The St. Louis County board voted to issue bonds to fund a new public works facility for the Central Iron Range on Tuesday April 15th.

Currently, St. Louis County serves the area from a facility in Hibbing, but this now gives the county the opportunity to build a new facility at a centralized location in Balkan township, that better houses large equipment.

“We’re going to build, we’d sure like to have it right in the area just outside of Chisholm, Balkan and Hibbing,” said St. Louis County 7th District Commissioner Mike Jugovich. “It’s actually a good fit to service the area and it is a large area to service so we’re looking forward to getting this thing up and running.”

The intent is to use the transportation sales tax to finance the repayment of the bonds. The project is set to have a multi-phase construction that is scheduled for completion in 2027.

Also at today’s hearing, the board presented public health achievement awards in recognition of their work to improve the community

“It’s an opportunity to celebrate the greater public health system,” said Amy Westbrook, the Public Health Division Director for St. Louis County. “We get to recognize leaders in our community for their leadership in public health, their collaboration, their advocacy, and their public health influence.”

This year’s honorees included Dr. Jan Baldwin, Christina Trok, Mel Alvar, and Nathan Kesti who focused on issues like perinatal substance use, birth equity, human trafficking and homelessness.