Staff photo/Jane Howard The driveway washout below the horse park on Creechville Road in Grand Marais.
The owner of the property just south of the new county-owned horse park between Creechville Road and the old Gunflint Trail in Grand Marais returned to the county board August 11, 2009, one year after the June 2008 flood, asking for more help with repairs.
During that storm, floodwaters from the unfinished horse park deposited large amounts of shale throughout John Amundson’s property, dislodging a shed and an outhouse and leaving his driveway inaccessible.
After the flood, the driveway access was fixed as soon as the Cook County Highway Department was notified, and on August 12 the county board approved payment of $640 to Edwin E. Thoreson Inc. for repairs to the driveway.
On August 11, Amundson asked for two more things: payment of $198 to another contractor for final grading and possible replacement of balsam firs bordering the horse park.
Amundson said that Edwin E. Thoreson Inc. left extra gravel on his driveway for the area underneath his boat, but because it was left in a pile, he could not get his boat out. This year, Amundson hired another contractor who finished the grading.
By split vote, the county board passed a motion authorizing the county to pay for that grading. Voting in favor of the motion were Jan Hall, Bruce Martinson, and Jim Johnson. Opposing votes were cast by Bob Fenwick and Fritz Sobanja.
The conversation regarding the trees did not go as favorably toward Amundson, who said he believes the rockslide damaged his fir trees. “I’m afraid all those trees are going to die off,” he said. Shale still covers the ground around some of his trees, and those particular trees are losing their lower branches, Amundson said. He requested that the county take responsibility for replacement of those trees if they die.
Amundson said the results of the flood caused him hardship, leaving him unable to use his boat the entire season and unable to deliver groceries to his doorstep until fall. He said he has done a lot of the cleanup himself.
“I thought the negotiation last year was final. …I’m tired of hearing it,” said Commissioner Fenwick. “To agree means to agree. …I agreed to the end of it last year.”
“I still think it’s critical to be a good neighbor in these kinds of things,” said Commissioner Johnson.
“Being a good neighbor goes both ways,” Fenwick replied.
Amundson said he wants to “keep it friendly” and does not want it to go to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. “I’m looking for restoration of property,” he said.
Commissioner Sobanja said he seemed to remember Amundson saying last year that what they agreed to pay for was all he was asking for.
It’s hard for the county to agree to replace trees in the future, said Commissioner Hall.
With that, board chair Sobanja closed the discussion.
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