After six months of consideration, Paul Nevanen was appointed to the at-large position on the local airport commission for the remainder of the year.
Action by the Koochiching County Board Tuesday said that Nevanen will serve in the position on an interim basis while the airport commission’s bylaws are reviewed before making a permanent appointment. The commission governs operations of the Falls International Airport, which is jointly owned by International Falls and Koochiching County.
“We’ve had a lot of discussion on this,” said Commissioner Brian McBride. “I’m just going to move forward and approve the city’s appointment of Mr. Nevanen.”
In January discussions began on filling the at-large seat on the airport commission, made up of International Falls and Koochiching County representatives, which was vacated in 2012 by Falls Mayor Bob Anderson, who now represents the city on the commission.
Nevanen, who serves as director of the Koochiching Economic Development Authority, was approved on a 3-2 vote by the Falls council in January to serve as at-large member of the commission. However, before the appointment was official, it needed approval from the county board.
“I’m just concerned about the potential appointment,” Commissioner Rob Ecklund said Tuesday. “Mr. Nevanen is qualified to sit as a board member, but with KEDA so tied up cold weather testing stuff going on out there, I don’t know if it’s a good fit.”
Ecklund’s concerns echoed those the county board has had since the issue was brought to the table six months ago. It has since been tabled more than once.
“The fifth member of the airport commission has historically been a citizen not involved with government,” Commissioner Wade Pavleck said.
He added that while Nevanen, who was not at Tuesday’s meeting, should be at airport meetings as part of economic development, he should “not be setting policies.”
Pavleck said the selection process of the at-large member needed to be reviewed in the bylaws.
“I have no problem with the city making the recommendation, but based on what?” he asked. “I would rather see a temporary appointment and give us time to review (the bylaws). I’d like to see someone from outside the city have some representation.”
McBride said the reason he brought the motion to the table Tuesday was to move forward “one way or another.”
“I would just like to get it moving forward by sending it back to the city or appointing Mr. Nevanen,” he said.
In other action Tuesday, the board agreed to conduct a public hearing on an easement to straighten a road on the plat of Raven Wood.
After a request from property owners of Raven Wood, which is located off County Road 137, the county Highway Department submitted an easement application to the Department of Natural Resources which came back with a resolution approving the easement in the amount of $2,900, according to county Engineer Joe Sutherland.
“If we send them the payment of the easement, we want to be sure we include some minor language what the easement covers,” Sutherland said.
In October of 2011, a representative from Raven Wood, which consists of 13 properties, submitted a request to the board to acquire an easement from the DNR for state school trust land to allow their community development access road to be straightened out due to unsafe conditions.
“That road was built wrong to begin with,” Ecklund said Tuesday. “Our highway staff should have been consulted or we wouldn’t be going through this in the first place. It is a private road off our county road.”
The road has a steep hill with a corner that has caused several accidents in winter seasons. Concerns that medical care would not be able to access elderly citizens on the road was also addressed in the 2011 request.
Property owners have pooled money to reroute the road to make it safer, but it was discovered that an easement on school trust land was required.
“The safety of that road is the issue,” Pavleck said. “If we are going to have any kind of meeting, I would like to invite some consultants from the project.”
Commissioners were concerned about pumping public dollars into a private road, but Pavleck said the homeowners are willing to pay the cost.
“We’ve got a lot of tax base in there and extreme safety issues,” he said.
An exact meeting date to include the property owners has not been set.
In other business Tuesday, the board agreed to seek an assistant highway engineer when the position is vacated June 14. Will Hoyt, current assistant highway engineer, submitted his letter of resignation last week.
