GREENWOOD TWP- The Greenwood Town Board approved hiring the MJM Medical Director Group to provide oversight for the township’s first responders, who are part of the township’s fire department and not associated with the Tower Ambulance Service. These emergency medical responders are often first on the scene and can help stabilize a patient until the ambulance arrives.
The cost is expected to be around $500 a year. MJM is the same group used by other area ambulance services including Tower and Hibbing.
Erik Jankila, Hibbing Fire Chief, has been working with a township fire department committee to develop new guidelines and policies for the fire department. The hiring of a medical director was the top priority of the committee. Jankila, who is also a township property owner, has a consulting group, Minnesota Public Safety Group, that the township hired to work on fire department policies.
Jankila said working under a medical director will reduce liability concerns and is the first step for the township to become a registered first responder entity with the state.
“The department hasn’t been doing anything wrong,” he said. “But the medical director will help establish best practices, maintain state mandates, and update protocols as needed.”
This will also enable the department’s first responders to get variances to provide higher levels of care. Some of the department’s first responders are EMTs, with additional medical training.
Dr. Julie Houle, who works with the Tower Ambulance Service, lives in Ely, and would be working with the department, Jankila said, and can provide assistance and oversight in person and via Zoom.
In other fire department news, the board approved adding Dean Dowden as a firefighter. Dowden was already working as a first responder and has completed his required firefighter training. They also heard that another new fire department member had started their required training.
The board approved hiring department member Eric Milbridge as interim fire captain at $300 a month.
Interim fire chief Brian Trancheff sent a letter to be read at the meeting, thanking all the area departments for their assistance in recent fire events, and also thanking the Vermilion Club for providing food and beverages for those working on the recent cabin fire.
“We are truly grateful,” he wrote. “It was amazing to watch everyone working together.”
Roskoski noted the department was able to respond to that fire fast enough to save a nearby garage.

New locks
The board accepted the low quote from Arrowhead Locksmith Services for $11,055 to have electronic locks installed at the town hall and fire hall using a key fob system. This will allow the township to monitor access and allows each fob to be programmed only to access certain doors, for example, so fire department members get access to the fire hall but not the clerk’s office. The system also allows the township to monitor who gained access to a specific door if unauthorized access was suspected and allows the township to revoke access if needed.
The township expects to have the work done in June.

Roof project quotes
The township received four quotes for reroofing three of the buildings at the town hall. Costs ranged from $56,460 to $107,500 to do all three roofs, with breakout alternate bids for each individual roof. Former supervisor Mike Ralston volunteered to help review the bids to make sure they meet the specifications the township requested, and the board will hold a special meeting on Monday, May 19 to award a bid. The board was pleased with the bids, with three of the four coming in much lower than they expected.
Supervisor Craig Gilbert noted the township will also need to look at replacing some of the windows in the town hall meeting room this year, which have rotted sills and frames.

Road vacation
The board, in their only split vote of the evening, approved going to mediation with property owners who are asking to vacate a platted road on their property on Birch Point Extension. The owners, the Hendricks, want to vacate the platted road up to the edge of the paved road. The township wants to maintain a right-of-way of 18 feet from the roadway.
Neighbors of the Hendricks attended the meeting to voice their support for the Hendricks’ request, noting several other property owners in the area had similar road vacation requests granted in the past.
The issue stems from initial maps made of developments, which specify a road route, but when the road is actually built, it does not follow the platted route, usually due to landscape variations. Property owners often want to use land adjacent to their property which is technically designated for a road.
Andrea Hendricks, who attended the meeting, said they have been personally maintaining this area, clearing brush and gravel as needed. She said they don’t plan to develop the vacated road area, but since they are maintaining it, would like ownership. She noted that their side of the road has an embankment, and that plowed snow is usually banked on the other side of the road, which is more level. She said they felt a precedent had been set by the road vacations granted previously to their neighbors without any issues raised by the town board.
Board members did note that in previous years, the road was not recognized as a township road. Concerns raised about granting the road vacation to the edge of the road included road maintenance like plowing and brushing, along with possible utility issues such as installation of broadband fiber or moving utility poles.
The vote to approve going to mediation, which had been suggested by the township attorney, was 3-2, with Bassing and Paul Skubic voting against.
“I am sure we can come up with a compromise,” said Roskoski, who will serve with Gilbert on the mediation committee.

Pickleball
The new pickleball courts are ready for action and already attracting new players, Paul Thompson told the board, with about 30 people showing up for play on Tuesday. The recreation committee is planning two upcoming events, an introduction to pickleball on Sunday, June 8 from 2-4 p.m., and a community potluck picnic on Saturday, June 28 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., with activities for all ages and pickleball lessons. The committee will be grilling brats and hot dogs and asking others to bring side dishes to share.
Thompson said there had been an issue with someone letting their dogs loose in the fenced-in court area. He said they will be installing signs specifying this is not permitted. The committee is also installing a pet waste station so people can clean up after their dogs.

Other business
In other business, the board:
• Heard that the filtration media in the arsenic removal system (Brassmaster) had been changed, and the township would be testing the water this week to see how the arsenic levels are impacted. The township will post testing results by the outdoor water faucet.
• Gave permission to Dale Horihan to remove brush and dead trees from township land behind the town hall and adjacent to Birch Point Rd. The board will investigate if they need a signed liability waiver, and also said they would reimburse him for any canister site fees to dispose of the brush. Horihan said he would arrange to give away any of the wood that would be suitable for campfires.
• Denied a request from former deputy clerk JoAnn Bassing for six hours of back pay for work done in March, and instead agreed to pay for one hour of work doing payroll. Roskoski said the only paperwork they received from her at the meeting was a copy of the bank statement and disputed she had spent that much time doing the work. Supervisor John Bassing left the room during this discussion and did not vote.
• Approved the low quote from Vermilion Outdoor Services for lawn mowing at the town hall, at a cost of $250 per cut.
• Heard that a new broadband map was available that showed the project starting on the east end of the township in June, but also showed some downsizing, leaving out areas beyond the public landing on Birch Point Rd., and well as some areas around Gruben’s Marina.
“We are going to have to look at options for adding those back in,” said Bassing.
• Approved a $200 donation to the joint powers recreation board, which funds youth activities for Tower-Soudan youth, with the option of making an additional donation later in the year. The joint powers had requested a donation of $500. The township also approved an additional $100 donation to the W.C. Heiam Medical Foundation for a sterilizer purchase. The township, prior to this meeting, has spent $300 of its $1,000 budget for donations so far this year.
• The board held their board of audit following the regular meeting.