Cook County commissioners breezed through a litany of potential bonding projects at their Tuesday, March 20, committee of the whole meeting.
Cook County Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers discussed the upcoming 16-unit Lutsen workforce housing project headed up by the EDA and One Roof Housing.
The Lutsen housing project will use Abatement Bonding, said Powers. “These will be paid by rents from the completed project with One Roof Housing paying any shortfall. The bonds will be issued at 1.6 million. The law allows us to approve the issuance at 1.6 million but add two percent to it. So that might happen if needed for the projects.”
The Transportation sales tax will be used to secure bonding for the following road projects: CSAH 42-43 engineering $549,000; CSAH 17 construction $4,500,000; CSAH 5 Brule Run bridge replacement $831,968; CSAH 15 engineering $100,000; and Carlson Creek bridge County 71 $316,800.
When added up, those road improvements come to $6,297,768.
Topping the list of capital improvements was repairs of the courthouse building including but not limited to repairing the courthouse roof and replacing leaking windows at an estimated cost of $297,543.20.These fix it projects have been in the pipeline for the last two years.
Other capital projects include bonding for the Law Enforcement Center Building, including but not limited to the LEC windows at an estimated cost of $27,514.30; Cook County Community Center outdoor park improvements at $400,013, and light upgrades at county buildings that are eligible for CIP bonding at $15,000.
The total for these capital projects is $1,585,070.50.
Equipment upgrades, replacement or new that will be bonded for include Pictometry for $205,000; sheriff squad car computers $60,000; Zeucher 911 $134,000; network printer replacement $16,000, and new election ballot counters $19,000, for a total of $434,000.
All told, said Powers, if the county board approves of all of the projects the county will bond for $8,36,839.
Commissioners will hold a public meeting April 9t 6 p.m. in the commissioner’s room to discuss the projects.
Lutsen expansion project
During public comments, Cook County Planning and Zoning administrator Bill Lane and Orvis Lunke, a retired forester, expressed concerns about the proposed Lutsen ski hill expansion.
Charles Skinner, co-president with Tom Rider of Lutsen ski hill, came before the board with a presentation about the proposed expansion of Lutsen ski hill and asked for a formal resolution of support for the project.
The ski resort is currently located on 1000 acres of private land but is proposing to lease 550 acres of adjacent United States Forest Service (USFS) land; the expansion is expected to take many years and will ultimately double the ski terrain.
As far as the expansion hurting the Poplar River watershed, the proposed land is all outside the Poplar River watershed, he said.
Skinner noted the competitiveness of the industry. He said both Vail and Aspen each own about 20 ski resorts, and skiers can purchase passes to ski at any one of their resorts. Over the last 30 years, capital costs for the industry have grown dramatically. This has caused the industry to consolidate, with one-third of the resorts in the U.S. having gone out of the business.
In the last three years, Vail Resorts has purchased three ski resorts within 500 miles of Lutsen, so Lutsen is already competing with Vail for skiers, he said.
Should the lease be approved Skinner said the ski runs and base facilities would be designed to address new trends in skiing/snowboarding, etc. and upgrade the facilities to meet those needs. He said the addition of the new gondolas cost about $7 million, and customer response has been positive and drawn more skiers but, he added, the sustainable level of annual skier visits for Lutsen has grown from 30,000 to 80,000 to 150,000.
“For us to survive, thrive, compete, we need more skiers,” he said.
“Does securing the future of the ski resort have regional impact?” Skinner asked rhetorically. Then he ticked off a litany of facts: Alpine skiing represents 70 percent of winter tourism sales in Cook County; 80 percent of the taxable sales in Cook County is tourism—the highest in Minnesota; winter revenue is essential for area resorts and support businesses to be viable year-round.
Skinner said the USFS is well-versed in leasing land for ski resorts with nearly every western ski resort located on USFS land.
This process started four years ago, he said, adding, “We have submitted a master plan to the Forest Service and put in an application to lease the land.”
Along with that process, there will be an environmental review (EIS) and public input, Skinner said.
Lane, who was speaking in the capacity of a concerned citizen and not as a representative of the county said he was worried about the large scale of the project, and the effects adding more runs and making more snow would have on the environment and to the aesthetics of the area.
“We might be losing the focus of our environmental resources,” said Lane, adding, “I’m not here to chastise the ski hill.”
Lane worried about excessive runoff and losing the uninterrupted forest views and adding more light to the night sky.
“I firmly agree with Bill,” said Lunke, adding he was worried about the more ski runs permanently scarring the landscape, as well as the effects of runoff and erosion.
“We decided we need to get bigger. It grows or dies”, said Skinner, who noted that he is almost 60 and his father got into the ski business when he was four years old, and this is the business he knows best.
Lane cautioned that with shorter winters and warmer winters this might not be the best time to grow the ski hill. He also said that every presentation about the ski hill centered on economics “rather than looking at it environmentally.”
Commissioner Jan Sivertson said she understood Lane’s concerns, but she noted that Charles had invested his whole family’s future on the ski hill. “It’s unbelievably commendable for the Rider and Skinner families,” to have invested as much as they have in the county, she said.
“Lutsen Mountains leaving us would be extremely harmful to every one of us,” she added.
Skinner said all loans for the expansion were personally guaranteed. By growing the facilities and adding parking closer to skiing, by adding 60 acres of tree skiing, more beginner skiing runs, and advanced ski runs, this should attract families who can’t afford to fly out west to ski, he said, adding that he and Tom Rider had invested their families future in this expansion and they planned to keep the business in their family.
Cook County Chamber Director Jim Boyd and EDA director Mary Somnis both spoke in favor of the expansion.
Commissioner Bobby Deschampe asked if Bill Lane’s and Orvis Lunke’s concerns were being addressed thoroughly enough, and Skinner said he understood those worries and they would be addressed in an E.I.S.
Charles requested a formal resolution for support for the ski hill expansion and will come to a future meeting where commissioners can act on his request.
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