BREITUNG TWP - The search for a new Breitung police chief is down to one, the result of action taken at a special Breitung Town Board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
A committee including Supervisor Chuck Tekautz, Clerk Dianna Sunsdahl, Fire Chief Steve Burgess, and Fire Captain Trevor Banks recently interviewed two applicants for the position.
“They were fairly close but there were extenuating circumstances,” said Tekautz. The interview panel, on a 3-1 vote, recommended on Tuesday that the board move forward with the top candidate.
Tekautz said the finalist, Daniel Reing, works part time as an Eveleth police officer and part time as a special education teacher at ISD 2142. He is also an EMT for Cook Area Ambulance.
Reing served part time as a patrol officer for the Breitung Police Department in 2015-2018. He also worked as a patrol officer for the Warroad and Hibbing police departments.
He is a North Woods High School graduate, and earned a degree at Bemidji State University.
The board will run a background check before making Reing a formal hiring offer.
Short-shifted
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s office covered less than half of the shifts requested by local officials over the past five months, according to activity reports.
Breitung and Tower had jointly requested 55 shifts from the sheriff’s office from March 1 through July 31, but only 24 shifts, 44 percent, were covered. For 239 hours of coverage at $70 per hour the total cost was $16,730.
From March 1 to Aug. 9 (161 days) there were 300 activity reports, 185 in Tower, 114 in Breitung and one in an unknown area. This total includes all calls, not just times they were scheduled for.
Sunsdahl will work with Tower to request more shifts for September, including Labor Day weekend and the weekend of Sept. 17 when there will be a large ATV ride on the Prospectors Trail.
Trails
The board agreed to send a letter of support for a permanent bridge over the Beaver River. The Prospector Trail Alliance requested support to attain a grant from the IRRR. The bridge will connect the local area to Murray Rd. and Babbitt to Ely. There is a temporary bridge in place now.
ARDC is conducting a survey for public input about the future of local trail systems. The Tower Trail Plan Steering Committee is creating a master plan to look at possible ways to connect current trails. The survey will be available online on the Breitung Township website or paper copies are available at the Breitung Town Hall.
The Breitung Board supported a resolution to make application to and accept funds for $162,500 from IRRR Regional Trails Program.
Five registered letters were sent to Breitung residents for blight. Two blight issues have been resolved. Three of the letters were not picked up from the Post Office. The township will ask a St. Louis County Sheriff’s deputy to hand-deliver the letters.