Rent and roads on Lutsen agenda
Lutsen Township supervisors Ginny Storlie, Tim Goettl and Andrew Beavers reviewed the current fee structure for renting the town hall/community center building and concluded the rates should be changed. Previously the hall was rented for $100 to big groups and $25 for small groups. The problem occurred in deciding exactly what constituted a big group and what defined a small […]
Budget for industrial arts expansion expands
Ryan Erspamer from Architectural Resources presented an update concerning the industrial arts expansion project to the School District 166 school board at their June 19, 2014 meeting. The project is scheduled to have a final design completed on July 1. A pre-bid conference will be held allowing potential contractors to do a walk-through of the space. The project is then […]
Tofte board approves school lease
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014, Tofte Township supervisors approved a one-year lease for the Birch Grove Community School at a special town board meeting. The lease calls for the school to pay the Tofte township $37,502 to use 4,412 square feet of space in the Birch Grove Community Center building for the year 2014 – 2015. Under terms of the […]
County to require audits before funding nonprofits
As he does every year, Auditor Braidy Powers presented a schedule of meetings, notifications and deadlines for planning of the 2015 county budget. After adopting the budget calendar and approving the budget preparation guidelines for county department heads at the Tuesday, June 24, 2014 meeting commissioners continued discussing a question that was unresolved during last year’s budget cycle. What sort […]
Too powerful to apologize?
I’m starting to think I should stop watching the national news. Recent news reports about mistreatment of our veterans at Veterans Administration hospitals, unscrupulous snooping by the National Security Agency and obstructionist tactics at the Internal Revenue Service really make me angry. The latest news story to get my blood boiling was the congressional appearance of IRS Commissioner John Koskinen […]
Handwriting on the wall for Birch Grove
Hats off to Paul James for speaking his mind at the meeting reported on in the June 21 article Tofte debates Birch Grove lease, although personally I think he held back. In how many years will there be no children attending Birch Grove School? Enrollment has declined downward steadily to an all-time low and will continue to do so with […]
Pike Lake Road maintenance appreciated
Pike Lake Road, County Road 45, is one of the most heavily traveled and problematic gravel roads in Cook County. Over the past three years our lake association has given me the task of bringing road maintenance concerns to the attention of the county highway department. On my many contacts with the highway department office, both in person and by […]
Grand Marais Apartments thankful for EDA support
To Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) Board Chair Mark Sandbo: Thank you so much for your committee’s success in securing the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) grant of $112,000.00 for the Grand Marais Apartments, Inc. As you know, our facility was built in 1974 by a grassroots committee much like your own, working towards a […]