After sharing a treat of delicious potato donuts—“spudnuts”—baked by Marion McKeever of Satellite’s Country Inn, the Schroeder Town Board got down to business on May 11, 2010, considering citizen requests for summer events.
Schroeder resident Dave Erickson approached the town board with a novel idea. Erickson, noting that the town had not used its ball field for a few years, asked to be allowed to use the field and town hall for a group of campers on the North Shore on August 20 – 22. Erickson said he did not want to get into the business of running a campground, noting that Schroeder already has Lamb’s Resort and Campground and Temperance Trader’s cabins. However, he said this one-time use might encourage the August visitors to make subsequent visits to the North Shore, perhaps even deciding to move to Schroeder. Erickson said, “Basically, I’d like to bring some people here to enjoy the North Shore—and do something for the town. We might have a band on Saturday night and everyone would be invited,” he said.
Supervisors asked about the logistics of the stay. Erickson said he would be responsible for pre- and post-event cleanup and offered to re-stain the “Bob Silver Memorial Field” sign before August. He promised he would leave the field and the town hall in as good or better condition than before the camping event.
Supervisor Ross Willson made a motion to approve such use, noting, “If it’s not going to be used as a ball field—and if he’s going to leave it in better condition that it was, I have no problem with this.” The motion passed unanimously.
Board members asked Deputy Clerk Gale Ring to work with Erickson to obtain proof of insurance and to complete town hall rental information.
Joan Beard, a local bead artist, asked the Schroeder Town Board for a letter of support for the establishment of the Schroeder Farmer’s and Crafts Market. Beard said the plan is to offer space to West End residents to sell hand-grown and handmade items. The market would be held on Saturdays in July and August from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and would be located on the grassy area to the west of the bakery. Beard said she would be the “point person, set-up crew, and go-to person” for the first year. She said the market would charge participants $5 to help cover advertising expenses. Individuals would have to provide their own umbrellas and tables. Beard said she has heard from several people who would like to take part— selling eggs, Turkish rugs, flowers, and jewelry.
Beard said the county was not requiring licensing but asked that the Farmer’s Market have support from the township. Although Supervisor Bill McKeever expressed concern that the space next to the bakery may be too small, the board agreed with town clerk Carol Tveekrem when she said, “If it outgrows the space, that’s a good thing.”
“Like Dave’s idea, this could bring business to Schroeder,” said Beard, after the town board agreed to send a letter of support to the county.
In his monthly road and bridge report, Supervisor Bill McKeever said he had been contacted by Dynamic Homes, a company that constructs and delivers modular homes to Cook County, sometimes using the Sugarloaf Road. McKeever said because modular homes are getting larger, the company would like to widen a curve on the road at a cost of approximately $20,000. Dynamic Homes asked if the township would like to share the cost of the road improvement. McKeever said Dynamic Homes has been good about working with the township on upkeep of the road in the past, such as assisting with grading, but he said he didn’t feel this was a necessary investment for the township at this time. McKeever said an additional expense would be a survey of the road to determine the road easement. “These homes may not benefit Schroeder, but they do benefit someone in the county. We may be asked in the future to help.”
After District 5 Commissioner Bruce Martinson gave his monthly update on county board activities, a Schroeder resident questioned a recent county highway department hiring. Martinson was asked why a Grand Marais resident had been hired for a highway department position covering the west end of the county. Fire Chief Phil Bonin recalled that about a decade ago, a Hovland position was up for hire and an applicant on the east end of the county was hired, in part because he lived in the east end of the county. Martinson said he also recalled that action, but noted that the county is no longer allowed to consider geographic location when it hires employees.
Supervisor Tina McKeever, elected in March 2010, reported on her attendance at her first Minnesota Township Association meeting. McKeever said there was a great deal of discussion about taxes and the township association passed a resolution to send to the legislature requesting that small establishments, such as “Mom and Pop resorts” be exempt from state taxes. She said the association also passed a resolution asking legislators to act to reduce speeds on all rural, unengineered, gravel roads to 40 miles per hour.
Fire Chief Phil Bonin told the town board that a letter had been received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) denying the Schroeder fire department’s application for a $100,000 grant to purchase a new fire truck. Bonin said he has been researching fire truck prices and he had found a few models in the $35,000 range, in 1995-1997 model years, which were purchased by other departments immediately. However, those are out of Schroeder’s range anyway, said Bonin. “We have about $21,000 in our truck fund. We already have a loan from the county, so I don’t know what else we could do,” he said.
Bonin said he would like to find someone who could help the fire department write grants. He noted that grants might be available from Minnesota Power. “But I’m not a letter writer,” said Bonin. “So I don’t know where to begin.” Supervisor Bill McKeever said he had been doing some work for MN Power. He said he would find out who to talk to at MN Power about obtaining community grants.
Bonin said the fire department had applied for a smaller “50/50” grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, which would be used to purchase new hoses. He said he also intends to apply for smaller grants from the North Shore Health Care Foundation and Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc. Operation Round Up for additional smaller equipment.
Bonin also reported that five Schroeder firefighters had successfully completed Firefighter I training.
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