More work, less time
A nearly interruption-free meeting allows Greenwood board to accomplish much in a packed agenda.
By Terry Carlson
GREENWOOD TWP, Minn—It has been a chronic hindrance in Greenwood for years—town meetings rife with interruptions beyond the time set aside for public comments. Some have been constructive, brief, and to the point, but far too many are occasions for nitpicking and even downright rude and disruptive behavior.
Enter Chair Lois Roskoski.
Roskoski, with a solid background that includes 30-plus years with the Virginia city council, ran not as an advocate of any one faction in Greenwood, but ran to serve the community. Upon her election victory in March, Roskoski had been nominated for chair by the former chair, supervisor John Bassing, seconded by supervisor Rick Stoehr, and was unanimously approved.
Well aware of the sharp divisions within the township, Roskoski wasted no time in spearheading a resolution for administrative operational guidelines in less than a month. Given the deeply-rooted divisions between the town’s factions, such changes could not be expected bloom overnight, but would gradually come about.
While there are no future guarantees, many felt last week’s monthly meeting ran more smoothly and accomplished more in less time than any other meetings in memory. Following the lead-off public comment time, Chair Roskoski matter-of-factly let it be known that there would be no interruptions unless called upon by the board.
Most notable among the public input was a recreation board report from Paul Thompson who first wished to gratefully recognize the efforts of all the volunteers that maintain the townhall grounds. He went on to announce that the court project was completely paid with a surplus of $6,000 to be used for ongoing maintenance, adding that plans are to host a grand opening for the pickleball courts in June 2025.
In addition, Thompson said the recreation committee will be giving a presentation at the March 11 annual meeting about future plans for maintenance and upkeep of all the township’s recreation facilities, as well as setting up an ongoing system for receiving donations.
Before moving on to old business, the motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was rejected 3-2 by the board. Deputy Treasurer JoAnn Bassing pinch-hit to deliver the report for Treasurer Jeff Maus, who could not attend the meeting. But again, not all the information requested by the Board was in the report. An exasperated (supervisor) Paul Skubic, citing the missing information and lack of timeliness, said, “We’ve been asking for the cash-flow information all year; and [Maus’s] reports [have been] given at the meeting instead of ahead of the meeting so they can be reviewed—we’ve basically been asking for them all year.”
In old business, the board still hasn’t gotten an updated Standard Operating Guidelines from Maus, who is also the fire chief. Chair Roskoski commented, “Since I was elected, we’ve been asking for an updated copy but have yet to receive it.”
“Right now, it’s a mess,” she added, “and we need to confirm which version we are following.” In the meantime, the board unanimously voted to follow the Standard operating Guidelines dated December 14, 2021 until an updated copy is produced to the board by the fire chief and is put in place.
As to updated Fire Department safety policies which, again the board has been waiting for Maus to produce, the board entertained a quote from Minnesota Public Safety Group. The board reluctantly voted to hire them “at a cost not to exceed $2,000,” to help update and rewrite the department’s standard operating and paid on-call guidelines.
“We’ve been asking the fire chief to do it,” said Skubic. “It is unfortunate we have to spend this kind of money.”
The board also passed a motion to authorize the two fire department captains to obtain the training certificates for all the members and develop an up-to-date list of all members and their training levels.
“How are they going to get this information?” asked Supervisor Craig Gilbert. “The fire chief should have this info. What do we have a fire chief for if they have to do his job?”
A motion to have the clerk send employment forms to all current employees passed 3-2.
Regarding the performance evaluation form for the fire chief, the board tabled further discussion until Maus is available.
In other business:
- The board voted to form a committee to look at ways to make the helicopter landing area in the township parking lot safer. The committee will be led by supervisor Craig Gilbert, and members will include Paul Thompson and fire captain Brian Trancheff.
- Candidate filings for township offices open on Dec. 31. The supervisor seat currently held by Rick Stoehr and the treasurer seat currently held by Jeff Maus will both be on the ballot.
- Approved paying for five EMRs attending a three-day conference in Duluth, at a cost of $5,400 for hotel, conference fees, and travel.
- Approved hiring Mike Nystrom for video services for 2025. They also approved an additional $25 per meeting fee if the meeting cannot be livestreamed, and Nystrom has to upload the video the following day from his home. The township has been paying $290 per month for this service. The township is having issues with its new internet service, which apparently lacks the bandwidth needed for live-streaming. Roskoski said the videos are getting between 200 and 700 views each month, and supervisors are getting good feedback on offering the video streams.
- Approved purchasing Christmas and New Years greeting ads in The Tower News and Timberjay.
- Accepted donations from the Vermilion Quilters of $260 and Bois Forte for $15,000 (for fire department services)
- Approved a donation of $100 to the St. Louis County Fair.