City Council: Bike trail extension fund keeps growing

Cloquet citizen Tim Krohn was on hand again Tuesday to accept another donation for the extension of the Pine Valley mountain bike trail.

The donor this time was Minnesota Power. Chris Rousseau, Carlton grad and Minnesota Power manager of renewable operations, was there with a giant check for $2,500 for the trail.

Cloquet Public Works director Caleb Peterson explained to the council that the original budget for the trail extension was $125,000. Krohn and other Pine Valley volunteers first applied for and got a 50 percent matching grant for $62,500 from the Lake Superior Coastal Zone. That was just the beginning - more grants, donations and funds from events like the Lost Forester race - have added up and now the city is expecting to have to cover less than $15,000 of the costs for another 2.5 miles of trail.

Construction on the final leg of the mountain bike trail is scheduled to start in late spring or early summer.

"The master plan said 5 miles and that's my goal," Krohn said. He added the next bike-and-run event is scheduled for May 9 at Pine Valley and encouraged councilors and many others to participate.

"We're happy to be a part of the project," Rousseau said, adding that he has known and worked with Krohn for years on past projects. "I know you'll do a great job with that project."

Krohn is also working on an application to have Pine Valley designated as a regional park.

In addition to the relatively new mountain bike trail at Pine Valley - which is used in the winter by snowshoers and hikers - the woodland park in Cloquet is also home to two permanent ski jumps, and 5.5K of trails used by Nordic skiers in the winter and runners, bikers and walkers in the warmer months.

A regional designation for the park would increase funding opportunities for the park and maybe help with the city's plans to ask the state legislature to allow a local vote on a half-cent sales tax to help fund improvements at Pine Valley park and the hockey shelters, Krohn said.

Tobacco law

Anyone under the age of 21 can no longer legally purchase tobacco products inside the Cloquet City limits after Cloquet City Councilors approved a change to City Code, but the age limit has actually been in effect since Dec. 20, 2019.

That's the date that President Donald Trump signed into law a bill passed by the Congress that raised the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. That law went into effect immediately after Trump signed it, Cloquet City Administrator Tim Peterson explained to councilors Tuesday, but the council's action will bring the city into compliance with federal law.

Peterson said the change to city code does not include the additional provisions - for example, banning flavored tobacco products - that county commissioners passed in December but said they may revise before it takes effect.

"That would be a different discussion," Peterson said, explaining that all the businesses selling tobacco products are already complying with the federal law, but the city will send out letters about the local code change this week.

Free home safety visits

In other matters during a very short and uneventful council meeting, Mayor Roger Maki encouraged Cloquet residents to call the Cloquet Area Fire District to get smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, a program he recently utilized and was very happy with, especially because the firefighters installed all the devices right there and then.

To ask for a home safety visit, fill out a request form at Cloquet areafiredistrict.com/community _programs/home_safety_visits.htm or call the fire district at 218-499-4258 and ask for Sarah Buhs. Radon test kits and stovetop fire extinguishers are also available upon request.

According to the CAFD website, the district partnered with the American Red Cross, the Minnesota State Fire Chiefs Association and the Minnesota Department of Health along with the Bush Foundation, Minnesota Power, KwikTrip, Sappi and USG to help fund the program.