Getting Up to Speed: Learning about the Chamber of Commerce and Emergency Management

It seems like every week since the election has had a bit of a theme for it.  Next week's theme is going to be travel and family as we are traveling to Wisconsin to visit my brother for the Thanksgiving week.

This week's theme was getting up to speed on a few of the very important organizations that exist in our community:  the Chamber of Commerce and our Emergency Management Services.

The new Councilors and myself were invited and attended the last Chamber meeting, which was incredibly useful to understand what the organization does, what it doesn't do, and how it is able to impact change/economic development in our county.

The Chamber addressed, in just the meeting on the 19th, issues having to do with abuse to young women in our community, training for our local contractors that would help them learn about new energy efficient techniques, how our area businesses can help encourage their employees to be more healthy, and how we can create opportunities for all of our businesses to network and thus benefit from each other's experience.  That list seems to be all over the map, but I believe the Chamber is hitting many of the concerns and needs of our community squarely on the head with its initiatives.

In addition to these initiatives, the Chamber has strong connections to the state and federal governments; they represent our needs for additional funding or assistance to the state legislature and beyond.  An example of their work can be seen down in Lutsen where the water pipeline is being installed.  They are working on many projects, but a few that I wanted to mention to you are:
1. Workforce Housing-- I can't agree more.  We are hoping that the state establishes a fund that can designate grant monies to communities in need of adequate workforce housing.  You can bet that I will be listening closely to every whisper happening on this front.  If there is even a thought that such a fund would be established, the City Council will be preparing to apply and receive this money.
2. Early Childhood Development-- There has been a growing body of research that shows that if you get young children into high quality developmental programming between the ages of 2-5, then the performance gap between sub-poverty level students and middle-class students is dramatically lessened.  Considering that we live in an area with relatively low wages, any programs that support ECD would benefit us greatly.  Also, at present we cannot access the new statewide Early Learning Scholarship program because our land values are high and thus it makes our county look like it is not in need of the program.  The Chamber is working to correct these things.
3. Sunday Liquor Sales-- I just had to put this one in. I guess that this has been a stumbling point for the tourism industry up here where visitors to the area get upset when the liquor store is closed on Sundays... I have mixed feelings about this, but I find it hard to believe that the city wouldn't make a fair amount of money on Sunday sales.  Weigh in on this:  What do you think about Sunday sales?


The other meeting I went to opened up my eyes to understand one of the very interested responsibilities of the mayor.

Did you know that in the case of a natural disaster or some sort of an emergency the MAYOR is the one who makes the declaration?  It was interesting to learn that this first step in the emergency management system is necessary in order to receive ANY relief funding... Well, I won't miss any emergencies, that's for sure!

The Emergency Management training held for elected officials on Thursday hear
kened back to my days on the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department and the Incident Command System used by all of our agencies to manage disasters or emergencies.  We learned the structure of the system and also what our role is in the system.  The Deputy Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management for Minnesota, Joe Kelly, taught all of us that as elected officials we are to provide policy guidance to the people responding to the emergency as well as helping to coordinate the resources over which we preside (city trucks, equipment, etc).  We can use our knowledge of the town and its infrastructure to help them out strategically as well as authorizing actions that need to be taken for the general public safety.  In the case of an emergency I am JUST fine turning over control of the situation to the well-trained and capable hands of our new County Sheriff, Pat, or Jim Wiinanen, our Emergency Management Coordinator.

We also heard from our neighbors to the North as to how the Canadians handle emergencies.  In many ways it is exactly the same as we do, in some ways it is very different.  No matter how you shake it out, we need to know each others' structures and be willing to work with them in the instance of an emergency.

I am registered to take a more in-depth course in March of 2015 that will give me even more specific information having to do with the City's response to and role in an emergency.

Now it is time to head down to North House for the Winterer's Gathering.  You can find me with a bottomless bag of popcorn watching great movies as well as checking out some great camping setups!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  I wish you all a pleasant and nap-inducing Thanksgiving!

Homework on Wednesday: Meeting Updates

This past Wednesday turned out to be a busy day!  I was able to attend three great meetings around town and gather a great deal of useful information for looking to the future.  I will use this post to explain a little about these meetings and the information given at each.  As you can see from the photo, I have a great deal of reading and homework to do to absorb all of the information!

