“Without local input”: residents press council over the YMCA daycare closure

The YMCA daycare in Grand Marais is closing, and the decision was not made here. That was the message residents brought to the City Council on October 21, in a discussion the council added to its agenda that night.

Gina Joyce told the council the closure “impacts our community greatly.” It affects 10 working adults, she said, including a doctor. She cited Public Health and Human Services figures: 22 licensed daycare providers in the county caring for 83 children, and she asked whether those providers are at capacity and how many can take children under 2. A YMCA advisory board exists, she noted, made up of a city councilor, a county commissioner, an ISD 166 representative, and members at large. “Why did the Lake Superior YMCA get to decide to close the daycare without local input?”

Keith Bergeron, who lives outside the city limits, said there are 4 licensed childcare providers in Grand Marais, and none can take his son without a variance.

In the council’s discussion, the structure came out: the County contracts with the Lake Superior YMCA. The City contributes money toward the daycare’s losses, and so does the County. ISD 166 is involved. The YMCA runs the programming. The County renegotiated with the YMCA about three years after the arrangement started, and, the minutes record, “the City had no involvement in the negotiations.” The advisory board “hears what the YMCA tells them about operations.” The YMCA cannot make the daycare work financially.

Citizens asked for more transparency, suggested a daycare provider could use the space, and asked the council to create a task force to brainstorm solutions. The council took no vote on the daycare that night.

Also that night: staff launched an “Ordinance of the Month” program, starting with burning rules, to be shared on social media and the city website. The newly amended parking ordinance is in effect, the council heard, but still needs to be entered into the County system before it can be ticketed. And the city has hired MSA under a grant to build one map of its infrastructure, geolocating hydrants, valves, pipes, poles, and lines with their material, depth, size, and flow.

Votes (as printed in the minutes)

• Agenda, as amended to add the YMCA and daycare discussion, together with the October 7, 2026 minutes and payment of bills: approved unanimously (Garry moved, Lovaas seconded)
• No vote was taken on the daycare closure or on a task force.

Present: Mayor Tracy Benson, Michael Garry, Bill Lovaas. Absent: Ben Peters, Craig Schulte. No individual named votes are printed in these minutes.

Spending

Payment of bills was approved inside the consent item; the minutes print no total. No other dollar-figure approvals appear in the record of this meeting.