Reader wants water skips in harbor to continue

Gmail - Disappointed in City Council decision! - truenorthgm@gmail.com:

I am a citizen of Cook County that has been attending the water skips activities in the Grand Marais harbor during various times of the year. I am greatly disappointed in the city council’s decision to not allow this event any longer. I feel that not enough research and time was spent looking into this topic before a decision was made.

The city may not have known that permission was needed from the Coast Guard to have the water skips, but we did. We have worked with them the previous 2 years to make sure it was a safe event that followed their guidelines. We followed their 30 min rule about retrieving a sunken snowmobile, we followed their rules regarding fire extinguishers and buoys attached to our sleds. We even made sure to stay in the area that was roped off for us and to not get to close to the many people who came to enjoy this event. We will now work to try and get our activity back, and I think that the city council should work with us. There is nothing for anyone over the age of 15 do during Fisherman’s Picnic, and now that the water skips aren’t happening, I have absolutely no reason to go downtown or spend any money. This event not only brought local people into town to watch it, but it also brought new people into Cook County who wanted to partake in this event. It also drew more people than any other event during Fisherman's Picnic down to watch. Let's all work together and get this great asset to Fisherman's Picnic back!!

Amanda Plummer