The following motions were approved at the Cook County Commissioners December 22 meeting:
* Following the recommendation to the Revolving Loan Committee, the board approved a $4,000 Revolving Loan to the Banadad Trail Association to purchase a Polaris Ranger UTV that will help maintain the trail system.
*Commissioners approved an agreement with Pictometry International to provide four annual installments of imagery at the cost of $46,652. Arrowhead Electric will pay $9,678.75 as part of a cost-sharing agreement with the county, which brings the county’s share down to $36,973.75.
Aerial imagery is a critical component used by the County’s GIS department. Other county departments also use the data gathered that issue permits, assess properties, and work in emergency management and public safety.
Flights are spread out over four years, breaking the county into four sections, and are aligned with Assessor’s quintiles. The money to pay for the Pictometry will come from the Recorder’s unallocated funds.
* Commissioners unanimously approved a 25-year tower lease agreement with AT&T for cell service at the Gunflint Magnetic Communication Tower District. Because the existing tower won’t accommodate the equipment needs of AT&T, the company will pay to build and manage a new tower with the provision that Cook County will own the tower.
Under terms of the lease, the county will pay back AT&T for the cost of the tower through fifty percent lease abatement. The tower will be built to accommodate three cell providers.
The lease agreement provides AT&T FirstNet cell service in the Gunflint Lake area. FirstNet will provide public safety workers with priority and pre-emption of public service during emergencies or times of heavy cell traffic and offer cell service to the public. The service will also be used by Cook County deputy squad cars’ CAD systems so they won’t have to connect with dispatch to relay information by radio.
AT&T will pay fifty percent of the annual $35,784.84 lease agreement with a two percent escalator until the deal ends.
* A discussion was held to change the Cook County Revolving Loan Fund’s name to the Hal Greenwood Cook County Revolving Loan Fund to honor Greenwood’s service to the RLF committee. Greenwood passed away this past November.
The request came from the RFL committee. They met on December 9, 2020, and voted to honor Greenwood for “his extensive and long-existing contributions to the fund and to the committee as a whole.”
* Also approved was a five-year special use permit for a parking lot and boat landing to access Saganaga Lake from County Road 81. The county operates two parking lots and boat landings on Saganaga, one on county land and one on land owned by the Forest Service. The permit with the Forest Service has expired, and the county was offered and accepted a new five-year permit.
At the end of the meeting, outgoing commissioners Myron Bursheim, Heidi Doo-Kirk, and Robert (Bobby) Deshampe, who resigned this past year to take over his duties as newly elected Grand Portage Tribal Chair, were all honored for their service and dedication to the county
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