County to discuss Highway 11 gap areas

The Koochiching County Board is scheduled to discuss the Scenic Byways Commission’s recommendation on gap areas on Highway 11 during its meeting Tuesday.
The board meeting is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
The board requested several months ago that the commission insert gaps on Highway 11, which is a scenic byway, that allow development that would otherwise not be allowed on a scenic byway.
The board is scheduled to discuss the gaps during Environmental Services business at 11:20 a.m.
The board is also scheduled to hear Sheriff business at 11:25 a.m., followed by Highway business at 11:35 a.m.
Public comment is scheduled to follow Highway business.
The commissioners are also expected to meet as the Koochiching Development Authority at 10:30 a.m. to approve an agreement with Westinghouse Plasma Corporation.
The agreement with Westinghouse is the fourth and final agreement needed for the feasibility study in the proposed plasma gasification project.
The KDA has already approved agreements with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, engineering firm R.W. Beck and Coronal.
The feasibility study is intended to determine whether to move forward with the proposal to construct a plasma gasification facility, also known as the Renewable Energy Clean Air Project. The facility would use a plasma arc to vaporize about 100 tons of garbage a day from northern Minnesota and possibly Ontario. Gasifying the waste is considered a green solution to a costly concern.