Gerald Tyler had just started discussing an Up North Jobs report on the Ely area economy when he found agreement with the Morse town board.
Tyler was referring to health care issues including the financial problems at the Boundary Waters Care Center and how the nursing home facility is “on the verge of failing every year.”
Supervisor Terry Soderberg said he was in the emergency room at Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital recently. “The ER business is down 30 percent,” said Soderberg.
“And the hospital lost $1.3 million last year,” said Supervisor Bob Berrini.
Tyler said he tried to contact Sen. Amy Klobuchar on these issues. He said he wanted to make elected officials and the public aware of the problems here.
He is hoping to get some of the primary candidate winners to come up to Ely.
He said Up North Jobs has 3,500 members and supporters.
“No one can contend that we don’t live in a city with a sick economy,” said Tyler.
He pointed to the financial problems at the Ely school district that may end up in state management due to fewer students and correspondingly lower revenues.
Tyler said one thing the state government could do would be to address the permitting for new mines and the length of time it takes to get state approval.
He said the white paper includes tourism and natural resources. The document also covers the school district in Ely, health care infrastructure in the Ely area and the possibility to have nuclear energy on the Iron Range.
“It is a strategic opportunity for northern Minnesota,” said Tyler.
He said the state’s 30 plus year moratorium is still in place banning nuclear plants in Minnesota. In the last legislature a bill was passed to fund a study. He said that won’t remove the nuclear ban.
“A small modular reactor could be built where a mine is played out and the infrastructure is already in place,” said Tyler.
Berrini said ambulance calls are down 65 from last year due to the forest fires.
The long-time supervisor said there is a light at the end of the tunnel for school funding locally.
In Morse there are 627 structures homesteaded plus another 150 not being taxed. There are 737 recreation properties. If a referendum is passed this fall, those property owners will have to again pay school taxes, something that changed over 25 years ago.
Berrini said in 2025, Morse paid school taxes of $1,209,704 and in Ely paid $497.280.
Berrini said he believes the referendum will pass since the people who will pay more don’t get to vote.
Tyler said the school only has 482 students and questioned how long the district can continue.
“We need young families with well paying jobs here,” said Tyler.
The board thanked Tyler for bringing this information to the board.
Clerk Nick Wognum went over the primary election and the problem of unorganized voters coming to Morse to vote not knowing that it is now a mail-in precinct.
He said he contacted the county who told him they sent out a letter two weeks before the election, during a time period where the mail was not being delivered due to evacuation orders for the forest fires.
The board approved the hiring of Eric Mattila as a part-time seasonal road maintenance worker.
