Twin Lakes has a home, sweet home

When building contractor John Riihiluoma stood in front of a cast of township supervisors and personnel on Tuesday, he turned over the keys to the first town hall in Twin Lakes history.

"This is the day we were looking forward to when we started in June," said Riihiluoma, principal partner for Cloquet-based Ray Riihiluoma Inc. construction.

The $1.35 million space sits on 30 acres along Douglas Road, a short drive from the new Carlton County courthouse and jail along County Highway 61.

The 65-by-44-foot Twin Lakes Town Hall is simple, with an office, restrooms, storage space, and a kitchenette built around a meeting hall.

But it means the world to the people of Twin Lakes Township.

"It's a moving deal," supervisor Randy Willie said. "It's a basic building, but it looks very nice."

When Willie joined the board 13 years ago, he was frustrated to learn that important township files and equipment, such as roadway cones and barrels, were stored at various residences across the township.

"It's been talked about for years," Willie said of the new town hall. "We finally decided it was time."

The township has met for the last 30 years at the Carlton fire hall, and held its most recent elections at the county's transportation building along Highway 61.

During the township's October meeting, the board voted unanimously to set the new town hall as the polling site in 2024. For those in attendance, it was a historic day.

"That was super-exciting," deputy clerk Daisy Rose said.

"We felt it was time to have our own space and central location for storage, meetings and for elections," clerk Sue Chapin said. "It's going to make our government run much more smoothly."

Twin Lakes encompasses the areas between Chub and Hay lakes, and has seen sizable home developments along County Road 4 and Jay West Road fill up with new residents in the past decade, Willie said.

With 2,093 residents, Twin Lakes Township features a $90,714 median income, according to the 2020 U.S. Census - a figure that's close to double the cities of Cloquet and Carlton, and more than $22,000 better than the county as a whole.

Using $7 million in state bonding dollars, the township recently completed an $8.3 million waterline project along the Minnesota Highway 210 corridor that helped to facilitate the location of the new jail and courthouse, in addition to replacing some toxic residential wells.

"We're seeing a lot of development happen," Chapin said. "The township continues to grow."

Having a collective place for township residents to call home was something that came up in conversations with residents and at the voting booth, Willie said.

Throughout public meetings, supervisors expected some pushback, even dissent.

"It never did happen," Willie said.

The township set aside money across the last three years to make the project a reality.

Standing inside the new town hall, Willie was humbled.

"We've never had one here before," he said. "I'm very pleased."

And now that township officials hold the keys, they can place orders with companies for tables, chairs and office furniture.

"Until now," Chapin said, "I never had an address where they could ship to."