County hears update on Lutsen Mountains expansion plans

There was a meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, March 20. The meeting took place in the committee of the whole format.

The bulk of the meeting focused on expansion plans for Lutsen Mountains and national forest land surrounding the local ski resort.

Lutsen Mountains Co-Owner Charles Skinner shared an overview of the proposed expansion of the local businesses and ski resort. 

Skinner said the expansion will increase the capacity of ski runs, with the proposed expansion of both Eagle and Moose Mountains. In addition, the expansion allows the capitalization of the increasing cost of equipment to meet visitor expectations and keep pace with the market, Skinner explained. 

Bill Lane, who works for the Cook County Land Services Department, spoke against the proposed Lutsen Mountains Ski Area expansion, citing concerns for dark skies, quiet and water quality.

Cook County resident Donna Lunke had a series of questions for Skinner about the project, including where additional staff for the expanded resort would live, and where the employees would come from.

Skinner said his ultimate goal would be to have a collection of full-time jobs at the resort, one that would provide living wages for a variety of workers in Cook County. This led to a conversation between Lunke and Skinner about what is the definition of a living wage in Cook County. 

County Administrator Jeff Cadwell stepped into that conversation, noting that it was not the main objective of Tuesday’s presentation by Lutsen Mountains.

Near the end of Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Jan Sivertson said expanding the resort is an example of a private businesses doing good work to improve the regional economy.

WTIP's Joe Friedrichs reports on this story in the audio posted below.