On the Mark: Cromwell mayor lays out path to the future

Our city of Cromwell, nestled along the east-west BNSF rails, has its challenges.

Sandwiched between two lakes that empty west toward the Mississippi, Cromwell's water table is high, creating periodic street and park flooding. Our main street is Minnesota Highway 210, with a single four-way stop sign where north-south Highway 73 intersects. It is in need of serious traffic calming, as trucks and cars of all sizes ignore the 30-mph signs and sometimes glide through the intersection.

Once a thriving cooperative farming community, many Cromwell storefronts have closed. Some were torn down, others remain empty. Serving a sizeable portion of Carlton County, the east end of our main street hosts the Cromwell Medical Clinic, a Northview Bank branch, a post office, the city-owned bar, fire and ambulance services, the old Trolley Café (now our nonprofit food shelf), the Cromwell Self-Serve gas station, and Tracey Goranson's Hair It Is, the oldest surviving business on the strip. West of 73, our Cromwell-Wright school perches on the southwest corner, across from Aardvark Plumbing, the Dollar General, and the Methodist Church.

But under the leadership of Mayor Sharon Zelazny, our energetic Cromwell city council and a staff of two, changes are a coming.

Cromwell has its enduring community assets, among them our sewer water system, our heavily used and versatile pavilion, Kaleb Anderson Memorial Playground, and horse show arena. In an interview last week, Zelazny shared: "I feel we're right at the start of some really good things, and they're substantial."

The city of Cromwell serves many surrounding townships whose residents do not pay city taxes. It has a tightly constrained budget of not much more than $100,000 a year. Sharon and her city council have energetically sought grant money to underwrite desired upgrades for city parks, highways, sidewalks and walking paths.

For Pavilion Park, the city applied for and was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Board of Water and Soil Resources Clean Water Fund to address the drainage problem there. The city was required to conduct a drainage study that cost $4,200. Six clubs and civic organizations donated toward that effort. Melanie Bomier, Carlton County Soil and Water Conservation District water resource technician, helped secure the funding. The city is also also pursuing a DNR grant, partnering with the Cromwell Area Community Club, Kaleb Anderson Memorial Playground group, and the Riverside Drifters Saddle Club to add a picnic pavilion, basketball court, toilets and a riverwalk.

Together with the Big Sandy Lake Watershed group, the city of Cromwell has also applied for a Clean Water Fund grant. The mayor credits Bomier for her expertise on this effort also.

"With that kind of grant, we wouldn't have gotten it if all the groups hadn't worked together," Zelazny said.

On another front, the Highway 210 project, slated to begin in the spring of 2021, will bring street, storm sewer and sidewalk updates. The 210 committee has asked the state for funding to add residential lighting throughout the project. To raise the $400,000 required, Rep. Mike Sundin and Sen. Jason Rarick have introduced a bill in the Minnesota House and Senate. Many area organizations, businesses and residents are mailing letters of support.

The city is working with Cromwell-Wright school to create a multipurpose walking path between the Villa Vista & Cardinal Court assisted living facilities and apartments and the four-way stop at the junction of Highways 210 and 73. After not receiving a Safe Routes to School grant last year, the city and school are working together to go after federal transportation aid funding for the project.

Mayor Zelazny's smarts and her willingness to show up and build bridges have paid dividends. "I am finding strong support when I ask people for things," she said. "That's why we turn to others for help with grant proposals."

Cognizant of the tax burdens already borne by city and township residents, she and her council are committed to providing tax relief whenever possible.

And the future? The mayor's wishlist includes addressing the old and empty buildings in town, as well as the perennial challenges of clean water and runoff.

I've always respected public servants and politicians, especially local ones who work hard and produce results, and who often have to field complaints and/or suffer indifference or opposition at the ballot box. The Cromwell area is lucky to have such a forward-looking and realistic mayor. Thank you, Mayor Zelazny.

Ann Markusen is an economist and professor emerita at University of Minnesota. She lives in Clover Township north of Cromwell.with her husband, Rod Walli.