Tofte Rescue Squad Chief Louise Trachta, who has been a member of the squad for 15 years, was re-appointed to her position at the April 10, 2014 Tofte Town Board meeting. She has also announced her retirement from the squad to be effective the end of 2014. With her assistance, the board will begin searching for her replacement later this year. She also presented her report on rescue calls in the area. So far for 2014 they have made about 20 percent of the total calls they made in 2013. The majority of calls come in starting July 4 through October. She stated that for the first couple of years that she was on the squad there was a much higher percentage of accident calls than there have been over the last 10 years. The majority of calls in the last decade and so far this year have been medical related calls involving all age groups.
In addition to Trachta being appointed Rescue Chief, the board also re-appointed Rich Nelson as Fire Chief, Paul James as chair of the town board and liaison to park and cemetery, Jim King as vice-chair and liaison to fire and rescue, and Jeanne Larson as liaison to the Birch Grove Foundation and School. In other housekeeping matters they retained the Cook County News-Herald as their official newspaper and Grand Marais State Bank as their official bank.
Although not a legal requirement, the Birch Grove Foundation, as a courtesy, asked for the board’s approval concerning their proposed name change to We Connect. The previous name often created confusion with the Birch Grove School, which is a separate entity. The foundation also reported that its director, Patty Nordahl would be resigning her position effective the end of April.
The town board voted to issue a letter to Joe Sanders asking that he follow through with some clean up issues connected with the auto salvage yard in Tofte. They would like him to finish screening the property from the view of Sawbill Trail, remove the old Surfside building along with an accumulation of metal and trailers, as well as remove vehicles that have been sitting in front of his shop for some time. The board will set a deadline of May 7, 2014 for the clean up to be completed.
Ginny Storlie, who represents the North Shore town boards on the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC), gave an overview of the commission. ARDC was started in 1969 and works with matters affecting economics, social aspects, health and transportation in the region that covers the Arrowhead of Minnesota and much of the Iron Range and has a population of approximately 500,000 people.
ARDC has been involved with providing funding for business startups, assisting with the safety of walkways and bike paths in Grand Marais, helping to mitigate the flooding damage at Jay Cooke State Park, as well as trying to remedy heavy truck traffic through Duluth where trucks aren’t allowed to use the interstate highway. Other local members of the commission are Cook County Commissioner Sue Hakes and Grand Marais City Councilman Bill Lenz. County Commissioner Bruce Martinson who was in attendance pointed out that a portion of the funds that show up under the special taxing district on property tax bills goes to the ARDC.
Martinson discussed the extension of the Gitchi-Gami State Bicycle Trail. There will be meetings to determine the best alignment of the trail through Tofte. The costs for this portion of the trail are slated to come from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) in 2018 but construction may start as soon as 2016 or 2017.
Dick Grabko of Community Resource Development is continuing to work on arranging the financing for the senior housing project with the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the Northland Foundation. There is currently a gap in the funding for the infrastructure of $145,000 that needs to be closed. Once completed, the housing units themselves are anticipated to rent for $950 to $1,050 per month.
North Shore Oil and Propane (NSOP) was selected to supply liquid propane for the town of Tofte for the next two years. The board agreed to commit to purchasing all of their propane from NSOP at the commercial rate of $1.69.9 from April 30, 2014 to May 1, 2016.
The board accepted Moving Matters’ offer to donate $4,000 for the purchase of another electronic speed limit sign. MnDOT will do the installation near the west end of town.
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