Council wards, polling places won't change in 2022

When the 2020 Census showed an increase of 444 residents in Cloquet, city officials took a look at their own version of redistricting and decided to keep things the way they were.

City administrator Tim Peterson explained to the council members during Tuesday’s meeting that unlike U.S. House District 8 — which is expanding west to include the White Earth and Red Lake nations — Cloquet saw only small changes to the population numbers in the city’s five council wards.

Current population numbers and percentage of average population are listed below:

Ward 1: 2,305 (91.7 percent)

Ward 2: 2,355 (93.7 percent)

Ward 3. 2,614 (104 percent)

Ward 4: 2,591 (103.1 percent)

Ward 5: 2,703 (107.6 percent)

Peterson and city zoning and planning director Al Cottingham spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out how to bring the numbers closer between the different wards.

“If we were to look at trying to average this out [between wards 1 and 5], we’d actually have to make changes to [wards] 2, 3 and 4 to make it happen,” Peterson said. “It becomes quite complicated very very quickly.”

The population density — Ward 5 has large areas of land, with low population — was another consideration, plus the fact that the county commissioner districts follow the ward lines in Cloquet. If Cloquet changed the boundaries of its wards, the county would also have to change the commissioner boundaries, Peterson said.

In the end, they recommended the council stick with the status quo.

“In the end, what we would cause is a whole bunch of people confused about where they are going to vote,” Peterson said.

The current council wards also fall within the redistricting guidelines for the county, which require voting districts or wards to be within 10 percent of the average population, he noted.

The council unanimously passed resolutions to leave the council ward boundaries and polling locations unchanged.

Hotel Solem news

After repeatedly reaching out to the current owners of the former Mexico Lindo, or Hotel Solem, building in downtown Cloquet with no success, city officials finally got a response when they declared the vacant building hazardous late last year. At the same time, they also set a public hearing as another step toward acquisition — “via purchase or condemnation” — of the three-story building at 915 Cloquet Avenue.

An appraisal commissioned by the city put the value of the 102-year-old building at $8,000, due to its deteriorated condition, including a leaky roof that needs replacement, upstairs apartments that are uninhabitable, plus areas of brick on the east wall adjacent to Ninth Street bulging and shifting, and deteriorating mortar.

Community development director Holly Hansen told councilors Tuesday that the building owners, Felipe Mata and descendents of Carlos Villareal, responded, asserting that the building is valued at $213,000, according to the most recent tax statement.

“There’s a lot of space between those numbers,” Hansen said.

Hansen requested the city council allow the city’s Economic Development Authority to take over negotiations with the owners with funds that the EDA is already in charge of. The council unanimously agreed.

The public hearing on the property is set for March 15.

July Fourth is a go

After longtime July Fourth committee coordinator Alyson Leno stepped down earlier this year, city councilors approved a new July Fourth coordinator: the Pine Knot News.

In a letter to the city, the local newspaper noted that editor Jana Peterson is a longtime July Fourth committee member, and advertising director Ivan Hohnstadt coordinated the Spirit Valley Days celebration in Duluth for nearly a decade.

In the letter, Peterson said they would at least keep the event the same as last year — parade, fireworks, car show and basketball tournament — and hoped to bring back the movie in the park in the evening, depending on fundraising, the weather and the pandemic. If fundraising goes very well, they will look at bringing back some afternoon activities at Veterans Park.

“I’m glad somebody stepped up,” Mayor Roger Maki said. “It’s not easy to find someone to do that job.”

In other matters Tuesday, councilors approved the budgeted purchase of a new police vehicle in 2022 (a 2022 Ram 1500), a new electronic messaging sign for construction projects, and a new scoreboard for Mettner Park. Donations will cover the costs of the baseball scoreboard, while the city will cover the costs of its installation. The council also awarded the bid for the waterline extension to Lawrence Road to Northland Constructors of Duluth. Costs will be paid for with sales tax dollars.