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Eleven elected officials and five employees representing Cook County, the City of Grand Marais, Grand Portage, and Cook County ISD 166 schools met Thursday, May 28, 2009 in the Grand Portage tribal headquarters on a wooded hill overlooking Lake Superior. The entities discussed issues of mutual interest.
Tribal Council Chair Norman Deschampe said Grand Portage is trying to make sure its Canadian employees have passports for entry into the U.S. because the law requiring passports would be taking effect June 1.
Sixty percent of Grand Portage’s employees are Canadians, Deschampe said, many of whom were born in fly-in areas and never received a birth certificate. Theycan still get passports, but the process is more difficult.
Deschampe hopes American travelers from areas not near the border will be aware of the need for a passport to get back into the U.S. after a trip into Canada. He said they see a lot of fishermen from places that might not be publicizing the change in requirements.
Deschampe expressed concern regarding the potential loss of business related to Canadians not coming to the States because they don’t have a passport. Even if 90% of potential Canadian visitors have passports, he said, they would lose 10% of their Canadian business.
The tribe is dealing with legislation before Congress regarding the process of union start-ups. The Employee Free Choice Act would lower the standard for employee groups to start unions and take away the long-standing requirement of a vote of employees by secret ballot. While the tribe is not opposed to the existence of unions, Deschampe said, they believe tribes should be exempt from the legislation. "We feel it doesn’t apply on reservations," he said. "It’s a sovereignty issue."
Grand Portage will be using stimulus money to help the county pay for resurfacing County Road 17 that runs along Lake Superior. Following the guidelines for using the stimulus money has proven complicated, Deschampe said.
School board update
School board member Leonard Sobanja gave a brief update on school news. The new superintendent, Beth Schwarz, will start July 1. The school is trying to "cement relationships" with the three charter schools (Oshki Ogimaag in Grand Portage, Great Expectations in Grand Marais, and Birch Grove in Tofte). In conclusion, Sobanja said, "We’ve got a budget problem. We’re working on that now."
County issues
County Commissioner Fritz Sobanja reported that the county had passed its ATV ordinance the night before. "ATVs are now free to roam," Sobanja said. "I hope you’re not mad at me, Norm!"
Deschampe said they had a group of 100 ATVers who wanted to come from Leech Lake Reservation last year but didn’t because finding a route that would avoid wetlands on snowmobile trails while still avoiding county roads proved too difficult.
Commissioner Bob Fenwick said he would like the county to approve ATV riding on all countyowned roads within the city limits of Grand Marais. Since the city allows ATVs on all of its roads, not allowing ATVs on county roads within the city would be "confusing and disruptive," he said. Commissioner Johnson supported the proposal. The three commissioners in attendance agreed to put it on the county board agenda as soon as possible.
Fenwick reported that legislation authorizing a 1% sales tax in Cook County has been signed. Revenue from the tax will be capped at $20,000,000 rather than the original $14,000,000 in order to include a project to bring broadband Internet to the county.
The consulting firm hired by the county Broadband Committee is changing its focus from a feasibility study to assistance in applying for a stimulus grant. Arrowhead Electric Cooperative will be the applicant but would operate the utility separate from its function as an electricity provider. A community survey showed a high degree of support for bringing broadband to the county. With broadband, people could purchase phone, TV, and Internet services in one bundle from a locallyowned public entity. The committee is trying to avoid ownership by companies outside the county.
Commissioner Fenwick reported on efforts to bring a biomass energy plant to Grand Marais that could heat and power the town with forest refuse. While the U.S. Forest Service has expressed a need for funding to clear the forest of fire hazards, there seems to be a rising opposition from environmental groups to using biomass, Fenwick said. "We in this county could provide good, clean, cheap energy by using the resources we have," he said.
Jim Johnson said he has heard that biomass harvested from federal forests would not count toward a community’s carbon credits or its efforts to utilize renewable energy. "It’s a nightmare," he said.
Carbon credits don’t even exist, Fenwick replied. The government is going to create them out of thin air and sell them, he said. "I think it has more to do with control than anything else."
Fenwick reported that a Sierra Club lawsuit is claiming the new lynx critical habitat, designated within the last several months, does not account for a changing climate and thus should be expanded.
The group talked about how the types of issues they had been discussing affect tribal sovereignty. Norman Deschampe reported that a Bois-Forte member was taken to court after taking his snowmobile into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The court ruled his motorized auger was legal, however. "Couldn’t we have it the other way around?" Deschampe said, to which the group laughed.
News from the city
Mayor Sue Hakes said she is "nervous" because the 1% Sales Tax Committee has not made a plan for selling the potential tax to the community. A referendum will be held in November. Fritz Sobanja agreed to set up a meeting with the committee’s consultant, Mike Fischer, to keep the committee moving forward.
A Minnesota Department of Transportation representative, Rob Ege, was in Grand Marais recently to assess safety issues along Highway 61. Hakes said safety issues for pedestrians are especially apparent at the bottom of Fifth Avenue West (across from Angry Trout, Dockside, and North House) and the DQ corner. That area is without crosswalks for three to four blocks, she said. Hakes would like to see traffic slowed through town.
Ege said he would pursue moving the 30 m.p.h. zone to the top rather than the bottom of the hill leading west out of town and recommended a permanent speed display sign on a lamppost. Such a sign would cost $3,000-5,000, said City Administrator Mike Roth. Hakes will talk to Sheriff Mark Falk about stricter enforcement of the speed limit through town. An "Event Congestion Ahead" sign is also being considered for use during high-traffic festivals.
The next Joint Powers meeting will be held 4:00 p.m. Thursday, August 27 at City Hall.
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