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Midst a pandemic, Lutsen, Tofte, and Schroeder held their annual township meetings on March 9, and as expected, not a lot of people participated.
Each township followed COVID-19 protocol with in-person voting. There were no hot button topics on any of the agendas and no contested races in the township elections, so voter turnout was low. Only Tofte held an in-person meeting, using the gym at Birch Grove Community Center, which had space for social distancing.
In Lutsen, there were six different write-in names for the open town supervisor seat. Write-in candidate Chris Homyak received 17 of the 29 ballots cast and he will be the newest supervisor to serve on the town board. Incumbent Town Treasurer Ashley VanDoren was reelected with 26 votes.
Four DNR staff working on the Gitchi Gami bike project appeared at the virtual meeting to discuss the path as it relates to going through downtown Lutsen. It was learned that since 2017, the DNR has had $1.1 million set aside for the work, but at this time the design route hasn’t been completed. That will happen by next April, the township was told, and work will presumably start soon after.
In Tofte Township, Supervisor Sam Crowley was reelected with 11 votes.
Current Tofte Treasurer Dan Shirley might be more popular than he wants to be. He indicated he wasn’t interested in being treasurer any longer, and he had encouraged others to run for the position. However, no one came forward and Dan received six votes, enough to secure the title for another term if he so wishes. The Tofte town board will contact Shirley to see if he’s willing to assume the job again.
Schroeder Supervisor incumbents Bruce Martinson, Lloyd Chase and Treasurer Carla Menssen, were all reelected with 16 votes. Only 16 voters showed up at the Schroeder Town Hall to cast ballots. Martinson was elected to a three-year term, Chase to a two-year term, and Menssen to a three-year term. The board held a two-minute meeting and voted to continue the discussion at the August continuation meeting, where the budget will be set. Martinson said this was the least voter turnout he could remember in Schroeder.
Only Tofte set a preliminary budget, lowering the 2022 budget to $195,650, a decrease of just over $75,300 from 2021. The final 2022 budget and more township business will be settled at the August continuation meeting.
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