Exhausted, exasperated and looking ready to surrender, the county board did some last minute number crunching and cut the final 2015 levy increase to 6.67 percent at its Tuesday, December 16, 2014 meeting.
Voting for the levy of $6,516,740 were Commissioners Bruce Martinson, Jan Hall and Heidi Doo-Kirk. Voting against was Garry Gamble. Commissioner Sue Hakes was absent because she was out of town.
The board has wrestled and wrangled over the budget since it received requests totaling $7,808,997 in July, a 27.8 percent increase from the 2014 levy. Over the course of the last five months the board has pared that number by $1,292,257.
Still there were last minute cuts. They came mostly from nonprofit requests and totaled $20,000. The board cut $3,000 from Birch Grove School; $1,000 for Incredible Exchange; $5,000 from Higher Education; $10,000 from the Birch Grove Foundation; and $1,000 from Soil & Water.
Commissioner Gamble said he didn’t like the process the board used, feeling it picked “winners and losers” and advocated for a more fair way to divvy out taxpayer dollars and cautioned that the board should be more prudent with the dollars on hand.
GO Team gets no-go on budget request
One group that didn’t receive any new levy dollars from the county board was the GO Team, although it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Commissioners turned down a request for $6,000 for the GO Team by a 3-1 vote. Commissioners Gamble, Doo-Kirk and Hall voted against the request while Martinson supported the donation.
Jim Boyd represented the GO Team. He said, “It was just a little more than two years ago that I appeared before you to request funding in support of an independent, countywide planning process called GO Cook County. The process brought together two dozen county leaders from all areas and all sectors to think seriously about how to pump new life into the economy, which had not been doing well for more than a decade.
“Commissioners Sue Hakes and Bruce Martinson took part in the process, along with Commissioner-elect Jan Sivertson.
“The county originally agreed to contribute $6,000. The GO Team secured $3,000 each from the EDA, City of Grand Marais and Arrowhead Cooperative, with smaller amounts from other contributors. The money was used to hire Northspan Group, a nonprofit development-consulting firm associated with Arrowhead Regional Development Commission in Duluth, to guide GO Team’s work.
“We underestimated the amount of time and attention the GO Team work would take. It ended up taking 18 months instead of six and costing $46,000 instead of $16,000,” said Boyd. “So we’ve had to go back to all of our contributors and ask them to make new contributions—double the size of the originals. Grand Marais, the EDA and Arrowhead Cooperative—all of whom originally contributed $3,000— have now agreed to contribute an additional $6,000 each.”
Boyd asked commissioners to consider an additional contribution of $12,000. “This is the last piece of our financing,” he said.
Boyd pointed out areas the GO Team has been instrumental in helping advise the county, such as providing information for the land use plan update committee and as a resource for groups working on “local food production, on growing the arts and crafts economy, on creating a true four-season tourism economy and on making Cook County’s built environment a beautiful space that expresses pride in where we live.”
Gamble said he didn’t mean to be disrespectful, but said that when the GO Team’s budget went from $16,000 to $46,000, it seemed to show a “lack of oversight.”
Boyd explained that when the project went from 6 to 18 months to complete, the billable hours accrued and expanded the cost. He also said it wasn’t fun coming to boards with his request, adding the GO Team was made up of 24 committed volunteers, all working to help the county move forward.
Commissioner Martinson said he was impressed with the GO Team, adding they were a very respectful group that had made every effort to reach out to everybody. “Not everyone does that,” he said.
But Gamble told Boyd, “You need to count your bricks before you lay them. Where are we going to get the money? That’s a problem.”
Andy Hubley from ARDC said that his agency worked with the GO Team at no cost on grants, and said Northspan was looking for money, “not us.”
Gamble made a motion to deny the GO Team’s request. Once the vote was taken Commissioner Hall said to Boyd and the GO Team, “Thank you for what you have done.”
Yes and no to Gunflint Fire Department request
Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jim Morrison came before the board with a request to borrow $200,000 from the county’s fund balance over a 20-year period at 1 percent interest so two newer used fire trucks could be purchased to replace trucks that were 38 years old.
