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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Council seeking application for vacant seats

Hoodoo Point Campground managers advocate for more upgrades

Jodi Summit
Posted 5/2/19

TOWER- The city council, here, is seeking applications to fill two vacant positions following the resignation of Councilors Kevin Fitton and Brooke Anderson late last month. At Monday’s meeting, …

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Council seeking application for vacant seats

Hoodoo Point Campground managers advocate for more upgrades

Posted

TOWER- The city council, here, is seeking applications to fill two vacant positions following the resignation of Councilors Kevin Fitton and Brooke Anderson late last month. At Monday’s meeting, the council accepted Fitton’s resignation, but did not immediately act on Anderson’s decision after Clerk-Treasurer Linda Keith claimed that Anderson had agreed to postpone the effective date of her resignation until May 9.

Neither Fitton nor Anderson was present at Monday’s meeting. Anderson had sent her letter of resignation to city hall and members of the council on April 17, citing health reasons for her decision to leave the council. Her letter stated that her resignation was effective immediately.

Keith had asked Anderson to remain in her position until the city’s board of appeal and equalization, set for 6 p.m. on May 7, so Anderson can participate in that process. Anderson and Fitton had both undergone the required training for that meeting and it is too late for the three new members of the council to undergo the online training prior to the meeting. Without at least one trained council representative, the city could lose the right to hold a local appeal and equalization meeting next year.

The council passed a resolution declaring one vacancy, but is seeking at least two applicants, noting the second vacancy can be acted on at the next council meeting on May 13. The council did ask the clerk to send a letter to Fitton, thanking him for his time and effort on the council.

Anyone interested in being appointed to fill out the remainder of the terms for either of the vacant seats, both ending in December 2020, needs to fill out an application, which is available at Tower City Hall. Keith said she would also make the application available on the city website, cityoftower.com.

City campground

Hoodoo Point Campground Managers Randy Pratt and Julie Kranz gave the council an update on the city-owned campground.

The campground celebrated its 50th season last year, and the managers noted that the occupancy rate at the campground has risen from 60-percent when they took over in 2013 to 75-percent last year. The seven new seasonal campsites are already full.

“We still have a waiting list of over 70 for seasonal sites,” said Randy Pratt. “We get new calls every year.”

Pratt said that the campground infrastructure has not kept up with the times.

“Back in 1968 everyone had pickup campers,” he said, “nowadays it’s a 35-foot motorhome.”

“We have new competition with the Lake Vermilion State Park and the other proposed RV Parks such as the one at BayView,” he said. “We need to keep up with the times. We haven’t been doing that.”

Top priorities for improvement, he said, would be improvements to the bathrooms and showers, as well as continuing to upgrade electrical service at the campsites.

Where the money for such improvements would come from is still a question.

Pratt noted there is not really any room for any additional campsite expansion. He said they are looking into options for providing wifi service to campers, which would generate additional income, but they weren’t sure what the upfront costs to the campground would be.

Julie Kranz said they are considering offering special rates for their slower days, Mondays and Tuesdays, to boost overall occupancy.

The campground has a dollar-per-night surcharge for all campers, that is dedicated to campground improvements. Last year, the surcharge raised about $9,300, Kranz said. The city raised the rate to two dollars a day for this year, but the additional dollar is going to the city’s general fund, said Keith.

The city spent over half a million dollars, last year, on a sewer extension and other sewer work at the campground. The city bonded for the project, and will be repaying the bond for 20 years, at a cost of $38,000 a year. The city expects to pay for the bond primarily through fee increases at the campground, although a budget presented by the city clerk-treasurer in the fall of 2017 indicated the fee increases and additional revenue from the creation of seven new seasonal RV sites, would generate about $31,000 a year.

The council did approve the purchase and installation of a new furnace for the campground store building. The old furnace had stopped working. The city accepted the quote from North Country Heating for a Goodman brand furnace at a cost of $13,600.

Council meeting location

A request from Mayor Orlyn Kringstad to hold the next regular meeting, May 13, at the Herb Lamppa Civic Center prompted discussion, but no final decision was made.

“The feedback I got on the last meeting at the civic center was very positive,” Kringstad said.

The city council chambers, even for this second meeting of the month with a light agenda, had 13 in the audience at the start of the meeting, which just about filled up the council seating area.

“This is a huge change,” said Keith, arguing against the suggestion. “It is not the easiest thing for us.”

The April 8 meeting had at least 60 in attendance.

Kringstad said there will be a report on the Gundersen Trust at the next meeting. The trust board is meeting on May 6, the first meeting that board has held since 2016. Kringstad said this was an issue that many Tower residents are interested in learning more about.

Kringstad said he would like to make a habit of holding the first meeting of the month at the civic center. “That’s the worst meeting to have,” responded Keith.

“Well, that’s the meeting when we have the treasurer’s report, financial report,” said Kringstad.

“For that very reason,” responded Keith.

“This is one of the best reasons to have it transparent and open,” said Kringstad.

The council did not vote on the issue, since Monday’s meeting was a special meeting and the issue was not on the agenda.

Kringstad said a decision on the location for the May will be announced prior to the next meeting, and the council is expected to discuss the issue again.

In other business, the council:

 Approved a change in the retirement calculations for former maintenance supervisor Randy Johnson. The auditors had uncovered the mistake, Keith said. The change does not affect what the city has actually paid to Johnson, Keith said, just the paperwork.

 Approved moving the ambulance fund from the city’s general fund to a special revenue fund, as suggested by the auditors.

 Tabled any action on either repairing or removing the snowmobile trail kiosk behind the Depot.

 Approved the application for a $1,725 DNR grant for the cross-country ski trails maintenance and grooming for next winter. Keith noted that the newly-formed Wagoner Trails Club is actively working on improving the trails.

 Approved the ambulance subsidy agreement for the city. Keith noted that the city does pay into the subsidy account, along with the area townships.

Approved the airport maintenance/operations grant from MnDOT for $22,019 for 2020-2021.

 Applied for a DNR 50/50 matching grant for two new radio/pager units and two smaller portable water pumps.

 Approved rehiring EMT Kim Mattila.