Jane Howard
The Tofte Fire Department is getting a good deal on a 1984 ladder truck that will replace the even older one the department has been using. The individual who owns the truck, however, has a sentimental attachment to it and asked for a lease that would allow him to get it back if the truck goes out of service. Fire Chief Rich Nelson went over the details with the Tofte town board on Thursday, February 10, 2011.
The truck has a 75-foot ladder and a new transmission. The current owner had used it in parades and other festivities but thought it was too good to not be put to better use. He offered to let Tofte lease it for $5,000 down and $1 a year.
The current ladder truck has hydraulic brakes, Nelson said, and if that line breaks, there are no brakes at all. The crew thinks this is a “pretty good upgrade,” he said, adding that similar trucks cost around $50,000. He said he had some leads on selling the current truck.
The owner of the truck being offered to Tofte wants to see it being put to good use. “Basically, he wants to see the truck active and serving people,” Nelson said. The owner said he wanted the right to “buy” the truck back if it were no longer in use. The board discussed an agreement that would work well for the township and passed a motion approving it with some changes to the agreement that had been suggested.
Nelson said a FEMA grant paid $25,080 toward the cost of new hoses, nozzles, and fittings for Tofte’s fire trucks. Tofte’s share was $1,320. “Some of our nozzles go back to the ’70s,” he said, adding that nothing was wrong with the ones they had, but new ones are much better.
Rescue Squad
“We’ve been continually busy,” Rescue Squad Chief Louise Trachta reported.
The family of a young man struck and killed on the Fourth of July several years ago while crossing Highway 61 in Tofte donated some teddy bears to the Rescue Squad to give to children involved in accidents or receiving help from the squad, Trachta reported.
The squad received 49 calls in 2010, Trachta said, with three or four people responding to each call.
When all certifications have been completed, they will have 13 people on their team, Trachta said – two EMTs and 11 First Responders.
Biomass feasibility study
George Wilkes and Gary Atwood of the Cook County Local Energy Project updated the town board on the grantfunded biomass feasibility study going on in Cook County right now. Tofte will not be a study site as had been expected, but what they learn from studies in Grand Marais, at Bearskin Lodge up the Gunflint Trail, and at Lutsen Resort will still be useful to Tofte, Wilkes said. “We still feel the study will apply to businesses and residences in Tofte and the surrounding area,” he said. The board had no problem with the change in plans.
Atwood said Ely is seeking funding for a district heating facility that would provide hot water heat and electricity to Vermilion College, the high school, the hospital, and 300 homes and businesses. Wilkes added that the economic feasibility of the project still needs to be determined.
County Commissioner Bruce Martinson recommended that any biomass production in Cook County include a pellet-producing plant so that people with pellet burners throughout the county could take advantage of it. Birch Grove Community Center is heated with biomass pellets. Atwood said the Cook County study is looking at all options, from district heating to individual home heaters, and at various types of fuel, from cordwood to hog fuel to pellets.
Birch Grove’s pellet boiler is equivalent in output to paying $2.05 per gallon for fuel oil, Supervisor Allan “D.C.” Olsen said. Its nearest source of pellets is Hayward, Wisconsin. Getting pellets locally would be more cost-effective, he said.
Most pellet plants are geared for larger-scale consumer use than Cook County would have, Wilkes said, but they are investigating whether a smaller plant could be built. People will get “innovative” if fuel prices continue to rise, he said. Olsen pointed out that Taconite Harbor has a dock that could be used if pellets were to be shipped on boats.
Atwood said they are looking at all possibilities and trying to resist the tendency to decide whether something is good or bad without really looking into it. Energy issues can change dramatically from year to year, he said.
AT&T tower in cemetery
Town board chair Paul James went over the details of a proposed agreement with AT&T for a 140-foot tower be located in the Tofte Cemetery. Rent wouldbe$800amonthwitha3percent annual increase. Tofte would have the right to install co-locators. It could not terminate the contract unless AT&T was in default.
The board approved the design plan for the tower and accompanying storage building, but that will also need be approved by the Tofte Design Review Board. They decided to have the township attorney look over the contract well.
Township attorney
Upon receiving proposals from legal firms regarding representing the Township of Tofte, the board discussed proposals from Fryberger, Buchanan, Smith, & Frederic of Duluth and from Swanson & Heeren of Grand Marais.
Supervisor Jim King said the costs would be comparable. He said he thought Fryberger might have “more resources” than a small-town firm would have. “I’d like to go locally when we can,” he said, “but I think in this case, bigger is better.” Olsen agreed but wondered if they might be able to offer work to both, although he hoped they wouldn’t have that much need for legal work.
A motion to make Fryberger the legal firm of record passed unanimously.
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