Grants, from the government as well as the private sector, seem to be a major source of income for numerous initiatives around Cook County. On January 19 and 26, 2010, Cook County commissioners approved county participation or support for a number of grants.
Poplar River
Cook County Soil & Water Conservation District Technician Tristan Beaster asked for the board’s support for a $1,000,000 grant to further reduce turbidity levels in the Poplar River. A $350,000 project funded by the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources to reduce erosion was completed last year and has resulted in an estimated sediment reduction of 370 tons per year, according to Beaster.
The$1,000,000 grant request will be sent to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a federal program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will distribute $120 million for projects around the Great Lakes.
The grant proposal represents an effort by the Poplar River Management Board (PRMB) and the Cook County Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) to further reduce turbidity through “construction of a tightline to stabilize a significant gully below County Road 5 on Ullr Mountain,” Beaster wrote in a January 14 letter to the county board. “Theproposal also plans to address sediment that originates from roads on property owned by Lutsen Mountains Corporation and other private landowners in the watershed. Although no match is required for the grant, the landowners represented by the PRMB do plan on contributing over $100,000 toward the project.”
The county would contribute indirectly to the project through its support of the Soil & Water Conservation District, which would contribute 5-10% of the grant amount in the form of staff administrative time.
Beaster told the county board that gullies, ravines, and ski runs account for 45% of the Poplar River’s sediment load.
Will this project bring the river to the point of not being impaired? County Auditor- Treasurer Braidy Powers asked.
“That’s the hope,” Beaster replied.
“Percentage-wise,” said SWCD board member Don Goodell, “it looks like that would do it.”
The board unanimously passed a motion supporting the grant application.
Flute Reed River
From the same pot of money, Flute Reed partnership is requesting $544,000 to restore the stream channel at the North Road Bridge, replace several undersized and damaged culverts, and stabilize red clay banks along the Flute Reed River.
The grant application states that, because of its turbidity (the amount of sediment in it), the river is listed on the draft 2010 register of impaired Minnesota waters. The proposed work is expected to improve fish habitat and reduce the amount of sediment that reaches Lake Superior.
The application stated that juvenile trout and salmon, which spend up to two years in streams prior to entering Lake Superior, have been experiencing stressful water conditions. “Low flow conditions combined with a lack of snow cover and cold winter temperatures lead to completely frozen streams, leaving little to no fish habitat. These extreme and stressful conditions occur with greater frequency and have been especially common during the past six to eight years of below-normal precipitation.”
Coaster brook trout have declined since settlement moved westward across the Great Lakes, the application states. “Remnant, self-sustaining populations of coasters are still found in a number of North Shore streams. …Coaster brook trout, while not officially listed as endangered, have been nearly extirpated from Lake Superior. This project will help preserve base flow, which is of critical importance to coaster brook trout rehabilitation and to the sustainability of these streams. The project will also help further efforts to expand remnant populations of coasters, which is of enormous significance from a resource management and symbolic point of view.”
The grant does not require a local match. Rick Schubert of Flute Reed Partnership told the county board that County Engineer Shae Kosmalski supports the project because it will remediate damage to the Arrowhead Trail, a county road, from flooded culverts. The Highway Department will be involved in portions of the project that involve the Arrowhead Trail and the North Road Bridge.
The board unanimously passed a motion to write a letter of support for the project and authorizing the county to act as the project’s fiscal agent.
Local Energy Project
George Wilkes of the Cook County Local Energy Project (CCLEP) asked the county for its support for another Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant from the EPA. CCLEP will be a partner in a larger grant application by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. CCLEP is hoping to receive $20,000 a year for three years in order to hire a coordinator. The nonprofit has been in existence for a year and a half and is currently operating solely through volunteer efforts.
CCLEP’s mission is to foster energy efficiency and develop clean, local, renewable sources of energy in Cook County. The county board unanimously agreed to write a letter of support for this grant.
Thanks to CCLEP, the county will have a shot at an American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (“stimulus”) grant through the Minnesota Office of Energy Security that could bring big savings to the county. Wilkes and County Maintenance Director Brian Silence proposed that the county apply for $100,000 to increase energy efficiency in the courthouse.
Silence said the cost of such a project has already been estimated at $106,989, with a payback in energy costs of 5.9 years. Renovations at the Law Enforcement Center have resulted in significant reductions in energy use, he said, and its actual payback period appears to be under the fiveyear projection. Silence said he would have been recommending such upgrades for the courthouse soon anyway.
Wilkes told the board that a commitment of matching funds would increase the county’s chances of getting the grant. The board voted to authorize Silence and Braidy Powers to apply for the grant with a 25% county match.
“I think it’s a good thing,” Silence said.
Also on the grant application was a request for $29,975 to help the county develop a set of guidelines on energy efficient building techniques.
“We propose to engage in an inclusive process with all stakeholders,” the grant application states, “to develop a set of voluntary energy efficiency building guidelines appropriate for use in Cook County, and to identify informational resources and financial incentives that could be used along with these guidelines in an educational program to encourage contractors and/or building owners to build more energy efficient buildings.”
Mountain biking trails
The board agreed to write a letter of support and act as fiscal agent for a Federal Recreational Trails Grant through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for bike trails on county land in the Pincushion Mountain area. The board will also write a letter to the U.S. Forest Service requesting an easement between the two county parcels on which the trails would be build.
Mark Spinler of the Superior Cycling Association told the board that the trails would not conflict with existing hiking and skiing trails and may be able to do double duty as snowshoe and “wilderness” (narrow) ski trails.
The trails would include rugged rocky areas that some mountain bikers would relish.
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