Board weighs sale of county land for housing use
The use of county-owned land to address the area’s ongoing housing needs was on the agenda during the Dec. 3 Board of Commissioners meeting, and will be revisited on Dec. 17. The proposal up for consideration is the sale of a county-owned parcel of land to the HRA. The parcel is the site of a proposed by Hamilton Habitat.
At the Dec. 3 meeting the board discussed the parcel, which is just over 14 acres at the southwest corner of the intersection between the Gunflint Trail and Creechville Road. A portion of the property is classified by the county as wetland. It is within the City of Grand Marais, north of the Cook County Community Center. The project that Hamilton Habitat is developing would build six small single-family homes on the parcel.
Anna Hamilton explained that her organization has the opportunity to seek support from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRR) to help cover infrastructure costs. Hamilton said, “I’m trying to build affordable and it’s hard to do when you’re spending a million dollars on infrastructure and land, if you’re lucky enough to get it.”
While there was support from all of the commissioners for the work that Hamilton Habitat does to build homes to sell to individuals, there was discussion at the Dec. 3 meeting about the use of public land. Commissioner Dave Mills raised the questions both of using school trust lands, and about how the county could get the “most bang for the buck.” He said specifically that he is not against the proposed project, but added, “I also want to express the concern about just the campus idea for our school and community center.”
The Board of Commissioners will discuss the proposed sale again at the meeting on Dec. 17, and are expected to vote on the transfer of ownership at that time. The meeting will take place at 10:30 a.m., a departure from the usual meeting schedule, to take the Christmas holiday into account. Audio of conversation around the proposed sale at the Dec. 3 meeting is below.
Kirsten Wisniewski December 16, 2024
