NETT LAKE- Twenty-one months after announcing to band members that they were in discussions with the city of Eveleth to open a new convenience store and gas station there, the Bois Faorte Tribal Council has called off the project after Eveleth city leaders proposed numerous unacceptable changes to their agreement.
Band leaders first publicly announced the project in August 2021, and later gained band member approval through a public meeting and membership vote. The store, which was to be sited near the off-ramp from Hwy. 53 onto Hwy. 37, was envisioned as a state-of-the-art facility with charging stations, propane filling, a car and truck wash, bait store, deli, and convenience store items. A liquor store was another possible addition to the development.
Initially, Eveleth appeared ready to give Bois Forte strong incentives to do the project. In a January 2022 letter from the tribal council to Band members, it was stated that “If we proceed with this project, we would be able to buy the land for $1 and receive much support from the city (i.e. grant monies, site prep, etc.). The project would also result in job creation for Bois Forte Band Members and allow us to venture into what we believe will be a revenue generating business for years to come.”
Discussions moved along at a slow pace, with Eveleth city staff telling their council members in July 2022 that they still had “many questions” about the site design. Last September, the Eveleth council discussed modifying the proposed property sale to give the city a larger remaining parcel of land from the sale big enough to site another business there. The two sides apparently reached an agreement last October when the Eveleth council unanimously approved a letter of intent to sell the property to Bois Forte, but they later amended that letter in February.
And apparently that wasn’t the end of their discussions, as the Eveleth council held closed meetings to “develop or consider offers or counteroffers for the purchase or sale of real or personal property” at its March 7, April 4 and April 18 meetings. The minutes of the April 4 meeting specifically named the property for the Bois Forte venture as the land under discussion, while no specific property was disclosed for the other two closed-door sessions.
Evidently, city leaders decided to back out of their agreement to sell the property to Bois Forte. In a letter to Band members on Monday, Bois Forte Tribal Chair Cathy Chavers said, “the RTC believes that the Band’s and the City’s vision for this project no longer align as the City has proposed several key changes to the structure of the project. Those changes include leasing the land to the Band instead of selling it, imposing stringent restrictions on the Band’s use of the land, and requiring the Band to hand over ownership of the C-Store [convenience store] to the City after the term of the lease with no compensation.”
Chavers said the tribal council voted to exit the project after it became clear that the proposed constraints and increasing costs of the project due to inflation, “would not give the Band the freedom to operate the business successfully.”
It appears the Band notified the city of Eveleth of its decision early last week, as the Eveleth city council had scheduled a special council meeting for Thursday, May 18 to discuss a letter from Bois Forte dated May 9, along with another closed-door session to discuss property.