Cook County Commissioner
Bruce Martinson presented the gLutsen town board with the latest drawing for the proposed Cook
County Community Center at the board’s May 15 meeting.
Martinson said the new plan showed the community center attached to the school. Plans include tearing down the old gym and rebuilding it with a walking track around it, adding a pool, using existing space for meeting rooms and making a small workout center on the premise.
Parking would also be extended.
The total space for the center itself would be 32,000 feet, 12,000 feet of that being new space while the rest would be refurbished space.
The plans also include revamping two tennis courts, making a new baseball and softball field, refurbishing the soccer fields, remodeling the existing community center, which would include a new warming house area, and upgrading the outdoor hockey rink.
Total estimated cost for all of the work, said Martinson, would be $9,500,000 with the community center portion costing an estimated $8,510,000.
Originally the cost for the proposed community center alone (by LHB Engineers in 2009) was estimated at $12 million.
Controversy has swirled around the cost of maintaining a community center in the county with some county residents not located in Grand Marais worried that they will be taxed to pay for the center’s upkeep if revenues fall short.
If constructed, the center would be built with tax dollars generated from the 1 percent recreational tax dollars that will be collected by the county for 20 years. That fund is expected to generate approximately $20 million and can only be used for recreational infrastructure, not maintenance.
Martinson said advantages to adding the community center onto the school included lower maintenance fees because the two facilities would share those costs, and because the YMCA out of Duluth would be running the center and the wages would be lower. “If the county were to run it wages would be higher because we have a higher pay scale than the Y uses,” Martinson said.
When Martinson was finished he took questions. Lutsen community member Fred Schmidt asked, “Are you for the community center or against it?”
“In the beginning I was very negative, but I like the way things are going. They are [the community center steering committee] bringing down the costs.”
Schmidt asked again, “Are you for or against the community center?”
Martinson replied that Commissioners Fritz Sobanja, Sue Hakes and Jim Johnson are “for it.” He added, “So it’s going to pass anyway.”
Schmidt asked Martinson once again if he was for or against the center and Martinson said he had talked to several people in the West End who were in favor of the community center.
He added, “One thing I’m not for is the biomass [heating plant] plans. The hospital has said they don’t want it and the cost to tear up streets in Grand Marais to build the lines to businesses
I can’t believe wouldn’t be very costly. I’m definitely more in favor of the community center than the biomass proposal.”
Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl asked Martinson what the city of Grand Marais was expected to contribute to the community center and Martinson said it was anticipated that the city would contribute $150,000 per year, if it frees itself from legal entanglement with Burbach Aquatics. (See related story on page A1.)
Schmidt asked Martinson if a new vote could be taken to see if residents really wanted a community center and Martinson replied that he didn’t think any of the proposals would pass a vote because there would be one group or another opposed to all of the seven projects on the list.
“This was passed by the voters and the community center was a top priority,” said Martinson.
Lutsen Treasurer John Groth said, “The reason the voters passed that list is because they wanted broadband.”
Broadband Internet was going to be developed by the county but has since been taken up by Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Pulse Communications. The county did, however, designate $4 million of the 1 percent revenue for the broadband project. With broadband out, that left a lot more money on the table for recreation projects like the community center or the addition to the library in Grand Marais, which is now finished.
Lutsen Fire Hall planning
Fire Chief Goettl said he wanted to thank Martinson for his help in getting the county to loan Lutsen $350,000 to help the community build a new addition to the firehall/town hall.
“Bruce did a good job in helping us to get this loan,” said Goettl. The board agreed with Goettl and then talked about the next steps in getting the addition to the Lutsen fire hall/community center started.
Max Wahlers, a local contractor, was low bidder on the project, but before he can begin work Goettl said the township has to get permits for the plumbing and a new sewer system design.
“We need to work with a sewer designer, maybe Max’s subcontractor,” said Goettl.
After some discussion the board said it would seek quotes from Isak Hansen Construction, Mike Rose, Thoreson Construction and others for bids to build a new sewer system and see if one of them could also design the system.
In the meantime, said Goettl, the old garage needed to be removed, the pumper truck needs a temporary home, and trees, brush and a basketball hoop all needed to be cleared out of the way.
“There’s a lot we can do in the next three or four weeks to get ready for Max,” said Goettl.
Concerning the garage, Goettl said, “The snowmobile club really wants it but the guy they had hired to move it moved to Texas. He estimated it would cost $5,000 to move it but he up and quit, so they need to find someone else and then see if they have enough money to have it moved because the new person might want more for the job,” Goettl said.
Supervisors Ginny Storlie and Marland Hansen said they wanted to thank the fire fighters and emergency responders (EMS) who recently took part in a weekend training session. “They gave up a lot of their time on a nice weekend to attend those training sessions,” said Storlie, adding, “I want them to know that we appreciate their sacrifices.”
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