North Shore News Hour

WTIP has learned that there is a wildfire in the Kawishiwi Ranger District, west of Isabella in Lake County. The fire appears to have started near Gunston Lake, near Slate Lake.

At 4:40 p.m., the fire was estimated to be 15 acres in size.

Firefighting efforts could be hindered by weather conditions—it is currently 84 degrees in that area with winds out of the south, ranging from 5-10 miles per hour, with some gusts up to 20 mph.  

Fire crews are working to halt the fire’s progression, including the visiting Midewin Interagency Hotshot Crew from Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie, in Wilmington, Illinois. 

WTIP is waiting for confirmation and further information from the U.S. Forest Service. We will provide updates as they become available.
 

The 19th annual Minnesota Wildfire Academy was held this week, June 3-7, at Itasca Community College and the University of MN campus in Grand Rapids.  Organizers say about 800 students have been on campus all week for a wide range of courses and hands-on instruction.
 
Participants in the academy come from wide range of agencies that partner in the event of a wildfire—the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Minnesota Fire Chief’s Association, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Conservation Corps of Minnesota.
 
There are also some firefighting personnel from our area. WTIP’s Rhonda Silence checked in with Aaron Mielke, forester and wildland firefighter at the Grand Marais DNR office to learn more about this training event.
 

WTIP Community Radio has been happy over the years to have Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officer Darin Fagerman in the studio to talk about various natural resources matters.
 
We’ve talked to Darin over the years about everything from fishing to youth outdoor safety and from bobcat sightings to "nuisance bears."
 
Darin is retiring at the end of June, so we invited him in to the studio for probably his last interview as a conservation officer to talk a bit about being a North Shore conservation officer.
 

Many North Shore residents and visitors enjoy fishing and boating on the beautiful lakes along the U.S. – Canadian border. There are times that people travel into Ontario from Minnesota…and then return to the United States. This sets off the requirement for a border security check by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, a sometimes-cumbersome process.

There is a new option for small boat travelers, the CBP ROAM application. ROAM stands for reporting offsite arrival mobile app.
According to CBP, ROAM addresses a pressing issue for border waters that depend heavily on tourism and recreation.

Recreationalists from both Ontario and Minnesota travel these border waters with their families to enjoy fishing and other outdoor activities. Crossing the border means a trip to a border patrol station in the area.   

However, to help change all of that, CBP soft-launched the ROAM pilot program in Aug. 2017, at select resorts within the Northwest Angle, Minnesota. The program has been expanded across Minnesota, including here in Cook County.

The CBP ROAM app gives small boaters on border waters the flexibility of reporting their arrival into the U.S. from any location via a device that is capable of 4G/LTE or Wi-Fi.

The CBP ROAM app is available in the Apple and Android stores under CBP ROAM.

ROAM enables boaters to efficiently make entry into the United States via a video conference with CBP officers.

Small boaters can construct a profile within the application and submit their information for a CBP video conference when crossing the U.S. border via water. Travelers can easily save their information within the app to use for future crossings.

Additionally, CBP iPads with the CBP ROAM app loaded onto them are available at three locations on the Gunflint Trail: Poplar Haus, Voyagers Canoe Outfitters, and the Gunflint Lodge.

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence checked in Jared Olafson, Port Director at the border crossing in Warroad, Minnesota to learn more about this new option.
 

At the last meeting of the Grand Marais City Council, on May 29, there was consideration of the city’s agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation regarding responsibilities for maintenance—primarily snow removal—of Highway 61 through the city after the planned road reconstruction is complete.

The city/MnDOT agreement must be approved by the city before MnDOT proceeds with the bid process for the highway reconstruction scheduled for 2020 and 2021.

Attached to the contract was an extensive cost breakdown of the city’s participation in the Highway 61 project.

City Administrator Mike Roth told the council that there had been a language revision regarding snow clearing in parking lanes. Roth said MnDot will continue to be responsible for snow clearing in parking lanes outside of what is deemed the downtown area (such as west of 8th Avenue and the north side of Highway 61 east of Broadway Avenue).

