• At the recommendation of the Cook County highway department, commissioners made a resolution authorizing the county engineer to apply for a Local Road Improvement Program (LRIP) application for Fifth Avenue West in Grand Marais.
The reconstruction project is targeted for 2021. The county intends to work with the city of Grand Marais to get this much-needed road improvement done. Should the LRUP grant be approved, 50 percent of the project cost will be matched by state-aid funds from the county’s municipal state-aid account.
• Cook County will apply for a Firewise grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for $68,700.
Funds, if granted, will be used by Gunflint Trail property owners for brush disposal, brush pick-up, cost share activities and education.
Total cost of the 2019 program is projected to be $138,100. Homeowners will provide a $10,000 cash match, and there will be an in-kind match of $59,400 that will also be supplied by homeowners and volunteers, with no direct cost to the county.
• The final payment for the Cook County highway department’s 2018 CAT mini-excavator of $32,690.37 was approved.
• Commissioners approved a 30-year (six five-year terms) land lease with Mediacom at an initial lease rate of $4,800 per year with a 3 percent increase per year.
While Mediacom no longer uses tower space on the Old Ski Hill road, they have an equipment shelter that houses their lease equipment for local service on the site.
• County land administrator Tim Nelson asked the board to appoint Adam Treeful and Randall Knudsen to the Cook County Parks and Trails Commission to fill the “At-Large” and “At-Large Alternate” positions, replacing John McClure in the at-large seat. One of the appointees will serve as the primary and one as the alternate at-large board member, said Nelson.
• Lisa Kerr, Cook County, director, Parks & Trails Commission, received letters of support from ATV, snowmobile clubs, cross-country ski clubs, the USFS Superior National Forest District Ranger, cycling and hiking clubs to include with an application for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Federal Recreational Trail Program grant she submitted.
Cook County completed a Phase 1 U.S. National Grid (USNG) Emergency Location Marker project with a DNR grant to install more than 200 USDG markers on the county’s snowmobile and hiking trails between 2016-2018.
• Commissioners approved a 20-year home business interim use permit to Jim Sannerud in the FAR-3 zone district, which is adjacent to County Road 48. The planning commission, which gave its recommendation for approval to the county board, previewed the application.
Sannerud plans to build a 2,700-square-foot building that will include space to make and design Scandinavian furniture.
• Also approved was the renewal of the DNR delegation agreement between the Aquatic Invasive Species and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; the deal expires every three years and allows Cook County AIS to hire, train, schedule, and supervise DNR authorized watercraft inspectors.
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