Sharing maintenance and community center facilities was discussed at some length at a quarterly meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, City of Grand Marais, Cook County Schools, and Grand Portage Reservation Thursday, August 27, 2009 at City Hall in Grand Marias.
Commissioner Fritz Sobanja reported that a study is being conducted on the feasibility of a maintenance facility six local entities are interested in sharing: the county, the city, the school, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), and Arrowhead Transit.
Possible locations include maintenance sites currently being used by the county and the DNR. A 70,000-square-foot building is being considered, Sobanja said.
Some of the potential users of such a facility are not in support of it, Commissioner Jim Johnson said, because they believe their current facilities are adequate.
Adapting to change is difficult for some employees, Sobanja answered, but it’s up to them as leaders to do what’s best for all and what is most cost effective.
According to Mayor Sue Hakes, the city’s facilities need improvement. “We’d sure love to find a new place for our PUC garage, that’s for sure,” she said.
A joint project could result in a lot of cost savings, City Administrator Mike Roth said, adding that now is a good time to build because building costs are down.
If paying for a new facility resulted in a need for bonding, Commissioner Bruce Martinson said, what would the public think in light of a possible 1% sales tax, outstanding financial obligations at Cedar Grove Business Park, and a need for matching funds if grants for broadband Internet and a biomass-fueled energy plant are awarded?
Commissioner Johnson asked Lorraine Wipson of Grand Portage how the community responded to having many entities housed together in the Grand Portage Community Center. A couple of people attending a recent public meeting on the possible 1% sales tax had said they believe that people using the Senior Center in Grand Marais do not want their program to be housed in a proposed multi-purpose community center on county property west of the school. Do the Grand Portage seniors mind being at the Grand Portage Community Center? Johnson wondered.
“They blend in pretty well,” Wipson said. She said she thinks the children enjoy seeing the seniors.
Even though some who currently use the Senior Center in Grand Marais might not want to move into a new community center, school board member Rod Wannebo said, new people moving here might be very open to the possibility. He questioned how many seniors in the county had actually been polled.
Many seniors might want the activity and exercise options that would be available at a community center, said City Councilor Jan Sivertson.
Commissioner Sobanja wondered if the seniors who have objected to a senior center being housed in a community center would want to be around children. “It’s such an enriching thing for the seniors to be around the kids,” he said.
Grand Portage seniors have their own space, Wipson said, and do not have to mingle with others if they don’t want to.
Mayor Hakes asked if some of them could take a tour of the Grand Portage Community Center. Wipson welcomed them for a visit.
Hakes asked Wipson how the summer in Grand Portage had gone. Rendezvous Days was great, Wipson said. “No moose burgers, though,” she said sadly, explaining that the moose population is down.
Near the end of the meeting, Mayor Hakes said, “A big thank you goes out to the county for helping us offset some of the cost of the pool.” The county pledged to pay one-third of the projected operating deficit in 2009 and up to $75,000 in 2010. Working together will be of mutual benefit to the city and the county, Hakes said.
Thenext meeting of the four entities will be 4:00 Thursday, November 19 in the School District 166 Jane Mianowski Conference Center.
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