Schroeder Citizen of the Year Jim Norvell
About 30 people turned out for the March 12 annual township meeting for Schroeder in what turned out to be a lively affair that lasted almost three hours.
Schroeder shows support for Taconite Harbor
West End County Commissioner Bruce Martinson explained some of the changes that Minnesota Power is undergoing as it brings forward its Integrated Resource Plan (a plan that outlines key decisions regarding fuel diversity and adding new energy sources like wind and natural gas). He explained that Minnesota Power’s recent decision to shut down unit 3 at Taconite Harbor Energy Center in 2015 is a done deal. He emphasized the importance of keeping the rest of the power plant operational in Schroeder.
“Minnesota Power made a $45 million investment retrofitting Units 1 and 2 at the Taconite Harbor Energy Center to significantly reduce mercury, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide in the air emissions,” said Martinson.
Tina McKeever casts her vote in the Schroeder Township Election on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. McKeever was re-elected for another term as supervisor.
A vote was taken and the citizens of Schroeder unanimously adopted a resolution strongly supporting Minnesota’s Power’s strategy and the recommendations outlined in the plan.
Cooperation with Lake County on ATV connections
Martinson asked the township if it would support an ordinance that would allow ATVs to travel on the far right of Lake County Roads 7 and 8 lying west of the Lake/Cook county boundary. This request is under consideration by Lake County commissioners.
If enacted, this resolution would permit riders on ATVs to connect with the CJ Ramstad North Shore State Trail near Finland along with the Moosewalk, Mooserun and Red Dot ATV trails. Both the Perent Lake Road, which connects to Lake County Road 7 and the Cramer Road, which connects with Lake County Road 8, are in Schroeder.
Martinson shared his letter to Lake County Commissioner Peter Walsh, which read in part, “As attested by both Cook County Sheriff Mark Falk and our Highway Engineer Dave Betts, our current ATV ordinance has not resulted in more problems with ATV users. The Cook County Board on February 26, 2013 voted at a public hearing to make the trial ordinance originally passed in May 2009 permanent.
“Your board (Lake County) may want to use our carefully constructed ordinance as a model for Lake County. Our board determined riding in the outer slope, inner slope and bottom of ditches of many county roads not to be a practical option because of dangerous hidden obstacles, steep slopes and rutting of wetland areas,” wrote Martinson.
Schroeder citizens also passed this resolution with unanimous support.
Commissioner hears community center concerns
Commissioner Martinson was asked about work on the Cook County Family YMCA in Grand Marais and in particular, why the project was being done in the winter.
One gentleman asked, “If you wanted to keep costs down why did you choose to start building in the winter? You’re getting the concrete from Duluth and you have to pay to heat it. That makes sense? Just the concrete work alone has to be double by doing it in the winter.”
“I agree with you,” Martinson said. “We should have waited. But the thought was that contractors would bid lower because they don’t have as much work in the winter.” Martinson said so far 88 people have said they will sign up to be members of the YMCA when it is completed and operational.
Clashes over donations
The Schroeder budget for 2013 will be $94,440. The general fund will receive $34,000 plus donations, road & bridge, $20,000, cemetery, $3,000, recreation, $4,000, Fire Department, $23,000 and Rescue Squad, $10,440.
Expected revenue for 2013 is $111,700 with the majority of that coming from $39,000 collected from the tax levy and $60,000 from Taconite Aid.
A rather heated discussion ensued when donation requests totaling $21,000 came up. That would push the projected 2013 budget almost $4,000 higher then revenues, which rankled more than a few feathers in the crowd.
This year the Schroeder Area Historical Society asked for $10,000, Birch Grove Foundation requested $3,500, Birch Grove Community School, $5,000, Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, $1,000 and the Town of Tofte asked for $1,500 for the July 4th fireworks and music.
Last year the township had to cash in a $13,000 bond to help meet its financial obligation, and it was pointed out that the township would again (possibly) go over budget if all of the donations were granted.
Carol Tveekrem made a motion to take 15 percent off of all of the budget requests but the motion died for a lack of a second. After much discussion, another motion was made to not fund the $1,000 request to Sugarloaf and to donate $1,000 (not $1,500) to Tofte for fireworks and then to reduce all the other requests by 10 percent. This was seconded and passed with a majority of support by the voters and the budget requests granted were $17,650 instead of $21,000.
Agreement to fight for Schroeder Post Office
Skip Lamb read a resolution in support of keeping the Schroeder Post Office open and it was met with unanimous approval. The resolution will be sent to the Minnesota Congressional Delegation and Lamb asked people to send individual letters as well. Lamb said Schroeder has had a full-time postmaster since 1891.
“The community of Schroeder deserves a post office that provides eight hours of service to its residents and businesses, equal treatment, and its right to have a United States post office with a postmaster. Of the 3,000 plus post offices that weren’t closed in 2012, it was because citizens brought to the attention of Congress their need for postal service,” Lamb said.
Road, cemetery and emergency services reports
Supervisor Bill McKeever gave a road and bridge report and said, “As far as I’m concerned, everything is good. But you never know at this time of year because of possible washouts. A portion of the tax collected on cigarettes, alcohol and gas will be given to townships to be only used for roads and we [the board] set up a separate account for those funds so they don’t get used for the wrong thing.”
Supervisor Deb Johnson gave a cemetery report and said, “Everything is pretty quiet,” but added that some ditching is needed to be done next fall to allow for better drainage where the road occasionally washes out.
Fire Chief Phil Bonin, who was also the moderator for the meeting, said his crew responded to eight calls last year: three vehicle accidents, two building fires, one carbon monoxide incident, one 911 call and one false alarm.
Fire Chief Bonin said the numbers of volunteer firefighters were falling in both Schroeder and Tofte. “Two years ago we had 16 firefighters and Tofte had 18. Now we have 11 and Tofte has 10, and 10 is the minimum. If you fall below that you can’t get state aid. If we lose any more we might have to merge with Tofte,” he said.
Bonin next read the Tofte/ Schroeder Rescue Squad report submitted by EMS Director Louise Trachta, who was unable to attend the meeting.
Bonin read that last year there were 52 dispatch calls with three or four responders on each call. There were 34 calls in Tofte and 18 in Schroeder. Calls included medical, auto, river, hiking, and biking rescues. Trachta had high praise for her volunteers and their willingness to serve and to get the ongoing training to maintain or receive their Emergency Medical Training (EMT) certifications.
McKeever and Kangas re-elected
Supervisor Tina McKeever was re-elected to the township board with 24 votes and Alicia Kangas was also re-elected as treasurer with 24 votes. No one else was up for reelection.
Norvell named Citizen of the Year
Jim Norvell was nominated Schroeder Citizen of the Year for his work for the township throughout the years and most recently on the Father Baraga’s Cross project. Norvell and his wife have moved to Duluth but he was in attendance at the meeting and gave an update about the town park and adjoining Father Baraga’s Cross project. Norvell asked that Skip Lamb be named co-citizen of the year because of all of his help but Lamb wouldn’t hear of it. The vote was unanimous for Norvell’s selection.
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