Bob

Anderson

The Falls International Airport terminal construction project has been grounded for now, as it waits for skies to clear for takeoff.

Bob Anderson told The Journal Monday the project’s construction manager, Kraus Anderson, has been working to lower project costs, and has come up with some ideas that will be “helpful.”

“They recommended changing some materials to be used, and they cut the building size down by 10 feet,” Anderson said. “That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it will help.”

Anderson, chairman of the airport commission, said the commission at its January meeting decided to hold off on advertising for bids for the project until December. Better bids would come in at that time, he said, and the extra time allows the project manager and architect a chance to redesign the project.

The 18-month construction period would then start in early 2016 with project completion some time in 2017, Anderson said. Some of the project’s delays can be attributed to an earlier round of bidding in August, when the two bids of $13.9 million and $12.9 million came in higher than the $9.9 million engineer’s estimate.

In the project’s nascent stages, Anderson said he “certainly anticipated” funding to be the biggest part of getting the project off the ground. The delay could affect the project funding coming from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Falls International Airport is entitled to up to $1 million per year from the FAA, Anderson said. The funding comes from taxes on tickets and gas, so it comes from people who use the airport and not the general public, he said.

Because the airport won’t use their FAA funds on a project this year, Anderson said it could be spent on something else. The airport’s fire truck is almost 20 years old, he said, and a new one could cost “around $750,000.”

If another way to spend the funds can’t found, Anderson said the funds could be traded to an airport doing a project this year. The other airport would then send its FAA funding to the Falls International Airport at a later date to pay back the loan.

“There are airports doing projects and need some money right now,” Anderson said. “We can send them our funding and get it back later.”

The FAA has recently designated Koochiching County as a “distressed county,” which Anderson said could pay dividends for funding down the road. Previously, the local match of the $1 million would have to total $100,000. Now, the local match only has to total $50,000.

“It saves us $50,000 now and could be more over the life of the project,” Anderson said. “If we use four years’ of funding on the project, that could save up to $200,000.”

In March, Anderson said the commission will present a more comprehensive update on the project to the International Falls City Council and Koochiching County Board. The airport is jointly owned by the city and county.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith

Minnesota Lt. Governor Tina Smith will join snowmobile enthusiasts from around the state to celebrate all that is snowmobiling this week.

Smith announced this week she will attend the Minnesota United Snowmobilers Association for its Winter Rendezvous, which kicks off Thursday in International Falls.

Smith said she looks forward to attending the 2015 MnUSA Winter Rendezvous Friday, when she is expected to speak to the group and join on a trail ride.

“Minnesotans love the outdoors, and we love winter,” Smith said in a statement to The Journal. “It is part of our heritage. Each year, thousands of Minnesotans enjoy more than 20,000 miles of pristine snowmobile trails – maintained primarily by dedicated volunteers from across the state. Snowmobiling also is major contributor to our economy, supporting 7,000 jobs and adding an estimated $1 billion each year in economic impact... What better place to celebrate Minnesota’s proud winter weather traditions than in the self-proclaimed Icebox of the Nation?”

The Winter Rendezvous is held at a different location around the state each year. The International Voyageurs Snowmobile Club is playing host to the event, which will include participation from the other snowmobile clubs in the area, including Crane Lake, Orr, Kabetogama, Ash River, Northome and Baudette.

Eric Johnson, IVSC Steering Committee co-chair with Mike Heibel, said he was pleased Smith would attend

“We’d much rather have the governor here himself, but she’s the next best thing,” he said.

Having state leaders attend the MnUSA Winter Rendezvous gives northern Minnesota snowmobilers a chance to showcase the winter recreational opportunities here, as well as foster an understanding of the issues in common with other areas and that are unique to Borderland.

“We get a chance to bend their ear and try and get our needs and our wants across to them” said Johnson.

Johnson said Borderland’s state lawmakers, Rep. David Dill and Sen. Tom Bakk, have also been invited, but have not indicated whether they will attend.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commission Tom Landwehr is expected to attend the event and address the group Friday night during a reception at the AmericInn, which will serve as headquarters for the event. Also scheduled to speak at the Friday reception is Voyageurs National Park Superintendent Mike Ward and Craig Halla, Minnesota property manager for Molpus Timberlands Management, said Johnson.

International Falls Mayor Bob Anderson is scheduled to offer a welcome on Thursday evening, when Koochiching County and other city officials are expected to attend.

Johnson encouraged as many local people to attend a gathering at the AmericInn at 9 a.m. Friday when Smith is expected to speak. That will be followed by a VIP Trail Ride, with lunch at the new Kabetogama Community Center, said Johnson.

