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Area elected officials have set the agenda for an upcoming sit-down with state lawmakers.
The Community Economic Development Joint Powers Board met Nov. 20 and identified eight issues to address when State Sen. Grant Hauschild (D), State Rep. Roger Skraba (R) and other officials convene Dec. 16 at the Grand Ely Lodge.
The event comes in advance of the legislative session and the Joint Powers Board usually assembles a list of priorities for discussion.
A mong the items that will be on the agenda for the event are:
• Continued support for local government aid;
• Emergency medical services/rural ambulance issues;
• Workforce housing;
• State aid for townships;
• Wolf delisting;
• Taxation on social security income;
• The Ely School District’s athletic facilities project; • Lodging tax issues as they relate to Fall Lake Township.
Skraba and Hauschild have committed to attending the event and aides to U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith have been invited.
The group has also invited State Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar, and both area county commissioners Paul McDonald of St. Louis County and Lake County’s Joe Baltich.
A late-year staple on Ely’s calendar, the event known as “the legislative meeting” offers both a sneak peak at what to expect in the ensuing legislative session as well as the priorities and key projects for local governments and entities.
The event usually involves state lawmakers and aides to federal officials, and as many as 40-to-50 people often attend the public gathering, which includes lunch for all invited guests.
Set in advance of upcoming legislative sessions, the meeting gives Ely area officials an opportunity to address concerns and pitch particular projects and issues, both of interest to individual entities and the group as a whole.
Members of the local Joint Powers group, which includes representatives from Ely, Morse and Fall Lake townships, Winton and the Ely School District identified the eight agenda items.
The session will also likely bring representatives of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, and the Range Association of Municipalities and Schools.
About two decades old, the event is an offshoot of meetings convened previously by the Ely Area Community Economic Development Joint Powers Board and the Ely Area Development Association.
While the joint powers group no longer contracts for economic development services, it meets intermittently to address local issues and the legislative meeting remains a focus point for the organization.
The Dec. 16 event begins with lunch at 11:30 a.m., and the meeting will be called to order at noon.
The meeting is open to the public although lunch is limited to invited guests and meeting participants.
