Silver Creek board schedules special meeting on Stewart River Project

The next step on the Stewart River Project could shape how Silver Creek spends money, handles river corridor work and moves ahead on engineering decisions that may affect land use near Two Harbors. The Town Board of the Town of Silver Creek has called a special meeting to sit down with Bollig Engineering and discuss the project’s future, a sign that the township is still sorting out the practical path forward.

The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Meeting Room at 1924 Town Rd. in Two Harbors. The stated purpose is narrow but important: board members will meet with Bollig Engineering to discuss what comes next for the Stewart River Project. For residents, that means the discussion is likely to touch the kind of technical work that often drives later decisions on permits, environmental review, scheduling and, eventually, construction.

The notice does not say what the board will decide, whether a vote is planned or whether the conversation will center on drainage, riverbank stabilization or another infrastructure issue. It also leaves out costs and design alternatives, which makes the special meeting more than a routine check-in. In township government, meetings like this often mark the point where a project either advances toward funding and formal approvals or stalls while officials weigh their options.

The Stewart River carries added weight in Lake County because county water-management planning identifies its watershed as one of the county’s high-priority watersheds. Minnesota Legacy project materials describe the river as a state-protected water and a designated trout stream that empties into Lake Superior near the City of Two Harbors’ drinking-water intake. Those same materials say earlier restoration efforts focused on five severely eroding streambank sites along a 1.5-mile reach and involved commitments from five property owners, including the Lake County Highway Department.

The project’s history also stretches back at least to 2019. Minutes from the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District show officials then saying Stewart River repairs could happen that summer with money from Trout Unlimited and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. By July of that year, the same records said officials were still working on an agreement for the repairs, underscoring how long the work has taken to line up.

The river corridor later became part of a separate Highway 61 bridge project on Silver Creek and the Stewart River that was reported at $12.63 million. That project included stream restoration work, one rehabilitated historic bridge and one new parallel bridge, with Northland Constructors of Duluth, Inc. doing the work for MnDOT. That history helps explain why an engineering firm is now back at the table and why Silver Creek’s next move on the Stewart River will matter well beyond a single meeting room at 1924 Town Rd.