March 24 RAM Board Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order at 6; 00 pm by President Paul Kess

ROLL CALL OF BOARD MEMBERS: President Paul Kess – present; Vice Pres Jim Fisher – present; Sec/Treas Pat Medure – absent; Charlie Baribeau – present; Bob Berrini – present; John Berklich – present; Ben Denucci – absent; Alternate Ed Bolf – present; Mark Forte – absent; Walt Hautala – absent; Michael Jugovich – present; Bob Larson – present; Stu Lehman – present; Lance Northey – present; Carlene Perfetto – present; Herb Sellars – absent; Mark Skelton – present; Al Stanaway – absent; Deron Stender – present; Kim Stokes – present; Warren Stolp – present; Dave Worshek – present; Ed Zabinski – absent (16 present – 8 absent – quorum established)

Review and approval of agenda: Motion by Deron Stender/second Charlie Baribeau to accept and approve. Motion carried

Approve Minutes of February 24th meeting and the special meeting on March 14th: Motion by Ed Bolf/second by Mark Skelton to approve the minutes as presented for both meetings. Motion carried

Executive Director Report: Director Giorgi provided a review of the “Recharge the Range” event held on Feb 29 that included local community leaders. Nearly 120 participants were at the event which was co-hosted by the IRRRB and RAMS. Director Giorgi believes that the participants had great conversations with recognition by many that more communications within their communities and the region would benefit all involved. Collaboration was also a theme and many embraced that concept. As a result of the meeting the mayors in attendance asked for a meeting so RAMS has coordinated and scheduled a meeting of the Range mayors for later this month. The next phase of the effort will be a community forum with a tentative date set for June 6th. The legislative session is 3 weeks old. Just today the unemployment extension was passed and signed by the Governor. This may be a “do nothing” session with no tax bill, and no transportation bill getting passed. Major differences in philosophies between the House and Senate on these major bills. Bonding and education funding will happen but to a smaller degree with the reduction in the surplus. RAMS will continue to focus on the delegation in the Senate where we have a majority and get all of our priorities moving and passed.
Update on Membership: Check received from Fayal Township, leaving only Clinton and Fall Lake Township as having dues to pay. 46 members, with 44 paid to date. Jim Fisher will follow up with Clinton and Bob Berrini will talk with Fall Lake Township. Director will be meeting with the city of Keewatin in April to discuss RAMS and their potential membership. Lone Pine Township is also a possibility with Ed Bolf to follow up.
Twin Metals issue: A power point presentation on Twin Metals MN was presented with a wealth of information on the project provided. A discussion on how important it is to allow the regulatory agencies to do their jobs and make a scientific and fact based determination on its validity was expressed. Resolutions from all member groups will be the best means of sending a strong message to the Governor that he should reconsider his arbitrary decision to stop the project by denying land leases by the state. Good news on North Shore mining re-opening soon. CEO Goncalves was in Virginia on Wednesday and Mark Skelton commented how positive and uplifting his message was. Cliffs is committed to mining in Minnesota, he knows we do it better than anyone else in the world and we should be proud of how well we do our mining.

Range Mayors Meeting: As a result of the event at the Discovery Center – (Recharge the Range) a meeting of Range Mayors will be held and hosted by RAMS on Wednesday March 30th at noon. Nearly a dozen mayors have committed to being there and we shall see where this leads to in the future.

Legislative Update: Ron Dicklich our lobbyist has been a steady presence at the Capitol since the session opened. Ron works with the Senators more often as they are in the majority and chair the committees that hear the bills and issues of importance to our membership. Ron is concerned that a tax bill is in jeopardy and that will impact our efforts to enhance LGA, as well as minimize the loss of revenue from Taconite to our communities and townships. An update on specific bonding projects and bills was provided. An education bill will be passed but Senator Wiger, who chairs the committee, has cautioned expectations should be lowered with the reduction in the budget surplus. Ron and I will continue to work hard on our issues of increasing the formula, long term deferred maintenance funding and the student support personnel grant bill.

Meeting with Governor Dayton: RAMS is pleased to announce that Governor Dayton has responded to our resolution on Twin Metals MN and our invitation to meet and discuss this project with our board. The Governor will also be meeting with the Ely city council prior to meeting with the RAMS board on April 1st at 4:30 pm at the IRRRB office. Resolutions from member groups asking the Governor to reconsider his position and to allow the regulatory agencies in the state and Federal agencies to do their jobs and make the determination on the viability of this project will be critical to our presentation with the Governor. PLEASE HAVE YOUR BOARD OR COUNCIL PASS A RESOLUTION AND SEND IT TO ME BEFORE APRIL 1ST!! The Director will work with the president and other board members to prepare our presentation and conversation with the Governor. We are not going to bash the Governor, we will thank him for meeting with us, for his support on the unemployment issues as well as other matters, but do want him to not dictate who can and who cannot provide developments in Minnesota.

Approval of Bills: Since Lois was not in the office the usual financial report was not available. A list of expenditures for March were presented. Motion by Jim Fisher/support Kim Stokes to approve the bills. Michael Jugovich question if we were provided a breakdown of services by our lobbyist. It was explained that his contract did not require such a breakdown. The board indicated that may be a requirement in the future contracts with professional service agreements. Motion carried

Auditing Services: Fort Company provided a quote for services for the 2015 audit as well as preparation of tax forms and reports. A quote was requested from Walker, Giroux & Hahne LTD, no response was submitted. Motion by Mark Skelton/second Charlie Baribeau to accept the quote in the amount of $3300 for auditing services by Fort Co was made. Motion carried.

Board Discussion: Appreciation was expressed for the information on Twin Metals. For arranging to meet with Governor Dayton and work being done on behalf of the membership of RAMS.

Reminder to announce and attend the following events:
Cool and Creative Communities
Discovery Center – April 7th 8:30 am – 4:00
RSVP to or 741-7001 by 3/31

NEXT MEETING: APRIL 28TH, 2016 – 6:00 PM – NESC OFFICE BUILDING – MT IRON MN
MEETING ADJOURNED: 7:30 PM