Schroeder supervisors covered a lot of ground in their April 12 meeting that started at 6 p.m. with a Board of Appeals & Equalization meeting and finished well after 10 p.m.
Cook County Assessor/Land Commissioner Betty Schultz and Assistant County Assessor Todd Smith were on hand for one hour to answer any questions Schroeder residents had about their assessments. No one from the public attended the meeting.
Dave Rannetsberger, Taconite Harbor Energy Center managing superintendent for Minnesota Power, came before the board with a report about the Schroeder coal-fired power plant that will be idled this fall. Minnesota Power plans to idle Units 1 and 2 as a move to reduce the company’s reliance on coal as it moves to generating power from natural gas and renewable resources. Unit 3 was retired on May 26, 2015.
As part of the plan to idle the facilities, the plant must receive an Air Emission Permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) in case it reopens for business. As part of the process Minnesota Power had to publish a “Notice of Intent to Reissue” in the Cook County News-Herald, and in that notice it asks for public participation in the process.
“This application for an air emissions permit doesn’t mean the plant will stay open past the fall idling date,” Rannetsberger said. “We need to do this in case we can reopen the plan for biomass or some other purpose. Public comment should only be about the permit itself, and not about whether or not the plant should stay open.”
The public has until May 2 to comment, he said.
Roger “Bill” McKeever made a motion to show support for Minnesota Power and it was seconded by Supervisor Bruce Martinson and passed 3-0 with Tina McKeever voting to send a letter of support to the company for its efforts to remain a partner with the township.
As of now the plant has 30 workers, said Rannetsberger, but Minnesota Power is reducing staff as they near the shutdown date. “Five or six people will retire when the plant closes,” said Rannetsberger. “Five or six more will work until the end and then look for jobs in industries they previously worked in like logging or construction work, and five or six are still applying for jobs in Minnesota Power and we feel pretty good about their chances to find work within the company.”
One concern for the township was losing the plant as a source to fill their fire fighting pumper trucks once the plant is shut down. Rannetsberger said the company would work with the local fire departments and teach them how to restart a pump to access water at the plant. Because the road leading into the plant will be locked, each fire department will be given a key and instructions on how to get into the plant when they need water, he said.
Another source of water is located in a maintenance building on the hill across the road from the plant. A 6,000-gallon tank is in the building, and Rannetsberger said if the township was interested in leasing the building “I’m pretty sure we could work out a very low [cost] lease.”
Supervisor Bill McKeever asked if the township would have to pay to heat the building and Rannetsberger said yes, but the heat would only have to be kept just above freezing. The large water tank would be accessible to the fire trucks. “Having a presence up there would serve us [Minnesota Power] well,” said Rannetsberger. “If you’re interested I would have 5-6 months to work with our legal department and they could draft lease papers.”
McKeever asked Schroeder Fire Chief Phil Bonin if he would like to visit the maintenance building on an upcoming weekend and look it over. Bonin said he would, and the two will get back to the board with an update about the prospects of the township leasing the building.
Commissioner shares Cleveland Cliffs discussion
West End County Commissioner Ginny Storlie commented about the variety of meetings she had attended. One such meeting was with Cleveland Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves, who said that Cliffs planned to stay in business on the Iron Range. “He said there is 100 years of taconite in the ground on the Range,” said Storlie.
Storlie added that Cleveland Cliffs Company was 168 years old.
A committee of Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) employees and the Cook County/Grand Marais EDA is working with One Roof Housing in Duluth to develop affordable housing on the west end of the county near the Arrowhead Electric office in Lutsen, she said.
Storlie also said there is a childcare crisis in Cook County, and efforts were under way to try to find and license more day-care providers in the county. “Two professional families might have to leave the county because of a lack of childcare in the community,” she said.
Citizen comments on community school
Citizen comments are now reserved for the end of the meeting, and will not be taken at the start of the meeting, as was the case in the past.
Lloyd Geillinger patiently sat through the long meeting and when he got a chance to talk, he said he had called Silver Bay, Beaver Bay, and Finland and asked if they had received requests from the Birch Grove Community School for funds. Geillinger said only Finland said they might have received a request, but the person he talked to wasn’t sure.
Tina McKeever said she would call the school and see if those requests had gone out. Students from those Lake County towns attend Birch Grove Community School and in light of the school needing extra funding from the townships, citizens have asked the school to attempt to solicit funds from those other towns. McKeever said she would get that information back to Geillinger and the board by the next meeting.
In other business
. Tina McKeever was reelected board chair and Bruce Martinson will stay as vice-chair through the year.
. All of the board members will retain their current duties: Bill McKeever will once again head Road & Bridge; Tina McKeever will be in charge of recreation and Martinson will head up the cemetery committee.
. The Cook County News-Herald was named paper of record while the Grand Marais State Bank will once again be the township’s depository.
. Rick Anderson, Charlie Muggley, Bruce Martinson and Bill McKeever agreed to serve on the Road & Bridge committee for the coming year.
. The board also passed a motion in support of a Disclose of Information policy. Martinson pushed for this, using his family as an example. He said his wife works at Birch Grove School and when matters come up concerning the school, he needs to recuse himself. Whenever a board member is involved with a matter that involves either himself or herself or a close relative that could affect their vote, they must now excuse themselves from that vote.
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