County mulls another shift to Cloquet Building

For years, the Sixth Judicial District has wanted more space at the Carlton County Courthouse in Carlton, which houses both the courtrooms and myriad county departments. Lawyer-client conferences happen in public hallways and stairwells, plus the district needs additional space for courtrooms and court administration.

During last week's board of commissioners meeting, county coordinator Dennis Genereau recommended the Community & Family Initiatives Department led by Donna Lekander be moved to the old Cloquet City Hall building that was purchased by the county in early 2019.

The offices of the coordinator and Economic Development Authority are in the process of settling in at the old Cloquet City Hall complex. There's room for more to alleviate the crunch at the courthouse.

"Sixty-five dollars per square foot in renovation costs at the city hall site has created workable space for program needs there," Genereau said during the Nov. 23 meeting. "Building this space in a proposed new jail complex could be as high as five times that amount."

Because of high public use of the department, Genereau reported that it would be better suited with the enhanced security offered at the Cloquet building. The goal is to reduce the intermingling of people using court services and other county services at the courthouse, he said.

Commissioners were mostly agreeable to moving the Initiatives Department to Cloquet.

Commissioner Gary Peterson made a successful motion to bring the issue to the December Committee of the Whole meeting.

In other meeting news:

• CARES Act money, federal payments for pandemic response, made it possible to provide a backup generator for the Public Health and Human Services Department in Cloquet, which will be part of a support plan for refrigeration in a Covid-19 vaccine effort.

• CARES Act money has been approved for nonprofits throughout the county with a maximum of $7,500 per venture, adding up to about $156,000 overall. The list of groups includes the United Way, the county and Moose Lake historical societies, chambers of commerce, and recreational and social initiatives. A complete list is available at the county website with the Nov. 23 meeting agenda.

• The SIP John Deere tractor has been sold to a local resident with no ties to the program for $51,000 after an effort to solicit bids.

• The board approved $4,000 requested by the Courthouse Security Committee for active shooter training, called ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate), for all county employees. The training would cost about $10 per participant.

• County engineer JinYeene Neumann received permission for upgrading a temporary highway maintenance worker to full-time status. She noted that this is the first time in four years that the highway department has been fully staffed.