The International Falls Economic Development Authority Monday set a date for a public hearing regarding a potential project in the multimodal district.
The meeting, at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 11 will be to discuss the proposed aquaponic farm which will be built and operated by Mariner Farms, LLC, in the city’s multimodal district.
The EDA met with the project developers Nov. 18 in a closed meeting to discuss land sale price, as well as other terms for the proposed development. Monday, EDA commissioners reviewed the documents and revealed details about the potential project.
According to the draft agreement, the project would consist of a 10,000-square foot building housing a closed loop, eco-system food production facility employing five to six full-time employees. The project cost is estimated at roughly $1.5 million.
In January, EDA members toured a similar facility in Silver Bay, also run by Mariner Farms. The facility grows produce atop troughs that grow tilapia. The project is designed to show how food can be grown year-round with renewable resources in a closed environment. The produce and fish can be harvested and sold to area restaurants and grocery stores.
The local project would also work as a partnership with Rainy River Community College, EDA Director Shawn Mason said. The partnership would be for students with an interest in biology, botany, environmental science, chemistry and more, Mason said. The facility’s one to two production assistant positions, with salaries of approximately $20,800, would be designed for college students.
Mariner Farms would not have its own shipping trucks, Mason said, and instead would join up with the local distribution route. Produce distributors who serve the area leave with empty trucks and would be able to ship produce from the facility on their way out of town, she said.
The facility will produce 8,000 heads of lettuce every three weeks, Mason said. The tilapia that create the waste nutrients for the plants would mature in nine months, and would be harvested as well.
Mason reported Dave Stewart, owner of Stewart’s Super One, said his store goes through quite a bit of tilapia, as does the County Market store.
“This is the wave of the future for sustainable farming for areas like ours, who traditionally just have a seasonal growing season,” Mason said.
EDA President Gail Rognerud said all the food sold from the facility, in addition to being locally grown, would be classified as organic.
“If you go to the facility you see how it actually works, it’s pretty amazing,” Rognerud said. “And the lettuce is beautiful, it’s not like lettuce we normally have.”
“It’s iceberg lettuce, and I can see, ‘Icebox of the Nation iceberg lettuce,’” EDA Commissioner Paul Eklund said. “That sounds great.”
The produce would also be eligible for exportation to Ontario, Mason said, as it’s grown in a soil-free process. There would be licensing and paperwork involved, but it is an opportunity for distributors to expand their business model, she said.
The facility would be heated with wood chips or briquettes, Mason said, so it would be heated with biomass and not fossil fuels.
The project would require wetland mitigation, and that process takes about a year, Rognerud said.
Attorney Steve Shermoen said by law, if an EDA sells land to a developer, construction on the project needs to begin within 12 months of the sale. This project’s 12-month deadline would begin once wetland mitigation is approved, Shermoen said.
“You’re probably looking at being operational in 2017, I would think,” Shermoen said.
Projects like this one are why the EDA purchased the multimodal district, Eklund said, and the development is good news for the local economy.
“It’s one of the most exciting propositions I’ve heard in a long time,” Eklund said. “It just shows that we can move forward into the future.”
Along with a recent project involving Rainy Lake Oil and Bergstrom Wood Products, EDA Commissioner Pete Kalar said it shows more confidence in the local business community.
“It’s good to see people showing confidence in International Falls,” Kalar said. “We can do something like this, and (they) are willing to come here, and it says a lot for all the hard-working people here.”
In other business, the EDA approved on a 4-1 vote a motion to advertise for an exploratory committee to determine the need for a permanent housing and building committee. EDA Commissioner Bob Anderson voted against the motion.
The committee idea was proposed by EDA Commissioner Cynthia Jaksa, who initially proposed creating a permanent committee similar to the EDA Advisory Board. After discussion, she amended her proposal to the exploratory committee idea.
“To have the time, talent, energy and focus, you almost need a group of people devoted to this like we have an economic advisory board,” Jaksa said.
Eklund said he was curious about the direction the committee would take, as well as its scope. There is also a specific process in place for appointing committee members, he said, which should be followed.
“I’d like to see us follow process, to make sure we’re doing everything transparent,” Eklund said.
The committee would need to be exploratory to gauge interest to form a permanent committee, Kalar said.
The city of International Falls has a housing and redevelopment commission, Anderson said, which would be the first step before creating a new committee. Jaksa said she’s reached out to the commission, and hasn’t had much participation from its members.
