Melrose Council Backs Dam Stakeholder Process, Rejects St. Mary's Historic District

MELROSE — November 15, 2018 — Melrose City Council rejects historic district for St. Mary's Church, orders dam stakeholder meeting. The council voted unanimously Thursday night to take no further action on a request from the Friends to Restore St. Mary's group for a demolition moratorium and historic district designation around the fire-damaged church block, with City Attorney Scott Dimmick warning that a single-owner district raised serious First Amendment entanglement concerns. Mayor Jo Lincoln said he could not support the designation given outstanding court rulings and his constitutional oath. Separately, the council directed staff to hold a public stakeholder meeting by mid-December on a proposed rock arch rapids fish passage project after the DNR's River Ecology Unit declared the current full-pool design unpermittable; the project has preliminary approval for up to $6.5 million in state grant funds through the Lessard-Sams and LCCMR programs, but a final council decision must come no later than the January meeting. The council also canvassed the November 6 election, confirming Mayor Lincoln's re-election with 969 votes, and swore in Travis Freely to a two-month council term to fill a vacancy, while approving roughly $37,000 in health insurance savings across city labor agreements.