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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

City takes possession of old county garage

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 1/17/25

TOWER— The former St. Louis County public works facility here is now the city of Tower’s following the recent closing on the property, which had been in the works for more than a year. …

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City takes possession of old county garage

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TOWER— The former St. Louis County public works facility here is now the city of Tower’s following the recent closing on the property, which had been in the works for more than a year. The facility, purchased for $260,000, provides the city with a 31-acre site, a 3.6-acre parking area, a 4,700-sq. ft. office and maintenance garage, and a 3,500-sq. ft. cold storage building. It also includes a 10,200-sq.ft. salt dome with thousands of yards of salted gravel. The maintenance facility includes a built-in crane and a long list of other equipment which the county left with the building.
City public works foreman Ben Velcheff said the new digs have been a huge improvement for the city’s public works staff, providing an office for the first time along with facilities for repairs and maintenance of equipment.
“We love it,” said Velcheff. “It’s very nice having everything in one spot and not having to go to three different places to look for things.” The public works has, in the past, made use of the small garage at city hall along with three metal buildings located in other parts of the city for various cold storage of equipment and supplies.
The county also left a substantial amount of salted sand in the salt dome for the city to use. “I think we have at least a good 8-10 years’ worth,” said Velcheff.
And with the recent cold snap, Velcheff said he was happy to have an actual office with working heat. In the past, he had taken care of most of his office work while standing at a workbench in the city hall garage, which was rarely warmer than 50 degrees in cold weather.
While the new facility is a huge step up, clerk-treasurer Michael Schultz told the city council at their meeting on Monday that there were improvements that the council might want to consider. He noted that the city could likely obtain grant funding using the $260,000 purchase price as their local match.
Council members appeared to agree and appointed council members Joe Morin and Bob Anderson to work with city hall and public works to determine high priority improvements that might be needed.
In other action on Monday, the council approved its annual appointments and designations, as follows:
• Acting Mayor: Joe Morin
• Airport Commission: Kevin Norby and David Wanless.
• Ambulance Commission: Bob Anderson, Dena Suihkonen.
• Forestry Board: Dave Setterberg, Joe Morin.
• Tower-Breitung Waste Water Board: Dave Setterberg, Dave Wanless.
• Tower Economic Development Authority: Joe Morin, Bob Anderson.
 Planning and Zoning: Joe Morin, Kevin Norby.
• Tower-Soudan Joint Powers Recreation Board, Terri Joki-Martin.
• Lake Vermilion Trail Joint Powers: Dave Wanless, Michael Schultz as alternate.
• City Zoning Administrator, Cliff Koski.
The council also appointed Wanless to serve as the city’s blight officer, after Wanless, who was elected on a write-in effort in November, volunteered for the usually thankless task, which has been vacant for several years. Since moving to town a couple years ago, Wanless said he’s seen some things in town that he’d like to help address.
The council approved a contract with Colosimo, Patchin, Kearney & Brunfelt to continue as legal counsel although Setterberg noted that the firm is currently quite limited in the services it can provide due to retirements.
The council also discussed how to proceed with the selection of a new auditor after its longstanding auditing firm, Walker, Giroux, and Hahne, announced that they would no longer be able to provide those services. Schultz told the council that he’s had little success to date in finding a new auditor, since other firms in the region have indicated they are already at capacity. Schultz asked if one of the council members could assist with the search for a new auditor and Wanless volunteered to help.
In other business, the council:
• Discussed the recent city newsletter, which was sent out with the city’s most recent utility billing. Council members agreed the effort was worthwhile and will try to produce the newsletter on a quarterly basis so it can continue to go out with utility bills. Bob Anderson will work with Schultz to develop ideas for the publication.
• Made no decision on repairs to the 2013 ambulance, which the council is considering as a transfer vehicle. The vehicle is currently at Armory Shell, which has given a quote of $10,996 to get the vehicle roadworthy again. The council suggested obtaining quotes for the work from some other repair shops.
• Approved soliciting quotes for official publishing for 2025.
• Approved a positive performance review for the clerk-treasurer along with a six-percent raise, which was in line with the city’s union staff pay increases for 2025.
• Approved a motion to promote Ben Velcheff to the position of Senior Maintenance Foreman effective Jan. 19.