Town hall improvements underway, but more work needed on arsenic issue

GREENWOOD TWP- The town board here heard a progress report on a variety of projects at the town hall building during their Oct. 13 regular meeting.
The work includes replacing aging furnaces in the town hall and fire hall, installing a new mini-split air conditioning system, a new large water storage tank for the fire department (to replace the leaking tank), and improvements to the town hall well and water system. The township is hoping there will also be some funding still available for replacement of at least some of the windows in the town hall.
The township has received an IRRR grant that is paying half the cost of the projects, up to $50,000.
The township was able to repurpose some of the funding to help pay the costs of replacing the mini-split air conditioning units, which recently failed, as well as upgrades to the well water system.
Testing is showing the water, straight from the well, is testing at 108 ppm for arsenic, although that drops to 29 ppm after running through the Brassmaster water treatment system. That is still well above the acceptable limit of 0.5 ppm for drinking water.
“Froe Brothers said this is probably the top two worst wells they’ve ever tested for arsenic,” said Greenwood Chair Paul Thompson, who added they are currently doing a second round of testing to confirm these results.
The well was initially tested in the fall of 2021, when it was discovered that arsenic levels were 102 ppm. While current standards call for new drilled wells to be tested for arsenic, the township well was put in before those regulations were put in place.
The board then voted, in 2021, to install a treatment system, which did bring down the arsenic to safe levels in the short term.
The township has struggled to figure out why the water treatment system isn’t working as it should. Thompson said the water meters installed are showing water usage inside the town hall is about equivalent to that being pulled at the outside public water spigot.
Arsenic is naturally-occurring in the glacial substrate in our area, Thompson said. Wells that are directly into the bedrock have a good chance of having minimal amounts of arsenic, but for shallow wells, or wells that end in the glacial substrate, are much more likely to have arsenic issues.
Thompson said they will look at changing the way the township runs the Brassmaster system, with regular maintenance on the filters and making sure the system is being run at the proper pressure settings. If this doesn’t work, he said, they may “need a total redesign.” He said they might have to look at purchasing a treatment system designed for a commercial building.
The township’s outdoor spigot is used as a drinking water source for many year-round and seasonal residents who rely on lake-water systems.
Annexation request
Thompson and Supervisor Steve Bradach updated the board on the county’s recent public hearing on the annexation request from residents who are asking to become part of Goodwill Township. The move would increase property taxes for those residents, mostly due to the Cook-Orr Healthcare District levy, which is not paid by Greenwood Township property owners.
“They seemed ready to vote yes,” said Thompson, “But the commissioners were flabbergasted to hear people speak out against it.”
The county has set a second public hearing for Nov. 10 in Gilbert. The county had also failed to notify all the property owners, currently part of Greenwood Township, who would be affected by the change.
“St. Louis County does have the ultimate say,” said Bradach. “I urge everyone out there to write to the board because your taxes are being impacted. The only thing to stop this is a flood of letters and emails.”
“The impact to Greenwood Township is not significant,” said Thompson, “but this process stinks.” Greenwood residents would see a slight increase in their share of the township’s annual levy, but the township levy, they noted, is a smaller portion of their total property tax bill.
Bradach said the notification sent by St. Louis County does not say how the change would impact seasonal property owners.
Bradach said that Goodwill Township, organized just last year, didn’t realize they would be responsible for maintaining all the previously designated Unorganized Township (UT) roads.
“Their levy is going to have to go higher to maintain those roads,” Bradach said.
The residents pushing for the change have said one issue is that Goodwill is part of the Cook-Orr Healthcare District, which assesses properties, based on value, to help fund emergency and hospital services.
“The hospital levy wouldn’t change,” said Bradach, “just who is paying the bill. The hospital wouldn’t get more money.”
Greenwood Township is not part of the hospital district. They were approached a couple of times in the past, but they declined due to input from residents. The township’s valuation would mean Greenwood property owners would pay close to half the $2 million current levy amount.
Bradach noted that there isn’t really a way for a township to leave the hospital district once it has joined.
“If Greenwood wants to consider funding for the hospital, that is another discussion,” Bradach said.
Thompson added that the Cook Hospital has not weighed in on the annexation issue.
“They have nothing to do with this,” Thompson said.
Other business
In other business, the board:
• Said they hope to get the transfer of funds back from the Isle of Pines Road Association done by the end of this year. The township attorney is currently reviewing the agreement between the association and the township.
• Awarded the two-year contract for snowplowing at the town hall and on Birch Point Extension to RCA Property Management, who held the contract last year. They will pay RCA $500 for plowing, sanding, and shoveling at the doors of the town hall, and plow Birch Point Extension including the school bus turnaround. They also set the cost for just doing the work at the town hall at $300, and the cost for just plowing Birch Point Extension at $300. Plowing will be done when snow depth reaches two inches or higher.
• Heard from candidate Aaron Kania, who is running for the 3A Minnesota House seat. Kania talked about issues concerning townships.
• Set the December meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 6:30 p.m., due to conflicts with some supervisors who are not able to attend on the regular meeting date.