1. Assisted Living in Grand Marais
2. City Council Meeting
3. Violence Prevention Center Meeting

1. The first meeting happened at the hospital...
I was invited to this meeting on Tuesday and was very glad that I attended.  Also at this meeting were the Directors of Community Development and Business Recruitment from the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), the directors of the Senior Center here in Grand Marais, the directors of the hospital and care center here in town, the director of Hill Haven Assisted Housing, representatives of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, board members from Sawtooth Ridges Apartments, Care Partners, North Shore Health Care Foundation, and the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA).

And then I was there too... Representing the newly elected city council.

Needless to say, it was a pretty experience heavy meeting, regardless of if I was counted or not!

The meeting was called to discuss the possibility of bringing a permanent, Medicare and Medicaid certified Assisted Living facility to Grand Marais.

Over the past several years as our residents have aged and transitioned to different seasons of their lives, their living situations have needed to change too.  Some move to the independent living apartments around town, some move in with family, and some leave town altogether.  This final option is not ideal considering that many of these people are the people who helped to build Grand Marais from rock and timber and who would like to live out their days in this community.  Also, it was acknowledged that there is a "care gap" in our community where some not-so-critical patients have a hard time receiving just the care that they need.

These factors caused a few community members to contact representatives of Spectrum Health Services to come and present information about the possibilities of bringing Assisted Living services to Grand Marais.  There was some great conversation had, concerns raised, relief expressed, and at the end of the almost two hour meeting we came up with an action plan for moving forward:
1. Get a market study done to see if Assisted Living IS NEEDED and COULD SURVIVE in our community.  This study will show how many beds of Asssisted Living our Cook County Community could sustain.  It will take into consideration the services that are already being offered so that the presence of Assisted Living would not cause hardship to already existing services and locations as well.  *This study will be owned by the City of Grand Marais (pending the approval of the City Council to proceed), paid for through a grant from the North Shore Health Care Foundation (pending application and acceptance of the grant), and will give us the information necessary to make an educated decision to move forward or not.
2. IF the market study shows that there IS a need for these services and they will compliment (not compete with) care structures already in place in the county, then we proceed to investigate locations and companies that could offer these services.  As a part of this step, the City of Grand Marais would be in conversation with the IRRRB who voiced their feeling that most, if not all of the infrastructure necessary to build an Assisted Living location would be paid for through Community Development money from the IRRRB.

RESULT:  A top of the line, cutting edge Assisted Living facility in our city that cost the City very little to no money and will bring in high rates of property tax.  The benefits of this arrangement look really good on paper, it will be the job of the new city council under advisement of our health care providers in the county to make sure that these benefits translate from paper into real life.
*There are not many details available as to what the Assisted Living facility would look like, but it would be en suite rooms with 24 hour nurse care available, three hot meals a day, and potentially memory care services as well.

2. City Council Meeting.  All of the City Council members were present for the Wednesday meeting included the newly elected members of the council, David Mills and Anton Moody... (I was there as well, but I don't like referring to myself in the third person...).  Although it was a short meeting, some very important items crossed the desk.
A. The City received a $50,000 grant from the Blandin Foundation to continue the process of bidding, securing customer agreements, and finalizing financing for the construction and operation of a district biomass heat plant here in Grand Marais.  Although most of you have probably heard about this project, the idea is to build a heat plant on the edge of town that would provide hot water heat at a stable price to all of the city and county buildings as well as some of the larger business buildings along the Hwy 61 corridor.  The price of this heat would be stable because the fuel for the heat plant would be slash from logging operations in the National Forest.  This grant will allow the continuing research into if and how this would work for the interested parties.
B. Kimber Wralstad from the North Shore Hospital and Care Center requested that the Council sign a letter of support so that they can receive the funding grant for the renovation of the health care campus.  The board voted unanimously to do so!
C. The Council viewed and held a brief discussion regarding the many boards and committees around the city that are going to have vacancies after this year.  There are several ways to get involved.  If you have any interest in getting involved, let me know and I will get you a list of what is available.  I may even put up another post with opportunities after this one!
D. After the meeting, the other newly elected councilors and I received a handsome bundle of minutes for all of the City Council and city department board meetings that we are to review and ask questions about to get ourselves up to speed on what has been happening around town.  I assure you all that we will study this information and will be ready to hit the ground running in January when we are sworn in.

