Panel hears $200,000 septic grant request for Veterans on the Lake; bill laid over

Representatives and testifiers told the House Veterans and Military Affairs Division that House File 648 would provide a one-time $200,000 grant to Veterans on the Lake, a nonprofit resort near Ely that serves disabled veterans and others, to replace a nonconforming septic system identified during permit review.

Representative Scrabba introduced the bill and called testifiers including Andy Birkenpaz, general manager of Veterans on the Lake Resort, and Eric Marinen, board chair. Birkenpaz said the resort served 4,595 total occupants last year, with 88% of those occupants veterans and 71% of veterans identified as disabled. He said the resort provides fully accessible cabins, adaptive boats and other accommodations and that the program has hosted veterans from 34 states.

Eric Marinen told the committee that the septic discovery increased the project cost for an accessible-building upgrade from about $800,000 to near $1 million, adding roughly $200,000 for the septic work. The resort planned to contribute about 20% of project costs, but Marinen said the added septic cost would push the resort—s share closer to 40% without legislative help.

St. Louis County Commissioner Paul McDonald and other supporters described the resort as a statewide resource that provides restorative outdoor experiences for disabled veterans. Testimony also flagged that the resort operates on U.S. Forest Service land and that the project aims to protect water that feeds into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Representative Scrabba and testifiers described an additional, not-yet-introduced bill that would provide recurring scholarships (the testifier said the Senate included a version but the House version had not been introduced); the committee treated that item as informational.

House File 648 was laid over for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill.