With the Minnesota Legislature’s recent passage of the Economic Omnibus Jobs and Development Budget bill, Birch Grove Village is closer to becoming a reality.
Folded into that bill was language that gives the township of Tofte special housing authority powers over the housing that will be built behind the Birch Grove Community Center.
Tofte township supervisors held a special meeting on Tuesday, May 31 and passed a resolution accepting the special housing authority powers granted to them by the legislature. That resolution will now be sent to the Minnesota Secretary of State to sign so they can restart the estimated $1.9 million project, but one board member, Sarah Somnis said that while she supported the housing, “I suggest that before we go ahead with the project we bring this to the public for a vote.”
Board Chair Paul James appeared flustered with Somnis’ suggestion, and he replied, “We have had multiple, multiple meetings through the years with the public about this and we have never had anyone speak against it. We haven’t had any public resistance at all. It’s been done. It’s too late. It’s time to move forward.”
Before the project was put on hold last year while legislative issues were worked out, the township contracted with Dynamic Homes to build 12 twin patio homes with the goal to have them ready to rent in late fall of 2015.
One thing that will change as the project moves forward is the tagline “The most livable place at 55+ stay healthy, get around & enjoy life.”
At the request of the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority the board agreed to open the housing up for everyone and ended its push to make it available for seniors 55+ only.
Once built and put in place, the homes will be 900-square feet and renters can choose between a two-bedroom, one-bath unit or a one bedroom, one bath wheelchair accessible house. Plans call for the houses to come with new appliances: washer/dryer and dishwasher and be heated by a gas furnace. There will be parking, garages and a storage area.
There will be an exercise area for pets and people and the Birch Grove Community Center and Community School will just be a short walk away.
The township plans on renting housing units at market rates and will finance the rest of the project through general obligation abatement bonds with a 30-year repayment plan.
“We can now go to 30-year bonds instead of 20-year bonds because we are now a housing authority,” said Supervisor Jeanne Larson, who has been the board’s manager for this venture.
A longer payback on the bonds might mean the units can be rented cheaper, noted Larson, who added that this isn’t a subsidized housing project for lower income people and current market rates would be applied when establishing the rent.
Larson said she has been in touch with the Cook County Planning and Zoning Department to talk about getting the necessary building permits ready and she mentioned that the township still had bids for propane and electrical work from last year. James suggested that Larson look at rebidding everything this year to see if the township could save money and she agreed to do so.
If all goes well, Larson said the township should be able to open bids on August 1 and sometime late August have a groundbreaking ceremony with all of the many volunteers and governmental agencies invited. At the top of the list, said Larson, will be the Iron Range Resources Rehabilitation Board who has donated $350,000 for infrastructure work.
Once the job begins Larson said that Don Fehr will be the township’s construction supervisor and Carrroll Peterson will be his assistant. Somnis asked if anyone else had the right to seek those jobs but James said Fehr, a Tofte resident, had spent his career developing much larger projects than the one at Tofte and he was almost volunteering his time. “He isn’t charging us much for his expertise,” said James.
Larson said the goal is to have homes ready to rent by late fall. Until then, she said there is much to do and time is moving fast.
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