Flute Reed group appoints coordinator

Progress continues on a $540,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant.  The Flute Reed Partnership has appointed Stark Enterprises to be their oversight coordinator for all three projects in the grant.  Dave Stark is the former Cook County water plan coordinator and has extensive experience with rivers in the county.

The Flute Reed board has also voted to appoint Rick Schubert as project facilitator to work with Stark and the other partners to help complete the projects.  Schubert will remain a volunteer.

Contracts are being finalized among the major partners in the projects.  These include the Flute Reed Partnership, the Cook County Highway Dept, Soil and Water Conservation District and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.  Once these are finished a process for further defining the project locations and actual design work can begin.

The Partnership announces an open house event on Thursday, March 17 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hovland Town Hall to learn more about the three projects and talk with the people involved in their design and implementation. This is the first of a series of meetings planned over the next two years to seek input and keep the community informed.