At Tuesday’s Itasca County Board work session, the commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Jacob Fauchald as the Itasca County Attorney, effective next Tuesday, June 25. The commissioners moved to fill the vacancy in swift fashion after James Austad withdrew his application last week following strong public pushback.
Fauchald was one of the four interviewees who applied to fill former county attorney Matt Adam’s vacancy and the second-highest scorer from the points-based system used by the selection committee in the interview process, which was headed by Itasca County Commissioner Casey Venema and Sheriff Joe Dasovich, along with an attorney from the public.
Fauchald was present for the vote and introduced himself to the county board, saying that his family moved to the area in the mid-90’s, and he considers Grand Rapids home. Fauchald is a 2008 graduate of Grand Rapids High School who has also worked in the Clay County Attorney’s office. He says that he’s a common-sense applicator of the law, who will work to represent everyone in the same equal fashion.
Fauchald also says he has no career ambitions beyond the position he now holds.
“I don’t have motivations beyond this, this is the pinnacle of what I feel can achieve, especially in a community that I’m from,” as he spoke proudly about the opportunity to serve not only the public but to return home to do so.
“I recognize and appreciate that this is a tremendous opportunity,” said Fauchald. “I’m a fair attorney. I’m the right attorney for this job and I’m here at the right time I think.”
Fauchald was appointed with a salary of $140,000.
The county board held a scheduled public hearing Tuesday regarding a rezoning application that was heard before the Planning Commission last week in a contentious vote.
Local entrepreneur Jeff Peterson submitted an application to rezone three parcels along Southwood Road from Rural Residential to Recreation Commercial, with intentions to develop the parcels into a campground or RV park in the future.
One of the three parcels was formerly the Southwood Resort, which no longer exists and the conditional-use license on the parcel has since lapsed, requiring amendments to the zoning map to regain necessary permits to develop and operate.
The zoning amendment was met with strong opposition from a group of neighbors who live on Southwood Road, who objected to both the rezone and any potential future commercial development.
The public hearing was paused and delayed due to dangerous weather, forcing the applicant Peterson to leave the hearing to attend a personal matter, before he had a chance to address the county board, however the commissioners did allow the Southwood neighbors who stayed through the storm to provide testimony and voice their objections.
Similar to last week, many Southwood residents explained the reasons they oppose the amendments, but one in particular took action to do so.
David Eckstein, who owns only one of two Recreation Commercial lots on Southwood Road—the other being Pokegama Electric along Highway 169—presented an application he submitted the same day to rezone his own parcel to Rural Residential, which is what he uses it for. Eckstein purchased the property in 2018 and built a private home for him and his family, unaware of the commercial zoning classification until recently. Eckstein’s parcel was formerly the Birch Cove Resort, which has not been present or operational since 2012, but the zoning classification remained Recreation Commercial, a point made by Peterson. One of Peterson’s three parcels he would rezone to Recreation Commercial is adjacent to Eckstein’s parcel. Eckstein and the neighbors have expressed concern over “Spot Zoning,” an illegal practice in Minnesota, and if Eckstein’s application were to be approved before Peterson’s, it would make things even more difficult for Peterson to move forward, with an argument of “non-conformity.”
Another major point made by the neighbors was their safety.
Southwood Road is a quiet residential road on the southeast side of Pokegama Lake with no shoulder and little infrastructure to support commercial activity, according to the neighbors. Fears of pedestrians walking the narrow road and children playing around increased traffic, was heavily noted.
Because Peterson had to leave during the extreme weather, the board voted to table any decision until he has a chance to address the board and explain his position on why the rezone amendment should be approved. Last week, the Planning Commission failed to recommend an approval to the county board in a 2-2 tie, but the county board has the final authority on the matter. A decision must be made by July 9, or within 60 days of the application. The purpose of the public hearing was strictly on the matter of rezoning, not permitting any future development.
An American Rescue Plan (ARP) request by MN-Fish went before the board on Tuesday. MN-Fish is an organization that represents the anglers in Minnesota, and the only group that represents all anglers, according to the presentation.
The group requested $15,000 they say would stay within Itasca County, if approved and used to bring anglers together in collaboration to educate the community and recruit future anglers in hopes to rebuild something they say has been overlooked by the government for decades. They work to rebuild hatcheries, protect public boat landings, and are bringing together area bait dealers to help solve industry issues.
“Angling has been in Itasca County for 100 years, but we need to keep our foot on the pedal to move it forward,” said the presenter.
The request was approved.
The board discussed a county subordinate service district as a possible future solution to ensure that all communities in Itasca County are covered within an ambulatory service area. North Memorial will be taking over operations for MEDS-1’s service area beginning early next month, but the city of Nashwauk’s ambulance service still needs a plan in place to continue providing the essential service. Recent funds after the state legislative session will provide Nashwauk’s service $160,000 to keep them afloat until something more can be done, but that money does not offer any long-term solution, after several years of operating in the negative.
Mayor of Nashwauk Calvin Saari spoke to the board, saying the city would be willing to relinquish their operating license if a county subordinate service district were to be implemented in the future. He was also adamant that Nashwauk still wants the ambulance service headquartered in the town.
The board voted to have a roadmap developed to help guide future processes.
“It’s a service that can’t be replaced when it’s needed. It’s the only service when it’s needed,” said Itasca County Board Chair John Johnson.
Visit Grand Rapids, who conducts destination marketing outside of the area, presented an update on the work they do to increase tourism.
Megan Christianson presented to the commissioners and says the area is getting a big return on their investment.
She says their marketing budget from 2022 was $275,000 dollars and the economic impact to the area that year was nearly $99 million dollars, second only to St. Louis County within the region.
She did warn that the 2023 numbers could see a downtick in economic revenue this year due to inflation and the warm winter.
Visit Grand Rapids is funded by a Lodging Tax, which they collect from 35 lodging properties in the area.
To view the Itasca County Board meeting in its entirety, it can be found online at watchictv.org/
ICTV is a nonprofit that connects, informs and empowers the community through diverse media. With program topics as wide ranging as government meetings, traffic updates, human interest stories and education, ICTV tells the story of our community.
ICTV is funded by the Grand Rapids Area Cable Commission, the Blandin Foundation, Itasca County, our members, donors and service income.
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