{"id":2391,"date":"2026-01-06T18:54:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T00:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/?p=2391"},"modified":"2026-01-06T19:41:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T01:41:54","slug":"council-mtg-jan-6-2026-spent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/council-mtg-jan-6-2026-spent\/","title":{"rendered":"Council mtg Jan 6 2026 – $$ spent – appointments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

See https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings <\/a>for complete 133-page Council packet For Tuesday, January 6, 2026, meeting. At the bottom of this post is the 3-page agenda posted last Friday. There may be additions and changes just before the Council meeting that may or may not be posted online before the meeting starts. Always check the table inside the Council Chamber doors. The Council meeting will start at 5:30 pm after the Public Hearing (3 day suspensions for selling hemp to underaged buyers) scheduled at 5:15 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only a few items have been selected here. Please scan through the (draft) minutes and other documents in the 133-page Council Packet. There’s a lot going on in Ely, both on stage (this broadcast meeting) and behind the curtains (minutes and documents) as well as way off stage (in the community).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 Week Wait for Public to Get Details<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The overwhelming majority of us residents, tax-paying citizens, and businesses owners have to wait three (3) weeks since the last Ely Council meeting to find out what officially happened. Read the draft minutes of the December 16th meeting on pages 5-13 in the Council packet. https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings<\/a> Note there is only one entry on the January 6th agenda for both the December 16th Public Hearing and December 16th Council meeting. These are officially separate meetings and deserve separate entries on the agenda. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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As we’ve stated before, all open-to-the-public City meetings should be streamed live free of charge 24\/7\/365 for all residents in Ely and surrounding areas. How else can we easily<\/strong> keep up-to-date on issues and community issues wherever we are and when it’s convenient for us? Technology surrounds us; let’s use it. Nothing can really substitute for viewing and listening with one’s own eyes and ears. We need to witness our community members in action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those interested in the lodging tax debate, read what Abby Dare and Paul presented (= what was entered in the minutes) on December 16th.<\/strong><\/mark> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) presented updates on their projects and recommendations.<\/strong><\/mark> Maybe the HPC and other commissions should make regular appearances before Council, so the public gets a more in-depth view and appreciation for all their work for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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from draft minutes of Dec 16th Ely Council meeting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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from draft minutes of Dec 16th Ely Council meeting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

$$ spent – priorities<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Who has the time to go through all of the City’s expenditures? Are Council Members supposed to question whether or not biddable items were sent out for competitive bidding? Are Council Members supposed to comment and question why so much money is spent on private entertainment and luxury hotel developments vs. ESSENTIAL residential and community business needs? The excuse, “Nobody else except the rich and powerful ask for huge sums of money,” is weak. Is the City or Chamber of Commerce proactively seeking out and lobbying for city-wide improvement projects for smaller business owners, projects they need?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The City should require owners\/landlords of neglected, vacant and blighted homes and buildings to clear their sidewalks. Why is the City providing them this service free of charge? Why are residents without sidewalks subsidizing owners of neglected, vacant and blighted homes and businesses?<\/strong> Especially when City taxes are going up?<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Thank you, City workers. Your work is appreciated. You do as directly. You don’t decide how $$ are spent. When we can talk to you about your work while you’re working, you’re professional and neighborly. You are not the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: There are many wonderful, kind, neighborly and conscientious absentee and non-absentee landlords in Ely and elsewhere. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The referenced email was sent because the City’s small bobcat puts new snow and compacted ice on sidewalks already neatly cleared by residents during subzero temps. The few sidewalks not regularly cleared (if at all) on the block belong to owners\/landlords who don’t care about civic responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When sidewalks are carefully cleared by owners, landlords and renters, why does the City create extra work for them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We already have to clear out our driveways and aprons after street plows clear the roads. Most of us understand that and appreciate the NECESSARY service. Why force us do clean up our sidewalks twice because other owners\/landlords are allowed to neglect their civic responsibilities? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harold Langowski said the City has been doing sidewalk removal for decades<\/strong>. Question: How is it that for decades<\/strong> the City is still allowing and paying for (taxpayers pay) owners\/landlords to not clear their sidewalks? Something’s wrong in this picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These sidewalks and several adjoining neighbors’ were neatly cleared down to the cement, from yard to boulevard. Other sidewalks on the block were shoveled neatly even if compacted ice remained. These photos show new snow from right and left sides pulled onto and compacted down onto previously clean (cement showing) sidewalks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City should deal directly with and charge owners\/landlords of vacant, neglected and blighted houses and business for sidewalk cleaning. Don’t create extra work for responsible owners\/landlords. This is a small town, not an impersonal metropolitan city.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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2026 Appointments – Council Members<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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These are 2025 appointments to various City Committees. Notice that 2 appointments are held by non-City Council Members (Kess and Callen). How many committees in 2026 will have non-Council Members representing or substituting for Council Members? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually voting will probably take place at the next Council meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee responsible for having City meetings streamed free of charge 24\/7\/365 is Telecommunications. See below for which meetings are currently broadcast or not.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

2026 resident and non-resident committee appointments<\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The list on the left was printed from the City webpage https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/boards<\/a> There are several problems when people want to print out this webpage, because it has 3 columns. Not all information shows up for printing. In this case, the details for submission of applications. The deadline is January 12th.<\/strong><\/mark> Here is what was posted prior to the January 6th City Council meeting (printed same date as on the left).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Want to know more about the committees, boards, and commissions before applying?<\/mark> <\/strong>Go the the City website at https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/boards<\/a> and look at the middle column. Click on the committee (link) for details (1) Find out if the committee has specific goals or tasks spelled out. (2) Find out who the other members are, how long they served, when terms expire, and if they are residents or non-residents. Note: once appointed, most of if not all committee members are automatically “re-appointed” to serve several terms, maybe up to 9 years. (3) If meeting times are not listed on the committee’s individual wepage, go back to https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/boards <\/a> and look at the column on the right-hand side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to learn more about what the committees actually do before applying?<\/mark> <\/strong>Go the the City’s Council website https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings<\/a> for 2022-2026 packets to read the (draft) minutes submitted to Council by the individual committees. There is no single website for each committee. Both the Park & Record Board and Planning & Zoning Commission have separate websites, but there can be computer glitches when trying to access to some documents. Some of the (draft) minutes give you a feeling you were there and what members are commenting on. Most meetings are not streamed live or available 24\/7\/365, so you cannot see your appointed community leadership in action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/boards<\/a> showing open seats, list of committees, meeting and cable broadcast times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/government<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

City Council agenda for January 6, 2026 <\/mark><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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See https:\/\/www.ely.mn.us\/council-meetings for complete 133-page Council packet For Tuesday, January 6, 2026, meeting. At the bottom of this post is the 3-page agenda posted last Friday. There may be additions and changes just before the Council meeting that may or may not be posted online before the meeting starts. Always check the table inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[292,299,294,363,337,309,341,308],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2391"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2434,"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2391\/revisions\/2434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elyminnesota.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}