The Cohasset City Council tonight approved plans for a new wood products manufacturing facility in the city.

Last June, Gov. Walz announced the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board approved $15 million in funding for the construction of the new Huber Engineered Woods LLC oriented strand board manufacturing facility in Cohasset. The facility would bring an estimated 150 new jobs to the region and would be located just outside the Leech Lake Reservation.

Tribal leaders and environmentalists oppose the project and say it would drastically increase deforestation in the north woods.

Tonight’s City Council meeting at the Cohasset Community Center brought out supporters as well as those opposing the project. Those in opposition are demanding that an environmental impact statement be done and say that legally required tribal consultation needs to occur.

The council did not take any public comments tonight and said there was ample time previously for people to make public comments. They voted unanimously to approve the project.

By — Lakeland News