“Both engines failed a recent pump test in August,” said Morrison, adding that the trucks have experienced continuing maintenance problems including a substantial leak on one of the trucks.
“The disrepair of these engines leaves the Gunflint Trail Fire Department poorly equipped to fight structural fires.
“We are requesting a loan to purchase two used engines. One for Fire Hall 1 and one for Fire Hall 2. We need a third engine for Hall 3 and are submitting a proposal to Homeland Security to acquire that engine,” he said.
Morrison said the fire department would like to act quickly. “Good used engines are being picked up as soon as they come on the market. Also, winter is our most likely time to have structural fires.”
The board asked how the loan would be repaid, and Morrison said there was money in the budget to make payments. However, because the county’s fund balance is already near 75 percent and commissioners don’t want it to go lower, a loan proposal of $80,000 was made to Morrison. This amount would cover the purchase of one replacement truck. Morrison and two members of the department who were with him accepted the loan and said they would call that day about the truck they were looking at.
Board backs EDA levy increase
Small Business Development Center Representative Pat Campanaro and Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA) Chair Mark Sandbo came before the board requesting approval of an EDA operational levy of $163,550, an increase of $13,550 over 2014.
Campanaro said the additional money would be used to hire an administrative assistant at $30,000 per year and would be put towards the EDA’s housing program, which aims to find ways to make more affordable housing available in the county.
Commissioner Gamble said he supported the EDA but asked the EDA to look for ways to partner with other entities in an effort to not only save money but to learn to work together and form stronger bonds within the community. He suggested the county grant $70,360 levy of the $163,550 request.
“Excuse me,” said Campanaro. “Did I hear you say that you supported the EDA? Then why are suggesting this cutback?
Sandbo pointed out that the EDA board has transformed and operated in an efficient and wise manner the last couple of years. He said he understood why the board was reluctant to give money to them based on their history, but the current board should be supported.
Commissioner Doo-Kirk made a motion of support with Martinson and Hall voting with her while Gamble voted against the request.
Simonen agrees to return
With the passing of Cook County Administrator Jay Kieft, the board decided to hire former county board secretary and Human Resource Manager Janet Simonen for a period of no more than six months while a search is conducted to find a replacement for Kieft.
Simonen will work on an as-needed basis and be paid an hourly rate reflective of a D61 Step 15 pay rate—the same classification and step she received before her retirement—said Auditor- Treasurer Braidy Powers who has had some discussion with Simonen about the possibility of her coming back to help the county board.
In other business
. Despite not wanting to meet again until next year, the board will have a final meeting on Tuesday, December 30 at 8:30 a.m. to discuss wrapping up a few loose ends to 2014.
. Highway engineer Dave Betts came with several requests, one to purchase office equipment including a file cabinet, 12 chairs and a conference table at a cost of $4,850, which was approved by the board. He also requested $2,466 to purchase GPS advanced software, upgrades and fireware maintenance for the county GPS survey equipment, which was also granted board approval.
A big ticket item, the long discussed replacement of the county’s 30-year-old front end loader with a CAT 938k front end loader at a base price of $152,140 was also approved, with the purchase funds coming from the highway department’s 2015 capital equipment budget. Betts said by making the purchase in 2014 the county would save $7,000 over waiting until January. “I’m just trying to look out for the taxpayers,” Betts said.
. Betts said work needs to be done on the Gunflint Trail from the Trout Lake Road to the Northern Light Lake landing which is deteriorating with “extensive cracking, raveling and rutting in the wheel paths, which could contribute to hydroplaning by vehicles.”
He asked commissioners to approve a resolution scheduling the work for 2019 so federal funds could be sought to pay for the project, which the board agreed to do.
. Each county commissioner will be receiving a Microsoft Surface Tablet which will allow them to get all meeting materials online, rather than having paper packets mailed out to them. The tablets will also be given to the county auditor and county attorney.
Tablets will allow commissioners to work remotely and will eventually allow them to view visual presentations at board meetings while the public views them on a large monitor. Total cost of the tablets and software is $8,685.40.
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