MnUSA was organized in 1978 to protect, preserve and promote the sport of snowmobiling throughout Minnesota through favorable legislation and programs, said its website.

Nancy Hanson, business coordinator with MnUSA, said the Winter Rendezvous offers members and the board a chance to experience the ride in a new venue each year while at the same time conducting business meetings.

“It’s a celebration of snowmobiling,” she said of the annual gathering. “The main purpose is to share camaraderie with the snowmobiling community and go different places in the state to snowmobile. It promotes the trails and businesses and gets people to travel.”

And while Hanson said she will be attending the Rendezvous, which will be a fun, but working weekend for her.

“I love to snowmobile up there, but I will be working,” she said.

Hanson said she got familiar with Borderland trails in 2013.

“The last time we came up for the Veterans Ride and I came up two weeks later and went snowmobiling,” she said.

This year’s Rendezvous may prompt some MnUSA members to recall what winter is all about.

“This will remind them that even though it’s brown in the southern part of the state, you really can ride somewhere,” she aid. “That’s why we hold it in different parts of the state.”

Brian

McBride

A court petition challenging the timing of an International Falls appointment to the local sewer board has been withdrawn.

Brian McBride filed a petition with District Judge Kurt Marben claiming the city’s appointment did not meet timelines set in the legislation establishing the North Koochiching Area Sanitary Sewer District Board.

McBride had asked to be reappointed to the board as the city’s representative. However, action by International Falls Mayor Bob Anderson and confirmed on a 3-2 council vote in January appointed newcomer Robert Thompson to the board.

Board attorney Joe Boyle said in a letter to Anderson the city did not comply with the appointment process requiring appointment to the board at least 60 days prior to the end of a term.

At a sewer board meeting Monday, McBride continued to preside as chairman, but agreed the appointment met the time requirement after finding out his term does not end until Feb. 28, instead of Dec. 31.

McBride told The Journal Tuesday Anderson and Tim “Chopper” McBride, executive director of the district, met last spring after the mayor asked the terms of board members end Dec. 31 in differing years. The agreement was never brought to the city council or the sewer board, so it was never adopted.

“It is within the enabling legislation and the law, and I respect the law,” Brian McBride said of withdrawing the petition.

City Attorney Steve Shermoen and Anderson agreed Feb. 28 is the end date of McBride’s term. Anderson said he had earlier asked the terms end at the same time each year to allow for appointments and reappointments to be made at the same time. Instead, he said appointments were being made when someone left the board, instead of appointing someone to fill out the vacated term and then appointing someone to start the new term.

Anderson said he was pleased about the conclusion of the issue.

“We will be able to move forward with Robert Thompson serving on the board,” Anderson said. “I think some change is always healthy. It’s difficult, but I believe it is healthy, too.”

Tom Worth was reappointed to the board by the city in January, and Anderson said that term, and the terms of other board members, may need to be adjusted.

“They’re not following good governance out there,” he said of the board. “Of six of the representatives, five (terms) came in different months.”

Shermoen said there was a misunderstanding on the expiration of McBride’s term.

“(McBride) and his brother, Chopper, sent a letter to the mayor in October indicating Tom Worth and Brian’s terms were up the end of December,” Shermoen said. “We assumed that was true, but didn’t check. Once the legal action started and I was preparing legal documents to respond and was digging, and they said it did not expire until Feb. 28.”

McBride has served for six years on the board and continues to maintain he is the most qualified, other than the former sewer treatment supervisor Bob Rapaway, to serve on the board. He cites his board membership and more than 27 years of wastewater experience in the local paper mill.

McBride said he believes city officials accepted the Feb. 28 date because the city could risk the right to make an appointment should the judge get involved.

He encouraged people to view the the KCC-TV recording of Monday’s meeting when it is available “to watch the antics of some people.”

“I believe there is an agenda, but I don’t know what or which way it’s coming from,” McBride said of the appointments to the sewer board. “For some reason which I don’t understand why, I was removed... I am no longer needed and I don’t understand.”

McBride said he’s concerned about the future of the district and the board.

“The mayor and I have never been friends, but always been cordial,” McBride said. “I found you don’t cross the mayor, you don’t get in his way — that’s my opinion.”

He cited other action at Monday’s meeting that worries him, including rescinding a motion made just a month earlier on a 5-3 vote to pay $10,000 to the city to remove the animal holding facility from the district’s property.

Now, he said, the board has moved to ask the city for the money back.

“I have very serious concerns about the way this board is going and the future of North Kooch,” McBride said. “I am not being vindictive, I am just telling what the facts are.”