25-0178R: Amended the contract with Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. for West Superior Street reconstruction engineering, increasing the amount by $498,551 to a new total of $2,909,551.
- Resolution 25-0179R: Awarded a contract to Hanco Utilities, Inc. for the 2025 lead water service replacement in the Lincoln Park neighborhood for up to $9,545,940.50.
- Resolution 25-0183R: Rescinded prior parking resolutions for West Superior Street from Carlton Street to West Michigan Street, established no parking zones, and restricted parking to parallel parking from 22nd Avenue West to 19th Avenue West, effective upon sign installation.
- Resolution 25-0184R: Authorized a contract with Sir Lines-A-Lot, LLC for Skyline Parkway safety improvements not to exceed $92,919.
- Resolutions 25-0150R and 25-0152R: Authorized an application to the Minnesota DNR for a $350,000 grant to rehabilitate Norton Park, and a three-year contract with Accruent, LLC for work order software totaling $44,702.50.
The consent agenda was passed unanimously (9‑0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Lee Stewart (1818 Graceland Road) expressed deep concern about federal disruptions (Medicaid reductions, tariffs, federal worker layoffs, EPA cuts, grant losses) and requested the council hold a public hearing to inform residents and mitigate harm.
- Geoff Schumacher (Lakeside/Lester Park) stated he finds Duluth unwelcoming, citing skywalk policies that push people out. He suggested adding bathrooms, benches, and a more inclusive approach to downtown.
- Cheyenne Pyan (Lakeside) accused city leadership of aiding a “Nazi agenda” by weaponizing safety rhetoric, specifically referencing skywalk discussions and the 2024 safety package. She urged empathy for houseless and marginalized neighbors and presented a list of alternative thoughts for when seeing someone using drugs.
- Duluth Sister Cities: Executive Director Christy Rounds introduced visiting students from Rania (Kurdish region of Iraq). The council suspended rules to allow the students to introduce themselves. The group thanked Senator Klobuchar for visa assistance and highlighted a week of cultural exchange.
- Jordan Johnson (301 West First Street) also requested a town hall or public hearing from local elected officials on navigating federal changes, praising the sister cities moment as a testament to community care.
Discussion Items
- Administration Report: Council President Tomanek announced that Dr. Shauna Weaver will be brought on temporarily to manage sustainability grants.
- First Reading of Ordinances:
- 25-002-O: Amends multiple sections of the Unified Development Code (UDC) regarding natural resources overlay, manufactured home parks, recreational vehicle parks, site design, procedures, floodplain non-conformities, and definitions.
- 25-003-O: Amends UDC Section 50-41.16 (Principal Use Definition). Both ordinances were read for the first time without council questions.
- Councilor Questions & Comments:
- Councilor Kennedy requested an update (for a later date) on the Morgan Park train bridge blocking access.
- Councilor Swenson thanked staff and the mayor for quickly addressing West Superior Street business parking concerns and noted a March 20 public meeting on West Skyline (Anger area).
- Councilor Mayo spoke in support of the Visit Duluth DMO resolution and then detailed federal impacts: an ICE raid on February 27, the police department’s non‑involvement in immigration enforcement, a local nonprofit losing $400,000 in federal funds, TSA agents losing union representation, and other cuts. He renewed the call for a committee of the whole or public presentation to address community concerns.
- Councilor Nephew praised the Visit Duluth board’s diversity and thanked the Sister Cities students for their visit.
- Councilor Awal echoed Mayo’s concerns and asked about creating a forum for constituents to submit questions, possibly through a committee of the whole. She also noted Streetwise’s advocacy at the state capitol.
- Councilor Kennedy announced the Construct Tomorrow event (free, evening community session) and a Rice Lake Road meeting at St. Scholastica (6 PM, student center).
Key Outcomes
- Consent agenda passed unanimously (9‑0), approving 34 resolutions.
- Two ordinances (25-002-O, 25-003-O) read for the first time; no vote taken.
- Council discussed holding a future committee of the whole or public town hall on federal impacts, but no formal action was taken.
- The meeting adjourned at 6:37 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Mr. Scott, my name is Ren Owl. I'm um an at-large city counselor, and I will be conducting the personnel um personnel chair interview uh for the Duluth Public Utilities Commission, which you have submitted your application for. Um thank you so much for being here. How it's gonna work is I have a set of questions I'll ask, and then I'll open it up to the counselors, uh my fellow counselors, and then we'll end with a few more logistical questions, and then you will you get a chance to add any additional thing regarding your possible appointment to the Duluth Public Uh Utilities Commission. All of that sounds good. It does, thank you. Um Mr. Scott, why don't you take a few minutes to introduce yourself to the rest of the council, just whatever you would like to share. Sure. Well, thank you for having me here this evening. Um as mentioned, my name is Brad. I'm a civil engineer. I've worked in Duluth for almost 25 years, uh, up until about two years ago. I worked as a consultant engineer. Uh one of my primary clients was the City of Duluth. Uh probably one of the more notable projects I worked on for the city was I was the lead designer, engineer of record for the reconstruction of Superior Street. Um, but throughout my career I've worked on a wide variety of municipal projects and projects on the city's infrastructure system. Um water, storm sewer, sanitary. Um I did work at the city of Duluth for about 15 months, uh changed jobs uh about three months ago. I'm currently a project manager at MINDOT. So made the transition from the private side to the public sector. So but thank you for having me here and uh I'm interested in serving. It's sort of a continuation of being connected to the city, its mission. I believe in the importance of uh dependable, safe, healthy infrastructure, and uh here to advocate for it and uh stay connected to the city, which I've always enjoyed working with. Thank you so much, Mr. Scott. Um you've kind of already touched on this, but if you want to expand, why are you interested in serving on the specifically the Duluth Public Utilities Commission? Well, I I I think it's probably one of the commissions that I'm probably suited to serve on by virtue of that past record of engineering work and my career. Um I'm excited to do it. I know the people at the city, I know a lot of the challenges that the city's facing with providing dependable, safe uh infrastructure, challenge with budgets and um and the needs that the city has. So I to me it's an exciting opportunity to stay connected to staff and the city's mission. That's fundamentally why I'm here. Thank you. Um and you've also kind of touched on this too, but if you want to further elaborate, uh, would you be willing to give a brief outline um of your education and your work experience and how will your background and personal strengths benefit the Duluth Duluth Public Utilities Commission? Yeah, without going back too far. I moved to Duluth uh right around 2002 from Alaska. Uh had worked up there building utility systems, uh, rural water, wastewater systems throughout the state of Alaska. Uh came here, worked for LHB Inc. was the company that I started with and stayed with. And um again, just a career of working for the city, working in projects in Duluth, St. Louis County, the greater Arrowhead region, and um, I think hopefully that experience and insight uh will be valuable to the city. Thank you. Yes. Um do you are you present uh presently serving on any other boards and commissions or have you served on any in the past? Uh I'm not presently serving. I did serve uh on my previous employer's corporate board. Okay. But no longer do that. Thank you.
openpublica.com