A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
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Carlton County officials didn't waste any time with the latest round of financing for the new justice center. The call for a sale of $27.5 million in bonds took only 12 days from presentation to final approval at Monday's county board meeting. PFM, the company the county uses to organize bond sales, had earlier advised that borrowing money would cost more soon due to pressure from the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to dampen higher inflation rates and uncertainty about how the U.S....
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners continued to advance the combined justice center project, voting on the first construction contract and finalizing the administrative contracts during their meeting Tuesday morning. The board awarded Taracon Precast of Hawley, Minnesota a $5,230,705 bid to furnish the needed precast concrete for construction of the new justice center complex. The bid came in $169,295 below engineering estimates. “I will make the motion to proceed,” announced longtime commissioner Dick Brenner, “now that we have a plan....
Carlton County commissioners are hoping the state will come through with close to 10 times the amount of bonding money previously allocated for the new justice center/jail during the new legislative session, as lawmakers decide what to do with a $7.7 billion surplus. Carlton County will ask the state for $22.5 million for the new justice center/jail, with the county promising to match the request. The cost of the construction is now estimated at $60 to $70 million. With many of the plans made, the county is now trying to put together a funding...
Carlton County will receive almost $7 million from the American Rescue Plan Act, county economic development director Mary Finnegan reported at the board of commissioners committee of the whole meeting Feb. 1. There are nearly four years allowed to plan and spend the funds, she said. Local governments, including cities and townships, have been given their own share. This opens the possibility for the local governments to partner with the county with some of the money, Finnegan said. The county board and department heads requested local...
For the fourth time in the last 40 years the Carlton County board of commissioners declared their support for necessary funding by state and federal action to rebuild Highway 73 in western Carlton County, particularly the 8-mile stretch south of Cromwell. There was little discussion before the unanimous vote during the county board meeting Monday, Jan. 24. Federal funding is available through the new infrastructure initiative and the state of Minnesota has a budget surplus of more than $7.5 billion. County highway engineer JinYeene Neumann...
Fifth District commissioner Gary Peterson was chosen as the new chairman of the Carlton County board of commissioners at the annual re-organizational meeting Tuesday, Jan. 4. Fourth District commissioner Mark Thell became the vice chairman of the county board and chairman of the committee of the whole meetings for 2022. For a number of years, leadership roles for the board and the committee meetings have rotated with each board member takings a turn. The board approved meeting times and days. Regular county board meetings will continue to be...
The Carlton County board of commissioners gave final approval for a property tax levy increase of 4.9 percent for the 2022 budget year. The new county budget was set for $69,772,168 in expenditures, revenues of $37,966,520, use of fund balances of $1,603,123, and an actual levy sum of $30,202,525. The vote was unanimous at this last meeting for the year of 2021 held Tuesday, Dec. 28. Of interest in the budget for next year, fund balances of $837,942 for Road and Bridge and $950,474 for Human Services were used in those departmental budgets for...
Unanimously, the Carlton County board of commissioners approved the sale of $10,000,000 worth of bonds to pay for early planning and early construction costs of the new jail/justice center to be built just south of Olsonville at Carlton Junction. In action at the regular session on Dec. 14, the board sold the bonds, which are scheduled to be paid off in 2043 at an average interest rate of almost 1.758 percent. Auditor/Treasurer Kevin DeVriendt commented, “The funding package came in as expected, the true interest cost is a good rate, and this w...
Only a few people attended Tuesday’s Carlton County board of commissioners Truth in Taxation hearing. The commissioners held the hearing to talk about the property tax levy they are proposing for the 2022 budget year and how the individual county departmental proposed budgets affect the overall county financial picture. Of those who came, several complained about their property tax bills, which by law are not addressed at this hearing. A handful came with a few questions. Auditor/Treasurer Kevin DeVriendt reported that he received no c...
Masks will be mandated and the policy guidelines will go into effect Monday, Nov. 1 in any county-owned buildings, as ordered by the Carlton County Board of Commissioners at its meeting Monday. The vote was four to one with commissioner Mark Thell voting no. “The infection numbers — which are falling at this time — do not justify masks,” Thell said via phone. “Community members I have talked to are not supportive of the move. I question whether a majority of the departments in county governmen...
As Covid case counts continue to rise here, Carlton County commissioners say they will vote on a mask mandate at the board meeting Monday, Oct. 25. The mandate would apply to public spaces inside county buildings, not the county as a whole, and is being considered after some county departments requested it. Other departments are not thrilled with the idea and the board itself appeared split on the idea Monday. Some parts of the courthouse are already under a mask mandate after Minnesota State Supreme Court chief justice Lorie Gildea required...
A directive has come from Minnesota Supreme court chief justice Lorie S. Gildea to the Sixth Judicial District, which includes Carlton County, that all backlogged cases due to the Covid-19 pandemic are to have judicial action before the end of this year. Upon the recommendation of county attorney Laurie Ketola, the Carlton County board of commissioners unanimously approved hiring a provisional attorney during Monday's regular meeting, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act money coming from the federal government. The attorney will be hired for...
