Properties along portions of some roads west of the Arrowhead Trail in Hovland will now have year-round access due to the creation of a subordinate government service district (SGSD). The Cook County Highway Department will oversee private contracts for snowplowing and will act as a go-between between the SGSD representative and the person(s) doing the plowing.
After considerable discussion between the board and 15-20 Hovland property owners, the county board voted on November 13 to create a subordinate governmental service district (SGSD) for snowplowing on portions of the Irish Creek Road, Powers Lake Road, Tom Lake Road, Wilderness Trail, and Brumbaugh Road.
The annual cost will be divided up evenly among property owners with land adjacent or driveways leading to the designated road segments.
Some property owners not using their land in the wintertime wrote to the board to say they did not want to pay for snowplowing they did not need.
Commissioner Jan Hall said she expects others in the area to request the same type of SGSDs that would allow their roads to remain accessible year-round. With SGSDs, the county is paid an administrative fee to oversee maintenance of the roads by private contractors.
The legal process establishing the SGSD is expected to take until at least February.
In other county news:
. Sawbill Canoe Outfitters has been reinstated into the Ma & Pa Resort tax classification after being classified Seasonal Residential Recreational Commercial for years.
The reinstatement, made after the Minnesota Department of Revenue reviewed lodging establishments in Cook County, was possible because the business does not have onsite rental units.
The county can rebate taxes for as many as three years. Owners Bill and Cindy Hansen will receive abatements totaling $5,368 for taxes paid in 2010, 2011, and 2012.
. The board approved a request by the Cook County Amateur Hockey Association to attach a 19’ x 16’ equipment storage building to the current Community Center and to put up a separate 24’ x 36’ warming house between the community skating rink and the new hockey rink.
The hockey association will pay for the buildings to be built, and the county board agreed to use funding from the community center budget to finish the interior of the buildings at a cost not expected to exceed $50,000. The buildings will be owned by the county.
Skating rink attendants and hockey coaches will have keys to open the Community Center so the bathrooms will be accessible.
Regarding the fact that buildings with no bathroom facilities will be put up, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said, “Here you have a sub-par situation again. …I understand that’s how government works. It is frustrating.”
. Ulland Brothers and Lutsen Resort were granted an extension of their interim use permit that will allow them to store crushed rock on 20 acres of Lutsen Resort land at the intersection of Highway 61 and the Ski Hill Road. They have until June 30, 2013 instead of November 16, 2012 to remove the rock. It will be used on the Gitchee Gami State Bike Trail.
. The Public Health & Human Services Department has two new social workers. Jared Scheel will be the children’s mental health case manager, replacing Hilja Iverson, and Beth (Tidwell) Faraone will be the child protection/child welfare case manager, replacing Kristine Swanson.
. The Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) office will be moved into the current Community Center in March or thereabout. The current office is in the west wing of the Cook County Schools complex, which is being renovated and expanded for the new community center.
. Several projects on the North Shore are have been submitted for Local Government Innovation Awards hosted by the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs in partnership with several other entities.
The five-year-old program recognizes creative ways counties, cities, and schools are making Minnesota better by improving local services and doing things differently.
The new community center, the broadband build-out throughout Cook County, and the eco-friendly business park in Silver Bay are all entered in the contest.
The public can vote on its favorite entries from December 5 to 19 and January 7 to 15 by going to www.hhh.umn.edu/ centers/pnlc/lgi.html. Eighteen awards will be given out, and one winner will receive $25,000 to continue local government innovation and redesign.
. The county’s revolving loan fund will write off a 10-month overdue loan balance of $2,583.61 for a tent pole powder coating business owned by Brian Kizzek. The county will take possession of the equipment and auction it off. Mr. Kizzek did not object when notified by the county that this would happen.
The terms of a revolving loan to Devil Track Landing were eased due to hardships from two years of road construction on County Road 8, the only road leading to the business.
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