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With a chronic shortage of affordable housing, Cook County has seen teachers, nurses, and law enforcement personal not accept jobs here because they couldn’t find housing. And for those of us who live here, younger people have been priced out of the housing market by people moving in who are comfortably retired or have jobs that pay higher than most employers can pay in Cook County. All told it’s a vexing problem, one that Jason Hale can hopefully help solve.
Jason Hale was hired recently as the new Housing and Redevelopment Authority Director. Hale has hit the ground running and he was in front of the Grand Marais City Council last week hoping to launch a project that if it goes, will start into development next summer, 2023.
Hale was at the Wednesday, July 27 meeting to discuss a proposal for the city to give land to the HRA. The land sits inside the sweeping curve off the Gunflint Trail.
Hale asked the council to consider providing the property at no cost to the HRA for the express purpose of developing single and multifamily residential homes.
“Obtaining site control of this vacant property will enable the HRA to seriously engage developers and home builders; without property, accurate site plans, construction costs and project details in general are impossible to obtain,” he said.
Hale told the council he has looked across the county for places to build affordable housing but high costs of installing infrastructure make building outside the city prohibitive. At a little over ten acres, Hale said the city owned property has two things going for it, “It’s not on the side of a cliff and it’s not wet. And, he added, “It’s got access to city infrastructure.”
Council listened intently to Hale’s request and councilor Anton Moody said the property Hale was looking at was tagged for housing development in the city’s long-range plans, so he (Moody) thought the request fit what the city is looking for.
When asked about the types of housing the HRA was looking to build Hale answered, “The plan is to build a multifamily apartment building on the south side of the property, closest to the intersection. The HRA will also explore the opportunity to act as its own developer of single family homes on the northern one-half to two thirds of the site. Because the HRA doesn’t need to make a profit and has access to tools and resources, it will be able to build housing at a more affordable price for potential buyers and renters.”
The HRA is looking at modular construction to cut building costs, which are now averaging $260 per square foot in the county, said Hale. “We aren’t out to make a profit. If we break even, it’s a win for us.”
Councilor’s Craig Schulte and Tracy Benson expressed support for the project, but no action was taken at the meeting to confer the property to the HRA. Many more steps will have to be taken before that can happen.
Next, Hale will go to the county to see if they will participate in helping to pay survey costs and other expenses associated with the development. He will also reach out to other organizations for help he said, adding, “It’s a patchwork quilt of groups” who will work on this project.
In other city news:
• Following the spring flooding event that closed the Grand Marais Library for several weeks the city has applied for All-Hazard Mitigation Funds. In order to qualify for potential funds, the council had to adopt the 2019 Cook County All-Hazard Mitigation Funds that might be available.
• Clayton Smith was hired to work seasonally at the Grand Marais Recreation Area.
• Tom Nelson, Wastewater Superintendent, came before the council to talk about the wastewater treatment plant operations and the odor issue.
The waste water treatment facility is a biological process, Nelson said, and at times “it’s going to make odors. It can be a mechanical issue, a loading issue. it’s going happen, regardless of what we do. It’s going to happen, and it does happen.”
Nelson said there are four things to keep in balance, bugs, food, home and oxygen. If any of those aren’t in balance it can cause a problem. Mechanical issues also cause problems. When asked if the sewer plant was over capacity, he said it wasn’t. Nelson spent a half hour in front of council answering questions and he assured the council his staff was working diligently to keep the plant running as smoothly—and odor free—as possible.
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