GREENWOOD TWP- The Greenwood Town Board convened their annual reorganization meeting without a treasurer at the table, but quickly addressed that issue by appointing Tammy Mortaloni to the position on an interim basis.
After the passage of the voter-approved Option B, the board will now undertake a hiring process for a new treasurer.
The board also swore in their new supervisor, Steve Bradach, who was elected overwhelmingly on March 11 to fill the seat formerly held by Rick Stoehr.
The board approved the job description and application for treasurer, which had been prepared by board chair Lois Roskoski and reviewed by the township attorney. The treasurer will once again be doing township payroll, something the board had been hiring an outside payroll firm to do for the past few years. The treasurer will be paid hourly, up to 20 hours a month, at a rate of $48/hour. Previously, the township was paying the treasurer a salary of $962/month, which works out to $48/hour assuming 20 hours a month. Roskoski said the proposed wage is similar to that paid by Breitung Township for the same position.
Job requirements include knowledge of government fund accounting and financial management, accounting, payroll, and financial recordkeeping, as well as the ability to work with the CTAS accounting software. The duties include some things the township treasurer position did not normally do, like working with the board to develop annual budgets, providing monthly budget-to-actual spending reports, assist in researching and writing grants, and presenting the budget and levy request at the annual meeting. The board also will need the treasurer to work on organizing township records and a record retention policy. The hours for the job are flexible, but the board did not discuss how much of the job needed to be done at the township office versus at home. While banking deposits are required throughout the month, the majority of the work required is done after the end of the month, when completing the monthly financials.
Applications and the complete job description are posted on the township website, and applications are due by April 8.
The board voted, 3-1, with John Bassing voting against, to submit the 2024 financial report prepared by the clerk to the state auditor. Roskoski said the board will submit the treasurer financials after a new treasurer is hired. Bassing noted that the beginning year balance on the clerk’s Schedule One did not match the bank statement. This is one of several discrepancies between the clerk and treasurer’s reporting that have not yet been resolved.
The board also appointed a committee to review fire department operations. The committee will include interim fire chief Brian Trancheff, supervisor and department member Craig Gilbert, three other current fire department members, Hibbing Fire Chief Eric Jankila, and one or two community members.
Former fire department member Jet Galonski said a group of former fire fighters got together after the annual meeting and said most were interested in rejoining the department under new leadership.

Other business
In other business, the board:
• Will hold their April meeting on the third Tuesday, April 15, to give the board time to interview treasurer candidates and possibly hire at that time.
• Set their monthly meetings on the same schedule, the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m., with the exception of March, when the second Tuesday is the annual meeting and election date.
• Named the Tower News as the township’s official paper, but noted they will continue to post notices in both local papers. The vote was 3-1, with Bassing voting against. Supervisor Craig Gilbert was absent from the meeting.
“It’s only fair that both have a piece of it,” said Paul Skubic. “I would like to go back and forth.”
John Bassing noted the number of area residents who receive the Timberjay is “vastly higher” than the Tower News. Based on records provided by both newspapers, the Tower News mailed an average of 180 papers per week in St. Louis County in 2024 and 100 papers out of county. The Timberjay mailed an average of 1,480 per week in-county and an additional 478 out-of-county. The Timberjay also has over 400 paid subscribers to its online edition, many of whom are Greenwood residents.
• Named Roskoski board chair and Skubic vice-chair.
• Created a personnel committee with two board members, Roskoski and Bradach. Membership will be assigned each year at the reorganization meeting.
• As part of the reorganization, appointed Bradach to the recreation committee, and in charge of assigning 911 signs. Bassing is the noxious weeds inspector, Tower-Soudan Joint Power Rec Board representative, and the broadband liaison. Roskoski is the township’s representative to the RAMS group and ambulance commission. Gilbert is the grounds/maintenance supervisor and fire department liaison. Skubic is the roads supervisor and lodging tax board rep.
• Approved monthly salaries for the chair at $411.44 and supervisors at $383.02, and the clerk at $2,316.59.
• Made a few changes to the township’s administrative guidelines, including limiting public input to three minutes, down from ten minutes, with the chair given the authority to extend the time limit. They also added language specifying that elected official salaries will be pro-rated if they are leaving their position in the middle of a month.
• Will get quotes for replacing the locks at the town and fire hall with electronic key fob systems. These systems are expensive, Bradach said, but it would be a long-term investment and provide better security.