For Immediate Release – June 9, 2021

City Asks for Day of Water Conservation

Hermantown, Minn. – The City of Hermantown’s Public Works Director has asked residents to conserve water usage for Thursday, June 10. This request aligns with work being performed by the City of Duluth on the water main that delivers all of Hermantown’s water.

Work being performed by the City of Duluth is routine, but the combination of high temperatures and extra caution has Hermantown officials requesting a day delay on lawn watering or other large-scale water uses.

“This is an extra precautionary step should there be any delays in the work being performed by Duluth,” said Paul Senst, Hermantown’s Director of Public Works. “We are fully confident that their work will be done quickly, but it is always worth additional precautions when the weather is this hot.”

There are no expected delays in water service for any residents related to this work, as public works staff were able to fill both of Hermantown’s water towers. The maintenance work being performed by the City of Duluth is slated to be completed on the same day it begins – Thursday, June 10.

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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications & Community Relations Manager, City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.

The City of Hermantown is creating a Broadband Task Force to inventory existing broadband infrastructure and existing broadband providers in Hermantown, identify areas within the City of Hermantown that are underserved or unserved by broadband, and create a strategy for providing broadband service to underserved and unserved areas.

The Task Force will feature six individuals who live in the City of Hermantown, plus a member of the City Council, and will serve until December 31, 2024. The Commission will make recommendations to the City Council about strategies to provide broadband service to underserved and unserved areas. The Task Force, with approval from the City Council, may apply and accept grants to perform its duties. Once established, the Task Force will create its own meeting schedule, which may involve monthly meetings or on an as-needed basis. 

If you are interested in volunteering on this commission, please contact Bonnie Engseth, Hermantown City Clerk, at 218-729-3600 or submit a commission application found on the City’s website.

/government/boards-commissions/board-commission-openings/

All interested parties will be expected to complete and submit the application and will then be considered for appointment by the City Council.

For Immediate Release – May 11, 2021

City Opens Annual Community Survey

Click here to access the Community Survey.

Hermantown, Minn. – Hermantown has opened its annual community survey in order to garner feedback on an array of services provided in the city.

The 19-question survey focuses on several areas, including safety, fire protection and overall appearance, as well as specifically targeting roads, snow plowing services, water and sewer, and other services.

“This is a great opportunity for residents to give us feedback on a host of services that impact their lives and experiences in Hermantown,” said Joe Wicklund, the City’s Communication and Community Engagement Director. “These performance measures help drive where we focus attention and improvement in order to best serve those residents and build our community.”

The survey, which went live on Tuesday, May 11, is available until Thursday, June 10. The online tool can be found at the following website: www.surveymonkey.com/r/Hermantown2021.

For Immediate Release – May 10, 2021

Hermantown’s Lavaque Junction Closes for Construction

Hermantown, Minn. – Lavaque Junction will close to through traffic for several months as the road is reconstructed as part of Hermantown’s multi-year road improvement plan.

While preliminary construction work has already taken place on the road, the project begins in full on Monday, May 10. Residents of this historic Hermantown road, featuring many of the City’s Jackson Project homes, will have continued access to their home during construction, but the road will no longer be passable from Lavaque Road through to Ugstad Road.

Public information meetings regarding the project will be held weekly at 9 a.m. on Tuesdays, beginning on May 18. Additional information regarding the Lavaque Junction and other road improvement projects can be found at the dedicated website; www.hermantownmn.com/roads.

As an integral portion of a large-scale financial management plan passed in March of 2019, Hermantown’s road improvement plan allows for the updating of roadways across the entire community over the next several years. Road projects set for 2021 include not only Lavaque Junction, but also Swan Lake Road and Sundby Road.

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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications & Community Relations Manager, City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.

For Immediate Release – May 5, 2021

Keene Creek Park to Experience Temporary Construction Closures

Hermantown, Minn. – Two different areas in and around Keene Creek Park will be closed to the public during construction projects in the coming weeks.

The first project, slated to begin on Wednesday, May 5, is the construction of a portion of Hermantown’s city-wide accessible trail. This will close an area running from the parking lot in Keene Creek park north past the baseball field. This area is expected to be closed from May 5 through July 1.

The second project is a restoration of Keene Creek due to damage caused in the 2012 flood. This project will reinforce and reshape the banks of the creek and is being performed by South St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Originally slated to be done in 2020, the work was delayed due to the COVID-19 health pandemic. Work is slated to begin in the area south of the Keene Creek Park parking lot in mid-May and be completed by July 1.

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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications Director, City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.

For Immediate Release – May 4, 2021

Trio of New Police Officers Sworn in for Hermantown Police Department

Jon Pernu recognized with promotion to Sergeant

Hermantown, Minn. – The Hermantown Police Department swore in three new officers Monday, May 3, and promoted Jon Pernu to Sergeant.

Officers Olivia Gottschald and Jonathan Stracek joined the HPD in 2020, but limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic postponed their swearing in ceremony. The pair of first-time officers were sworn in alongside newly-hired Andrew Leibel, who joined the HPD from the Proctor Police Department.

