On July 19 the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 to accept the sign ordinance changes as proposed by the sign ordinance committee and recommended by the planning commission.
Voting for the changes and adopting Cook County Sign Ordinance No. 53 were commissioners Garry Gamble, Ginny Storlie, Jan Sivertson and Heidi Doo- Kirk. Commissioner Frank Moe wasn’t in attendance to vote at the July 19 meeting. Commissioners had about one month to review the document before voting on it.
A public hearing was held July 13 to discuss the recommendations but no one attended that meeting and no written comments were received, said Cook County Planning and Zoning Director Tim Nelson, who presented the document to the commissioners. He also said the proposed changes had been sent to the Cook County Chamber of Commerce and he had not received any comment back from them either, and that Lutsen Township, which had its own sign ordinance, agreed to drop theirs and follow the county’s direction in order to provide one standard for signs county wide.
The new document is “easier to read,” Nelson said. “We simplified the language and organized it better. There isn’t a lot of earth shattering changes to it. Just a lot of tweaking. We took it from 58 pages and made it 19 pages. I guess I would say it is less onerous and is less restrictive.”
Commissioner Sivertson said she was impressed that the chamber of commerce found nothing wrong with the document, and she praised the sign ordinance committee for its work.
Going forward, said Nelson, the ordinances will change only as technology changes. “We try to anticipate those changes when writing up a document, but sometimes we can’t anticipate what’s coming. We don’t want to end up with signs that are almost like TV screens that you see when you enter Duluth. Those are the kinds of things we are looking for.”
Assessor and other positions to be filled
In light of the recent resignation of the county’s assessor, Betty Schultz, County Administrator Jeff Cadwell asked the board to approve formation of a search committee comprised of himself, Judy Hill, Tim Nelson and Garry Gamble, which the board granted. Deadline for applications for the assessor position is August 15.
Cadwell discussed other current openings at the county, noting the assistant highway engineer position had been posted for more than two years and still wasn’t filled.
“We have tried to fill the vacant position and have not been able to recruit any qualified candidates,” Cadwell said. With that he asked the board to approve reclassifying the position from C52 to D61-2, telling commissioners that the revised job description would better reflect the work needed from a candidate and should make it easier to find someone to hire. The board unanimously approved the reclassification.
A long awaited classification and compensation study will soon be under way, said Cadwell.
Over the next week Keystone Consulting will interview 72 county workers. Cadwell said Keystone would review job descriptions, interview staff, and look at market data. Included in the review will be the county personnel committee and the county board.
“We hope to have preliminary results by December 31, with the rollout to follow sometime after that,” Cadwell said after the board meeting.
In looking back through the county records Cadwell said he couldn’t find evidence that a classification and compensation study had been done in the last 30 years. Still, he said that it was important to do it the right way. “We have looked at counties who have done this the wrong way and it’s worse than if they hadn’t done it at all.”
All of the county jobs will be looked at and evaluated and then assigned to the proper classification, which could affect an employee’s pay. Cadwell said he has received positive feedback from employees and the consulting firm after one day of interviews on July 13.
Weeds and fire prevention
A Gunflint Trail Scenic Byway Grant for $120,000 which would help pay to remove four miles of invasive species plants along the embankments near the end of the Gunflint Trail is being put on hold while the county looks to see if it can find a partner to help pay to administer the grant, or see if it can find another grant altogether that doesn’t come with so many strings attached to it, said Cadwell.
“The cost of oversight is expensive. It could be half as much as the grant,” Cadwell said.
Commissioners approved the Firewise Community Grant of $76,700 and authorized Board Chair Heidi Doo-Kirk and Auditor Braidy Powers to execute the grant.
The money will be used to fund Firewise assessments, disposal pit maintenance, and home ignition fuel removal and education to homeowners.
In other business
. RS&H, Inc. which is doing the Devil Track airport extension and grading project, asked for $227,158.80 more in funds so it could clear a large bump, (mostly ledge rock) from the runway extension. The work will take four to five weeks to complete and will extend past the original deadline but that will not affect the overall timeline for completing the project.
Commissioners noted the project was under budget, and even granting the request for new money would still leave it under budget. With that they granted the funds for the work.
. The board approved a special event permit for the Grand Marais Lions Club for the Fisherman’s Picnic. Several roads are closed for the parade and are manned by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. Event sponsors have agreed to reimburse the county for the cost associated with traffic control.
. Two copiers will be purchased to replace two that are worn out. One will be stationed in the Auditor’s Office and one placed in the north end of the copy room. Each will cost $8,049 and will be purchased from Toshiba Business Solutions.
Leave a Reply