BEATTY TWP- The St. Louis County Board of Commissioners came to Beatty Town Hall on Tuesday to conduct its regular business meeting, with a number of items on the agenda focused on North Country issues.
Beatty town supervisor Earl Grano extended greetings to the board and county staff and offered a bit of background on the community. “We’re one of the larger townships in the state. We’re based a lot on tourists and seasonal residents – our population probably triples or quadruples every summer. Anyway, we’re a well-functioning township, unlike some of the folks to the east of us. We enjoy what we do. We feel responsible to our constituents and we work hard. We take this seriously. We want to run a good government and ensure that you have the same goal.”
Ash River Wastewater
The board reviewed county priorities for state bonding in the upcoming legislative session, with the proposed wastewater treatment plan for Ash River, developed by the Voyageurs National Park Clean Water Joint Powers Board, as it’s third priority with a requested amount of $7 million. The county’s top two priorities are, in order, $6 million for development of an integrated solid waste management campus and $11.342 million for the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center, commonly referred to as The Depot.
The Ash River system would involve installation of low-pressure grinder pump stations feeding into a centralized aerobic treatment system, as a traditional gravity-based collection would be infeasible due to the high bedrock and water table in the area and the bury depths required. Effluent from the treatment system would be discharged through a soil-based subsurface dispersion system. The total estimated cost for the recommended improvements would be $24.437 million, and will be obtained from seven different sources, including state bonding funds.
“This is the last of four projects at entry points to Voyageurs National Park,” Commissioner Paul McDonald said. “It’s the opportunity to put in a collection system up there to match what we have as we protect the waters of the entry points to our water-based Voyageurs National Park. This is the last of the four. We’ve got the planning stuff, we’ve got everything ready to go and we’re working on just a couple more easements, and then just waiting for funding.”
While there was agreement on reaffirming the three funding priorities, Commissioner Keith Nelson leveled criticism at county staff for misrepresenting the priority rankings in a handout provided at a meeting of area entities and Duluth-area state legislators. The handout was organized with The Depot at the top and no rank numbering, giving the impression, Nelson said, that The Depot was the county’s top funding priority.
“There seems to be some confusion going on that when the board makes a decision, then we have this, I think you call it poetic license in other circles, but certainly we have a lot of discussion going on in the Duluth courthouse as to what is important and what isn’t important in St. Louis County. I have to tell you that it’s been awhile since this commissioner was angry. Administrator (Kevin) Gray took the blame for it, which it’s not his fault. I don’t think it originated with him. Commissioner (Annie) Harala did a great job on her feet of correcting it in front of this group.”
Nelson provided a printout from the Minnesota Management and Budget Office showing that the projects were ranked appropriately in their system, then referred back to the handout.
“If you’ll note, The Depot is on the top,” he said. “I don’t care how it ended up there, I really don’t. It doesn’t belong there. The sheet should clearly state one, two and three. I do not want people adjusting our decision to meet their needs or to meet their favor.”
“I don’t have time to go down and sit in the Duluth courthouse and wonder what is going on that is being changed on decisions that we as a board have made,” Nelson continued. “Folks, it is not easy for me to sit here and complain about what we’re doing in administration because I know how many good things are being done. But folks, there are some things that have to change. I don’t expect that I’m going to see a sheet like this being presented in front of elected officials.”
Nelson emphasized that in his experience, it’s the number one priorities that get funded, while other priorities are approved if the state has the necessary funding.
After the board took a break, Board Chair Patrick Boyle reconvened the meeting by stating that he believed this year was one of the best years in his ten years on the board in working together with county administration.
“Commissioner Nelson, I don’t think that was done on purpose, I think it was a mistake,” Boyle said. “As long as it (waste management campus) shows up on your project summary as number one, we have that on there. I apologize for that error and we’ll take responsibility for that.”
The legislative priorities were moved without recommendation, meaning that they will be considered at a future meeting, following a work session with the county’s lobbyist to discuss the upcoming legislative session scheduled for the end of the month.
Gray took an opportunity to express his appreciation to the board for the feedback and reaffirmation and clarification of the bonding priorities.
Road projects
Application for funds for two North Country road projects were on the board’s consent agenda, one for $1.5 million for reconstruction of a section of Harvey St. in Ely, also designated as County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 156, and the other a road realignment project for a section of County Rd. 180 at Elephant Lake.
As consent agenda items are approved without discussion, the Timberjay reached out to county engineer Eric Fallstrom for more details about the projects, which would likely be slated for the 2025 and 2026 construction seasons.
