Winding my way back home after attending a rather docile Lutsen Township meeting and as usual I am spending more of my time dodging deer than thinking about everything that had transpired just a short time ago.
The welcome greeting me in arriving home was the billowing smoke from Cliffs Northshore Mine backlit in fluorescent orange, reds and purple at sunset, coincidently emanating the exuberance felt here and with the rest of the Shore that all is well when many of our friends and neighbors who are now back to work.
I am happy to report that after attending the Tofte town meeting last week (briefly), missing Schroeder and bolting from the Lutsen meeting at “halftime” that none of our beloved townships are in danger of falling into Lake Superior at this time.
Unfortunately, no “Hatfield and McCoy” episodes to expand upon this time around as one prominent Lutsen business owner eloquently put it referring to the sometime argumentative township cousins to the west.
I think they were trying to compare this in contrast to the dapper-down orderly fashion of a normal Lutsen town meeting. Which by the way brings me to congratulations to their newest Supervisor Christine Erdmann! I’m sure with her on board, Lutsen will be looked after just fine.
Again, with annual reports on the finances put forth and adopted in recent weeks in all three townships, things all in all look pretty super. Could be better, could be worse.
Several Lutsen town officers “rejected and refused” raises as the township’s clerk, Sharon Hexum- Platzer added that she was “happy to be acknowledged for her hard work.” Well done Sharon!
Firefighters and EMTs though, are accepting 10 percent raises beginning in the next quarter after going almost a decade with no significant increase in their well-deserved and earned compensation.
The Lutsen meeting started with an agreement by the fire departments to follow their counterparts in Tofte and Schroeder with a 10 percent donation (not a payment) equaling $540 towards a study to implement and improve ARMER radio coverage for the region.
Again, like Tofte a few weeks ago a visit from County Commissioner Ginny Storlie was most illuminating. Apparently, the Commissioner went on a retreat with others to learn and teach how to communicate better. As she put it: “to be on the bus, not under the bus.”
She drew the distinction that there are four types of personalities that attend meetings: there are proactive types, passive, bullying, and those in the middle. I am sure that there are probably some who can incorporate all of the above personalities simultaneously.
She also commented on the Poplar River cleanups and watershed saying that, “the river has been on the impaired list for at least 10 years” and with the samples taken “it keeps getting better every year and hopefully within a year it will be removed from the list.”
Comments were added that with the pipeline from Lake Superior up to the Lutsen Mountains ski resort that is intended to bypass drawing water from the river that there are still some “algae concerns” with the pipe. That said, it was added that Caribou Lake takes “five or six samples” a year and the water quality is pristine!
Also on the positive the Cook County News-Herald was named the official township newspaper!
That said, it’s that time of year again when the incessant game of resort “Russian roulette” begins with the bi-annual change of the seasons when the skiing and winter recreation resorts change gears for summer.
With that, it is an end of seasonal employment and housing for many, as it is time to make way for the much-anticipated summer/fall season with an almost certain influx of “seasonal” foreign students and workers to take jobs as a nerve-wracking game of “musical chairs” begins with many locals wondering if their hours or jobs will go away.
Even with government restrictions tightening on immigration visas and work permits, thereby sending recruiters scrambling to complete their paperwork on time to bring in H-1Bs and other workplace visa program workers, this kind of recruiting over the last decade or so has kind of become “HR crack” which in many cases leaves many local young adult kids overlooked and unemployed.
With Minneapolis now considering a hike in the minimum wage to $15 per hour, maybe it’s time for Cook County to follow suit as well with large employers here. With the mega-resorts in fine shape and several considering expansions, the time seems ripe for a referendum to raise wages here, in order for the most part to encourage workers to relocate to our county for the long term.
With “affordable” housing on the way in Grand Marais, Lutsen and soon to be Tofte, the only way to sustain occupancy will be to increase wages as well. For instance, an $800 a month single apartment realistically would take a minimum of a $15 an hour full-time job to afford it.
It is time to encourage long-term residency here and not just be dependent on filling spaces with moderately qualified international seasonal workers. Of course, many of them bring a certain flair and flavor to our area. Many have married, become permanent residents, which is fantastic and in many cases brings a long overdue diversity here.
But, by and large it is an expensive dependency and not a cost-effective way to conducting a successful long-term business approach. Keeping workers here long-term by having them rent and then possibly own, raising families to sustain our schools, buying goods, products and services can play an integral part to our community.
This as opposed to seasonal workers making bi-weekly Walmart runs to shop is a much truer model to incorporate growth, especially given the investment the townships here are going to make in “affordable” housing.
I’m not going “Trump” here with his build a “wall” or “keep them out” and buy ’Merican methodology. What needs to be done and the workers are out there, trust me, is to conduct proper recruiting and look in Minnesota, Wisconsin and regionally to draw families to our area.
By raising the minimum wage here in Cook County for large employers it will definitely have a trickle-down effect with families being able to quote “wine & dine” locally more. Remember, it takes money to make money!
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