Tofte Supervisor Jeanne Larson gave an update on the Tofte senior housing project at the board’s July 9 meeting.
Because special legislation that would give the Tofte township housing authority to manage the project stalled and wasn’t passed in the special legislative session, Larson asked to suspend work until next year when the bill will be signed into law.
The goal was to have six twin patio homes ready for rent to seniors 55 and older this fall. The houses will be built by Dynamic Homes and placed just above the Birch Grove Community Center.
Larson said she is trying to contact area legislators Representative David Dill and Senator Tom Bakk, so they can meet with the township board sometime in August. One idea, she said, is to put the housing authority language for the township in several bills so there is no chance it won’t get passed next year.
Until that time, all efforts to market the units or do construction at the site will be halted, said Larson, and she added that she would request extensions for grants that have been awarded to the township for the housing. “They [grantors] are aware of our situation,” Larson said. Search and Rescue
Tofte/Schroeder search and rescue co-leader Kim Jahnke said her crew was getting busier as summer progresses, noting seven calls came in last month. Two members are receiving training to learn how to operate the new radios, said Jahnke, and one new member was taking the full EMT course. “If she stays with us for one to two years, we will reimburse her for the class,” said Jahnke.
Jahnke also said there were two false alarms for the fire department, both at the same place and the calls came in around 3:30 a.m. Otherwise, it was a quiet month for Tofte firefighters. Birch Grove Community Center lease
Supervisor Jim King suggested keeping the lease rate ate $8.50 per square foot for tenants at Birch Grove Community Center. One new request, said King, would be to charge $3 per square foot for the outdoor classroom.
“Do you know if it has been sold?” Larson asked King.
“No, I don’t know if it has been sold, but it has been on our land, our property, and we provide electricity to it and we can’t use it for community events so we need to get something for it,” King said.
King said the building was about 16×26, which would generate about $100 per month. Both Larson and Supervisor Paul James voted for King’s motion, but Larson said rates would have to be increased next year because no money is now charged for shared common spaces at Birch Grove, and thus there is no money for maintenance of these areas.
On that note Tofte Clerk Barb Gervais gave an update about the Birch Grove building. She said new lights were needed for the gym and a new photo eye for the outside of the building. Someone would have to get prices to purchase shades for the windows, said Gervais.
King said the lawn mower was throwing gravel onto the tennis court and to fix that the township would need to get topsoil and grass seed put down along the court to stop this from happening. The door on the hockey rink also needs adjusting and a chain link fence needs to be installed around the basketball court to keep the balls from rolling away and some tuck pointing on the building needs to be done, added King.
James asked, “Who is going to do all of this stuff?”
“We need to call an informational meeting to decide who does what,” King said. “We need to get definitive answers to all of these maintenance issues. We need to sit down at a table and really sketch this out.”
Local resident John Nelson agreed with King. Nelson performs park maintenance, cemetery maintenance, road maintenance, snow removal, pretty much every kind of maintenance the town needs when he can, but he said the town should start looking at hiring a maintenance person because many of the younger people who help in the winter are now too busy working long hours in the summer to be of assistance.
“I don’t know if it would be full-time. I don’t know if there is enough work for a full-time position, but there is a lot of year–round work here that somebody needs to do,” Nelson said.
Larson agreed, “We need a person that can go and do the work, not just schedule it to be done.”
With that the board agreed to form a subcommittee that will put together an action plan to address the township’s growing maintenance needs. Nelson agreed to sit on the committee and others will be sought to join.
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