Silver Bay opens trailhead center, responds to Stewart Trail Fire

Silver Bay’s latest council meeting showed a city trying to handle recovery, infrastructure and growth at once. Mayor Wade LeBlanc opened by thanking firefighters and other responders after the Stewart Trail Fire, then the council noted that the new Multi-Modal Trailhead Center was complete and open to the public.

The Stewart Trail Fire began Friday, May 15, about 3 miles north of Two Harbors along Highway 61. By May 20, Lake County said the fire was 100% contained at 356 acres, evacuation zones had been lifted and Highway 61, along with the other county roads closed for the incident, had reopened. On May 18, county officials allowed property owners in the evacuation area between Stewart River and the Silver Cliff Tunnel to enter with escorted access. Lake County also partnered with Head of the Lakes United Way to collect donations for affected families without an administrative fee, underscoring how quickly emergency response, transportation and local aid became tied together on the North Shore.

The trailhead center represents one of Silver Bay’s biggest recent capital projects. City records show $5.37 million was secured for it from state and federal sources, including $2.97 million from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund and the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, $1.1 million in state capital investment and bonding, and $600,000 from MnDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program. A post-construction report put the finished building cost at $4.36 million. The 3,500-square-foot facility at 109 Outer Drive includes a community room, kitchen, bathroom, lower-level 24-hour bathrooms, park storage, three parking lots and trail connections for bikers, walkers, ATV riders and side-by-sides. City staff said the project came in under budget, leaving room for landscaping and furnishings such as tables and chairs.

The council also took a step with longer-term budget implications by approving Resolution 2026-35 to begin preliminary engineering for a perimeter ditch system on the city’s north and west sides. The project is aimed at flood protection during heavy rain, and city leaders are hoping to match local planning with grant money from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Earlier public works documents said the city had already applied for a DNR Flood Hazard Mitigation Grant and had been told the state wanted to fund all three phases of the ditch work, potentially for about $1 million.

Other items were smaller but still practical: summer hires, election judge wages, notice tied to the Mary MacDonald Center lease ending June 30, temporary liquor permits for Bay Days and Music in the Park, fireworks and liquor-store matters, and the sale of used air compressors from Lake Superior School District for the Mary MacDonald building. The council also moved ahead on a workforce-housing grant application for Silverpointe II, a proposed 25-unit market-rate apartment project next to Silverpointe Apartments, while a new city website was set to go live June 15. Bay Days is scheduled for July 10-12, and organizers are marking Silver Bay’s 70th birthday and the 250th birthday of the United States at the same time.