“Police officers are, for many people, the most visible form of local government, and because of that we need to ensure that we attract and retain the very best people,” said Jim Crace, Hermantown’s Chief of Police. “Our department has worked hard to build a reputation of honesty, care, dependability, and integrity. This all begins with hiring the right people to join our department, and we know we are adding three great people of solid character to serve the City of Hermantown.”

Judge Dale Harris performed the oath of office for Hermantown’s new police officers.

Pernu, who serves as one of Hermantown’s two K-9 handlers, has been a member of the Hermantown Police Department for more than eight years. Pernu’s promotion aligns with the upcoming retirement of Sergeant Bill Marsolek, who has been a member of the HPD for nearly three decades.

The trio of newcomers, paired with Marsolek’s pending retirement, brings the total number of officers in the HPD to 16, as well as a pair of K-9 officers.

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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications Director, City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.

For Immediate Release – January 29, 2021

Community Survey Released for Recreation Initiative

Hermantown, Minn. – The City of Hermantown has released a survey to garner community-wide input on a possible recreation initiative. The initiative’s three components would be funded, in part, through a half percent (.5%) increase in the City’s sales tax pending legislative approval and voter approval in a 2022 referendum.

The survey is found on the City’s website at www.hermantownmn.com/recreation-initiative and will be available through March 1.

The three components of the recreation initiative include the completion of the city-wide, accessible trail system, the re-imagining of Fichtner Park, and an addition to the existing hockey arena to provide another indoor sheet of ice.

The trail system would cross Hermantown from the schools and Essentia Wellness Center, through Stebner Park, along the new trunk sewer and eventually through Keene Creek Park and beyond. Fichtner Park would be enhanced to include a new configuration for the baseball and softball fields, potential turf for those fields, improved basketball and skatepark facilities, as well as greater accessibility and parking. The new arena addition would include an additional sheet of ice, allowing greater access for skaters of all ages, as demand outweighs supply at the current arena. Upgrades to accessibility, parking, and the outdoor rinks would also be included.

The belief is that the projects composing the initiative would help improve our region’s health outcomes and have a positive economic impact. In 2019, St. Louis County ranked in the bottom 15 percent of Minnesota counties for health outcomes.

The survey is an early step in a lengthy process to determine the desire of the community, as well as the feasibility of utilizing the sales tax increase as funding. Hermantown’s City Council recently passed a resolution to request state legislative approval to add the sales tax question to the 2022 ballot. Whether or not that permission is granted by the state legislature will not be known until later in 2021. The City passed a similar resolution in early 2020, but no decision was made by state lawmakers as the focus shifted to the COVID-19 global health pandemic.

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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications Director, City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.

For Immediate Release – January 20, 2021

Hermantown Revamps Utility Billing

Changes include moving billing due date to 10^th of each month and more information on bills

Hermantown, Minn. – The City of Hermantown is revamping its utility billing procedures and processes to provide greater clarity and access for residents.

In terms of access, residents can now build a personal account in the City’s Resident Utility Portal, allowing them to make one-time credit card payments, set up regular, automatic credit card payments, and enroll in paperless billing with text message and/or e-mail notifications. Billing and usage history will also be populated in the portal beginning with 2021 bills, while previous year billing will still be available by contacting Lindsay Townsend, the City’s Utility Billing Clerk.

“The portal is going to be much more convenient for residents who want to make a quick credit card payment without having to leave home,” Townsend said. “In addition, residents will also be able to know their current balance or see prior bills from this year without having to contact City Hall.”

Residents currently having their utility payments drawn directly from their bank account do not need to make any changes in this new system, as their payment will be processed the same way it has in the past. Additionally, residents looking to add automatic monthly bank payments can also find the necessary forms on the Utility Department’s portion of the City’s website.

In terms of clarity, the bills themselves will include more information than in the past – a growing request from residents in recent years.

“We shifted to a postcard-sized bill several years ago to reduce costs, but the value of providing increased utility and billing information for residents has moved us to a more comprehensive bill format,” said Kevin Orme, Hermantown’s Director of Finance and Administration. “Ideally, we’ll have a vast majority of our residents utilize the new portal to opt into paperless bills, which will allow us to cut down on mailing costs while getting more detailed bills immediately to residents.”

Additionally, the Utility Department was able to shift the date of meter readings to align with this change in billing systems and with recommended best practices to cut down on the length of time between the reading itself and time in which the resident received the bill. This change does impact the date on which payments are due, which will now be the 10^th of each month beginning in February of 2021.

Hermantown has nearly 3,000 residents who are billed monthly for use of the water, sewer, and stormwater utilities and an additional 800 residents billed semi-annually for the city-wide stormwater utility.

The website featuring Hermantown’s Resident Utility Portal can be found at www.hermantownmn.com/utilityportal.

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For more information, contact: Joe Wicklund, Communications Director – City of Hermantown at [email protected] or 218.729.3614.