With a packed house before him, Tofte Town Board Chair Paul James said he had a few things to say before he would allow any public comment on the proposed lease increase for the Birch Grove Community Center, which houses the Birch Grove Community School, among other enterprises at that location, which is owned by the township.
“I’ve heard that some of you are here because you are angry at the township for not doing enough for the school. This is a time when we should be creating unity, not divisiveness. I’m just tired of anyone being angry at the township. I’m angry about this. It’s a bunch of malarkey.
“We have asked to see a presentation of the school’s budget and got 13 pages of gobbeldy gook. To this day we haven’t received a budget that is understandable.”
And then James ran down a list of what he had done personally to keep the school open, stating, “I’ve spent hundreds of hours on this over the years and my wife and I have given over $1,000 to the school. I’m committed to seeing the school succeed. I think I have shown that.”
James added that the township has given, “hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Birch Grove Community Center/School over the years. Last year we had one kid from Tofte attend the charter school. One kid. You need to go to your townships and ask them to pony up more money to help pay for the school. It can’t all be on Tofte. Tofte is not responsible for educating all kids living within a 30-mile radius of here.”
Once he was done, James turned to Bill Huggins, Tofte’s treasurer and the chairman of the Birch Grove Foundation and asked him for his recommendation for lease fees and lease rates for the community center. Under an agreement with the township—which owns the community center as well as the 29 acres of land it sits on—the Birch Grove Foundation is in charge of overseeing the grounds and buildings.
“I suppose I said too much,” James said to Huggins.
“You probably said it all, probably more than you should have, as you sometimes do,” said Huggins.
Huggins said last year the facility annual operating cost for the center was $73,218.
“We [the foundation] recommend the annual lease rate for the BGCC to be set at $8.50 per square foot. This number is calculated by dividing last year’s annual facility expense by last year’s leasable space (8,614 feet).
“We also think it is reasonable for the Tofte town board to consider reducing [subsidizing] this rate for some nonprofit organizations and/or local community functions. We believe that these decisions are best decided by the town board as they involve taxpayer dollars.
“We have surveyed some of the other local business rental rates and they range from $9 to $13 per square foot,” said Huggins, adding that the foundation would like the current fee schedule to remain unchanged for at least one year, “so the foundation can track the revenue generated and frequency of usage in more detail.”
When Huggins finished, several members of the Birch Grove Community School PTA came forward and said they were happy with the lease rate and thanked James and the township for all of their commitment to the school, but added they would be using less space for the school next year. If the school would have used the same space as last year they would have paid $46,637 for the next school year, about $14,000 more than 2012/2013.
Under the new plan, the PTA asked to use the current K-5 classrooms, the library/special ed/services/small group space, the current community room which could be used for a classroom, and the current school office for total of 3,546 feet at a cost of $25,141 plus $5,000 to equal $30,141. Last year the school used 4,770 feet of space.
They also requested 200 feet of storage off the gym to be included at no cost because the space is limited and not ideal to rent.
Common shared space would include the lobby, gym, kitchen, hallway, hallway bathrooms, boiler room, and Saplings/Bluefin Daycare/Hostel.
Last year the K-5 school had 18 students—four from Lutsen, five from Schroeder, one from Tofte, five from Silver Bay, two from Beaver Bay, and one from Finland. The preschool enrollment included four kids from Lutsen, six from Tofte, two from Silver Bay, one from Finland and one from Grand Marais.
The best guess for 2014/2015 school year K-5 enrollment projects five kids from Lutsen, three from Tofte, nine from Silver Bay, one from Beaver Bay, one from Finland and three more families calling to say they will be willing to relocate in the West End. Preschool projections show five kids from Lutsen, two from Tofte, one from Silver Bay, one from Finland and one child from Silver Bay.
Tofte Supervisor Jim King and James both asked the PTA to look at using space in the west end of the building, saying bathrooms could be plumbed in where needed. If the school could locate on that end of the building, it would open the front part for possible businesses to lease.
The Birch Grove Foundation and the Birch Grove PTA will work together to get a lease agreement to the township by the end of June.
Senior Housing update
The boring hole samples came back and showed the area the township wants to put six duplex senior houses on has a lot of clay. “The clay is not suitable for roads or to put housing on,” James said.
That said, clay can be removed and fill added, but it will add about $115,000 to the cost of the estimated $1.9 million project.
“We can always ask the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) for more money or we can roll it into our bonding,” James said.
Despite the setback, the township will go ahead with the project, said James.
The houses will be constructed by Dynamic Homes and put on property behind the Birch Grove Community Center. The houses will be 984 square feet and leased for about $950 per month.
While no individual garages are planned for the first phase of building, a community garage may be built as part of the plan.
Supervisor Jeanne Larson said the Birch Grove Foundation will work “to create value added services” for the people who live in the senior housing. She said talks have begun with the Cook County Community YMCA to see if the Birch Grove Community Center could be a satellite of the Y in Grand Marais.
Salvage Yard
After four years of discussion and some litigation between the township and Joe Sanders over cleaning up “Big Joe’s Salvage Yard,” the two parties came to a final agreement at the June 12 meeting.
“We can go back to a complaint but I really don’t want to do this,” said Supervisor Jim King to Sanders.
“I want to get it cleaned up, but I have to look at my schedule first,” said Sanders.
“Can we get together next week and set a time for this to get cleaned up?” asked King.
“Yes,” said Sanders.
While much of the property has been fenced and looks good, as James noted, the township has an obligation to protecting the property values of Sanders’s neighbors and nearby businesses.
Community conversation update
Supervisor Larson discussed the second West End Community Conversation results with the board. The conversations are aimed at identifying what has worked and why, and the needs and problems in the west end and coming up with solutions for them.
Larson said the talks have identified four priorities to focus on: senior housing, living wage jobs, affordable housing, and kids’ activities.
Volunteers are working on each one of these topics and will meet to discuss the results at the next meeting, she said.
“If we want change, we can make it happen. Things are really starting to move. If everyone gets involved we can make these things happen,” Larson said.
West End Commissioner Bruce Martinson said that Lutsen Resort owner Scott Harrison and Randy Lasky of Northspan have applied for a $50,000 grant from the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation to do a housing study.
If granted, the goal would be to find three sites in the county suitable for cluster housing. People would buy the homes but if they resold them they could only get one percent per year more than the houses cost them, said Martinson.
Larson said other options are being looked at that might make housing more affordable for West End residents, or people who want to live in the West End, including the new trend to build small houses under 400 square feet. Meanwhile, she said, the work goes on.
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