GREENWOOD TWP- The town board’s 2022 decision to remove fire department officers Dave Fazio and Mike Indihar, was again questioned during Tuesday’s meeting of the Greenwood Town Board.
Former board chair Mike Ralston, during public comments, again insisted on seeing a roster of department members, along with their qualifications. He was told there were currently ten active department members, although he said he wanted to see names and their training status.
“The board needs to take ownership of this,” Ralston said. “They need to make sure fire department members are trained.”
Current Fire Chief Jeff Maus has greatly increased training time for department members, both fire and EMS, with two-to-three-hour long fire trainings held twice a month, and EMS trainings once a month. The department has been slowly adding new members and is participating in joint training exercises with neighboring departments, especially Tower. The department currently has eight firefighters and two EMRs, while five of the current firefighters also serve as EMRs. The department also has an administrative assistant. Maus told the Timberjay that five of the firefighters are fully-trained, with three still working to complete their Firefighter I and II classes and participating in the twice-monthly department-led trainings. After the meeting, Maus told the Timberjay that he had previously provided Ralston with the latest department roster, including the names of members.
Election issue?
With township elections less than a month away, that split decision of the town board to dismiss the fire chief and assistant chief, was again in the spotlight.
Fire department member Craig Gilbert is running for a supervisor seat against Barb Lofquist, who also had supported the removal of the officers. Lois Roskoski is running against Sue Drobac, who as chair of the board in 2022, introduced the motion to remove the officers. Roskoski, in a letter she sent to township voters, said she was disappointed to “personally witness very unprofessional behavior towards the fire department members.”
The board removed Fazio and Indihar from their leadership positions, for alleged failure to perform their duties as assigned in their job descriptions. They were not removed as members of the department itself but both opted to resign. Concerns raised at that meeting included issues with maintaining department equipment and trucks, issues regarding awarding of pension credit to members who did not meet the minimum participation requirements, and lack of responsiveness from leadership to town board concerns.
In January 2023, the controversy snowballed after 10 fire department members sent a letter to Supervisor Ralston stating they would no longer respond to 911-calls unless the newly-appointed Fire Chief Jeff Maus was removed, leading to their removal from the department, in what town board members called a “voluntary quit.” These members brought their gear to that meeting and left their gear in the town hall meeting room. These members were given the option of returning to the department after six months.
Since fire department members are paid on an hourly basis, they are legally employees of the township, serving at-will. They are also designated by the state as essential employees.
“When they decided to walk, they violated state statute,” said supervisor Rick Stoehr.
The discussion started to get heated, but board chair John Bassing shut down the comments and moved on.
Last month, Maus reported the fire department responded to 14 EMS and two fire calls.
Maus also talked to the board about the importance of supporting their emergency personnel.
“We need these personnel,” Maus said. “Everyone has busy lives.”
Maus talked about some recent trainings where teams of two members did timed drills for hooking up hoses to the fire engine and getting water ready to spray in less than a minute. Six department members also participated in a burn trailer drill last Sunday, where they practiced fire suppression on actual flames.
The department will be purchasing a new gas meter that can detect carbon monoxide, sulfide, and oxygen levels. The seven-year-old meter did not pass its annual safety test, and the cost to purchase a new meter, at $700, is only $200 more than the cost to repair the old one.
Birch Point Extension
With supervisor Sue Drobac participating via telephone, but not as a voting member at the meeting, the board removed discussion on the Twp. Rd. 4136 issue, due to lack of a quorum. But the issue was discussed during public comments.
Roskoski said she was hearing from a lot of frustrated people, and questioned why the board was not taking responsibility for the road, noting they had been receiving road aid of around $3,500 annually from the county since at least 2015, and that these funds are supposed to go into a dedicated road account to be used for road improvements, not to subsidize plowing costs.
Nancy Eicholz said the road conditions were very poor and dangerous, and asked the board to see if they could find a contractor willing to sand the 1.5 mile section of road. She said she had talked to a contractor who said they could do it, but Stoehr said the township had contacted this person, who told him they were not interested. Stoehr said he would follow up.
Pickleball
Lake Vermilion Pickleball Association President Paul Thompson reported on the group’s fundraising efforts. They have currently raised over $30,000, enough to qualify for the maximum IRRR matching grant for the project. Thompson said donations have come from both pickleball and non-pickleball playing residents. They are also seeing letters of support from area businesses and Fortune Bay Resort Casino. The group has received a $7,500 grant from Essentia, and has two other grant requests out to Lake Country Power and AARP.
“This is a clear demonstration of the pickleball community willing to put skin in the game,” he said. Thompson said they have recorded over 400 hours of volunteer time.
He did ask the township to consider donating $25,000 to the project. The board declined to discuss the issue, saying they wanted to wait until the full board was present.
Thompson also discussed the maintenance work done on the site by their volunteers.
Thompson did note that the anticipated costs for the project have grown from $25,000 per court to $28,500 per court. The group is planning on constructing three courts by the pavilion area.
2025 budget
Chair Bassing presented a proposed budget for 2025, which showed spending at $352,580, up slightly from the $332,314 spent in 2023, and the $332,980 budgeted for 2024. His figures showed township balances slowly decreasing to $327,093 at the start of 2026 and suggested that the board ask residents to approve a levy of $175,000 for 2025, instead of the $150,000 levy set the last seven years. The township will be spending a little over $150,000 to repair and repave the parking lot at the town hall in 2024, money that will come from the building fund.
Bassing pointed out that Greenwood has one of the lowest township tax rates in the state, working out to $24 per $100,000 of property value. He also noted the township’s market value has greatly increased and projected it would reach $800 million in the next year or two. The current market value is a little over $657 million. This compares to approximately $173 million in Breitung, $142 million in Eagles Nest, and $34 million in Tower. Tower has the highest tax rate per $100,000 value at $1,100.
Roskoski asked if the January 2026 balance would be adequate, and what the rules were for maintaining such a balance. Bassing said current guidance suggests reserves should be able to cover a year’s worth of spending, but that there were no hard and fast rules.
The township had built up a very high fund balance in the past under previous leadership—well over a million dollars— and over the last ten-plus years, boards have been slowly working on bringing it down to a more typical level by levying significantly less than budgeted spending.
The actual township levy is determined by township residents at the annual meeting, which is set for March 12.
The motion to set the suggested levy at $175,000 passed 3-1 with supervisor Paul Skubic voting against.
Ambulance
The board voted 4-0 to refuse to accept the new Tower Ambulance Subsidy Agreement.
“The new agreement is one page and there are a ton of differences,” said Bassing “There are no parameters on use of the donations, and no indemnification clause…I don’t see anything in this agreement that is the least bit attractive.”
“All we are trying to do is protect Greenwood Township,” said Stoehr. “In the event of a lawsuit, they go after the biggest bank account. We have the right to impose conditions if they are asking for money. Go ahead and blame Greenwood if it makes you happy.”
The board gave John Bassing permission to meet with Virginia Mayor Larry Cuffe about the ambulance service issue.
In other business, the board:
• Voted to donate $100 to Lakeview Cemetery and $100 to the Tower-Soudan Historical Society. The board also recognized a donation from the Greenwood Quilters.
• Approved submitting a grant to the IRRR for help with the costs of repaving the portion of the town hall parking lot that serves as a helipad. John and JoAnn Bassing will work on submitting the grant application. The entire cost of the repaving project will be a little over $151,000, with the addition of adding pavement to a small new area in front of the fire department storage building to improve access to that building.