There is a lot of action in the community of Tofte lately, and the Tofte Town Board is at the center of it all.
The biggest thing on the board’s September 11, 2014 agenda was plans for senior housing. The board got an update from Dick Grabko of Community Resource Development (CRD) who has been hired as project manager for the 12-unit senior housing that will be built behind the Birch Grove Community Center.
Bids for the groundwork have been sent out and will be opened October 1, said Grabko. The township’s engineer, Joe Jurewicz will be on hand to make sure the bidders are qualified and the bids are acceptable.
The first step will be to clear trees, put in a well and build a road, said Jurewicz, who added that even if it snows it shouldn’t slow down a contractor too much.
Estimated to cost $2.2 million, the 12-unit townhomes will be built by Design Homes and are expected to be completed by July 2015. Most of the money to pay for the project will be gained through the township selling general obligation bonds, but Grabko said he was also seeking a grant of $245,000 from the Iron Range Resources Rehab Board (IRRRB) to help pay for the infrastructure costs. To date the IRRRB has already given $230,000 towards those costs, said Grabko.
The next step in the process is to seek a marketing and management company to pre-sell units, said Grabko.
IRRRB helping towns with comprehensive planning
New IRRRB employee Whitney Ridlon appeared before the town board to explain the comprehensive plan grant program (CPGP) she administers through IRRRB.
With 10 years of city planning behind her and a Range girl at heart, Ridlon returned to Hibbing to take a job with the IRRRB to assist cites and townships in forming or updating their town comprehensive plans.
The CPGP provides funding to cities and collaborative organizations to aid in the development, adoption, and implementation of a comprehensive plan, Ridlon said, adding there is currently $200,000 in the fund for fiscal year 2014. She said the maximum grant award is $20,000, although, she said in some special cases the agency will grant awards higher than this amount.
Louise Trachta Day
The board set aside October 9 as Louise Trachta Day in Tofte. Trachta, in her last month as EMS/Rescue Squad chief, said she was honored to serve in the department for 15 years.
“I’ve enjoyed working with the organization and I wish them well. I’ve worked hard to make things go smoothly and I will work with my replacements to help them,” Trachta said.
Fire Chief Rich Nelson said, “I want to thank Louise for all of her help. When we were down to three First Responders and five firefighters she was one of the first to step up. She did anything asked of her. We are going to really miss her.”
Schroeder Fire Chief Phil Bonin and Kim Jahnke will team up to replace Trachta. “I think Phil’s just the guy I would have picked. He’s very knowledgeable. Kim came along and she has a lot of fire and desire in her. She wants to learn and is compassionate towards people. You’ll do fine, both of you,” Louise said.
Rose Thoreson has also taken over some of the paper work that Trachta has been doing in a job that gets busier and busier each year.
Trachta said her department received 32 calls from January 1 to September 4. Her search and rescue squad has now grown to 12 people, she said. “I’m really proud of all of our responders for their dedication and willingness to help out.”
Fire department addresses false alarms
Chief Nelson gave the fire department report and he said that a local business had been having several false fire alarms causing his crew to get up repeatedly at night, sometimes as often as three times during one night.
“If it happened more than one time, it should cost them,” said Supervisor Paul James. “They should reimburse the fire fighters. This should be covered in their insurance. You need to get their attention. Our people have jobs. They can’t be running to false alarms all hours of the night,” said James.
Supervisor Jim King suggested that Nelson discuss the issue with his crew and come up with a policy outlining charges for repeated false alarms and bring it to the next board meeting, which Nelson said he would do.
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