Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette Baraga County Courthouse

L’ANSE — The Baraga County Board of Commissioners held its monthly meeting Monday with Baraga County resident Donald Elmblad bringing forth a proposal.

Elmblad wanted to see if there was any interest in the county installing a General Mobile Radio Service radio repeater. Elmblad explained that these radios are similar to CB radios in that they operate on specific channels but where as CB radios run at 4 watts, GMRS radios run at 50 watts by FCC standards.

He said that it would be especially useful for those partaking in outdoor activities throughout the area and has become increasingly popular amongst outdoorsmen. The idea would be to have more efficient communication between those within rural locations and to be able to reach out for help if they are in an emergency situation since cell signal is lacking in many areas throughout Baraga County. The repeater would take in radio calls and the transmissions can be sent out further than its original radius.

When locations of placing towers was being discussed, Commissioner Craig Kent suggested considering using the county tower for the GMRS radio.

“I’m just thinking anything rescue — fire or EMS, as soon as we get out of eyesight of town we lose all communications,” Kent said. “I know where all the phone booths are because I spent a lot of time out there, but the average person doesn’t.”

The board agreed that they should look into considering this further in conjunction with the ATV trails and all agreed that it would be beneficial for those unfamiliar with Baraga County when visiting.

Another topic of discussion at the meeting was the offer to the county of 231 acres of land along Bower Road. If the county would accept that land offering, the county would assume the debt of the property which has a mortgage of $580,000. The board will look into the situation further before taking any action regarding the matter.

The board approved multiple bills at this meeting. These included the Baraga County Memorial Hospital Per Diem at $990, the County Commissioner and Department bills at $47,964.92, prepaid accounts at $886,644.52 and the Sheriff Department Commissary Checking Account at $6,871.44. The board also agreed to pay the Health Retirement Trust account for an amount of $16,229.95.