County Board pushes for resolution to Shaw Library quandary

Carlton County Board of Commissioners aim to make a decision in early December on funding the Carlton County Historical Society for budget year 2019 and where to house the Society's future activities.

An architectural firm has offered $50,000 for the building and is willing to commit to a major upgrade to the building, resolving major structural issues. Major water damage occurred in the 2012 Flood and neither the county -- which owns the building -- or CCHS has the money to invest in the property.

The Board decided on this course of action Oct. 22, after the Committee of the Whole had unanimously recommended withholding Society funding for 2019 until a home for the organization was found and an agreement reached on moving costs for the archives.

At the COW meeting Oct. 2, County Coordinator Dennis Genereau reported that a deal had been reached between the CCHS attorney Plowright, but the deal had been turned down by the CCHS Board. Plowright, who had been representing CCHS in a lawsuit against the County Board claiming they had a 5-year lease, was shortly let go by the Society.

Carlton County Historical Society President Kavanaugh announced at the Oct. 22 meeting: "We are confident we will accept the Shaw Building for a dollar and will care for the building for the time being. We will be looking for other options in the near future."

"I don't hear a commitment to keep the building permanently," observed Commissioner Tom Proulx of Cloquet.

"I am afraid we will end up getting the building back and lose the current buyer," said Commissioner Gary Peterson. " I would like to see a financial status report before we take any action to leave the Historical Society residing in the Shaw Building."

Neighbors complain about asphalt plant smoke, odor

In other County Board news, a large delegation of neighbors to the Northland Gravel Pit and Asphalt Plant at the junction of CSAH 4 and 5 came to complain about the heavy asphalt smoke and odor.

"Eighteen families live within ¾ mile of the asphalt plant," explained Dennis Mickle, the spokesman for the group. "Noxious clouds of asphalt smoke have created 3 ½ years of problems. If the smoke is traveling their direction, one out of five days families in the affected area has to leave their home. A change in wind direction, it has been observed, has caused grazing cattle to seek a smokeless area in the pasture."

Zoning and Environmental Administrator Heather Cunningham said their office has been very responsive every time they have received a call from the area.

"This smoke problem is unacceptable," she said. "We are looking for a solution."

She went on, "We have had asphalt plants in several areas of the County and never had this smoke problem before. This is a unique topographical issue. The pit is at a certain elevation and the smoke settles into the surrounding valley."