The new public comment period instituted by the Cook County Board of Commissioners had two takers on its first day, Tuesday, January 18, 2011.
One was Bob LaMettry, who made a simple suggestion regarding the installation of broadband fiber optic lines throughout the county.
With a USDA Rural Utility Service grant to Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) that will extend fiber optic lines where AECI has electrical lines, some have suggested requesting income from the county’s 1% sales and use tax to fund the final connections from outside lines into homes and businesses—at a cost of $1.8 million dollars, according to LaMettry. He appealed to the county board to consider offering loans for those final connections to avoid using public dollars for private benefit.
The other person to speak to the county board was Mary Manning, a Hovland resident and the DNR conservation officer in the east end of the county. She referred to a previous county board discussion regarding the installation of electric lines across private property in order to bring power to a new Hovland communications tower. Sheriff Mark Falk had told the board that a couple of property owners had not granted an easement requested by Arrowhead Electric. One of the property owners later called the Cook County News-Herald, saying that no one had contacted them personally. They had received a document from Arrowhead Electric informing them of the desire to extend the electric lines and asking them to sign a document granting easement.
When they moved to the area, the property owner said, they were told the county’s plan was to keep the area along their road more primitive. Bringing electric lines to the tower would present opportunities for property owners to light up the hillside and change the nature of the area, the owner said.
At this meeting, Manning stated, “There are landowners up there who would like to be involved in the planning. We would really like to be part of the discussion because it affects us directly.”
Neither LaMettry nor Manning asked commissioners to respond to their remarks, but on the agenda later in the meeting was a discussion related to communication upgrades and towers. In recent weeks, the board discussed scheduling work sessions to give them the opportunity to hash out complex issues with county staff and others in greater depth than would ordinarily take place during regular county board meetings. Sheriff Falk asked the board to start with a work session to talk about how the county would coordinate state and federally initiated changes and improvements in radio communication. Private industry is seeking improvements and access to towers as well. “AT&T is pushing hard up the Gunflint Trail,” he said.
They don’t have a point person, Falk said, and he suggested that they designate someone. Commissioner Jim Johnson wondered if the county should hire someone. Falk replied by saying that Radio Systems Coordinator Duane Ege has been “the one who has been getting all the calls, and he’s not even a county employee.”
Work sessions planned
County Attorney Tim Scannell said he has been looking into the distinctions between board meetings, public hearings, and work sessions. “I am going to urge that a work session be separate from a regular board meeting,” he said.
The board voted to schedule work sessions the fourth Tuesday of each month from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. as needed for a trial period of six months, with the first one to be held January 25 to discuss radio communications and towers.
During a presentation earlier in the meeting by ORB Management, which is coordinating the new community center project, ORB president Tom Wacholz had suggested that the board devote a work session to discuss the project. The board decided to regularly devote work sessions to review this and other 1% tax projects. Commissioner Bruce Martinson said he supported the possibility of hiring ORB to oversee all the 1% projects. Commissioner Fritz Sobanja agreed.
Wacholz said ORB could be “a central point of information” for the projects, helping the county maintain consistency in planning and avoiding unnecessary duplication of efforts in creating documents. ORB could also help the county avoid having to bond for the projects more times than necessary, he said.
Commissioner Johnson suggested that ORB give them a presentation on how that would work.
As the paper was going to press, the ISD 166 school board also elected to work with ORB. At its Wednesday, January 19 meeting, it voted to pay ORB up to $3,000 to come up with cost estimates on two different ways the school could consolidate its use of space in the face of declining enrollment. Superintendent Beth Schwarz told the school board that the cost of reconfiguring spaces would be made up by a savings of $18,000 a year in heat, lighting, janitorial duties, and a need for one fewer copy machine.
Leave a Reply