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Keweenaw County Board chairman cites unfinished business in running for 4th term

EAGLE RIVER – Don Piche is seeking a fourth term on the Keweenaw County Board, of which he is the current chairman.

Piche began on the board in 2011. He ran for the position because no one else was running at the time, and he’s glad he did.

“Once I got on the board, I liked it,” he said.

Piche said there have been several issues the commissioners have had to deal with in the time he’s been on the board, and many of those issues are ongoing.

One of the big projects the board oversaw was remodeling of the courthouse, Piche said. The work included a new roof and new siding, and installation of a new furnace.

“It’s an amazing project,” he said.

The Keweenaw Mountain Lodge takes much of the attention of the board members, Piche said.

“Our biggest challenge is the Mountain Lodge,” he said.

The debt on the lodge is greater than its value, Piche said.

A new general manager, Debra Britz-Maier, was just hired for the lodge, and other people involved with running it are working to make it profitable again, Piche said.

“I think it’s going in the right direction,” he said. “Hopefully, we can get it turned around.”

Piche said the commissioners are working to get the county’s finances in shape, but it’s difficult because revenues are declining and costs are rising, which means they’ve had to make some spending cuts.

“We just made a decision to close the jail, but it was something we had to do,” he said.

The jail is now a 72-hour lockup, meaning people in police custody waiting to make bail or be transferred to the Houghton County Jail can be held no more than 72 hours.

Piche said he thinks the County Board is working hard for the county.

“We’ve done a lot in the last six years,” he said.

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