The housing issue is vital enough to support having more people involved, Eklund said.
“We really can’t have too many interested folks involved,” Eklund said. “If there’s interest, there’s interest, and we need as much help as we can get.”
International Falls city councilor-elect Brian Briggs, who was in the audience, said if the committee is formed, the EDA needs to spell out its rules and responsibilities, so people knew what it entailes.
“If you’re going to try and get people to sign up, I haven’t heard what they’re signing up for, unless I missed that,” Briggs said.
Anderson voted against the motion, because he said he was confused by what the details of it were. Rogenrud voted for it, and said she was a little confused by it as well.
My mom gets the turkey at the store. We cook it in the oven. We cook it for about 7 minutes and it’s about 7 degrees. I usually pretend to cook my own turkey in my Ariel Princess kitchen. Then we take it out of the oven and I set the table and we eat.
-Cadence
We buy a turkey first. Then we put oil grease in the pan and bake the turkey. We cook it for about 35 minutes. After that we take it out of the oven and check the turkey. It’s a big turkey because we have a lot of people over, like uncles and sisters. My mom and dad cook the turkey and we have mashed potatoes and stuffing. Then we eat the turkey and have dessert.
-Destiny
We shoot the turkey when we hunt. My Grandma puts it in the oven. It cooks for five minutes. After that she takes it out and she cuts it up. Then we eat it. We have broccoli with it.
-Niklas
My Grandma buys the turkey at the grocery store. Then she pokes holes in it so it cools off quicker. Then she puts it in the oven and cooks the turkey. I think it cooks for about 4 hours. We put it on the table to cool. She puts salt and pepper on it. Grandpa cuts it and makes mashed potatoes and gravy to go with it and other Thanksgiving food. After that we eat it! Yum Yum!
-Taylor
My Grandma cooks the turkey on Thanksgiving. I think she stuffs it. I don’t really like stuffing. She seasons it and puts it in a big pan. I think she cooks it for about seven hours at about 100 degrees. She leaves it out too cool. Then she starts serving it.
-Piper
My mom gets a turkey at the store. First you put seasonings on it. Then we put it in the oven. It bakes for about half an hour. We take it out of the oven. We let it cool. After that we put it on our plates to eat. Then we eat. We also have mashed potatoes and corn too.
-Gage
How to make a turkey? You get the turkey at the store. Get a pan. You cook it. We set the oven timer for about an hour. We set the oven at 355 degrees. We play while it cooks. Then we take the turkey out and have gravy and stuffing and eat. My grandma cooks it.
-Logan
We get our turkey at Super One. Both my mom and dad cook. They put a thermometer in it. They put it in a big pan and put it in the oven. It cooks for a half hour. When it cooks they are making stuffing and rice. We make gravy with the juice. When it comes out of the oven we eat it. It tastes wonderful.
-Paxton
My mom cooks the turkey. She cooks it for 700 minutes. I wait for the turkey. We have mashed potatoes and gravy. She stuffs it. We eat it in Freedom.
-Jaydon
My dad brings the turkey to my Grandmas. First she pokes, then she puts it in the oven. She cooks mashed potatoes with it and puts gravy with both of them. It cooks for like an hour and I play with my cousins. Then it comes out of the oven and we eat it.
-Shaylee
First we go to County Market and buy the turkey. We set it on a pan and put it in the oven. We cook it for like an hour or two. It only has stuffing in about half of it. We put salt and pepper on it and we have a family turkey dinner, because our whole family eats it.
-Rhys
Me and my mom go to the store and we get a turkey. Then we take it home and she puts salt on it and puts it on a big plate and sets it in the oven. I don’t know how long she cooks it for. Not very long. Then she stuffs it. Then we eat it.
-Emily
First we put dough on the turkey. Then we make sure the dough is perfect. Then we put it in our oven. It weighs 25 pounds. It cooks for five minutes. Then we start. When it comes out it looks thick and light brown. Last we start eating.
-Ashley
My Grandma gets the turkey. First she washes it. I think sometimes she stuffs it. Then it goes in the oven. I think it stays in the oven for not a long time but not a short time. Next she takes it out. Then Grandma and Grandpa serve it.
-Payten
I think they pluck the turkey first. They cook the turkey for eight minutes. I go to my Grandmas. She puts salt and pepper on it. I think the oven is set for 9 degrees. We eat it when it is done and after that we play games.
