Cook County Water Plan Coordinator Ilena Berg and Dan Schutte, the Conservation Outreach Coordinator for Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD), came before the county board on Tuesday, January 14 to give an update on the two counties’ efforts to collaborate on the “One Watershed, One Plan” unveiled in 2013.
The aim of the plan, which was formed by the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), is to align local planning and implementation with state strategies around the state’s major watersheds over a 10-year transition period.
Goals include protecting, restoring, and enhancing water quality; wetland management, shore land and riparian management, wastewater management, groundwater protection, flood damage reduction, managing stream channel and water courses, control soil erosion and sedimentation, natural resource conservation, wildlife and fisheries, invasive species management and education and outreach.
All told there are 81 major watersheds in Minnesota.
The goal of the plan is to work with other partners in the Lake Superior North Watershed to come up with comprehensive watershed management plan. Berg said that the county will be required to transition to the One Watershed within the next 15 years and that the county was well positioned to make that transition now. The board passed a motion in support for the collaboration between Cook and Lake Counties on the One Watershed, One Plan.
Citizen appointments made
Following that motion, Berg recommended that Neil Hansen and Chuck Futterer be appointed to the Water Plan Commission and the commissioners passed a unanimous motion to support their appointment.
Community Center/Extension Director Diane Booth came before the board and asked that Bryan Carpenter and Bill Parish be appointed to serve three-year terms on the Community Center Board of Trustees (CCBT).
The CCBT board was set up as an advisory committee to make recommendations about the 19 acres that consist of the property that the community center/Curling Club, skateboard park, Little League field, skating rinks, old Search & Rescue building, playground and 4H building sit on.
Booth also asked that Debbie Benedict and Bill Huggins be appointed to the University of Minnesota Extension Committee to serve three-year terms. The board passed unanimous motions of support for both of those appointments.
EDA treasurer gives update
Cook County – Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) Treasurer Scott Harrison came before the board with a report of EDA’s plans to hire a small business development coordinator and on the Superior National at Lutsen golf course.
Harrison talked about the hiring of a small business developmentconsultant(SBDC)—andnotanEDAdirector— as many have thought was going to happen. “It is our intent to follow up with interviews with seven people,” he said. He added, “One thing, to be crystal clear, we are looking for a small business development center consultant, we are not looking for an EDA director. There was confusion. Let there be no more confusion.”
Harrison said the primary duties of the SBDC would be to help existing businesses grow, to help people wanting to establish new businesses in the county and to help people wanting to move a business to Cook County.
Both commissioners Heidi Doo-Kirk and Sue Hakes expressed concern that the job had been advertised as an EDA director job, and not for a small business development consultant. Hakes also said that the job description went well beyond what was needed to fill that position.
Harrison said the EDA does not have the fiscal resources to hire an EDA director, but hiring a SBDC is something the EDA can do at this time. Commissioner Doo-Kirk, the county board EDA representative, said there currently is a SBDC program in Cook County, housed at Cook County Higher Education. She said it makes sense to move that program to the EDA.
Hakes reiterated her concern that the job description goes way beyond what should be expected of a SBDC.
Harrison said he could “re-tailor” the job description and have it reposted, but after some discussion it was decided to notify all of the (seven) applicants in the running for the job of the change from hiring an EDA director to that of hiring a SBDC.
Regarding Superior National at Lutsen (SNL), Harrison said despite best attempts to manage the finances, Harrison told the board that it would probably be two years before the EDA could repay the county loan of $175,000. However, he said it is unlikely that the EDA will need to borrow any more.
To cut the golf course budget, Harrison noted the EDA laid off its golf course manager and two other employees for the winter. The EDA also paid off the golf course revenue bond—early—which will save them $182,000 annually. Harrison said the EDA also made cuts in capital expenditures.
However, said Harrison, rounds of golf were down this summer. When asked how many rounds had been played this season, Harrison said a little over 12,000 (paid) rounds had been played. At its height, 23,000 rounds were played at Superior National, said Harrison.
Part of the reason for that was no doubt due to bad early weather and the current national trend for people to golf less, and part of that was because the course isn’t in the best shape right now, said Harrison.
“The course is beat up and has not been adequately provided for for almost a decade. That is a major reason we’re expending nearly $4 million to get back on track.”
Harrison added that the maintenance staff had done wonders with what little money and equipment they had to work with.
Another reason rounds were also down this year, Harrison said was because of an inability to properly market the golf course. At one time SNL spent $75,000 per year on advertising. Last year they spent $20,000. Once the course is rebuilt, more money will be put back into advertising a product they can be proud of, Harrison said.
The good news is that work has been progressing on the golf course renovation. The $6,050,000 project received a little more than $3 million from the 1 percent local option sales tax and the balance will be sought from Iron Range Resources Board (IRRRB) funding and sales of revenue bonds.
Harrison also said the EDA planned to sever ties with its housing program coordinator, Nancy Grabko of Community Funding Solutions in a few months as current housing and commercial rehabilitation projects wrap up.
In other county business:
. Extension Director Diane Booth said that there was $2,765 left from the 2013 budget for the backpack food program for local schools, and she asked the board to approve moving that into the 2014 budget to keep the program going forward. The board unanimously approved her request.
. Cook County Administrator Jay Kieft came before the board with recommendations from the personnel committee to add two new job descriptions in the Public Health and Human Services department and to reclassify a case aide position because that person’s job now needs more licensing and involves more duties than before. The board voted unanimously to approve those requests.
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