Senator Grant Hauschild made an appearance before the Two Harbors City Council to talk about the investments that legislators were able to make in the Third District during the last legislative session. Those investments include restoring 26 weeks of unemployment benefits for 410 workers laid off at Northshore Mining, providing gap funding for the Highway 61 construction project ($11 million), relieving construction price inflation for the Lake Superior and Ely school districts ($12.4 million), improving water and sewer utilities in Babbitt and Rice Lake ($4 million) and allocating $300 million to support struggling Nursing Homes and Healthcare centers. Other priorities include tax relief for 85% of Minnesota’s Social Security recipients, and $2.2 billion for Minnesota schools including increased funding for Special Education. In total, working with Representatives Natalie Zelenikar and Roger Skraba, Hauschild stated that communities in the Third District received $131,618,079 in much needed aid.
Hauschild acknowledged a strong, bipartisan working relationship with Zelenikar and Skraba. It is nice to see Democrats and Republicans working together on behalf of all of their constituents regardless of party affiliation. That is, afterall, how our government is supposed to work. One hopes that our elected officials in Washington D.C. can perhaps learn something from the work of our local representatives.
Phil Arnold, of the Two Harbors Housing and Redevelopment Authority, made a request for funds so that HRA can expand their efforts to provide affordable housing in Two Harbors beyond the Bayview Apartments facility. The funds in question originally came from taxes collected by Lake County and were given to the city as seed money so the City HRA could begin to purchase building materials and, under an agreement with the Industrial Arts Program from the Lake Superior School District, could begin the construction of timber framing for use in housing units. There is some confusion in the understanding between city officials and the HRA on how best to use those dollars. City officials would like to try to grow that amount by putting the money in a trust and seeking matching funds from the State, thereby increasing the overall amount that would be available to the HRA. Matthew Johnson, Executive Director of the Lake County HRA was also on hand at the meeting. He agreed to provide money from the County so that the City HRA can move ahead with their arrangement with industrial arts students at the high school. In the meantime, the city and county will work to coordinate their efforts to look at possible ways to fund and build needed housing in the area. Arnold said that though there has been miscommunication and frustration in how best to move forward, Monday night’s meeting has actually opened the door for better collaboration between the county and city when it comes to providing affordable housing.
Tara Solem, District Manager of the Lake County Soil and Water Conservation District, addressed the problem of stormwater sediment and e coli bacteria that is flowing into both Burlington and Agate Bays. Solem has proposed the installation of debris baffle boxes and hydrodynamic separators to filter stormwater before it enters each bay and is suggesting planting native plants, trees and shrubs along Skunk Creek to act as a natural filtration system. She encouraged the Council to sign on to a grant request for this project.
Monday night’s City Council meeting was well attended by area residents. There is a lot going on in Two Harbors and civic engagement is encouraged. The next Council meeting is scheduled for August 28th at 6:00.