3. Violence Prevention Center Meeting.  After the City Council meeting adjourned, I went to a meeting at the Violence Prevention Center to gather some more information regarding the services that this organization offers to our community.  Coming off of their annual fundraiser/awareness night, Lunafest, there was a lot of good energy in the air.  The VPC offers advocacy resources to anyone who sees themselves as a victim of violence, whether that be domestic violence or sexual violence.  They can help you figure out what is available to you, they will just listen if you just need to tell someone something, or they will listen if you are concerned for someone else's safety.  I was surprised to learn that the VPC handles several hundred instances a year and relieved that they exist in our town.  Their hotline, which is an anonymous way to access their services, is available 24 hours a day and does not cost anything.  It will not get you or anyone else in trouble with the law; it is meant purely as a support mechanism.  Their number is 218-387-1237.

So, as you can see, it was a busy day!  Now, a few days later, after I have finished sorting through all of this information, I am ready for next week and the information that will come to me then as well!

*As always, if you would like to meet with me or share your feelings on a topic, please do so at jay.a.decoux@gmail.com

Thank you!

Nice Article in the Star Tribune about Grand Marais!

It looks like the rest of the state is noticing us again!  The Star Tribune put together a nice article about the recent elections here in Grand Marais.  I think it does a good job of summarizing our hopes and the direction we are looking to take with the City Council.

http://www.startribune.com/local/282035351.html

*As an addendum to this post I want to mention that I sent a message to Mayor Don Ness of Duluth inviting him to come up and join me for a winter swim in the Harbor... Let's see if he takes me up on that!

Election Night: November 4th, 2014
11:00pm

First of all I would like to thank all of the residents of Grand Marais for the votes that I received to officially elect me as the mayor of our town.  I am greatly humbled by the opportunity and honor to fill this position for the city.  Throughout the campaign season I have enjoyed speaking with many of the residents of Grand Marais and seek to continue doing so over the term of my service.  I have a great deal to learn about our community and can only learn that information from you all.  In order to gather this information, I would like to open up my personal email to comments as well as a blog that I am creating to publicly communicate what is going on in the City Council to whomever would like to hear it.  I will attempt to update this blog after every Council meeting so that information about each meeting is readily available to all.  The address for both of these will be listed at the end of this post.  I will also be continuing the tradition of speaking on WTIP after each meeting and will explore possibilities of having updates on Council activities posted to the boreal.org website and the newspaper through a revolving column.  If these are not possible, we will explore other ways to get this information out to the public.

Secondly, I would like to thank the sitting City Council for their service to our community over the past years.  We will be losing Bill Lenz and Bob Spry as well as Jan Sivertson this coming January.  The time and energy that they committed to our city is not only honorable, but deserves our thanks.

Thirdly, but very importantly, I would like to thank Larry "Bear" Carlson for his representation of Grand Marais.  Mr. Carlson has been a public servant for most of his life, whether it be serving the youth of the community as a teacher, or serving the wider community as the Mayor.  Larry has earned our respect and deserves the retirement he now has.  I look forward to turning to Bear for perspective in challenging moments and know that he will share his thoughts.  Thank you very much Bear.

Finally, I thank all of the four candidates for City Council.  It has been a remarkable development to see four motivated, dedicated community members step up to the plate and offer to take a leadership role.  To all four of you I say, "Keep up the good work and maintain that civic attitude!"  To Mr. Benedix and Mr. Dusheck, please remain involved;  I would love to meet with you and discuss your thoughts about our city so that your points of view can still be represented.  To Mr. Mills and Mr. Moody, I am excited to work with you for the next two years to puzzle out the next steps for our city, ways that we can respect who we are and protect what we have while making more opportunity exist in our community.

*The next step for all of the elected members is training.  We will all be attending a training session for civil servants as well as meeting to discuss what has been happening on the city stage so that we can be prepared for our time to serve come January.  Thank you all again and I look forward to serving you all in the upcoming years.

All of the best to you,
Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux

jay.a.decoux@gmail.com
grandmaraismayor.blogspot.com