Our View: Projects demand an engaged public

We took some heat recently for an Our View stating we were nervous about building a new fire station in Cloquet. Although we stand by our position that public officials need to be cautious about overtaxing residents, we also reiterate that help from the state is warranted and appreciated in the case of the fire district — which covers multiple communities — as well as the proposed county jail, which serves the entire county.

We appreciate that the county formed a special committee to focus on the new jail issue, and invited citizens to committee meetings. As Sheriff Kelly Lake said, the need for a new jail is becoming urgent, as the state will no longer allow us to use the current jail to house inmates after July 31, 2023.

“We’re running out of time,” Sheriff Lake told the county board last month.

We agree. Whatever your feelings on the need for a new jail, something has to happen because the old jail will soon be unusable for its intended purpose. We have to do something.

A good place to start would be to review the “Carlton County Jail and Criminal Justice System Planning Study” on the county’s website. That report outlines the problems and recommends myriad potential solutions.

We encourage citizens to get involved in the process. Deciding what type of facility is best for Carlton County will require balancing public safety issues, the financial burden on taxpayers, programming and even such overlooked ancillary issues such as the overall quality of our law enforcement programs and the ability to attract high-quality law enforcement employees. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly, and certainly not without substantial community involvement.

The committee meets every month on the third Monday at 2 p.m. at the transportation building in the Olsonville neighborhood outside Carlton. The public is welcome. We encourage you to attend meetings and get involved. We also encourage you to write to your local legislators and encourage them to support a sales tax bill for the jail and funding assistance for our fire district needs.