All three West End townships met this month to continue the annual meetings convened in March 2015. Lutsen was the latest town to reconvene and unlike Tofte and Schroeder, the Lutsen citizens voted to give definitive answers to the entities requesting financial support. Lutsen citizens voted yes to a request from the Birch Grove Foundation; no to assisting with fireworks in Tofte; and no to the Birch Grove Community School appeal for funding.
Joe Zallar was elected to serve as moderator of the annual meeting continuation, a relatively easy job until “donation request” came up on the agenda.
Rae Piepho asked to share information she had obtained from Cook County Auditor Braidy Powers about the increased cost to taxpayers if the requests for the Birch Grove Foundation and Community School were approved. See the formula on page A11.
Piepho said, “We’re not talking about big money here, not for the value our community gets in return.”
Birch Grove Foundation to receive $11,000
Birch Grove Foundation (BGF) Board Member Ann McDermott asked for a funding increase for the foundation, which operates the Birch Grove Community Center and its multi-generational programming.
Lance Johnson and Paul Nelson asked where the foundation gets its funding and if the other townships and the county contribute to operations. BGF Director Caroline Wood said yes, all three townships have contributed to operating costs and the county contributes toward programming for senior citizens. Wood added that using the funding from the townships and the county, the foundation was able to bring in an additional $70,000 to the community in grants.
McDermott said, “We have been able to increase services. We have gone from offering services for 20 people a week to 127.”
Sue Davies asked if the township had determined if it could legally make a contribution and Wood said yes, in accordance with MN Statute 471.395, the township can contribute funds for services for citizens. “It’s an allocation of funds versus a donation,” she explained.
Treasurer John Groth said Minnesota Association of Townships Attorney Kent Sulem said the answer is not “crystal clear,” but advised that the town could make its own judgment call, based on its “comfort level for risk.”
A motion was made to grant the request and paper ballots were distributed and collected. The tally was 27 yes, 20 no, so the town board was directed to find a way to make the $11,000 contribution to the Birch Grove Foundation.
School request shot down
Sarena Nelson, a BGCS board member, gave an appeal for $20,000 to support the West End school. She listed the accomplishments of BGCS and spoke of the importance of having an elementary school on the West End. She told attendees that although she lives in Tofte, she works in Lutsen, like many others.
Plamen Dimitrov, another BGCS board member, agreed, adding, “Remember, we are not just a school, we are also employers in the community.”
Nelson said a BGCS open house was held the night before and it looks as if there may be 25 students next year. She said the board is very hopeful about those numbers.
Sharon Hexum Platzer asked how many of those children are from Cook County. BGCS Board Member Kathy Lawrence said slightly over half are from Cook County. She said there are currently five students in K-5 and two in the Sapling Preschool program from Lutsen.
Ron McClelland asked if the towns of Silver Bay or Beaver Bay contribute to the school. Another BGCS Board Member Sarah Somnis answered that they do not, but added, “Those students bring state funding to our school and to our community.”
BGF Director Wood said, “A school brings state and federal funding into our community, so we all benefit. A school is part of the fabric of a community. It’s beautiful that this little school has been in the community for so many years.”
Lutsen Supervisor Larry McNeally noted that everyone was saying that BGCS was an asset for the West End. “Let’s talk about these things as liabilities—financial liabilities. I stand opposed to this, I want to see Lutsen spend its money in Lutsen.”
McNeally also asked when BGCS would be financially sustainable. BGCS Board Member Diane Blanchette, the school’s former director, pointed out that BGCS had been operating for 11 years and had only requested financial support for the last three.
Jim Vick, Anna Latz, Sue Davies, and Blanchette spoke as parents of former BGCS students and urged the township to support the funding request as an investment in the community overall.
Molly Wickwire spoke as a BGCS alumnus. She noted four others in the room who were now living and working on the West End. She encouraged her neighbors to support the school. “Our community is not defined by township lines,” she said.
Lance Johnson said he didn’t doubt that the school offered excellent programs, but noted that he paid for a school at his winter residence of Woodbury and for the school in Grand Marais. “Now I’m being asked to pay for a third school,” he said.
Paul Nelson agreed that BGCS staff has worked really hard to keep the school going. But he questioned whether the problem of affordable housing, which means fewer young families in the community to support the school, was too great to overcome. He said he felt that it was more important to support ISD 166, a thought echoed by McNeally and Mike Rose.
Jeanne Anderson, the West End representative on the ISD 166 school board said what really needs to be discussed is school funding overall. She said no school—without community support—could survive.
There was a call for a vote and when the ballots were collected, the BGCS request for $20,000 was denied with 19 yes votes and 30 no.
Fireworks request fizzles
Moderator Zallar read a note from Tofte Clerk Barb Gervais requesting a donation of $1,500 to be used toward the 4th of July fireworks in Tofte. There were no questions and the vote was called. Again paper ballots were used and tallied. The fireworks request failed with a vote of 26 no, 24 yes.
Town Board makes ultimate decision
Treasurer John Groth noted that the citizen vote results were recommendations to the town board, which must only abide by the overall levy set. Groth said line items within the budget itself could be adjusted by the supervisors.
The 2016 budget totaled $173,870.36.
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