With no questions from the audience and little board discussion, Tofte supervisors approved the 2015 Board of Audit Report as presented by Clerk Barb Gervais at the board’s Feb. 11 meeting.
After taking care of that business, Supervisor Paul James said he would like to honor the late John Nelson with a ceremony at the township’s annual July 4th celebration.
“I would like to dedicate Tofte Town Park to John,” said James. “He spent more time working on the park than anyone. There’s not a project in the park that doesn’t have his name on it.”
“You know my dad wasn’t a guy who was out for recognition,” said his son, Rich Nelson. “But I think he would be proud of having the park named after him.”
Supervisors Jim King and James said they would work on the wording for the sign (or plaque) and find a sign maker—preferably local—to make a sign that will be placed on the entrance road leading into the park.
Birch Grove Community School seeks 2016 funds
The board listened to a request from Birch Grove Community School Director Caroline Wood who asked if the township was in a position to give the school a portion of the $20,000 contribution that residents voted to grant the school at the March 2015 annual meeting.
Wood said without the funds the school could be looking at running into “statutory operating debt” which could affect their sponsorship through Volunteers of America of Minnesota.
James said after reviewing the town’s finances they weren’t in a position to give any money to the school until early June, at the soonest.
Woods then asked if a small meeting room in the Birch Grove Community Center, which is owned by the town of Tofte, could be rented out for the next four months to a youth hostel. The board granted her request. The hostel will pay $340 in rent, the normal rate for the space over that four-month period
Fire/Rescue Squad report
Rich Nelson, Tofte Fire Chief, reported that in the last month, the town had, “a couple of false alarms, otherwise it was quiet.”
Rescue Squad Co-Captain Phil Bonin reported two calls last month for his squad.
He said the crew restocked and resupplied the rescue vehicle and he told the supervisors he would like to see his department’s soon-to-be retired vehicle sold to the squad in Grand Marais when Tofte receives its new rescue vehicle from Lutsen. Lutsen has promised to sell Tofte its rescue squad vehicle for $20,000 when their replacement vehicle comes this summer.
“It [Tofte’s rescue vehicle] is old but it’s in good shape. It’s got new tires and everything works on it. I would like to see it stay in the county. I know the rescue squad vehicle in Grand Marais needs to be replaced, and this might do the trick for them,” Bonin said.
King asked Bonin if Schroeder— which pays half the operating cost to run the Tofte/Schroeder rescue squad—paid anything to help purchase the new vehicle. Bonin said he didn’t think so, and Nelson added that he didn’t think it was included in the agreement between the two townships. King asked Bonin, who is a resident of Schroeder and also the Schroeder fire chief, to ask if Schroeder was willing to contribute to the emergency medical services (EMS) vehicle fund.
4th of July planning starts now
At the recommendation of Dori Betts, who was the coordinator of the Tofte July 4th celebration, the board hired Brooke Youngdahl to replace her. Youngdahl took over for Betts as the director of the North Shore Health Care Foundation golf tournament last fall and did a great job. She will be paid $1,000, the same as Betts, to coordinate the 4th of July celebration events.
The supervisors discussed the three-year contract they have had with their fireworks supplier, and agreed to hire the company again for 2016.
Other business
. Clerk Barb Gervais appointed Susie Meyer as deputy clerk. Meyer will fill in when Gervais is sick or on vacation.
. The town board appointed Diane Norman, Jane Johnson, and Susie Meyer as election judges and to also serve on the absentee ballot board.
. Questions about property taxes can be answered at the township Board of Equalization meeting Thursday, April 21 at 5 p.m. at the Tofte Town Hall. Cook County Assessor Betty Schultz will be at the meeting to answer questions.
. James said the Tofte housing (formerly senior housing) project is still on hold until the legislature meets and the law is changed which will give the township legal authority to oversee the rental and care of six single story duplexes.
. County Commissioner Ginny Storlie gave a brief report about the county’s activities to the board. Following that she brought out a map and asked about an 80-acre parcel of federal land that abuts the township’s 29-acre Birch Grove property. The township has been trying for “15 years or so,” said James, to get the county to trade some of its land within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area for that parcel.
Storlie said she would work with the Forest Service and the county to try to make that exchange happen so the town can acquire the land and add it to the township.
“They [Forest Service] told me it wouldn’t be quick,” said Storlie.
“It never is when you’re dealing with the government,” James said.
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