Tekautz, Dolinar are on Breitung’s March 11th ballot

Tekautz, Dolinar are on Breitung’s March 11th ballot

SOUDAN, Minn./January 17, 2025—Candidates were announced in Thursday’s Board Meeting for Breitung Township’s upcoming March 11th township election.

Steve Tekautz is running for board supervisor for the seat currently held by Tim Tomsich, who is retiring; and Teresa Dolinar is on the ballot for treasurer from which Jorgine Gornick is also retiring.

The board also unanimously resolved to appoint 15 people as judges for the March 11th election judges, and further resolved each to be compensated at $17 per hour and authorized Clerk Amber Zak to add additional judges as needed and allowed by statute.

Supervisor Matt Tuchel said the Wastewater Board was still working on the funding, which should be done by the next meeting.

The funding application to IRRR was submitted last week for the McKinley Park Trail Loop. Decision is expected by the end of April. As the board reported last month, the plans were 95% done, the environmental review was 90% done, and the wetland delineation had started.

The 2025 infrastructure funding proposal for Echo Point Road will be revamped. The board is pursuing funding from IRRR to help replace the CDBG funding portion of the project that was turned down.

A couple of changeovers were approved for both the 2022 and 2023 Infrastructure projects for the labor portions.

The board is waiting on MnDOT’s review of the plans and permit applications sent to them last month on the Thompson Farm Road project.

The township should be able to accept funds to repair flood damage through the FEMA system now that the township’s profile is active on sam.gov. A meeting with the mitigator indicated that FEMA’s match rate to repair-in-kind costs was generally given at 100 percent. Some of the projects have gone over the repair-in-king costs. These would likely not be fully reimbursed. Maintenance Supervisor Tom Gorsma will work with contractors to get a quote for repair plus mitigation for repairs being scheduled next summer on Stuntz Bay Road. FEMA’s repair-in-kind estimate is $8,963.78.

Tom has also asked Mesabi Bituminous to bill for their work on several flood projects. Once received, Clerk Amber Zak will submit them to FEMA and check on wait times for reimbursement.

In other business:

  • Police Chief Dan Reing reported that 2024 was a busy year and expects that 2025 will be no different. Chief Reing reminds residents to move their vehicles off of the streets in advance of forecasted snow events, as it’s difficult for the plow trucks to clear the roadways as it is.

Parking citations will be issued and vehicles possibly towed. Reing added that he is considering the towing  option for one particular repeat offender who has been ticketed multiple times to no avail. Supervisor Tuchel said impounded vehicles can be stored behind the township offices.

  • The Fire Department reported that Rescue Vehicle No. 3 has been repaired and is fully operational; and the No. 1 engine also underwent minor repairs and is also fully operational.

This month’s firefighter training, Cold Water Rescue, was rescheduled due to ice and weather conditions. They did inventory all the gear needed for the training, and did training with the rescue snowmobile instead.

The fire department received four calls in December: a vehicle accident in Tower, a personal injury accident on Hoodoo Point Road, a snowmobile accident in Greenwood, and assisted Tower Ambulance on a call in Kuglar Township.

  • Road and Bridge reported the usual plowing, sanding, and winging. Now that the Skating Rink has opened (December 27), they have performed the rink-flooding and continued maintenance as needed as well as maintenance on equipment and buildings, and repairing and painting picnic tables.

•  It was determined that the length of contract for Treasurer Jorgine Gornick to run the newly-created Breitung Township Water Department needed to be extended to the end of April 2025. The motion passed unanimously, 3-0. The department was formed last month after the dissolution of Water Com