Councilors say Boise officials make offer for Burner Road vacation
International Falls City Council will consider issues involved in a proposal to vacate the Burner Road portion of Minnesota Highway 332 in exchange for right-of-way easements for a road to a Foreign Trade Zone east of the city and easements for utilities to waterfront property planned for development.
Falls Councilors Gail Rognerud and Tim “Chopper” McBride Monday reported that Boise Inc. representatives who met with city officials last week indicated that they continue to want the city to vacate the Burner Road for safety and efficiency purposes.
In exchange for the vacation, Terry Ward, Boise plant manager, and Bob Anderson, public affairs manager, indicated the company is willing to provide right-of-way easement for utilities to the property along Rainy River.
Rognerud and McBride noted that the company officials say the company has no official position on a proposal to reroute the northern entrance of Highway 332 one mile east of its current location, as planned by Koochiching County.
City Attorney Joe Boyle said he will explore legal issues about the proposal, including whether the value of the Burner Road would equal the compensation offered by Boise.
The council earlier agreed to vacate the Burner Road, as requested by Anderson, but only if the Highway 332 reroute would lead to the FTZ, located east of Ranier.
An FTZ is a geographic area that is considered outside the territory of U.S. Customs and can be used by companies that deal internationally to store foreign or domestic goods, repackage materials, assemble products, manufacture or re-export goods with reduced or no Customs duties. Merchandise can be held indefinitely within an FTZ without any payment of Customs duty.
Koochiching County officials have rejected the city’s idea to reroute Highway 332 to the FTZ, saying it would cost more money than the existing plan and may not be funded by the state to the level the existing plan has been. In addition, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has said it would not approve a road to the FTZ as Highway 332.
But councilors said MnDOT has rejected local ideas to solve transportation concern that have come to fruition. McBride pointed at improvements made over the past years to U.S. Highway 53 and to traffic light placement within the city.
And, Rognerud noted, she believed that MnDOT may be persuaded to allow a road to the FTZ to be designated Highway 332 if all parties, including county officials, supported the city’s plan.
“It is the city’s intent to make a road to the FTZ Highway 332,” reiterated McBride.
Mason also reiterated her vision of creating a successful FTZ, which she said can only happen with the right infrastructure. Why would a company invest in our community, if the community isn’t willing to invest in itself, she asked.
She noted that it’s important to help strengthen the wood products industry while at the same time to diversify the economy. With the second busiest rail port of entry in Ranier, the FTZ and a highway to it could help that diversification, she said.
Meanwhile, City Administrator Rod Otterness will represent the city at a Minnesota Dispute Resolution Board hearing in the Twin Cities Friday. The hearing was initiated by county officials after the city took no action on a request to change designation of state aid highway miles to allow the reroute of Highway 332 to move forward.
Otterness pointed to a report by the city’s engineering consultant, Widseth, Smith, Nolting which noted that the county has indicated it is aware of potential safety issues on two key intersections, but have not estimated costs of alleviating those issues.
International Falls council news notes
• The Falls City Council Monday approved a commercial loan of up to $15,000 to Reuben and Peggy White doing business as Whites Rental Service. The loan will be at a 30-year amortization, 3-percent interest rate with a 5-year balloon payment. Collateral shall be a mortgage on the real estate to be improved by the proceeds of the loan.
• The council agreed to retain DSGW Architects Inc., Virginia, and to provide $67,276 for architect design services for the proposed Voyageurs National Park headquarter development on city property between Highway 11 East and Rainy River.
• The council was notified that the city and Littlefork have been approved for a $395,600 Minnesota Small Cities Development Program grant. The money will be used to rehabilitated 16-owner-occupied housing units in the two cities.
• The council referred to committee a request by the Koochiching County for input into a draft development ordinance. The ordinance contains zoning, shoreland, wetland, subdivision and individual sewage treatment systems ordinances. It will replaced the existing 1975 zoning ordinance, the subdivision ordinance, the shoreland ordinance, and three river ordinances, the wetland flexibility ordinance and add a new sewage treatment ordinance.