28 September 2023
DULUTH City councilors have no shortage of plans for how to redeploy the $3.45 million in proceeds Duluth received following the sale of a business incubator building to Cirrus Aircraft in July.
But they don’t jibe with Mayor Emily Larson’s previous proposal to use that the money be set aside to fund a broadband pilot project in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Arik Forsman, who represents the city at large, noted that while the $3.45 million initially had been parked in a broadband fund, “That was never allocated specifically to fund broadband. We were very clear when that money went in that that was not an endorsement, at least by me, that the money would be spent on that. But it does not in any shape or form reflect on the city broadband discussion.”
Forsman suggested that discussion can and should proceed, nevertheless.
To that point, City Administrator Noah Schuchman said the city continues to work on efforts to bring swifter and more affordable broadband to Duluth. “There’s been no assumption made about whether or not that was a decision the council would approve or agree with necessarily. But that’s certainly one of the resources that we’ve considered for expanding broadband access,” Schuchman said
While Schuchman considers the alternative uses to which the council proposes to direct the building sale proceeds laudable, as well, he said, “What I need to be clear about is that should we then decide to move a broadband plan forward in the future, we will need to keep in mind that these funds are no longer available and will potentially have to look at other funding sources to do something like that.”
Regardless, Schuchman said Duluth likely will need significant state and federal support to move forward with any sort of a citywide broadband system.
Councilors passed a resolution Monday recommending a laundry list of initiatives it wants to support with the proceeds from the recent sale of a building to Cirrus. That list, in descending order of cost, includes:
$834,316 for additional funding of the Duluth Economic Development Authority. $750,000 for capital improvements to city parks. $659,164 for increased firefighter pay. $500,000 for Stepping On Up, an initiative to end homelessness. $200,000 for additional library materials. $200,000 for a pilot project to reduce the city’s use of road salt. $150,000 to enhance encampment and needle cleanup efforts. $146,520 to examine how to improve sidewalk snow removal. $10,000 for children victim services.
Most of the allocations would be of a one-time nature, with a couple of exceptions. The city would need to find another way to support increased firefighter pay on an ongoing basis, either through an additional levy increase in 2025 or by cutting spending elsewhere. And if the city wishes to continue its encampment management and needle pickup efforts, it would need to find a future funding source for that, as well.
The top line item in the proposed funding list goes to support Duluth’s economic development efforts. Forsman noted that the funds were derived from the growth of Cirrus Aircraft, a small but ambitious business that the city recruited from Baraboo, Wisconsin. That company has since grown to be the city’s largest manufacturer.
“This is what economic development does, and this is why, going forward, I think we need to double down on economic development,” he said.
When it comes to addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness, 3rd District Councilor Roz Randorf said she hopes the city’s $500,000 investment in Stepping On Up will be matched dollar-for-dollar by St. Louis County, “so we can provide better resources, better management and we can have safe places for individuals to go. And in the interim, before we get better housing, we have safer encampments that are more coordinated.”
“We need help with this growing health issue,” she said.
Councilor Hannah Alstead said she had advocated for enhanced needle pickup efforts after learning of problems with dirty hypodermics that have littered Chester Park and other public places, interfering with youth programming. She also went to bat for additional children victim support funding.
“This is something I hold very close to my heart, as a survivor. And I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for people like the people today who are working on child abuse initiatives and the mission of stopping child abuse in Duluth and the surrounding region and in the nation, ” Alstead said.
At large Councilor Terese Tomanek praised the city’s efforts to improve sidewalk snow removal, after a recent report from the Duluth Disabilities Commission, highlighting the difficulties uncleared sidewalks posed to many residents in winter.
While the study to be funded this winter is not a solution, Tomanek said: “We are working on a way to make our sidewalks, not just our streets, more accessible for all.”
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