Bill McKeever
Bill McKeever, age 75, was born in Two Harbors and moved to his mother’s property when he was 4. He is a current supervisor on the Schroeder Township board and he is running for reelection.
How many years have you served on the township board?
More than I can remember. We started the township in my living room after Taconite Harbor went down. We had three months to form the township so we could qualify for payments from the mining company. We made it and everybody in the county benefited.
What would you like to see happen in Schroeder in the coming years?
I would like to see the area become more attractive to businesses. We are really the only place in the county that has industrial land. I guess I would really like to see something happen with the Cleveland Cliffs property and the Minnesota Power electrical generating power plant. Those could be big assets for our community if some business—any kind of business—can move in and use those facilities.
What are the biggest issues facing Schroeder?
Spending too much money. I like to run the township like a business. Too many people think throwing money at a problem will solve that problem. That usually isn’t the case. I guess when it comes to the township and spending money I usually say no. At least at first.
What are Schroeder’s biggest assets?
The land, the area. Most of the people, I would say 70 percent of them, like Schroeder. But some want Schroeder to be like Minneapolis, the cities. We need business, but we don’t need to be like the cities.
If you could change anything about Schroeder Township, what would it be?
Again, it’s the attitude about business. When Ray Hahn was here he wanted to grow Hahn Harvest here but he couldn’t get anywhere with the county. He finally moved to Two Harbors. We had a fellow with a machine shop that worked in Schroeder that made parts for Ray’s business. When Ray left, that was the end of the machine shop. We have to figure out how to say yes to people who want to come here and provide jobs.
What will happen if Schroeder loses the percentage of profits from the sale of taconite? Do you think the township does enough to work with the IRRRB? Or the DFL legislators from the Iron Range?
At some point the “free money” will end, and we need to prepare ourselves for that day. I hope it doesn’t end, but really, there is no such thing as “free” anything, so we need to budget for that possibility.
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