-Colby
First we buy our turkey at the store. My mom cooks the turkey. First she cuts it. She puts salt and pepper. She puts it in a big pan. I think it cooks for 700 minutes. The oven is 20 degrees. When the turkey comes out we eat it.
-Caleb
My mom gets the turkey form Super One. First she cuts off the legs. She does not stuff it but we do have stuffing. She puts it in a bowl and then she puts it in the oven. It stay sin the oven for seven minuets. My dad cuts it and then we eat it.
-Dayne
We get our turkey from the store. Grandma gets it ready. She cleans it with a brush. She puts oil on it. She seasons it. She puts it in a pan. It goes in the oven for 10 minutes. She sets the table while it’s cooking. When it comes out she cuts it apart. Then we eat.
-Camden
Ken
Anderson
International Falls’ proposed 2015 budget will see a few minor revisions as it heads toward final adoption next month by the International Falls City Council.
The council met Monday as the Budget and Finance Committee to review a budget presentation planned for a special meeting at 6 p.m. Dec. 1, when public input will be accepted before adopting the final budget and levy.
City Administrator Ken Anderson said Monday the proposed budget and levy are works in progress.
Anderson said the council will consider the public comments offered on the proposed budget and levy and make modifications if necessary prior to final adoption, which could occur at the council’s Dec. 15 meeting. The council may reduce the preliminary levy prior to adopting the final levy, but may not increase it. The final levy must be adopted and certified to the Koochiching County Auditor’s Office by Dec. 29.
The council on a 3-1 vote in a special September session set the 2015 preliminary tax levy at $2.15 million, an increase of $42,188, or 2 percent, over the amount collected this year. At that time, Mayor Bob Anderson voted against the motion, saying he believed a 2-percent increase to be too much. Instead, he said a 1.5 percent increase, which would collect about $31,000 more in 2015 than this year, was appropriate.
The proposed levy represents the first levy increase in three years.
Local government aid to the city has been reduced from 2003 to 2010 by a total of $1.1 million.
Administrator Anderson pointed out the city expects to receive $36,201 more in local government aid in 2015 than it did in 2014.
Toward balancing the budget, the council is expected to make a $204,000 transfer, based on a 2007 water cost analysis, from the city’s water and sewer fund to the general fund to offset water and sewer expenses, and thereby reduce the levy for the general government fund, Anderson said.
In addition, the permanent improvement fund and reserve for capital outlay is expected to be reduced.
Anderson told the council at the conclusion of Monday’s meeting that further revisions must be made to cover a $12,847 levy deficit.
Meanwhile, Anderson said International Falls property owners may not see an increase in 2015 in taxes they pay even with the proposed 2-percent increase in the city levy over 2014.
A $109,000 increase in the city’s tax base should more than offset the levy increase on properties which have had no change in value, providing a slight decrease in the city’s portion of the taxes, he said.
“Even though there is an increase in the levy dollars, the increase is a lesser amount than the growth in the city,” he said.
In discussing the costs of the water and sewer services, councilors noted that residents in 2015 will see the final year of a three-year 5-percent increase in water and sewer rates.
The draft budget and levy worksheet shows the water and sewer fund at $3.1 million in expenditures and $3.6 million in revenues, with a $600,000 transfer. Anderson said the city would pay $1.7 million to the North Koochiching Area Sanitary District for services.
Other city funds discussed Monday included the airport, showing expenditures of $770,651 and revenues of $489,025, with the levy filling a gap of $281,626.
Councilor Cynthia Jaksa asked about how the city could fund its share of costs, estimated at $500,000, of a planned remodeling of the Falls International Airport terminal. Koochiching County, the co-owner of the airport, would also pay that amount toward the project.
Mayor Anderson, who serves as the chairman of the local airport commission, said the funding could be spread over the next four years. He said construction may begin in 2016, but hoped it would start in 2015.
Jaksa said the only way the city will be able to pay for the project is by a property tax increase.
“I don’t want to be confronted with the question and see surprised faces and be forced to pull it out of the general fund,” she said, voicing concern about use of the general fund.
Anderson said the project could borrow and repay the city’s reserves.
Jaksa reiterated support for a sales tax in the city to fund the city’s portion of the airport operations.
And she reiterated her concern that city property owners are being taxed doubly for the airport through city and county taxes.
Ken
Anderson
