Residents in southern St. Louis County got to hear a regional update from the mayors of Hermantown, Proctor, and Rice Lake. These local leaders talked about their future goals they have in mind to help improve their respective cities.

Over 18,000 residents live in these three cities, according to the Hermantown Chamber of Commerce. All three mayors spoke at the annual State of the Cities Luncheon hosted by the Hermantown Chamber of Commerce. These elected officials for Hermantown, Proctor, and Rice Lake discussed their future plans for housing, local businesses, and infrastructure.

Hermantown Mayor Wayne Boucher says housing continues to be a high priority for the city and there are already plans in the works.

“We did a housing study where we found that there’s a demand for 2,000 housing units a year in Hermantown. Now I don’t know how long that would last if the demand were met,” Mayor Boucher said. “It certainly shows us that there’s a lot of people that want to live in Hermantown. We just approved a 35-apartment building on a preliminary planned unit development. Someone is looking at about 65 units somewhere else.”

Another objective these mayors are tackling includes growing local businesses within their respective communities. One of the goals is bringing more businesses along interstate 35.  Mayor Chad Ward of Proctor says the city is in talks with local businesses to help provide more housing opportunities for future residents.

“One of our main focuses right now that I-35 corridor is going to be a big expansion for us. Hopefully we can attract some new businesses and new benefits to our residents,” Mayor Ward said. “I know our administrator has sat down with Cirrus and Apex over housing discussions and lack of housing in the area. So she’s been working diligently on housing opportunities.”

Finally, infrastructure is top of mind for Rice Lake Mayor Suzanne Herstad, who says St. Louis County is moving forward with the Rice Lake Road Corridor Project.

“It’s a two-year project and it’ll be about 2028-2029. We’re still in that design stage and so we’ve got a place to go before we get there,” Mayor Herstad said. “Right now we’re trying to pull some community to belong to a corridor study group. We’ll be able to have their active input into that corridor project during that design stage all the way through construction.”

Now what if residents are looking for more of an immediate update? Well, Hermantown Mayor Boucher says there’s a couple of exciting projects in the next couple of months.

“This year we’re celebrating our 50th anniversary as a city on December 31st. I’ve been told Bass Pro Shop is supposed to open May 1st. That will increase our retail sales,” Mayor Boucher said. “Our new Fichtner park is supposed to have the first ball game or the opening ball game on April 17th. It’s a great way to build a community.”