News

Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota is pleased to be partnering with the Two Harbors Public Library in celebration of the 10th Anniversary observing National Older American Month. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) was established in 2012, bringing together federal policy and programs for older adults that were previously managed in multiple organizations across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ACL was created around the fundamental principle that all people, regardless of age or ability, should be able to live where they choose, with the people they choose, and fully participate in their communities.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website they have no record of songbirds being affected by the current avian influenza strain. They do encourage cleaning bird feeders regularly to protect birds against other infections, like salmonella.

A public hearing held during the Two Harbors City Council meeting this week drew comments both for and against proposed changes to the ordinance governing STRs. A moratorium was placed on new STRs three months ago with the Planning and Zoning Commission working on updating the ordinance ever since.

Cleveland-Cliffs says it plans to shut down its Northshore Mining operations temporarily on May 1. The shut down will affect Babbitt and Silver Bay, and about 500 employees.

Short Term Rentals (STRs). Commissioners conducted a discussion of the many comments they heard at last week’s public hearing about a county proposal to institute a moratorium on new STRs. They expressed appreciation for the congenial tone of the discussion despite opposing opinions. It was brought up that some of the participants seemed to be under the impression that a yearlong moratorium represented a permanent ban, which is not the case. There was general agreement that this is a rapidly expanding industry and the county is trying to determine if regulating the overall numbers of STR is warranted at this time. Some commissioners expressed tentative support for a moratorium; others wondered if it would affect housing in any meaningful way. Everyone expressed support for working closely with the city of Two Harbors; they have been attending those meetings as well. No actions were planned for this meeting but a special workshop was scheduled for May 4 to dive deeper into some of the implications of a moratorium. Environmental Services Director Christine McCarthy, who took part in the discussion, offered to bring forth any requested data to that meeting.