Schroeder Fire Chief Bonin told township supervisors at their November 13 meeting that Minnesota Power wants to show the Schroeder Fire Department whatever is necessary to enable them to help the plant avoid another coal explosion like the one that happened at its Taconite Harbor facility this fall.
Supervisor Roger “Bill” McKeever said he had stated two years ago that the fire department needed training on fighting coal fires.
The fire department is down to 11 members because of a retirement this month. “We’re looking to recruit new members,” said Bonin.
The board accepted the lower of two bids for plowing the Schroeder roads except for the Sugarloaf Road. Carl Crawford will be plowing at $245 per snow event.
As he did last year, Curt Laboda will plow the Sugarloaf Road. He will use his own equipment and charge $200 per snow event. He will use the township’s plow to sand and wing when necessary for $50/hour. The board agreed to allow Laboda to plow his own driveway with the township’s plow in exchange for storing it at his place and plugging it in when the weather gets really cold.
“I liked the plowing he did last year,” said Supervisor Tina McKeever. “It was always plowed when I needed to get out.”
Supervisor Deb Johnson reported that she removed planters from gravesites at the cemetery and put them out of view and out of the range of snowplows.
Tina McKeever said the old wooden swing set from the Tofte town park was offered to Schroeder. The board decided the ones they have now are sufficient.
Jim Norvell reported he was waiting for a contract to arrive from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for a grant of $5,000 for improvements to the area around the township park and Father Baraga’s Cross. “The biggest challenge will be finding someone to do the work for $5,000,” he said.
The DNR will be providing new picnic tables, signs, and striping on the parking lot. Tina McKeever said she received recommendations from Arrowhead Regional Development Commission Senior Planner Bonnie Hundrieser regarding handicap accessibility in the park and memorial area. Hundrieser was completing a North Shore Scenic Drive Accessibility of Waysides report for a Minnesota Lake Superior Coastal Program grant and would be sending her recommendations to the DNR as well.
Recommended were an accessible marked parking space near the pathway, installation of a handicap-accessible picnic table with a concrete pad, and an accessible spur trail to the beach.
County Commissioner Bruce Martinson reported that as of January, 3/5 of the county board would be women. He estimated that at statewide county board meetings, 95 percent of commissioners are male, although he heard of one county in southern Minnesota with a board comprised of a lot of women. Tina McKeever turned to Deb Johnson and said, “I guess we’re trendsetters!”
Bill McKeever said he had been out hunting for nine hours that day and hadn’t seen a single deer. On his way out of his driveway to come to this meeting, he spotted a great big buck staring at him from his septic mound.
Leave a Reply