With winter just around the corner—hopefully a real long corner— Tofte supervisors made a flurry of motions at the September 8 board meeting with a nod to the oncoming cold weather.
Snow removal bids will be sought for the Birch Grove Community Center building, town hall/fire hall, and the cemetery road.
“We also need someone to remove snow from the skating rink and make sure the walks are shoveled off before school starts,” added Tofte Fire Chief Rich Nelson.
Supervisor Paul James asked Tofte Town Clerk Barb Gervais to seek hourly bids for a person to perform snow removal from the ice rink, school sidewalks and Gitchi-Gami Trail.
Steve Michaud is temporarily performing maintenance at Birch Grove Community Center, and Gervais lauded his work, “Steve is doing a tremendous job,” she said.
“That’s great to hear but Steve’s going to be headed to Florida pretty soon so we need to find someone to take his place,” James said.
Following a lengthy discussion about the town’s ongoing maintenance needs it was decided to advertise for a part-time maintenance coordinator who could perform a variety of tasks including custodial and maintenance for township properties which include the town hall/fire hall, Birch Grove Community Center, ice rink warming house, town park, cemetery, Sawbill Trail garage, and eventually, the housing project.
The township received a quote from Steve Duclos to strip and wax the town hall floors. After some discussion the board decided to wait until later in the fall and reissue bids to see if they could get a better price.
Also received was a quote from Scott Robinson of Lake County to design and construct a septic system behind the fire hall. Fire department seeking fix for false alarms
Tofte Fire Chief Rich Nelson said his department received numerous false alarm calls from Bluefin Bay Resort.
“This summer seems to be the worst they [Bluefin] have ever had with these calls,” said Nelson. “I know Dennis [Rysdahl] is working on it. He’s been very good to us but I’m afraid if they don’t fix it someday no one is going to show up when there is a real fire there.”
Nelson said his crew was scheduled to attend a training session hosted by Minnesota Power at Taconite Harbor Energy Center to learn how to fight any fires at the plant once it is closed later this fall.
With the power plant closure Tofte will lose a valuable source of water to fight fires, said Nelson. To remedy that problem the town’s water pump, which hasn’t been working for a while, was pulled and rebuilt for about $1,100. Nelson said it was plugged with rocks, sticks and plants, and it will be reinstalled in the town park on the lake shore with stronger preventive measures to keep the pump free from plugging again and ready to use in case of a major fire.
The Tofte/Schroeder Rescue Squad reported three calls this past month, said Co-Chief Phil Bonin.
In other business
. Barb Gervais and Supervisor Sarah Somnis both indicated they would like to receive training on the newly released Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) grant writing software when the county acquires it. James encouraged them to take and complete the training.
. Currently there is only data available on the Verizon cell phone tower located on the hill above the business area of Tofte, said Gervais. Verizon leased space for the tower from Tofte two years ago and the implication was that they would provide a better reception/callout signal for people in the nearby vicinity, which hasn’t happened yet.
“This isn’t what we were promised,” said a frustrated James.
Supervisor Jeanne Larson asked to review the contract with Verizon to see if there was a way the township could exercise some influence on the cell phone carrier and get them to install the equipment needed to provide cell coverage for downtown Tofte.
. Once again supervisors passed a motion to declare September 21 as the International Day of Peace.
. With Bluefin Bay Resort owner Dennis Rysdahl’s recent announcement that he was no longer interested in leasing billboard space from the township because it didn’t fit his business plan, Tofte supervisors agreed to look for a new tenant and are hoping to get $800 per year for the two billboard spaces located on the Birch Grove Community Center, but Supervisor Jeanne Larson said the price would be up for negotiation.
Leave a Reply