TOWER—The Hoodoo Point Campground dominated discussion at the city council meeting here on Monday, as the council discussed a rate increase for seasonal campers, a new playground, and limits on storage units on campsites.
A rate increase for seasonal RV campers appears likely for next year based on the council discussion on Monday, but the decision was put off at least until September to give campers a chance to weigh in on the proposal.
“I do think an increase is due, the question is how much,” said Mayor Dave Setterberg. Council members Bob Anderson and Joe Morin agreed. “Other campgrounds are probably talking about this as well, which means if we don’t act we will be even further behind,” said Morin, referring to an assessment of rates charged by other area campgrounds that showed Hoodoo Point on the low end of the spectrum. Campground manager Randy Pratt noted that the campground has an enormous waiting list of campers eager to take advantage of any openings. “The market will bear an increase,” he said.
Council member Josh Zika agreed. “It’s a hot market and they’re getting Vermilion frontage,” he said. “I don’t think there will be much sticker shock.”
At the same time, Pratt noted that the campground’s playground is old and deteriorating and has even been flagged as potentially unsafe by the county Health Department.
“That’s the first I’ve heard of this,” said Setterberg, who asked Pratt to reach out to the health department to get their concerns in writing. Pratt noted that the campground’s concrete base has heaved from frost over the years, exposing rebar in places. He said shoreline erosion from recent high water has also left the playground barely six feet from the water.
The council discussed funding for a new campground, and reviewed an estimate from Pratt that pegged the cost of a new playground at about $94,000. The city should have close to that amount accumulated in its capital reserve account by the end of 2024, according to clerk-treasurer Michael Schultz, although the city is likely to explore other funding sources, such as Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation.
Morin made a motion authorizing Schultz and Pratt to explore the playground replacement further and come back to the council with a plan.
Pratt also discussed his concerns about long-term campers exceeding their authority to erect structures, like storage units, porches, carports and boat awnings on their campsites. While many of the campers have standing claim to their sites under the city’s rules, the lease does limit the number of auxiliary structures on the site to one in addition to their RV. Pratt said he has tried to address the issue with campers verbally and through a letter, but he said it has had limited impact. In some cases, campers are even removing vegetation, mostly brush, to make room for more improvements to their sites. That brought concern from the council as members noted that the “brush” often provides separation and privacy between the campsites and is not something that campers should be removing without permission.
Pratt suggested a letter from the city advising campers of the provisions of their lease and threatening that they could be asked to leave if they don’t comply.
In other business, Schultz expressed some frustration with the Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board, or EMSRB, which issued a corrective order to the Tower Area Ambulance for minor shortfalls on their on-call roster after a recent inspection. Under state law, services are expected to maintain 100-percent roster coverage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The city maintained 99-percent coverage in June and 94-percent coverage in July, both of which are far better than the coverage levels the service used to maintain. “They’re aware of the staffing issues all around the state and the financial costs of maintaining that 100 percent coverage,” said Schultz. “It’s frustrating that you can be at 99 percent and still get a corrective order the same as if you were at 30 percent.”
He said the inspection had also noted some outdated medications, which were immediately replaced by ambulance staff.
Schultz also noted that it appears that the city had made an inadvertent double payment on money it owed to the ambulance replacement fund from inter-hospital transfers in 2020. The city had been making monthly payments in 2020 but then made a payment in January 2021 for the full 2020 year. The city has been chastised by Greenwood Township officials for more than a year for underpaying a mileage fee to the ambulance replacement fund, but Schultz said it now appears that the city has actually overpaid to the fund by about $1,500, even though the city has been late to make payments in recent months.
Schultz said it’s unclear if the January 2021 payment, which totaled $12,412, was simply made in error or if there was some other reason for the payment. He said he was bringing the matter to the attention of the ambulance commission to see if anyone on that board had a recollection of the reason for the payment.
In other action, the council:
• Heard a brief audit report from city auditor Devin Ceglar, who discussed a change in the accounting rules pertaining to the reporting of lease revenue, which will affect the city since it has considerable lease revenue. Ceglar also noted that the city has a negative $47,770 in its general fund balance, while the state auditor recommends that number should be 35-50 percent of a city’s operating fund revenue, which would amount to $250,000-$350,000 in the case of the city of Tower.
City officials have learned over the years that the fund balances listed on the audit report, however, do not reflect actual cash balances in the city accounts. Setterberg said there’s a disconnect between what the city’s bank statements and its own bookkeeping shows and what appears on the audits.
Ceglar said the city’s decision to open separate bank accounts for its enterprise funds, including the campground and the ambulance service, had improved transparency but has complicated the tracking of funds because the state only recognizes the general fund for reporting purposes.
• Approved a motion to authorize the purchase of a Green Flush bathroom for outside the civic center, with final details to be worked out by the projects committee. Schultz reported that there appears to be sufficient funds remaining from the IRRR project grant to cover the cost of the unit and its installation.
• Heard that work on the train depot roof is set to begin this week. The work was recently awarded to Norse Valley Construction which offered the low bid of $53,500 for the project.
• Approved a motion to establish an ad hoc committee to explore ways to improve the city’s communication with the public. The city had heard feedback at a recent special meeting from two residents who said they felt the city could have done a better job of communicating about a new chicken ordinance.
• Approved a new contract with Nancy Larson for grant writing and management services, totaling 100 hours at $75/hour. Councilors called it a great investment considering the funds that Larson brings into the city each year. “It’s a no-brainer,” said Morin.
• Approved a motion to authorize Schultz to work with the city attorney and Ehlers to seek a solution to the TIF shortfall for infrastructure costs installed ahead of the construction of what was then Golden Horizons assisted living.
• Approved a motion to have Schultz work with the city attorney to determine why one of the city’s tower leases pays only $2,000 a year while the other pays $30,000 with an annual escalator. The current holder of the cheaper tower lease, Midco, is seeking to transfer the lease to K2 Towers, but the new owner is seeking clarification that a current conditional use permit will remain in effect with the new owners.
• Appointed former Mayor Steve Abrahamson to a vacancy on the TEDA board.
• Approved a motion authorizing Schultz to seek bids for propane for the coming heating season.
• Heard from Dave Rose under public input, who indicated that he is interested in constructing a water access remote camping site on property he owns across the river from his Tower RV Resort.