Both Colvill and Lutsen will be seeing significant additions to their fire halls, thanks to loans from the county.
Colvill to add meeting space, restrooms
Colvill Assistant Fire Chief Paul McFarlane went before the county board on May 8 asking for a zero interest loan of $67,500 for a 24’ x 42’ addition to the 42’ x 60’ building put up in 1998. The current space is basically a four-stall garage with space for a desk and storage of turnout gear. When the department has meetings or trainings, they have to pull one of the trucks out to make space for tables and chairs.
The addition would create a large meeting area sealed off from truck fumes. A letter from McFarlane to commissioners states, “In light of the fact that the fire departments in the county have all signed the new Automatic Mutual Aid Agreement, there will be more inter-department trainings happening to facilitate that service to the fire districts.”
The addition, to be built on the west side of the current building, would include an 8’ x 16’ office area and an 8’ x 14’ bath/shower room and a kitchenette. A well and septic system will be installed.
The Colvill Fire Department already owes the county about $44,900 from another loan. The board authorized an addition of $67,500 to that loan at zero percent interest, payable over the next 15 years. With this loan, the department will not need to add to the fire levy.
The board unanimously approved the loan.
Lutsen gets loan at 1 percent interest
Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl requested a much larger loan from the county. “Lutsen has basically outgrown its fire hall,” he said. More people are attending meetings than in the past, and larger fire hall and town hall meeting space is needed.
The township plans to remove an old garage (which will be given to the Lutsen Trailblazers Snowmobile Club) and put up a new one in its place, attached to the current building. A new meeting room will allow about 180 people to be seated at tables. A larger clerk’s office and an emergency services office space will provide more secure storage space as well. The new garage will have six stalls instead of four, allowing all of the fire vehicles to be inside at once.
The estimated cost of the project is $577,000, and the township already has $227,000 in hand. Goettl asked commissioners for a 20-year loan of $350,000 at 1 percent interest per county policy.
Lutsen will soon be done paying off a previous county loan used to buy a fire vehicle; this has required payments of about $8,500 a year. The township has been setting aside $10,000 a year for a new building for about the last 10 years, Goettl said. These two amounts combined come close to the $19,395 a year that will be needed to pay the new loan to the county.
The board approved this loan unanimously as well.
Septic system ordinance
The State of Minnesota will be allowing Minnesota counties flexibility in drafting their own subsurface septic treatment system ordinances. Counties across the state had protested rules that had been proposed a couple of years ago that were believed to be unnecessarily restrictive. Planning & Zoning Director Tim Nelson told the board, “We will be able to tailor our septic program to our own area.”
Now that the new state rules have been adopted, Nelson and Environmental Health Officer Mitch Everson will go over a local septic ordinance previously drafted by a county appointed septic committee. Public hearings will be held before the county’s ordinance is adopted. Nelson anticipates the ordinance being adopted in the fall, although the county has until February 2014 to adopt it.
Nelson also reported that the governor issued an executive order that allows counties flexibility in the amount of wetlands that can be filled in without requiring restoration. Each county wanting to use that flexibility would need to adopt a comprehensive wetland management plan.
Highway Department
The board accepted the resignation of Highway Department Accountant Anne Zellner with regret and appreciation. She has worked for the county since 1984 but has been on leave since January.
Lisa Sorlie has been filling in for Zellner while also handling her own job as account clerk. With the construction season coming, the board approved hiring a temporary employee to fill Sorlie’s position and advertising for Zellner’s replacement.
The board authorized the Highway Department to replace its 24-year-old welder with a new one at a cost of $9,098.27. The budget included an expense of $14,000 for this, but the wire feed section of the unit does not need to be replaced yet so the purchase will not include that part. The county received three bids, one from Steve’s Sports that was the lowest because they did not charge for shipping.
The department was authorized to purchase a hollow ram piston cylinder, a tool for pulling bent parts into place, at a cost of $1,095.47. This will allow them to repair some parts instead of replacing them. $1,500 was budgeted for this item.
The board authorized the Highway Department to sell approximately 4,000 cubic yards of bituminous aggregate in the Airport Pit on CR 27 to Ulland Brothers, which will do the crushing and use it in the blacktop on the CSAH 8 project nearby. The county will receive $1.50/cubic yard.
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