It’s official. After more than two years of studies and debate, the Carlton County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to build a new justice center north of the current transportation building. The justice center will house both the jail and courtrooms with space for support staff — including administration, the county attorney’s office and sheriff’s office — at a possible cost of more than $70 million. On Monday, the board approved a working plan for the Justice Center site south of the Carlton Junction on Old Hwy 61, permissio...
A crowd of about 75 people traveled from western Carlton County to a public hearing at the county board meeting Monday on whether to close or keep open the county’s satellite garage in Kettle River. County engineer Jin-Yeene Neumann gave a short presentation at the beginning of the hearing at the Transportation Building in Carlton, explaining that it not only costs an extra $15,000 to run but also is a safety issue because it is a one-man shop. Neumann said the transportation department wants to move the grader and a pickup to the new county g...
There was a time when every rural community had a special gathering place, a hall where people could hold dances, dinners and other community events. On Highway 27 west of Kettle River, there was - and still is - the Star Club. Incorporated in 1921, the Star Club was formed as a "gentlemen's club" for the area Polish settlers in Split Rock and continues to operate today. Built after the 1918 Fires that burned down the old log church previously used for social gatherings, next week the Star Club... Full story
Just under $7 million is available from the federal American Rescue Plan Act for coping with the effects of the pandemic for Carlton County residents and entities. Economic development director Mary Finnegan, addressing the Carlton County board on Monday, announced that half of the money allotted to the county has already come in and the rest is scheduled to arrive in another year. Passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in March, the $1.9 trillion package delivered direct payments to many Americans but also provided $350 billion in...
Carlton County will petition the Minnesota Department of Transportation for a speed limit of 45 mph on Big Lake Road from Pinewood Drive to just past Brevator Road and the tribal center. The tribal council for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa had requested the speed be set at 35 mph on the newly repaved section of road. County highway engineer JinYeene Neumann told the board of commissioners at its regular meeting Aug. 10 that a MnDOT speed study done earlier in the year supported a 55-mph speed limit. Neumann said she is using...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners on Monday voted unanimously to build the proposed jail and justice center next to the Carlton County Transportation Building. Requested by Twin Lakes Township official Diane Felde-Finke, a motion by commissioner Dick Brenner in support for the “green site” passed with no discussion or dissent. The 20-acre site is just northeast of the current Transportation Building along old Highway 61 in Twin Lakes Township. Engineers and architects have projected that the site is relatively level, sandy, and doe...
Work on the new Carlton County budget for 2022 has started, with each department making presentations for their needs during the next budget cycle during the county board meeting Monday. Increased health insurance and employee salaries are again a focus with more than 400 on the county payroll. Historically, county program budgets that can have fund balances at the end of the budget year have been used to cushion the need to keep the property tax increase low for the coming year. The county land department and the county recorder’s office, f...
The information is in. Architects and engineers have told Carlton County that moving the new justice center, consisting of the jail and courtrooms, to the “green site” located northeast of the transportation building on Old Highway 61 will save sitework costs of $3.5 to $3.9 million. The current courthouse parking lot is plagued with costly remedies: not enough space, bedrock outcroppings, wetland areas, a sewer line, and lack of staging area for a major construction project. The green site is aptly named for the evergreen forest that cov...
A tiny Carlton County department gained national recognition recently for work they did to limit person-to-person contact during vaccination clinics held during the pandemic. Geographic Information System coordinator Jared Hovi and GIS specialist Siona Roberts were awarded the prestigious Special Achievement in GIS award for their work creating a digital tracking system for residents wishing to be vaccinated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Their goal was to eliminate paper forms and limit human...
The Carlton County Board of Commissioners took the next step toward the construction of a new hangar and relocated fuel system at the Cloquet Airport this week, but the price tag was higher than originally predicted. On Monday, commissioners approved a $2.066 million bid for a new hangar at the airport, along with a bid for $660,000 to relocate and upgrade the fuel system. The majority of the costs are being covered by federal and state grants; there are fees for use of the fuel system. When the...
What a new jail or justice center will look in Carlton County continues to evolve as several groups work on specific issues for the project. Recognized as the largest, single county building project since the Carlton County Courthouse became a reality in 1922, the studies are centering on: • The feasibility of construction at the Transportation Building site off CSAH 6, aka old Highway 61. • The size and plan for the building; • A plan to possibly incorporate the courts at the same site; • The layout for increased traffic at the junctio...
Hot on the heels of a months-long Cloquet debate, Carlton County is taking its turn to determine whether its own Project Labor Agreement (PLA) — dating back to 2013 — for county construction projects should be dropped or amended. The county’s PLA calls for public construction projects to be completed by workers that are members of a union. The Carlton County PLA only affects projects estimated to be bid for more than $175,000. Unlike Cloquet, the county PLA doesn’t apply to private construction, only publicly funded projects. All county... Full story
Transitions can be stressful, but retiring Carlton County auditor/treasurer Kathy Korteum has had plenty of challenges in her less than two years at the helm of her department. But she's hoping to make the transition as smooth as possible for her successor, Kevin DeVriendt. If all goes as planned, DeVriendt and Korteum should be able to spend some time sharing ideas and the long history of the department before Korteum officially retires. That would be very unlike her first months in the role....
