Prominent items on last week’s Lake County Board agenda included discussion on a draft proposal concerning Helium mining in the County. Last summer, a Helium deposit, reported to be the largest such deposit on the planet, was discovered near Babbitt. Readers are likely aware that Helium has many important industrial uses including in the production and use of high tech medical equipment. Helium also has uses in the automotive, aerospace and electronic industries. All of this will be a boon for Lake County and will bring much needed revenue to the County, school district and local municipalities. County Administrator Matthew Huddleston has been working on a draft resolution that, when adopted, will help spell out important environmental and taxation issues related to Helium extraction. County officials are supportive of streamlined regulations, fair compensation for mineral rights holders and optimizing tax benefits for the County. Stay tuned for further developments.
Jason DiPiazza of the Lake County Highway Department spoke about the Hawk Hill Road Bridge project. The efforts to temporarily support the bridge have been successful and DiPiazza said that the project to build a new bridge would likely begin in either June or July. Prior to bridge construction, the Highway Department will have to build a temporary bypass road to facilitate residents’ access to the area.
Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar have reintroduced the Thye-Blatnik Bill in the US Senate. This legislation, if passed, would halt a major cut to the revenue source that Cook, Lake and Saint Louis Counties derive from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). In a recent statement, Senator Smith said, “For decades, Thye-Blatnik payments have provided critical funding to northern Minnesota counties that host federal wilderness lands. This bill is necessary to prevent them from facing serious financial hardship. By setting a permanent floor for these payments, my bill ensures these counties have the resources they need for infrastructure, public safety, and other essential services for decades to come.”
Senator Klobuchar added, “Thye-Blatnik payments support law enforcement, firefighters, infrastructure improvements, and search-and-rescue operations within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. These services benefit not only the Minnesotans who live in the area, but also the visitors who travel there from around the state and nation to spend time in the federal forest and wilderness areas.”
According to a publication from Senator Smith’s office, The most recent appraisal of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, done in 2018, suggested that there had been an unbelievable 49 percent decline in property values over a mere decade. The Senators were successful in getting USDA to continue Thye-Blatnik payments at previous appraisal levels while a reappraisal and an appeal process could be conducted. At the same time, Sen. Smith worked with the U.S. Forest Service to come up with a legislative solution, which would ensure that payments to Cook, Lake and Saint Louis counties would remain at or above 2008 levels. Senators Smith and Klobuchar were successful in getting this initiative passed through the Senate last year as a standalone bill, but it ultimately did not pass the House of Representatives. The current iteration of the bill now awaits consideration in the Senate.
The Lake County Board meeting scheduled for March 4th has been canceled due to lack of quorum and will be rescheduled.
