Controversy followed the Cook County Board’s decision last week to call for parking on one side of the Gunflint Trail at Trail Center for the upcoming John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, and commissioners were greeted with a room full of people protesting the decision at the board’s January 17 meeting.
The four-day race will start January 29, with mushers making it to Trail Center on January 30.
Jan Sivertson, the board chair, allowed two minutes for citizens to address the county board during the Public Comment period.
James Vannett spoke first. He asked commissioners why they were making a decision that could have a negative impact on the economy of the area, and he suggested that going forward, when public comments were made, and questions asked, the commissioners answer the questions put to them, even if it was at the following meeting. “I think you owe it to the public to answer their questions,” he said.
Alex Angelos, the John Beargrease race coordinator, told commissioners in his 19 years of helping with the race, “We have never had an incident, not once” with cars being damaged or vehicles blocking emergency vehicles, as alleged by Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk at the board’s January 10 meeting. He asked commissioners to reverse their January 10 decision and to monitor how the race parking and traffic goes this year.
Angelos cited his concerns for the safety of mushers, dogs, and spectators because of the change, and he said parking on one side of the Gunflint could curtail media (BBC, CBS, etc.) who must have access to power from Trail Center.
Mary Manning, a musher, a game warden, and a long time volunteer of the Beargrease race, among others, said it was safer for the dogs if vehicles parked on both sides of the road. “If we spread them (vehicles) out,” said Manning, the traffic will flow faster and cause danger for the dogs. Manning said because sled dogs can’t control where they go, she was most worried about their safety.
“Your unintended consequence of your action of putting people on one side of the road, stretching them out, your actions created a problem that wasn’t there,” said Ted Young, one of the first mushers and helpers of the Beargrease. “The decision you made, you have to think through the consequences. Rescind your decision this year and deal with it in the future.”
Linda Jurek, director of Visit Cook County, chastised the board. “We have never received a complaint from law enforcement about these events. This is a little late in the game to ask event organizers,” to call for a change in parking. She suggested doing this much earlier in the event planning, not two weeks from the starting date. “It’s far too late in the game for event coordinators to do this. Let’s think this through and then choose to be respectful,” Jurek said.
Mary Manning came forward again to read a letter sent from Bob Baker, who was unable to attend the meeting due to work.
“I have lived on the Gunflint Trail year-round for 25 years. I joined the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department in 1991, and I recently retired in November of 2016. It’s been brought to my attention that there has been some false information being passed around the community regarding emergency vehicle passage and alleged vehicle damage to parked cars in the mid-Trail area during dogsled events.
“As fire department member for 15 years, assistant fire chief for two years, and deputy fire chief the past eight years, I have been involved in nearly every dogsled event on the Gunflint Trail the past 20-25 years. I have been the incident commander for many of these events regarding traffic control and road crossings. The department and its members have volunteered in accordance with County and State regulations regarding proper signage, numbers of personnel at all locations and appropriate personal protective equipment. Of those 20 years, not once have I been aware of an emergency vehicle being blocked, not being able to get to a call, or make its way to town because of traffic being blocked at one of the dogsled events due to parked vehicles along the Gunflint Trail. Also, I have never been made aware of any traffic accidents or property damage due to parking congestion at dogsled races.”
Nace Hagemann, a local carpenter, photographer, musician, and Beargrease volunteer said he lives about one mile from the race and he has never witnessed any problems with traffic during the event. He asked why commissioners were targeting the Beargrease event and not the Fisherman’s Picnic, which has parking problems galore, or even the double-sided parking on the Gunflint Trail by the hospital, which has been happening for the last year and a half.
“This seems like an odd thing that you are doing,” Hagemann said.
Sarah Hamilton, the owner of Trail Center, had a lot to say to the commissioners.
“I have run sled dog events at Trail Center (sometimes three a winter) for almost 20 years. We have had up to 40 teams participating in an event. We have never had an accident.
“Ironically, I have been asking the county for help with dangerous traffic conditions throughout the summer for 22 years. I have even written the state for help.
“During the summer months, we have constant congestion in the area this board took action on last week. The difference is during our winter events few people drive through at 5 miles an hour.” In the summer, hundreds of people drive through at 40 to 70 miles an hour.
“It was such a dangerous situation that I finally went to the sheriff for help. He gave me permission to put “slow down” warning cones on the Gunflint Trail. This small, simple effort has slowed 95 percent of the speeders…
“I was shocked when I heard her say [the commissioners’ meetings are taped for re-broadcast on the county’s website] we had blocked emergency vehicles for extended periods of time while trying to locate the owners and continued to say numerous mirrors were dinged year after year. And stated how very dangerous the situation is…
“One phone call could have prevented this entire ordeal and the tarnishing of these events. We could have been asked why we park the way we do.
“It is for safety, it is to keep powerful dog teams filled with excitement as close to the start as possible, it is to minimize the amount of time the dogs are in the middle of the Gunflint Trail, it is to minimize the amount of time it takes vets and handlers in the middle of the Gunflint Trail, it is to minimize the distance and speed of cars and snowmobiles passing through congestion, it is to reduce the chance of an accident.”
The public speaking portion of the meeting was closed following the comments. Later in the meeting Commissioner Ginny Storlie called for a motion to reverse the board’s previous decision, but she didn’t get a second. Commissioner Myron Bursheim suggested putting a moratorium on this year’s event, letting the parking take place as usual but monitoring the results to see if a change needed to be made, but that also failed. Doo-Kirk then made a motion putting the power to modify the parking situation in the hands of Cook County Highway Engineer David Betts, and said that Beargrease officials could even meet that day with Betts and see what could be worked out. But a call to Mr. Betts’ office revealed he was out of town and would be gone until Friday, January 20.
In the meantime Cook County Administrator Jeff Cadwell called various officials, including Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen, Cook County Highway Engineer Dave Betts, Beargrease Trail Coordinator Alex Angelos, and Sarah Hamilton and a decision is likely to be made by Thursday, January 19, with parking probably allowed on both sides of the Gunflint Trail, he said.
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