For many years residents of Hovland have been trying to get improvements made to restore the Hovland dock. Before Highway 61 was built the dock was used as a place where ships brought mail and supplies to the community. Now it is a community gathering place and a scenic spot to enjoy the lake— summer or winter.
At the Tuesday, June 9 county board meeting, Commissioner Frank Moe had a laundry list of concerns he wanted to bring forward for his constituents.
Repairs needed at Hovland Town Hall
Moe told colleagues that the Hovland Town hall was in need of a lot of repairs and upgrading. He asked if there were any 1 percent local option sales tax dollars left that could be used for this work.
The town hall is owned and should be maintained by the county, said Moe. Currently, he said it needs repair to its foundation, painting, new gutters, and new wiring. He said the grounds need to be graded to keep water from pooling around the building and the playground needs to be moved. He added that it would be nice to put up a picnic pavilion for area families to use.
Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk said before the county moved to fix that property they needed to find out what other properties the county owns and find out what their maintenance needs are.
“I have a feeling that if we fix this one that a lot more requests are going to come in,” said Doo-Kirk.
Moe responded, “There is a consensus east of Grand Marais that none of the 1 percent [local option sales tax] money was spent there.”
Grand Portage roads
Regarding County Road 17, Moe said that three members of the Grand Portage Tribal Council recently met with their emergency management person and engineer to discuss the lack of maintenance on the road. “They’re not ready to make a statement yet,” Moe said. “They are reviewing and weighing their options.”
Moe also said that 1½-miles up Mineral Center Road a culvert periodically overflows, “because it is grossly undersized.”
The rub, said Moe, was that the county had purchased an appropriately sized replacement culvert last summer that still hasn’t been installed.
Moe made a resolution calling for the highway department to work with Soil and Water and the Laurentian Resource Conservation District to find a solution to the flooding problems occurring at Otis Creek.
Commissioner Gamble asked that the motion not be a mandate to perform work, but that the highway department should look at the problem and decide what they could or should do.
But Moe said the highway department has declined to work with Soil and Water and the Laurentian Resource Conservation District in the past on this, and he was standing by his motion.
Gamble then asked for the motion to be brought up when the highway department staff was on hand so they could give their input, but Commissioners Storlie, Sivertson and Doo-Kirk thought the motion was okay as written, and it passed 4-1, with Gamble against.
Funding sought for Hovland dock
Moe brought forth a resolution asking the board to support an application for the Hovland Dock site to be submitted to the Great Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission to be dubbed a “destination of regional significance.” The board agreed unanimously. This will also qualify the Hovland Dock to receive Legacy Parks & Trails funding. The community hopes to find funding to restore the majestic dock to it’s former grandeur.
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