Just before the start of the monthly Tofte town board meeting Thursday, July 9, 2009, the Tofte Design Review Committee met to consider a request from the county’s Planning and Zoning Department. Dennis Rysdahl, owner of Bluefin Bay and Surfside, plans to change the face of an off-premise billboard, and the county sent a letter to the Tofte Design Review Committee saying it should review the plan.
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On the committee are the three Tofte supervisors, Paul James, DC Olsen, and Tom Muntean, and Tofte resident Tammy Rude. Olsen started the discussion by saying he was not sure they should review a sign every time its content changes. He said he would like to see all off-premise signs disappear, but that’s not up to him. “Why are we starting it today instead of 10 years ago?” he said. “I think it’s a slippery slope.”
Paul James said the Tofte Design Review District Ordinance does not seem to address sign content. “I don’t see anything in here that says the Design Review Committee can dictate what’s on a sign once it’s already up,” he said.
The committee decided to send a letter to the Cook County Planning and Zoning Department stating the committee’s belief that regulating the content of a sign face is not their duty. The committee would review an off-premise sign if the supporting structure, lighting, or construction materials changed significantly.
Fireworks explosion
Dennis Rysdahl thanked the Town of Tofte and its fire department for their many years of safely providing fireworks to the community. His comment came after an explosion had occurred during Tofte’s 4th of July fireworks display the previous weekend.
According to Fire Chief Rich Nelson, a five-inch round went straight into the pile of unlit rounds. Nelson said no major injuries occurred, and the firefighters handling the display reacted exactly as they had been trained.
The explosion happened about halfway through the display. Nelson said that in order to let the crowd know that everyone was okay, the 42 rounds of fireworks still unfired were lit as planned – but he lit each one of them personally.
The explosion is still under investigation, but Nelson said two of Silver Bay’s explosives blew up the same night, and the two towns had used the same supply company. “It’s been tough on everybody,” Nelson said. “I’m just so, so happy that nobody got hurt.”
Woodpile fire
Rysdahl also thanked the fire department for its work putting out a fire in his woodpile. He had 87 loggers’ cords of firewood cut, split, and dried – a winter’s supply for the fireplaces in his units. While the fire department is still investigating the cause of the fire, Rysdahl thought an employee’s cigarette may have started the wood on fire.
Thirty-mile-per-hour winds were blowing the day of the fire, Nelson said. The use of 100 gallons of foam – some borrowed from Lutsen – and a backhoe from Edwin E. Thoreson Inc. saved some of the wood from going up in flames. Thatwood can still be safely used, because the foam was made of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Without the foam and the backhoe, Nelson said, getting the fire out would have taken a whole day instead of 3 ½ hours.
Rysdahl told Nelson he would like to provide a hamburger meal at Bluefin Restaurant to each member of the fire department as a way of saying thank you. He will be buying a lot of firewood to replace what burned. Olsen quipped, “You’re doing more for the economy than the stimulus package will!”
Rescue Department busy
Rescue Chief Louise Trachta reported that her department has been busy. She reported on a drowning that occurred at Temperance River on July 4. The victim, a 45-year-old man from Ramsey, MN, disappeared from beneath the walking bridge under Highway 61 while swimming. A helicopter searched until almost 3:00 a.m., but the body was not found until after noon. The department’s call-outs have been “a lot of stress,” Trachta said.
Extra money
Town Clerk Barb Gervais reported receipt of a $10,209.90 PILT (payment in lieu of taxes) check that comes every year as compensation for federally owned land in the Tofte district. The money is not included in the annual budget because the town does not know from year to year what the amount will be. “It helps close the gap on unforeseen things,” Paul James said.
Birch Grove improvements
The new septic system at Birch Grove Community Center is expected to be up and running soon. Thetown supervisors were grateful to contractor Scott Robinson for his considerable donation of time on the project. An old underground pipe had to be replaced when considerable leaking was discovered in the course of the project.
The town board designated a committee comprised of DC Olsen, Birch Grove Community Center Director Jessa Wallendahl, and Birch Grove maintenance supervisor Tim Schliep to recommend which bid to accept for a biomass boiler to be purchased with grant funding. Two bids have been received, but one of them proposes using two residential units together. Paul James didn’t recommend that system because he has seen it tried unsuccessfully before.
U.S. Forest Service employees planted 35 birch saplings in front of Birch Grove, reported Wallendahl. The planting will “put the birch back in Birch Grove,” she said.
Broadband support
At the request of West End County Commissioner Bruce Martinson, the Tofte town board agreed to write a letter of support for the use of federal stimulus funds to bring broadband Internet access to the entire county.
Highway beautification
Tofte resident Jim King wondered what the township could do to encourage Big Joe’s Salvage to keep its highway frontage looking as nice as it did on the 4th of July. He acknowledged that if junk cars were by the highway before he moved to Tofte, he and people like him have no right to complain, but he hopes the business will be encouraged to keep the property outside the fence looking nice.
“There’s supposed to be a permanent fence around that property,” Paul James said, and all unlicensed vehicles must be behind the fence. Regulations like these came about as a result of the Lady Bird Johnson Act, said Jerry Gervais, which sought to beautify America’s highways.
DC Olsen was not sure if any violations were taking place but said he would discuss the issue with Planning and Zoning.
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