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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

There was no violation of Open Meeting Law

Posted

This letter is in response to a letter written last week by Lee Peterson that needs correction. He wrote that I violated the Open Meeting Law. That is not true, (as are other statements in his letter). The park planning committee consists of Rick Sathre, Lloyd Ollila, Julia Maki and myself as the board representative. It is therefore impossible to violate the open meeting law. No other board member is on the committee! Two other board members would need to be present at a committee meeting to violate the Open Meeting Law. No other board members have attended a committee meeting. The community park planning committee mission was to develop a plan for the placement of the tennis court and to develop a plan for additional park improvements. I consulted with Tom Aro, the board chairman, as to the committee recommendations regarding the tennis court/pickleball courts and an easement.

The debate is whether or not the easement cost can be tied to the tennis court funding. I believed it could be and acted accordingly due to the tight timeline with the contractor and his equipment that was on site. We also have in our budget a community enhancement fund that could have been used to fund the expenditure if need be.

This whole issue revolves around using common sense. The contractor was on site, Bob Reed approved of the easement, the recording of the easement with the county was complete and with very little time before the contractor was going to pull his equipment, it was my decision to have him do the easement too. I made it, I stand by it, and will continue my tenure on the board making decisions that make sense to me and save the township dollars in the future.

My role has been and will continue to be one of looking at the completion of the tennis court, pickleball courts, and looking to the future for the development of a community park that would include items that would be of interest to the community. Depending on funding sources and some volunteerism, it could include bocce ball courts, a softball field, walking trail, picnic pavilion, playground, basketball court, and any other ideas that would come from the community. I have reviewed the estimated costs of the tennis court and pickleball courts and feel comfortable that the easement cost will fit within the approved dollars.

I ran successfuly for the town board twice with a goal of improving the township fire department, improving planning and zoning, connecting the walking trail to the newly completed County Rd. 77, seal-coating the walking trail, and keeping the township in a strong financial position. All five have been accomplished by our board. I am now hoping to see the completion of the tennis court/pickleball court and a plan for the future of our Greenwood community park.

The Greenwood Town Board recently approved the recruitment and establishment of a Greenwood comprehensive planning committee that will look at all aspects of the greenwood township going forward. This information will be valuable to the current town board and future town board members. A survey will be mailed to all constituents regarding future township planning. Please be sure to provide your input as to the direction you would like to see the township take on a variety of issues that we want your input on.

Thank you to Bob Reed for his gracious donation of an easement to the township property. Thanks also to Jerry Holmes for completing the easment before he pulled his equipment for the season, thus providing a substantial savings to our township.

Gene Baland

Supervisor

Greenwood Township