The Gunflint Trail Volunteer aFire Department—with three yfire halls spread out over the atop 30 miles of the Gunflint dTrail—wants to upgrade its facilities, and on August 23,
2011, Mike Valentini and Chris fSteele presented the department’s vision to the county board, asking for a little help by way of a loan. The fire halls are at Poplar Lake, Seagull Lake, and Gunflint Lake.
Steele said they would like to expand the fire halls so that they each have bathroomshe
M eso with lshowers so that firefighters,a
First Responders, and Search
& Rescue volunteers can clean nup before returning home after lcalls. They also need storage yfor equipment, and they would nlike to create flexible meeting spaces that couldD spbe ayusedAd for volunteer trainings,t community meetings, urand incidentnewsp command postsha duringagree community to emergenciesticipate suchin t eas yforest fires. h Steele saidp theyogramare ylookrun ing at fundingh these destimatedin the m d$550,000 in wsimprovementssection of through loans from the county in the amount of $220,000 now and possibly $180,000 later, a fund drive (which has already garnered $20,000 in unsolicited donations), and grants. The county loans would be paid back by raising the fire levy $15,000 a year, which would amount to $6 a year for each $100,000 in property value. Out of that $15,000, about $3,000 would pay for increased operating costs.
Steele said they have spoken to the U.S Forest Service, which owns he Poplar and Seagull fire hall land, Emergency Management Director Jim Wiinanen, the Sheriff ’s Department, contractors, community members, and seven property owner associations. No one they have spoken to has objected to the proposed upgrades or to raising the levy iner the amounts suggested.
Steele said he “strongly” x2believes the community owes therk fire department volunteers nbetter facilities. “I’m embarrassed in that we haven’t given to them already,” he said.
Commissioner Sue Hakes wondered if they needed expansion at all three fire halls. Valentini indicated that because the area and the population are so spread out, each fire hall is important. Some Gunflint Trail residents got cut off from the rest of the county when the Ham Lake fire crossed the Gunflint Trail, Commissioner Bruce Martinson said.
Martinson told the board that the Lutsen Fire Department would also be asking the county for a loan to expand its fire ha l.
“I see tremendous value in what you’re doing,” Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said, pointing out that they were not asking for anything other than a loan. He made a motion to approveSma la school$220,000 loan at 1 percentUniqueinterestcoursesover 20 years andRes too siveincreasetea thehe levy from $60,000 a year to $75,000
Commissioner Hakes asked if the county had enough money to do this. Auditor Treasurer Braidy Powers said they do. Granting this type of request means the county needs to decide how much of its fund balance it is willing to dip into, he said.
The motion passed unanimously.
The Gunflint Trail community has been strongly supportive of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. The fire department has already garnered $20,000 in unsolicited donations for the fire hall enhancements.
If you would like to help support the Gunflint Trail Fire Department in its planned fire hall expansions, checks should be sent to:
Dave Clutter
60 Voyageurs Point Rd.
Grand Marais, MN 55604
You can also make a
donation online at
www.gunflint911.org/
donations.cfm.
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