I am a Gunflint Trail business owner, hockey dad, CCVB board member, fire chief, ISD 166 parent, golf course and ski hill supporter, and resident of Cook County. I moved here 20 years ago to run a business and raise my family primarily because of the lifestyle.
I was pleased with the process leading up to the 1% sales tax vote. The county hired an outside firm to facilitate forums to learn what this community wanted. We attended meetings. The community developed a large wish list of everything they wanted. The top two priorities were the community center and broadband. These were clearly the reason the vote passed 2-1.
Then the most important step was skipped. Costs benefit analysis (CBA). Many projects were promised with dollar placeholders (Community center was 12M). I hoped an outside group would be hired to collect data to prioritize projects and budgets. This didn’t happen. If it had, it would have given county commissioners facts for these important decisions.
It would have proved what is inherently obvious. The community center needs to be built and on the scale originally proposed. The county can’t afford not to.
The CBA would have asked what benefits are we getting for spending the money? The likely findings:
Building one facility instead of three or four smaller facilities for the same purposes would cut down on utilities and staffing.
The living experience in Cook County would be enhanced. More young families would move here, others would stay here and seniors would come to retire here.
A community center would help our citizens be healthier. Lots of money is spent on healthcare in our community and with a place to exercise and gather as a community it could benefit our hospital, clinic and EMS system.
The needs of our youth would be addressed. They would have a place to go and that would keep our youth in our schools and community longer. It could help keep costs down for law enforcement and social services.
A facility like the one proposed would aid in bringing more tourism dollars to our community. Space for festivals, tournaments, meetings and shows would easily bring money to our economy. As a hockey dad I know I spend $400-$500 every weekend we have a tournament out of our area. If we had a facility where tournaments could be held then that money could come to Cook County. People who travel often look for a facility to recreate in and we could have what they are looking for.
By using the method above and assigning some conservative but subjective numbers you can start painting a picture of how and why it is so important to have a community center. The focus starts to be how we can best use the 12M to have the largest benefit on the community both socially and economically.
Ultimately the county board needs to step up and lead this process. The county board has a steering committee that has put hundreds of hours in listening to all groups, working with architects, gathering data on the entire picture and weighing the facts. The steering committee determined the pool is not fixable with its mold problem, used inflated operating costs to make sure they don’t go over budget, and evaluated the pros and cons of each location.
Good leaders surround themselves with good people, gather the facts, make a decision that is best for ALL and then promote it to their constituents.
Mike Prom
Grand Marais
Leave a Reply