However, how to clear the parking lanes between that area is yet to be determined. Roth told the council that it is difficult to develop a plan for snow removal until that work is needed. Roth said MnDOT is willing to work with the city—and the Cook County Highway Department, which completes snow removal for many of the city’s streets—about just who is going to do what in regards to moving the snow.

To give the agencies flexibility to work that out during the winter season, the following statement was added to the MnDot Cost Share and Maintenance Agreement:

“The actual split of resources, between MnDOT and the City of Grand Marais, needed to complete the snow removal task in the parking lanes can be revisited by either party when a more efficient operation is sought.
“Under any revised operation agreed to by the entities, the total labor and equipment costs for MnDOT will not exceed the value of the loading portion of the snow as outlined noted above.”

WTIP’s Rhonda Silence spoke with City Administrator Mike Roth about the language change, as well as the cost share arrangement, in this interview.

Anyone with more questions about this can contact Administrator Roth at Grand Marais City Hall at 218-387-1848 or by email: [email protected]. And to see related city news stories, click here. 

The last meeting of May for the Grand Marais City Council was one of its longest meetings for quite some time, lasting nearly three hours. WTIP's Rhonda Silence spoke with Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux after the meeting -- click below to hear that conversation. 

Comments on Dark Skies
Five citizens came forward to talk to the council during the public comment period at the start of the meeting on Wednesday, May 29. Three citizens—Denny Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Schultz, and Jean Grover all encouraged the city to take the action to become a designated Dark Sky city. Fitzpatrick and Schultz added their dismay about the lighting at North Shore Health.
Dark Skies came up again during council reports. Councilor Tim Kennedy, who serves on the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC), said community member Bryan Hansel spoke to the PUC about the Dark Sky initiative. The PUC noted that some of the things that need to be done to become a Dark Sky city are not in the purview of the PUC. However, the PUC has been working to be more dark sky compliant. And the PUC voiced support for moving this conversation on to the city council.
City Administrator Mike Roth said this is something that should be addressed as the council takes a look at its ordinances and codes.

There was also discussion about the possibility of Lake Superior Helicopters operating at the August Fisherman’s Picnic. Check out the related WTIP story on that here.

Climate Action Plans
Shane Steele, the city’s Climate Change Coordinator, gave a presentation of the final draft of the city’s Climate Action Plan. He told the council that there were two major changes, the addition of “prioritization” and “implementation.”

Steele said these topics were added based on public feedback that appeared to feel that the plan was too ambitious. He said the long list of tactics now includes prioritization. And, an implementation section details just who will work on the various tactics, for example who would collect energy benchmarking data. Steele said providing that information to consumers can allow them to alter their usage.

There are still questions about the implementation. City Administrator Mike Roth said details such as how the city’s power provider, Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency would interact with the city.

Steele stressed that the plan is for 21 years and there will be significant changes in energy technology, so there are steps to be taken now and others in the future.

Councilor Kelly Swearingen noted that there were 252 responses to the online survey, totaling 67 pages to go through. She said she wasn’t comfortable yet that all of those questions had been answered.

Councilor Craig Schulte agreed and noted that there were responses from 113 Grand Marais Public Utility customers and 119 that were not.  He asked if the plan could consider the feedback from the city public utility users separately. Swearingen agreed that would be helpful.

City Administrator Mike Roth cautioned that councilors should not take the responses as a referendum. He said intent of the survey was to collect ideas on what should be included in the plan.

The council agreed to take a bit more time before approving the final draft. The council agreed to consider again at the June 26 meeting.

Trailer parking concerns
The council continued its discussion of trailers parked in the city’s residential areas. As asked by the city council, City Administrator Mike Roth distributed a draft cease and desist letter that could be sent to property owners.

Roth said in October 2018, the city had identified 22 trailers possibly in violation. The city sent out “friendly reminders” to those property owners, letting them know of the violation. He said many people have complied with the city’s ordinance. There are now 10 properties clearly in violation, with three new properties possibly in violation.