Regarding the Ely project, Fallstrom said, “It’s a reconstruction project for Harvey St. from Central Ave., nine blocks up to Ninth Ave. It would be removal of all the existing sidewalk, curb, gutter and pavement, putting in some new granular material below the roadway, and then new pavement, curb, gutter and sidewalk along that stretch. We’ll also be redoing the storm sewer through that area as well, hoping to alleviate some of the storm sewer concerns that happen when we get higher flows and higher rain amounts.”
The total cost of the project is estimated at $3.5 million, which the county hopes to offset by receiving $1.5 million from the state’s Local Road Improvement Program. The project is slated for 2025.
The Elephant Lake realignment project in Camp Five Township will move a three-quarter-mile section of CR 180 from its current location alongside the lake to the west.
“It’s an area homeowners and landowners up there have been wanting us to look at,” Fallstrom said. “It’s just north of Melgeorge’s where you get really tight up against the lake. It’s gone through some lots there, most of them aren’t year-round homes but some are year-round homes or cabins that the roadway kind of bisects the property. It’s also been a historic area that’s caused some maintenance concerns for us.”
Fallstrom said the project is in its preliminary stages at the moment, with some designs and environmental work completed, and conversations have started with property owners about acquiring land for easements. Receiving a $1.5 million grant for the estimated $2 million project could boost it up on the Public Works schedule.
“If we get this local roads improvement program funding it would be something that might move this up a little bit higher on our priority list to look at the project in 2025 or 2026,” Fallstrom said.
Liquor violations
Penalties for liquor license violations for selling alcohol to minors were also on the consent agenda for four North Country establishments – Pelican Lake Resort, The Landing, Voyagaire Resort and Houseboats, and the South Switch. As consent agenda items, they were approved without discussion. Details are reported in a separate article in this edition of the Timberjay.
Whiskey Point
If petitioners living around Namakan Lake get their wish, a point of land on the southeast shore of the lake will officially be named “Whiskey Point,” a name it’s unofficially carried since the 1960s.
Information provided to the board by those requesting the change indicates that the landowners at the time, the Maddison and Zikmund families, named the spot Whiskey Point and posted signage at that time that has been maintained since. As a common landmark referred to when directing people to various locations in the area, having the name appear on official maps would aid in that usage and provide a reference point for visitors. Petitioners noted that St. Louis County also recognizes the usage of Whiskey Point when establishing addresses in the area.
Such name changes have to be approved by the Department of Natural Resources. When contacted by the county attorney, the DNR’s Pete Boulay noted that Lake Vermilion has an island named Whiskey Island with an unofficially named Whiskey Point nearby. However, Boulay said a Whisky Point name in Unorganized Township 69-17 on Namakan Lake should be far enough away to avoid confusion.
As required by law, the board established a public hearing on the matter for Nov. 28 at 9:40 a.m. at the Leonidas Community Center in Eveleth.
Management analyst
When Gray presented a proposal to redefine a management analyst II position as a management analyst position with increased responsibility for policy and governance activities and to commence a search to fill the position, Nelson asked if the position could be based outside of Duluth.
Gray responded that it would be open to any location, but that the primary support relationship for the position would be with the deputy administrator, and he said they would have to look at the efficiency to see if the position could work from another point.
Nelson reminded Gray that he had asked for a deputy administrator position “up north” 14 years ago. He noted that governing issues have only grown over the years, and that “an awful lot of those issues are not in downtown Duluth, they’re just not. I think it’s important that we have people all over St. Louis County to address issues.”
Commissioner Mike Jugovich reinforced Nelson’s statements, noting that the board has also had conversations about a deputy administrator for the northern portion of the county for about seven years.
“I think it should be somewhere north,” he said. “(It) would actually bring a lot to the northern part of the county having these people here on hand, and it is easy to get to people with the communication we have available. I’d like to see it north, and I’ll continue to advocate for a deputy administrator for the northern part of the county.”
Commissioner Paul McDonald also voiced his support.
“We do have a number of issues in the northern half of the county, and I think moving forward with the opportunity to have somebody up here would speak volumes to the constituents,” he said.
Gray noted that a number of leadership position that were formerly based in Duluth are now based in the north part of the county, and said that they’re intent not only on hiring the best candidates, but geographically serving the entire county.
“We try not to be site specific about these key leadership positions, we make a concerted effort to be aware that the geographical presence matters as well,” Gray said.
Commissioners approved the position and posting with the proviso that it not be advertised as being located in any specific location.