On Tuesday, December 17 the Cook County Board of Commissioners gave Esten Nelson approval to build a 60’ by 160’ foot pole building (9,600 square foot) structure that will be used for storage and recreational vehicles on his land near the Ed Thoreson gravel pit on the Devil Track Lake road. Some of the space will be rented for storage. The entrance to the structure will be through the gravel pit road and the building will be behind a vegetative line, out of sight to passing vehicles.
Nelson has some grade and fill work to do to satisfy his permit, but that will occur in the spring following winter, said Bill Lane, Cook county planning and zoning administrator.
Nelson’s new business will fill a need to provide storage for larger recreational vehicles like boats, said Lane. When the nearest neighbors were contacted, no one voiced concern about the new storage rental, added Lane.
ICompass Video
Interim county administrator Rena Rogers presented the ICompass Video Manager Proposal to the board. Video Manager is part of the ICompass system that provides closed captioning for the board meeting videos with 98 percent accuracy.
Commissioners approved expending $4,600 annually for Video Manager, a discount of $1,000 per year. Rogers said the fee is locked in and can never be increased. She also said the money for Video Manager was planned for in the 2020 budget.
Commissioners approved the purchase.
Motions approved by the commissioners:
* The joint application from Lake and Cook County to Coalitions and Collaborative, Inc. for an $11,000 grant for Firewise evaluation and mitigation, authorizing the county auditor and board chair to sign the application document.
* Helen Muth’s application to serve another term on the Grand Marais Library Board was approved. Helen has been active in Library Friends of Cook County and is a longtime user of the public library services.
* Howard Hedstrom’s term was up on the EDA board, but with only one applicant received to fill his position, and his willingness to serve another three-year term, Howard was reappointed to the EDA board of directors.
Catching up with old business
Cook County commissioners approved the 2019 Cook County Emergency Operations Plan at the board’s Tuesday, December 3 meeting. Mike Keyport, Cook County Emergency Management director, submitted the Emergency Operations Plan.
The State of Minnesota requires the document to be reviewed and approved by resolution and signed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners every four years.
New case management system
The Cook County Attorney’s Office will get a new case management system. Commissioners approved a contract with Prosecutor By Karpel, who will configure, install, and implement a new case management system for $40,573. The system is scheduled to “go live” in April 2020.
County highway engineer contract
Cook County commissioners approved renewal of the Shared Highway Engineer Services Agreement with Lake County at the board’s Nov. 26 meeting.
Krysten Foster has served both counties as highway engineer for the past two years but remains first, a Lake County employee.
In an email, to the board, Foster cited the various accomplishments the highway department has made over the last two years, and ended, “It would be my privilege to continue to serve North Shore communities and work with all of you in this capacity for the foreseeable future.”
Commissioners agreed that Foster has been doing an admirable job for Cook County, and will pay Lake County $10,077 per month for her services.
New public library board member
Kristina MacPherson’s application to serve on the Grand Marais Public Library board was approved. She will replace Gwen Danfelt, whose term expires December 31, 2019. MacPherson said she spent her career as a librarian, primarily at St. Olaf College (35 years) and three years at the Wolf Ridge Environmental Library Center. She has also been active in the Friends of Cook County Libraries organization.
Board discusses forms of administration
With the search in the beginning stages to replace county administrator Jeff Cadwell, who resigned to take a job elsewhere, interim county administrator Rena Rogers asked the board to affirm the continuation of the administrator form of government for Cook County.
Six years ago, the county board decided the county should have an administrator to run the day-to-day operations, and Rogers said that with the recent departure of Cadwell, the board has an opportunity to talk about other types of government. After much discussion, the board agreed to continue the process of hiring a county administrator.
Resignation accepted/ new hire
Commissioners approved the resignation of Carolina Mitchell with regrets, and her position will be posted. Mitchell has served as the county attorney’s office administrator. Her last day on the job will be December 20.
After interviewing three applicants for the taxation specialist/payroll clerk position left open by Rebecca Isbell’s resignation, commissioners agreed to hire Kay Burkett.
Project updates
Rogers gave the board an update about the Hovland Public Works building, the community center warming house, and the air handling and sealing project at the YMCA.
The Y pool area was closed for five days while the work was done. The air handling system was upgraded and the roof sealed. Rogers said this should take care of much of the mold problem found in the locker rooms and pool area that has been battled daily by the maintenance staff.
The county highway crew is/has moved into the new garage, and the new warming house should be open by mid to late December, Rogers said.
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