The council debated whether or not to send the letter, noting that there are things not covered in the ordinance. For example, Roth told the council, flatbed trailers and boats are not addressed.

Roth said the closer look at trailers raised the question of just what is deemed “the back yard.”

Roth shared photos of three properties, with one obviously in violation with an overly-crowded driveway and yard. The other two were technically in violation, however due to the arrangement of the lot, the trailers in question were not really in front of the house, but on the side.  Roth said there are gray areas.

He asked the council if it wanted to take some time to develop clear language in the ordinance regarding what is and isn’t allowed.

Councilors Kelly Swearingen and Tim Kennedy nodded and said clear, concise language is needed, especially if the city is going to ask law enforcement to enforce the ordinance.

Councilor Craig Schulte noted that this is a community that has a lot of campers. He said he agreed with the ordinance if there is a nuisance to neighbors, but said the language should be made more clear.

Mayor Arrowsmith DeCoux said if the city is going to choose to enforce the ordinance, it should have something that is enforceable.

Roth proposed that the city address property owners that are clearly in violation, but take this ordinance to the planning commission to draft a new ordinance. He said this is just one of the ordinances identified by the council as it begins its city code update.

City Hall/liquor store redevelopment
Council agreed to table discussion on this, but Councilor Swearingen said she wanted to let the public know this is very preliminary discussion. She said the city asked to hear from the development company to get ideas of what could be done to the site.

She stressed that no decisions had been made; it was more an educational exercise for the council.

Councilor Kennedy agreed that the purpose was to determine whether redevelopment of the site was viable. He said the city learned a lot and a lot more discussion is necessary.

In other business:
* Councilor Schulte, who serves on the Grand Marais Park Board, said Gunflint Hills Golf Course is open and things are going well.

* The council approved an event permit for a First Avenue Block Party on June 8. The council also approved temporary liquor permits for a Legion Beer Tent in Boulder Park on July 4-7 and for the Stars of the North Music Festival.

* Administrator Roth reminded councilors of the need to discuss alternate street parking at a future meeting.

* Finally, the council agreed to take part in a joint government meeting (with the county, school, Grand Portage and North Shore Health) on Tuesday, June 4 at 5:30 p.m. Roth asked the council if it also wanted to meet with the county earlier that day to discuss the city/county joint powers agreements, such as the YMCA and the library. The council agreed to meet at 4 p.m. on June 4, prior to the joint government meeting.
 
Here's WTIP's Rhonda Silence with Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux with more.
 

Emergency radios were busy this week as emergency responders sought to answer the question, "How long does it take to evacuate the cabin owners, lodges and forest visitors of the upper Gunflint Trail?"

The Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department/EMS, in conjunction with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and Dispatch, Emergency Management, Cook County Search & Rescue (SAR), and the U.S. Forest Service led an evacuation exercise at the end of the Gunflint Trail.

With command staff based out of Gunflint Fire Hall No. 3, located next to Seagull Lake, 40 participants visited each residence in the areas surrounding Saganaga and Seagull lakes providing evacuation instructions and education material. The volunteer responders travelled by vehicle, foot and boat.

Responders tested the time it took to cover dozens of the remote roads and neighborhoods, launching boats for water-access only notifications, and testing communication systems and supplies.

The training event was coordinated by GFTVD members. Firefighter Brianna Baumann served as incident commander. Firefighter and Rope Team Rescuer Ruth Baumann was operations chief and Firefighter/EMR/SAR Member Jessica Berg-Collman was communications lead, along with EMT and former EMS Chief Laura Popkes as the safety liaison.

With the exception of a small section of Sag Lake Trail, the crews were able to “evacuate” the entire area in about two hours. And that included a few secondary and time-consuming emergency scenarios.

 “These exercises are vital not only to the local department for training, but a prime opportunity for inter-agency training and communication and to test our incident command systems,” said Sheriff Pat Eliasen. “It's also so beneficial for community members to receive face-to-face contact with local responders, receive evacuation notices and to start thinking about items they need to have ready to go in the event of a real evacuation like medications, ID, important paperwork, etc.”

