The Koochiching County Board is scheduled to visit Unorganized Township Road 179 in Ray at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in response to a request by Northwoods Bible Church to vacate the road.
Commissioners reviewed the road vacation request at their Oct. 7 meeting, but agreed to visit the site before deciding on the request. They are expected to decide on the request during the Oct. 21 board meeting.
The church has asked that the road be vacated to allow for use as a parking lot and the proposed location of a new church. The Northwoods Bible Church was destroyed by a fire in June 2007 and the congregation has been meeting in the old Ray church on Minnesota Highway 217. Rather than build on the site of the church that burned, the church is proposing to build on property it owns east of the old Ray church.
Adjoining property owner Joe Jessop has opposed vacating the road because he said it would eliminate access to his property. Jessop owns several lots between the church’s property on Highway 217 and U.S. Highway 53. One of the lots would not have access if the road was vacated, according to Jessop. He uses the road to haul hay bales and railroad ties, he said.
The board is scheduled to meet as the Koochiching Development Authority Board at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the courthouse boardroom. The KDA board is scheduled to review its bylaws and set its 2009 per diem rate during the meeting.
Commissioners will meet again as the county board at 10:55 a.m. The board is expected to request support from state legislators to locate a veterans home in Koochiching County at 11:10 a.m.
The county board is scheduled to meet in committee at 1 p.m. to discuss the 2009 budget with the Environmental Services and Information Systems departments, followed by the county coordinator’s overview of the 2009 budget status at 2 p.m.