GREENWOOD TWP- Without board chair Lois Roskoski at the table, the town board here mostly treaded water during their regular November meeting. The board ended up tabling half a dozen items on the agenda, not acting on several more, and splitting 2-2 on three other motions on agenda items. Supervisor Paul Skubic, who ran the meeting as vice-chair, and Craig Gilbert voted in lockstep, while supervisors John Bassing and Rick Stoehr did the same.
Public comments opened with Paul Thompson, who had pointed out questions on the failure of the board to follow up on the issue of the helicopter landing area. The board had brought up concerns, last summer, that the construction of the pickleball courts would restrict the use of the landing site. The board also heard that the landing site had never been licensed and had concerns there would be liability to the township in case of an accident.
A report from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, dated Sept. 3, has yet to be addressed by the board, Thompson noted. The report detailed numerous safety issues with the site that would need to be addressed before the landing area could be licensed.
The issue was on the board’s September agenda, and a conference call with a MnDOT official had been scheduled for during the meeting, but after two supervisors, Bassing and Stoehr, along with treasurer and fire chief Jeff Maus walked out of the meeting over an open meeting law dispute, the item never was discussed, and the conference call never took place.
Thompson said he had read the report, and it noted that the pickleball courts were not a hazard, and never would have been considered a hazard for the landing zone.
“We all agree that air transport is vital to this community,” Thompson said. “Identifying problems without identifying solutions is a problem.”
Thompson laid blame at the feet of the fire chief, and he asked the board to form a working group to look at solutions to the problem and bring options back to the board.
“But that person should not be chief Maus,” Thompson said, “since he has not gotten the job done.”
The issue did get discussed at the end of the meeting, though no formal action was taken.
Former assistant fire chief Mike Indihar told the board that the landing zone, which is only for intermittent use, does not require licensure. The site was used about seven times in the last year.
JoAnne Bassing told the board that none of the previous fire chiefs had bothered to look into the issue.
“Greenwood had never applied for a license,” she said. “Jeff decided to check.”
“This doesn’t mean it will be illegal, and doesn’t mean we can’t use it,” Indihar said.
The board has previously noted that other landing sites in the area, such as at the Y Store, are also not licensed and wouldn’t meet the requirements, either.
“We determined this was a dirty site,” said Thompson, “and for months, nothing.”
“Welcome to democracy,” said Bassing.
Indihar said the township still could work to improve the site. This would probably involve cutting the buffer of trees between the parking lot and the highway, as well as removing a light pole.
“This would go a long way with making it a safer zone,” said Indihar. “It is never going to be perfect.”
The issue first came to the board in June, when Maus questioned the siting of the new pickleball courts, thinking the fencing would be too close to the landing zone. A motion by Stoehr at the June meeting to reduce the size of the court by 15 feet lost on a 2-3 vote, with Roskoski, Craig Gilbert, and Paul Skubic voting against.
Skubic said he would meet with Thompson to discuss the issue further.

Township financials
The good news is that township spending is trending significantly below what was budgeted for the year, according to Bassing. The bad news is that the reports by the treasurer and clerk are still not matching up, though both claim to be using figures taken from the bank and financial company statements.
The board failed to approve the treasurer’s report on a 2-2 vote, with Skubic and Gilbert voting against.
Former clerk JoAnne Bassing noted that the two are working from a different starting balance, which would account for the differences.
Clerk Debby Spicer said she had balanced the monthly accounts using directions she had received from CTAS, the accounting software the township uses. Maus said he had worked with someone from the state auditor’s office, on the proper way to present his forms.
The board also discussed a letter sent by former treasurer Pam Rodgers, on the issues with the clerk and treasurer’s conflicting accounts. She noted that the clerk’s accounting system is up-to-date, and she said there is “no way the treasurer’s schedule 1s can be correct without accounting for the investments in CTAS.” She reminded the board that the clerk’s and treasurer’s books must match.
“Greenwood is currently not in compliance,” she said.
Rodgers also included a string of emails regarding a $50,000 check from the township’s investment account at LPL Financial that was not deposited into the township’s checking account for a month. Maus told Rodgers he could not deposit the check since he did not physically have it. Maus told Rodgers he had contacted LPL about the missing check that was sent to the township on June 7. On July 1, clerk Spicer told Maus she had found the check, which had fallen from the clip it had been left on, and it was on the floor under a cabinet.
Maus told the board he had informed Spicer promptly when he didn’t get the check.
“I was tracking it,” he said. He talked to the state auditor’s office about the issue (whether to include that amount on the financials for the month) and followed the advice he was given.

Fire Department
The board once again tabled approving updated standard operating guidelines.
Maus said he had sent the updated standard operating guidelines (SOGs) to the clerk several days before the meeting, but apparently they had not been forwarded to board members to review.
As for the paid-on-call document, which will be part of the SOGs, Maus said the board had received these several months ago. “You had time to review it,” Maus said.
Gilbert said he hadn’t had a chance to review them, and he would like to see the two items done at the same time.
A motion to approve the SOGs failed, with Gilbert and Skubic voting against.
The board also tabled the fire department’s draft of a capital replacement plan, as well as a form to be used to evaluate the fire chief.
Maus said he had reached out to other area departments, and none were having members complete evaluations of their chief.
Roskoski, who was listening into the meeting but not able to officially participate, said she had received the form from the city of Tower. Maus said the city did not have the form in question. Roskoski said she believed she had received it from Tower’s Ambulance Supervisor Dena Suihkonen.
“There is some confusion then,” said Roskoski.
Maus has completed evaluations of all the fire department members, as the town board had requested.
Maus told the board the department was in the process of hiring a new emergency medical responder who is also a registered nurse. “This means we will have three registered nurses on our roster,” he said.
The board did approve a request to pay for repairs to the transmission on rescue truck five, even though the cost was not yet determined. The truck is currently in the repair shop. The board also approve the purchase of new equipment to help with vehicle extrication at a cost not to exceed $1,450.
Maus told the board the department is holding a joint training with the Breitung Fire Department this week, which will include a helicopter landing exercise at the Tower football field area.

Other business
In other business, the board:
• Approved a fire contract with St. Louis County for $11,000 to provide fire protection to a portion of an unorganized township on the far side of Pine Island.
• Tabled any action on brushing of Birch Point Extension.
• Tabled any action on servicing the Brassmaster water filtration system, which would cost about $2,000 a year, until more water testing data is available. The township is still posting that the outdoor water spigot is not potable because of its arsenic levels. The unit is reducing arsenic levels, but not to a level that is acceptable under drinking water guidelines.
• A motion by Bassing to ask the township attorney if an employee, facing allegations, would be covered under the township’s errors and omissions policy, failed with Gilbert and Skubic voting against.