Sheriff Eliasen added, “Kudos and sincere thanks to Gunflint Trail Fire Department, specifically the ladies who organized and led this complicated operation. Everyone did a fantastic job and I am proud to say, we have some awesome role models here.”
 
A check list for personal emergency/evacuation kits can be found here. 

Next year, the GFTVFD will be focusing on the Gunflint Lake area for its annual drill. 
 
Evacuation orders are issued by the Sheriff’s Office in accordance with the county’s overall Emergency Operations Plan. Cook County has experienced real-life evacuations from this remote area during wildfire events, the last time being the Ham Lake Fire in May 2007.
 

Northlanders have likely noticed a haze hanging over the region, thanks to fires in Northwest Ontario and here on the North Shore.
The U.S. Forest Service conducted several prescribed burns in the Superior National Forest this week, in the Isabella and Finland area, west of Cook County and near the Sawbill Trail in Cook County.

There are more prescribed burns planned for this weekend. The Tofte Ranger District is planning to begin prescribed fire operations on Saturday, June 1, at the Baker Lake burn site, approximately 25 miles northeast of Tofte. The site is directly adjacent to the Baker Lake USFS campground.

The Baker Lake burn unit will total 40 acres.

The Tofte Ranger District is also planning to begin prescribed burning operations Sunday, June 2 at what is called the Satellite site.
This area is located approximately five miles northeast of the town of Isabella .It is 437 acres.

The purpose of these burns are to consume residual post-harvest slash and layers of organic duff to prepare for tree planting.
 
USFS Fire Management Officer Patricia Johnson also shared some information about the Canadian wildfires. Johnson said a fire meteorologist with the Minnesota Fire Center in Grand Rapids predicts that with the northwest flow this weekend, Cook County will continue to see smoke from fires in Alberta through the weekend.

Steve Robertsen of the Forest Service, in the weekly U.S. Forest Service report to WTIP, stressed that all of these prescribed burns will take place “as conditions allow.”

Robertsen tells WTIP, “We’d love to be able to give people lots of advance notice and precise dates on prescribed fires, but it is more important to burn on days when the weather is just right – and nature just isn’t that predictable.”

More information about prescribed fire operations can be found here.
 

Commencement exercises for the Cook County High School Class of 2019 will be held Saturday, June 1 at 3 p.m. in the Pam Taylor Gymnasium at the school. Best wishes to the graduates from WTIP Community Radio!

Members of the CCHS Class of 2019 are: 

Sela Sofia Backstrom*
 
Lance Torbjorn Bartol**
 
Dyami Edward Blackwell
 
Lynden Graham Blomberg*
 
Korey Steven Bockovich
 
Tristen Richard Bockovich
 
Joseph Allen Deschampe, Jr.
 
Jaymee Victoria Dossey*
 
Sophie Grace Eliasen
 
Alyssa Nicole Fenstad
 
Laura Jean Foster
 
Trusen James-Ray Gordon
 
Jayden Robert Grivette
 
Keesha Madeliene Marie Hardy
 
Jack Elliot James Haussner**
 
Luke Joseph Johnson*
 
Andrea Lynn Larsen*
 
Claire Marie LaVigne*
 
Elsa Ione Lunde**
 
Jessica Leigh MacCudden
 
Lupita Josephina Mendivil
 
Timothy Andrew Miller*
 
Kaylee Teresa Pervais
 
Joshua John Prom*
 
Will Carroll Ramberg*
 
Bennjamin Raleigh Rankin
 
Amelia Louise Roth
 
Cameron James Roy
 
Levi Matthew Sheils*
 
Dillon Wade Sjogren
 
Emma Leigh Smith*
 
Connor Thomas Somnis*
 
Cecilia Marie Swader
 
Bennett Will Trepanier
 
Reilly Ardath Wahlers*
 
Skyler Chase Wilson
 
Cami Laurel Esther Wood*
 
Leif Anderson - co-valedictorian
 
Will Surbaugh  - co-valedictorian
 
Jack Peck - salutatorian

* denotes honors graduate
** denotes high honors graduate