The Cook County commissioners threw their support behind a local broadband initiative Tuesday when they unanimously agreed to help the $40+ million project move forward with a fall referendum and a promise that if voters approve it, the telecommunications project will be among those on the list for funding.
The request was made July 14 by Danna MacKenzie, the county’s Information Systems director. She told the board that Arrowhead Electric Cooperative has stepped forward and is willing to build, own and operate the network. However, said MacKenzie, completion of the project will still require some financial commitment from the community.
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Toward that end, local proponents have been working on an application for a $36.9 mil- lion federal stimulus grant. MacKenzie said the application is due Aug. 14, and it is critical to the county’s success that a significant local match be secured in order to ensure selection. She asked the board if it would be willing to confirm that a referendum will be held prior to the end of the year seeking implementation of a 1 percent sales tax, and a promise that the broadband project will be included on the list of projects to be funded should the referendum pass.
Don Stead, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Inc. general manager, said there are actually three funding portions for the project: the grant, sales tax monies and Arrowhead Cooperative’s contribution. He said, therefore, if the sales tax referendum fails, the project wouldn’t necessarily be doomed. “The grant is not written to include this only,” agreed MacKenzie.
Stead estimated that about $9.2 million will need to be funded through the sales tax or some other source.
The general manager said the initial financial plan has already been done, along with a survey and preliminary engineering, and he is now looking at some modifications of the grant application to comply with the recently released grant specs. For instance, said MacKenzie, Grand Marais, Hovland and Grand Portage have been dropped from the grant language because, according to the federal guidelines, they already have adequate DSL capabilities. But, she was quick to point out, those areas will still be included in the countywide project — they’ll just have to be funded with money collected from sources other than the federal grant.
Commissioner Bob Fenwick summed up his support of the project. “This will benefit everybody in the county, and it’s an opportunity that’s unprecedented in all the time I’ve been sitting on this board. The final goal is that everybody in the county will be treated equally,” he said. “I see no down side to this.”
In other business: Cook County/Grand Marais Joint Economic Development Authority Director Matt Geretschlaeger was given the go-ahead to apply for a cost benefit analysis of the agency through the University of Minnesota-Crookston’s EDA Center. Geretschlaeger said the study will cost up to $20,000, but is free to the county. By having the center do the analysis, he said, the “report card” will be more impartial than if it were done locally. However, he added, it could be a year until the results are known.
Commissioner Bruce Martinson said he was in favor of the study, but was disappointed to learn it would take so long to see the results. He said the board will begin work on next year’s budget in August, and the information provided by the analysis would have been helpful.
Commissioner Jan Hall said such studies have been done in the past with little effect or benefit, “but it won’t hurt to do it again.” Commissioner Fritz Sobanja agreed. “There are a lot of questions out there in the community, and this will help clear things up. Some people still don’t see it,” he said.
County Attorney Tim Scannell presented an agreement by which his office will take over prosecutorial duties within the Grand Marais city limits. The agreement calls for the city to pay the county $3,125 quarterly for the service. Scannell said the arrangement is not uncommon in Minnesota, and will lead to more consistency and efficiency in prosecuting crimes. Most of the added duties will be handled by the assistant county attorney. The board approved the contract, which was necessitated by the recent resignation of the city attorney.
Following a lengthy discussion that was more informational than controversial, the board approved a conditional use permit allowing operation of a salvage yard east of Grand Marais at 398 E. Highway 61. The applicants, Ray Pederson and Craig Horak, will have to abide by 12 conditions set by the planning commission and county board, including providing more screening at the site, completion of a site survey and demarcation, and storing no more than 100 junked vehicles no higher than 15 feet high on the lot. County Planning Director Tim Nelson noted that the property is one of a very few in the county zoned LI (light industrial), and it just makes sense to use it to its potential.
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