January Thaw
Before I get you caught up on my recent activity, I want to mention that I will be at Skipper’s in L’Anse at 5:30 p.m. this evening for the Baraga County Chamber of Commerce meeting where I will be speaking about Remote Workforce Keweenaw at 6:30 p.m. I will be talking about the history of the initiative, the strategy, and current metrics. If you are a remote worker and don’t have a RWK hat, stop by and see me as I will have a supply on hand!
It has been a very warm January 2023 in the Keweenaw. Watching the weather last night I learned that we have averaged 8 degrees above normal so far this month. We have even had some episodes of rain since my last update. It has been so warm that I learned from my friend Eero that a couple of ice fishing shacks recently went partially through the ice!
Last Monday I got a request for proposals on the street for the township as we are seeking a vendor to rent canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards both at Centennial Park here in Chassell and at the canoe/kayak launch on the Sturgeon River. The deadline for proposals is 3:00 p.m. on February 2nd. You can learn more about this opportunity at this link to the Chassell Township Facebook page.
Dar Gronevelt tipped me off about an immigration attorney working remotely from here in the Keweenaw. We had an opportunity to talk and I hope to have the opportunity to feature him in the future.
I was also able to work in a run out to Halfmoon Beach and back.
On Wednesday I needed to drop the truck off at Keweenaw Automotive, but was able to catch Jeff Ratcliffe’s review of the past year at the Keweenaw Chamber meeting and stayed for 1 Million Cups. I particularly enjoyed the presentation by MTU student Ruby Alhajjar on her water contamination monitoring system.
I attended a Dial Help board meeting over lunch and the Chassell Township Board meeting that evening.
Koray Inal from Baraga Telephone came to township board meeting at my invitation to update the board on their 2023 plan for additional deployment of highspeed broadband to the home. We had helped Baraga Telephone with a letter support early in 2022 for its application seeking a competitive USDA Re-Connect Loan which they were successful in receiving. This $3.3 million loan will help them deploy highspeed broadband to homes in unserved portions of the township. I also reached out to Atlantic Engineering Group to ask them to provide an update to the board on its plan to deploy highspeed broadband to the home to the portion of the township it won in the reverse auction.
The board meeting provided me the opportunity to update our elected officials on the final components we included in our SPARK Grant proposal to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources as well as the RFP released on Monday. Since we did not receive any proposals for the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church site and the adjoining property the township picked up through foreclosure, I gained board approval to extend the deadline for proposals to March 31, 2023. We set the public hearing on the township’s Master Plan for March 2nd from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. The board also approved moving forward with a ballot proposal in May seeking to extend the current one-half mil recreation millage another five years starting in 2024.
On Thursday, the wife of a remote worker (who works in Nevada remotely from the Keweenaw) reached back to me over LinkedIn. I learned that she too has worked remotely for an employer in Nevada.
Julie and I got out for a ski on the MTU Trails on Thursday afternoon. The thawing and re-freezing process made for some rather icy conditions.
The continued warm conditions allowed for the shoulder on US 41 to completely clear from snow and ice which allowed me to pull out my new Kinvara 13’s on Friday the 13th!
Late Saturday afternoon we met up with a big group of our friends at Offshore Fish & Chips in Calumet to grab an early dinner ahead of the premiere of Adam Johnson’s “Copper Dog Film” at the Calumet Theatre. This short film does an awesome job of capturing the spirit of the Keweenaw in winter. The Calumet Theatre was packed and you could not have asked for a better venue.
Sunday we got out for a ski on the MTU Trails with our hiking/skiing group. The conditions were awesome with excellent glide!
Monday morning Brian Waters who is the Chair of the Chassell Township Planning Commission and I met up with Hunter King from the EGLE to review the components of our SPARK Grant proposal requiring permitting by the EGLE. These would include the removal our ice-mangled lakefront boardwalk and fixed boat ramp dock as well as installation of a new waterfront boardwalk on steel pilings with a connecting spur to the trail along the north side of the Bark Park (off-leash dog park) and installation of an adjustable boat ramp dock.
Since Hunter had also been involved with the permitting of the historic trail boardwalk, we had the opportunity to show him the completed boardwalk.
Monday night we had a Chassell Historical Organization Board meeting where I had the opportunity to brief the board on the progress with the interpretive signs for the historic trail. Our Curator Mat Moore has been helping Industrial Graphics with increasing the font on some of the students’ designs. Mat and I stopped by Industrial Graphics on Tuesday and it appears everything is good for production.
On Tuesday afternoon I attended the Keweenaw National Historical Park Advisory Commission meeting by Zoom. I thanked the Commission for its grant support of our recently completed exterior painting and repair of the Heritage Center and briefed them on the recently completed historic trail boardwalk and the progress with the interpretive signs. Tuesday night I attended the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club board meeting. We spent a good deal of our time planning upcoming events including the Barnelopet which is a skiing event for kids on February 12th and the Glide N’ Gorge which is a skiing/eating event on March 4th. I will have more about both of these events in future issues.
Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Would you value living in a place with ubiquitous natural beauty that has NO congestion and lower crime? Consider locating in the Keweenaw! Learn more by visiting Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com and learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorforceKeweenaw.