Arvis Thompson, District 1, was the lone speaker during public comments at the county board’s October 24 meeting.
“You almost won. I almost didn’t come in,” said Thompson, who has been a vocal critic of some of the commissioners’ decisions as of late.
“I made up my mind a few weeks ago to come in,” Thompson said, noting she persevered although it was getting harder to do so.
Thompson said that while driving through town the other day she realized, “This community is starting to look like a theme park. Like Disney Land.”
She added it seemed like there was sense of “urgency” to create fun. And this didn’t reflect “the reality of what Cook County is.”
She concluded, “Maybe we don’t have a mission or purpose or goal. Maybe we are not coming from the same place… It’s the only way that we can have 640 acres for bicyclists. Where is the 640 acres for all of the other sports that is out there? Where is that money going to come from to support them?
“I challenge you today to look for a bigger purpose to protect a community we think we love,” said Thompson, adding that as of now, it seemed like we as a county are, “Going down a path, sacrificing everything for a dollar.”
County Assessor
Cook County Assessor Todd Smith came before the board to inform them that his office had recently requested profit & loss statements from resorts. Smith said these statements were requested because MCIS had recently incorporated an income valuation module within the current CAMA (computer) system. “This gives us the opportunity to use an income approach to a valuation as an alternative method to compare with our current cost approach system,” Smith said, adding that the request was voluntary and will not be made public. Unfortunately Smith’s request was met with some confusion. “Apparently I created a little bit of a stir, which wasn’t my intention,” said Smith. “The request was purely voluntary. The letter was a bit misleading,” he said. “Nobody had to give this to me. The information is confidential. It’s locked up in my cabinet. Forty percent to fifty percent of the people are returning them to me.” Commissioner Ginny Storlie commented, “Well Todd, you did cause a lot of comments. It wasn’t done very professionally.” Smith replied the letter sent from his office resort to owners was a form letter and the information in it could have been better stated. “I apologize for that happening. It wasn’t my intention,” he said. “It’s kind of a complicated issue and I understand why people have questions. It’s better that I am having conversations with these resorts in person,” Smith said, adding that most counties already have this in place. Meanwhile, the assessor’s office completed the five- year quintile study as required by the state of Minnesota. Equalization is the prime directive of the office, said Smith, who said he didn’t expect valuations to go up much for most property owners next year. Smith said his department uses three approaches when evaluating property, the cost approach, and the market approach – where similar sales are evaluated – and income approach. The income approach is the most valuable to bankers, he said. “For us, the cost approach will be the most valuable for us to value property.” Commissioner Heidi Doo- Kirk asked how vacation rentals are evaluated. “ In honest answer to your question, I view this as a hotel,” Smith said, but added that the information from vacation rentals isn’t often shared with his office, and he noted that the state of Minnesota hasn’t given assessors’ offices throughout the state a way to assess these businesses. Rachel Espe has passed all of her tests and is now a certified Minnesota assessor. “ Now we have three certified assessors in the office. She is still working in the office as technical person. She is very valuable there, said Smith, who added he would include Rachel into the rotation to do assessments in the field.
Commissioner concerns
Commissioner Myron Bursheim reported that he had met twice with the group which is working with the ARDC, which is facilitating meetings about the 640- acre Sawtooth Mountain bluff project. Bursheim said so far talks have been aimed at including various potential users of the land, which includes ATV clubs, snowmobile clubs, horse back riders etc.
“This is not just a bike park but it will be opened to multiple use,” said Bursheim, adding the land has some limitations because of wetlands and the cliff area above town. He also added that a portion of the land might be saved for residential housing.
Currently the land has been designated as an area that is regionally significant. It is hoped this designation will help the county/ city who co- own property, qualify to receive Legacy from the state.
Update from area representatives
At 11 a . m. Senator Tom Bakk, Representative Rob Ecklund and Scott Sundvall from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) came before the commissioners with a legislative update and talked about various issues that affect Cook County. On the issue of mining, Bakk said that one of the Twin Metals deposits has more than 100 years of life and would keep 1,000 people in jobs over that time. “We could build the lowest carbon footprint copper mine in the world,” said Bakk, adding, “Who knows if we could ever get to that point… I’ll probably be long gone by the time that happens.” Ecklund said it looks like this legislative session will be short, with a start date of February 20, 2018. “It looks like mostly policy and bonding that we will be working on,” he said.
Sundvall noted that because mining was down, the IRRRB had less money to award, but he added that the IRRRB had $6.5 million in its public works budget and was excited to work with Cook County on developing more workforce housing and the Lutsen water line project for this upcoming year.
In other business:
. Cook County commissioners approved a contract with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT) for winter maintenance of the frontage road and bike trail for $1,750/lane mile paid to Cook County. Last year the county was paid $1660,00/lane mile.
. Staci Hawkins was hired as an Auditor’s Office support specialist. Hawkins was brought in as a temporary employee on April 27, 2017 to handle the duties of the position, which she will hold upon completion of a one-year probationary period.
. Maintenance director Brian Silence came with a request, which was granted, to purchase a new truck for the maintenance department for $29,841.50, with the funds coming from the vehicle fund. The MIS/ Radio Communication Towers workers will now use the old truck because their truck is costing too much in repairs to keep in service.
. Silence also asked for funds to purchase a plaque for the late Don Wilson, which will be placed by the veterans’ flags on the courthouse lawn. Commissioners unanimously honored the request.
Wilson, a Vietnam veteran, spent years organizing local veterans’ ceremonies, color guards and honor guards for parades and funerals of veterans and regularly shoveled the walk in front of the American Legion building that now houses Grandma Ray’s.
. The board approved the annual emergency management performance grant as presented by Valerie Marasco, director of Emergency Management & Public Information. Marasco said the grant would be used to fund emergency planning activities throughout the county.
. Bill Lane, zoning administrator, asked the board to grant a conditional use permit (CUP) to allow three residences on 20.2 acres of private property in Schroeder. Currently there is a small one-bedroom cabin and a garage with a workshop room that also serves as a TV room and study room for a son who attends college in Duluth. The property owners are nearing retirement and would like to build a three-bedroom home on the property that better fits their growing family.
Lane said there was no language prohibiting this use in the county ordinances and land services ordinance. The planning commission reviewed the request and unanimously approved it and sent it to the commissioners, who granted the request by unanimous vote.
. Commissioners approved a motion to include supplemental material that explains county services in the property tax statement that goes to all Cook County property owners. Commissioner Ginny Storlie asked for this motion. County Administrator Jeff Cadwell said that due to some ambiguity in the statutes governing what could be sent with property tax statements, it was the proper thing to do. Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk said, “We stole this idea. Other counties are already doing this.”
Board chair Jan Sivertson said including the information in the county tax statement was “one more step” in being transparent with the citizens and property owners of the county.
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