The turnout was low for the Tofte Township Election, which had no contested races. However, Election Judges (L-R) Julie Rannetsberger, Diane Norman and Tammy Rude were ready to help at the polls at the Birch Grove Community Center.
Fourteen of Tofte’s 158 registered voters cast ballots at the township’s annual election on March 12, 2013, and 11 of them attended the annual meeting that followed. Bill Huggins was voted treasurer, replacing his wife in that position, and Jim King was re-elected supervisor.
Kudos for emergency responders
Reporting on the fire department, Fire Chief Rich Nelson said that in 2012, they dealt with three structure fires, three brush fires, one vehicle fire, and two accidents.
“Other than our big scary time at MP&L [Minnesota Power Taconite Harbor Energy Center], it’s been a pretty quiet year,” Nelson said. Last year, a large fire broke out at the plant. “It was quite a scene,” he said. “It’s a pretty scary place when stuff happens.” Nelson said that the coal-fired power plant needs to have people on staff who are knowledgeable about coal fires and that he will not allow his firefighters in there again.
Nelson said the department is 11 members strong but needs more people.
Rescue Squad Chief Louise Trachta said her department took 52 calls in 2012, averaging three to four volunteers per call. They are down to 10 people on the squad. Trachta said that their heavy rescue truck has been working out very well and that they have been getting good response from the ambulance services in both Cook and Lake counties. Communication with other entities has been difficult, she said, because Tofte’s squad is not yet on Minnesota’s new ARMER radio communications system.
Trachta said the people on her squad interact professionally with patients and work well together. “I’m real proud of all my people,” she said.
Park and wayside rest planning
Barb Gervais volunteered to work with the park and cemetery committee on restoring or replacing the pavilion in the town park. She said she would like to see a timber frame structure put up and would be willing to apply for grants to get the necessary funding. The group talked about how the structure could be built to shelter people from the cold and how lighting could discourage vandalism.
Board Chair Paul James said a design consultant is working with Temperance River State Park officials and the Minnesota Department of Transportation on increasing safety at the Temperance River wayside rest. The design they are working on would help prevent pedestrians from crossing the highway in so many places. An open house to discuss the plans will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at the Schroeder Town Hall. James said travelers want wayside rests that they can access directly off the road.
Fourth of July preparation starts now
James said Tofte’s Fourth of July celebration went really well last year, despite confusion with the Birch Grove Foundation and Birch Grove Community School, which organized the event for the first time, over who was responsible for what, including costs. Visitors consider this a great event, he said, and it serves as the biggest fundraiser of the year for numerous local nonprofits.
Jerry Gervais said he would like to see volunteers organize the event rather than paying the Birch Grove foundation and school. Jim King pointed out that finding volunteers is difficult and said that a lot of Tofte’s volunteers were probably right there in the room.
Regarding the confusion in organizing last year’s Fourth of July celebration, James said, “We sailed the ship, we found out we had a couple of leaky holes, and we fixed them. We’ll do a better job next year.”
The group decided to form a committee to plan the next Fourth of July celebration. Volunteers are needed.
Budget and boat shelter discussed
The 2014 levy was set at $170,197, an increase of $6,000 over the 2013 levy of $164,197. This was $3,000 lower than expected, because North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum Director Don Hammer said the museum could get by with only $3,000 instead of the $6,000 that had been put into the preliminary budget. The majority of the levy increase was related to legal fees regarding land use issues, James said.
Hammer said he had participated in a class at North House Folk School that constructed the 10’x24’ boat shelter that will house the Viking, an old boat that has been refurbished and will be on display outside the fishing museum. “This is a very unique timber frame,” he said of the shelter, explaining that its design originated in a particular boat-building region in Norway. “It’s a beautiful building,” he said. Numerous donations and a grant helped make the project possible. “I just want to give my thanks to the good people of Tofte,” Hammer said.
A dedication of the boat and shelter will be held in August, part of the Tofte Historical Society’s 20th anniversary celebration.
The annual meeting was recessed until Thursday, August 8 at 7 p.m. at the Tofte Town Hall.
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