Lutsen Supervisor Ginny Storlie asked her board colleagues Marland Hansen and Tim Goettl to consider having the township write a letter to State Representative David Dill and Senator Tom Bakk to see if they can pressure the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to widen the shoulders to accommodate bicycle traffic on the 12-mile stretch of Highway 61 that will be resurfaced through Lutsen next summer.
Last month MnDOT engineer Todd Campbell came before the township and said the state didn’t have money to make the shoulders wider. Cost for the proposed work—mill and overlay—right now is estimated at half a million dollars per mile, Campbell said.
The stretch of highway that will be repaired and upgraded runs from Onion River to Cascade River and has no paved shoulders. During the summer it is a busy highway with cars and trucks crowding bicyclists as they pedal up or down the shore.
West End Cook County Commissioner Bruce Martinson said, “It’s clear they [the state] have little money in the pot. Every single culvert would have to be changed because of new specs. If they have to include shoulders they will have to reengineer everything and with the engineering and planning it would take three years. Then, if you wait three years, it might never happen. They did the same thing in Tofte and the project was killed and it’s not coming back.”
Both supervisors Hansen and Goettl said they didn’t want the project stopped or delayed, even though both said they would like to see the shoulders widened for vehicle and bicyclist safety.
“Maybe you could write a letter asking them (MnDOT) to give consideration to widening the road if they get more money, but tell them you would like to see the work done next summer as planned. It shouldn’t offend them and it gets your point across,” said Lutsen Treasurer John Groth.
The supervisors agreed to go that route and will send a letter to MnDOT making Groth’s point.
New emergency radios go “live”
Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl said the new Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response (ARMER) fire department and EMS radios, “went live today.”
“We still have to put radios in trucks, but that will happen soon enough. We also got some new pagers,” Goettl said.
The new radios and pagers will be distributed to all of the local fire departments and EMS squads countywide and will allow them a much broader range to communicate with the Cook County Sheriff ’s Department, hospital, Forest Service, state patrol, Homeland Security, etc.
“What happens if someone loses one?” asked Supervisor Tim Goettl. “Who pays to replace it?”
“It’s definitely a topic of discussion. But it’s still a work in progress. We don’t know if the county or township insurance will cover the cost to replace a radio. It might be something to add to our insurance policy,” said Fire Chief Goettl, adding that few radios are lost, but they could end up at the bottom of a lake on a rescue or burned up in a fire when his crew is on a call. The new radios cost more than $2,500 each.
Goettl said the Lutsen Fireman’s Ball will be held December 7 and is open to the public. “It’s a formal ball and it costs $30 per person. You have to dress up and have to register to attend.”
Tickets can be purchased from any Lutsen firefighter or at Clearview General Store in Lutsen.
Emergency service (EMS) Director Fred Schmidt said, “Things have been pretty quiet. We haven’t had any runs. Three of us are going to take an EMT refresher course. It’s good for two years.”
In other business:
. Fred Schmidt was awarded the 2014 township snowplowing contract. He was the only bidder and his bid was the same as last year, $85 per plowing. Lutsen Cabin & Land Care was awarded the contract to clean the community center at $55 per time—once a week or as needed.
.Arrowhead Cooperative sent a letter to the township outlining prices it would charge for connecting Internet and phone service to the broadband network they are currently installing countywide. Groth asked if the Internet would still be installed for free to all government buildings—including township buildings—as planned by Northeast Service Co-op (NESC) 3 ½ years ago when NESC was going to do the installation of broadband. The board asked Town Clerk Silviya Duclos to call and find out and report back to the board.
. During a recent garage sale held at the community building a man came by and dropped off two broken TVs outside in the parking lot, said Groth. It will cost the township $10 to $20 to take them to the recycling center, and Groth asked who should be responsible for that cost.
“Maybe we should have a contract written up to make the renter of the community building leave the place as they have found it,” said Paul Goettl.
“I know in this case the people holding the garage sale weren’t responsible for the TVs. They told the guy they didn’t want them but he dumped them in the parking lot. Still, we need a contract with renters so the building is left like they found it or they will be responsible, ” said Goettl.
The supervisors agreed and Duclos will draft a contract, which will be discussed at the next meeting.
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