TRF City Council urges governor to allow all TRF businesses to reopen

by April Scheinoha
Reporter

The Thief River Falls City Council has passed a resolution urging Gov. Tim Walz to allow all city businesses to reopen while providing appropriate hygiene and social distancing. The council passed the resolution at its meeting Tuesday, May 5. The Roseau City Council has passed a similar resolution for its community.

“We’re Thief River Falls, not Edina, the big cities,” said Mayor Brian Holmer.

The resolution indicated, as of Tuesday night, there was only one case of COVID-19 in Pennington County and that person is out of quarantine. It also noted the financial burden of the Stay at Home order, including the monetary and potential health impact of stores being open in Grand Forks, N.D., and Thief River Falls residents traveling there to shop.

“We’re not saying we’re going against anything the governor says,” said Holmer, who alluded to the City of Lakefield, which passed a resolution that reopened stores there despite Walz’s Stay at Home order.

The Thief River Falls resolution came after the Thief River Falls Chamber of Commerce joined more than 70 other chambers across the state in asking Walz to allow small businesses to reopen. The letter cited the ability of small businesses to take steps to protect employee and customer health. It further noted that online ordering or curbside delivery will come at an additional cost to small businesses.

Antonio Franklin Jr., executive director of the Thief River Falls Chamber of Commerce, also wrote to City Council, asking the city to allow small businesses to “fully open with their best workplace practices applied.” The letter further noted that many Thief River Falls residents are traveling to Grand Forks, where stores are open. It alluded to the possibility of Thief River Falls seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases with this travel to and from Grand Forks. As of Tuesday night, there were more than 250 cases of COVID-19 in Grand Forks County.

At the council meeting, Franklin noted that, in a March survey, 84% of Thief River Falls businesses projected a medium to large impact to sales and revenue over the next six months due to COVID-19. He added that the Paycheck Protection Program has been a challenge for local stores whose staff have been laid off and are now making more with unemployment insurance than they had while working at the stores.

“I think we all are capable of doing the best practices, and our businesses should be allowed to do so,” Franklin said.

The council was sympathetic to the small businesses. “I’m not real satisfied with the way they shut small businesses down,” said council member Jerald Brown.

Other council members referred to the sense of safety residents may feel in Thief River Falls small businesses. “I feel way more comfortable shopping in a small store than Walmart,” said council member Jason Aarestad.

Council member Rachel Prudhomme noted that a task force and the Chamber have been distributing masks to businesses in Thief River Falls.

Council members realize the impact of the pandemic on the business community. “Our businesspeople in Thief River Falls are suffering because they are shut down,” said council member Curt Howe. He added that salon owners and employees know how to sanitize their workplaces and limit the number of customers entering their doors.

Michelle Landsverk, director of Advance Thief River, said she had spoken with an unidentified banker, who was concerned about the impact on local businesses if the closures continued into May as planned. She said he noted there would be challenges in generating revenue and becoming profitable once the stores are allowed to reopen.

Landsverk added that she had spoken with Lyle Larson, who recently opened the Ronnings store in Thief River Falls. He gave his permission for her to share his information with the council.
“They are in a strong position, but this has impacted them very, very seriously,” said Landsverk, who noted Ronnings’ revenue is down 85% due to the shutdown orders.

Landsverk added that work boots and Carhartt work clothes are Ronnings’ top sellers. However, Ronnings isn’t considered an essential business. Landsverk said Larson had an issue with the designation of essential versus nonessential.

For her part, Landsverk said she was concerned that some businesses may never fully recover from the impact of this shutdown.

Two business owners provided their perspectives to the council. Lisa Robson, owner of Evergreen Catering and Bakery, and LeeAnn Nelson, owner of Diamonds & Designs, outlined the procedures they have put into place to protect customers’ and employees’ health. Both noted there would only be a few customers in their stores at a time.

Council members were also irked with Grand Forks stores being open while most Thief River Falls stores were closed. “We have enough problems with Grand Forks when we’re healthy,” Brown said.