SOUDAN- Dan Nylund is the new Breitung Police Chief. At Tuesday’s meeting, the Breitung Town Board decided not to interview outside candidates, and instead promoted full-time officer Nylund into the chief spot on a permanent basis. Nylund has been serving as interim chief, after former chief Jesse Anderson recently took a job with the Minnesota State Patrol. Nylund has been working full-time for the department since 2014. The Breitung Police Department provides services to both Tower and Breitung Township. The department has been operating with four part-time and two full-time officers.

Nylund lives in Soudan and has been active with community youth, teaching D.A.R.E. at the elementary school and a drug education program at the charter high school.

The board will be advertising to fill the open full-time position in the department. The position will be advertised on the Minnesota Agency post board and also on the Breitung Township website. The goal is to select three to five applicants to interview within the next two months.

Nylund reported that the Breitung Police Department has now relocated to the former Minos Surface Building, and the public is invited to stop in and see the facility. A permanent name has not yet been chosen for the building, however suggestions will be accepted prior to the next council meeting. An ad will be appearing in one of the local newspapers.

The three empty stalls of the former headquarters will be considered for various purposes. Fire Chief Steve Burgess stated a small committee will look at alternatives for repurposing the space. A suggestion to use some of the space for a Town Hall was mentioned by Greg Dostert.

The council decided that renovations to the Soudan Post Office will proceed at a gradual pace. The new mailboxes are currently being stored in Chisholm, though an official date to install the mailboxes in Soudan has not been set. The council also plans to replace the old wall paneling in the post office.

The council noted other plans for renovations within the McKinley Park Campground building. Plans include updating the bathrooms, replacing floor tile, shower dividers and walls. The date of the last renovation to the facility was in 1994. A motion was passed to accept a bid for renovations by Kultala Construction at a cost of $46,000. The funding for this project will come from McKinley Park and will not cost the township any money.

Vermilion Park Inn owners, Mary Batinich and Jane Turner, along with maintenance carpenter, Pete Jauhola, were in attendance. Jane Turner, spokesperson for the group, addressed the council and requested clarification about possible land to erect signs that will direct customers to the Inn. Currently there are no signs in place. Chairman, Tim Tomsich reminded the group that prior to the state granting approval for signs to be placed on state property, they must first be placed within the parameters of the township. A recommendation to seek approval from a local resident to post a sign on his property was suggested.   

In other business, the council:

‰ Approved the Treasurer’s Report for December with disbursements including checks and debit cards for $264,519.58.

‰ Approved sending a letter to be hand-delivered by the police to the home of a renter in Soudan who has excessive amounts of garbage on his front porch.

‰Approved the DSWG Post Office project invoice of $2,168.36.

‰Approved the recommendation that the current $6 per run paid to EMTs pension funds by Breitung Township for local EMTs be discontinued, since the volunteers are now considered paid and the ambulance service is contributing to their PERA pension.

‰ Announced the “HD Soudan #4”, otherwise known as Hockey Day in Soudan, is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 11, and Breitung Township will be an event sponsor. The public is invited to stop by for food, hockey games, and skills contests.

‰ Heard that Breitung is waiting to hear on the final approval of a CDBG grant for infrastructure work in Soudan. Vermilion Housing is also waiting for final approval of a grant.

‰Passed a motion to set township election hours from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13. The annual meeting will be held after the close of the polls.

The next council meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.