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By Anne Thom
More than 30 citizens packed the room for the Lent Township board meeting on April 15. The supervisors, Lyle, Dave Milles and chairman Gene Olson went over the consent agenda. Fiscal responsibility appeared to be job one with each board member questioning expenditures.
Johnson asked about $200 paid to Kramer Mechanical. Olson explained it was to repair a valve at the fire station. Milles wanted more detail on the printing of the newsletter and purchase of “surplus items.”
As chairman Olson, treasurer Pam Olson or clerk Roxanne Kahler gave answers, it became clear that it might be a good business practice to have more detailed descriptions. Milles asked to be provided with copies of invoices. Copies will be made and distributed to the supervisors in the future.
There were two applicants vying for the Board of Adjustment seat. The applicants, Kim Marie Granger and Mike Wilcoxon both came to speak in person.
Granger is an attorney practicing in the area of contracts and real estate and also runs a consulting business. Wilcoxon said he is interested in how the community develops. He said he would bring knowledge of government regulations and common sense to the Board of Adjustment.
Chairman Olson asked what would prevent either from taking part in the Board of Adjustment. Milles responded he thought that statutorily it is a three person board.
The handbook developed by the Commissioner of Revenue dated November 2004 describes the make up and function of local, county and state Boards of Appeal and Equalization as follows:
“A group of people, typically the town board or city council, authorized to determine whether the assessor has properly valued and classified all parcels of taxable property located within the district.”
Town Boards are either three- or five-person bodies. The official handbook doesn’t specify an exact number but does state generally the Board of Adjustment seats are held by town supervisors.
Chairman Olson said he didn’t want to limit participation so if the law allows more than three persons to be seated, he would be open to “..five or seven..”, as long as it is an odd number as Milles pointed out to prevent a tie or deadlock on an opinion.
“How about one of you big guys back there?” Olson called out to residents who were standing at the back of the room. There were no takers on his invitation.
Milles said someone on the board has to be able to make findings, recommendations and conclusions. He will research further how many representatives can be seated on the Board of Adjustment. Granger and Wilcoxon will hear from the Town Board regarding their applications once this is determined.
There are several development opportunities that have sprung from completion of the County Road 17 interchange. The Tesoro convenience store is doing business on the west side of the freeway and on the east side there is a park and ride lot that is seeing some use.
Supervisor Milles presented a brief outline calling for a Rural Transit Development Center Plan. The first step calls for standardization of signs and storefronts and ties into the planning functions ongoing in Lent Township. Milles suggested hiring a consultant or asking the township attorney to begin looking at standardization of designs through ordinances.
Milles’ other big news was the potential for Xcel Energy to build a peak power generator in Lent Township. Milles said, “Lent has the existing lines and the infrastructure to make this the best location.” He reported being told by a building inspector that property owners in an area near County Road 14 were surveyed recently for their thoughts on a generator being built on adjacent property. Milles has also spoken to the owner of an Illinois company that builds generators. This man reported that Xcel had recently opened a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a project building a peak generator. The township will need to amend ordinances for that area if the project comes to fruition.
At end of the town board meeting, Supervisor Milles made a motion to hold a closed meeting for the purpose of pursuing legal or disciplinary action involving township personnel. He asked that the meeting convene at the offices of the township’s attorneys Murnane and Brandt. Supervisor Johnson told Milles a closed meeting can be held without involving attorneys and added, “I have no idea what the heck anybody’s talking about here. This is the first I’ve seen this.”
Johnson asked for discussion and then wanted to know, “Are we under threat of legal action by anyone?”
Milles said under state statute he could not give Johnson and Olson any specifics in public citing the “potential for disciplinary action” as his reasoning for requesting the closed meeting. Milles felt attorney time was warranted saying the matter “..could potentially cost us way more than we’d spend on an annexation case. If we can’t resolve it ourselves, then the public has the right to know.”
It was unclear during this public meeting who would be the subject of the discussion as the description “township employee” and “township official” were used interchanged. Milles repeated his motion to request a closed meeting.
Milles said, “I’m trying to find a way for the township to resolve a potentially very serious matter. This is not a matter to be resolved here tonight.”
This prompted citizens to respond sayinng,“Taxpayers would like to hear it (the issue) discussed,” and “Whether it’s (the meeting) open or not you’re going to get our opinion.”
Olson read the resolution again. Another citizen wanted to know why it was brought up publicly if he didn’t want the public to know about it.
Milles said the official had been informed of the motion prior to tonight’s meeting and if the matter couldn’t be resolved among the township officials, then the public would have the right to know.
“The longer you talk, the deeper it gets,” Olson cautioned.
A closed meeting will be held so the matter is now available only for intense speculation or wild guessing.
One citizen had a final piece of advice for the board. “Just remember who votes you guys in,” said a gentleman in the audience.
In other news:
•Lent Township will be holding a community recycling event for Lent Township residents only on Saturday, May 10 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Evergreen Recycling will be bringing in several large dumpsters for township residents to safely and conscientiously dispose of unwanted, outdated or unusable electronic items including televisions and computers. There will be no charge for disposal. Residents should bring along a drivers license or state identification card as proof of residency. The township is also looking for volunteers to help with the event. For more information, call the Lent Town Hall at (651) 462-3009 or check the Web site at lenttownship.com.
• It was discussed and approved that any board member, the clerk or treasurer could pay out the $2 gopher bounty.
• Resident John Stewart appeared on behalf of the planning commission. Stewart announced that the commission will meet May 14 to discuss changes to township ordinances.
• Resident Jim Burnish was appointed to the Park and Recreation Commission. Burnish had secured a $1,000 grant from the Stacy Lions for the park fund. Burnish is also working with the North Branch Lions to obtain a donation in the same amount and has authored a proposal to secure $15,000 in grant money through General Mills to be used to build a playground in the township.
• The MN Fire Department Relief Association has made a $5,000 gift to the Stacy-Lent Fire Department toward the loan for the newly constructed fire training center.
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