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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Jeff Maus appointed interim treasurer on split vote

Incumbent Belinda Fazio gave no reason for abrupt resignation

Jodi Summit
Posted 4/13/22

GREENWOOD TWP- On a split vote, with Supervisors Mike Ralston and Paul Skubic voting against, the board appointed Jeff Maus as interim treasurer to serve out the remainder of Belinda Fazio’s …

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Jeff Maus appointed interim treasurer on split vote

Incumbent Belinda Fazio gave no reason for abrupt resignation

Posted

GREENWOOD TWP- On a split vote, with Supervisors Mike Ralston and Paul Skubic voting against, the board appointed Jeff Maus as interim treasurer to serve out the remainder of Belinda Fazio’s term.
Fazio had sent a brief letter of resignation on March 31 to the board which did not provide a reason for her departure. Chair Sue Drobac, at the April 12 regular meeting, nominated Maus for the opening. Ralston asked about his qualifications for the post, and Maus said he had run his own business for over 20 years.
Skubic asked if Maus still had an open claim against the township. Maus does have a current complaint filed with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry regarding a pension credit issue from last year.
Ralston said his personal opinion was that Maus shouldn’t be appointed as an officer of the township on account of the claims that he had been filed.
Drobac said the claims in question were against the fire department, not the town board.
Maus had filed several unfair labor practice complaints stemming back to when Maus was dismissed from his fire department officer job when the town board simply eliminated the position. This occurred after Maus had made complaints about the fire department’s safety practices.
Maus has been a fire department member for about 15 years, and he is also a First Responder.
April 6 special meeting canceled
A special meeting set for April 6 was canceled after Ralston claimed the meeting was a violation of the open meeting law, but that claim was challenged this week.
The board had set a special meeting to name replacements for the township clerk and treasurer both of whom indicated they were resigning. The clerk, who had not submitted her resignation in writing, rescinded it prior to the meeting, but the treasurer spot still needed to be filled. Ralston claimed the meeting was a violation of the open meeting law since email notifications had gone out Monday, only two days prior to the Wednesday meeting. The meeting had been posted at the town hall more than three days prior.
Ralston told the board, “This is a clear violation of the open meeting law, and I will not be part or parcel of it.” He then went on to ask if “the likes of [John] Bassing and [Jeff] Maus” were going to make a claim to the state on the violation.
John Bassing, at the April 12 meeting, told the board that the claims about a possible violation were incorrect. Bassing told Ralston he had contacted the state office which handles such complaints, and they said this was not a violation, because there was a statute which allowed for one-day notice via email in such situations. He asked Ralston to verify his information before making accusations against township residents.
Maus said Ralston’s accusations that the two “like to file at the drop of a hat” was also wrong.
“Ralston becomes upset when challenged by anyone,” Maus said. “Those open meeting claims [made in the past] were to improve transparency.”
Attorney resigns
Michael Couri, from the firm Couri and Ruppe, sent a letter to the board resigning as township attorney after serving in the position for nearly six years.
“Given the recent changes in the town board, I no longer believe that I am the best person to occupy the position,” he wrote. “In my opinion, a majority of the town board during my tenure has attempted to follow the law and advance the interests of township residents. The board has not always been successful in implementing their policies and has faced significant opposition from other members of the town board and from one of the persons who has occupied the clerk’s office.”
The town board had discussed getting quotes from other area legal firms at their reorganizational meeting last month. The board did get a proposal from Mitch Brunfelt, of Colosimo, Patchin, and Kearney, which included a flat fee of $500 per month for routine consultations and advice for township officials, with a $200/hour fee for additional services as needed.
Ralston wondered if there would be a conflict since the firm also represents the city of Tower. The board will follow up on this question, and in the meantime noted that Couri had said he would continue until a new firm is hired.
Ambulance issues
The board approved issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) on a study on how to upgrade current ambulance service to a regional Advanced Life Support (ALS) service. RFPs are due by the end of June and the township can take up to 90 days to award the bid. The board also passed a motion to seek funding for the RFP process from the IRRR and St. Louis County.
Supervisor Barb Lofquist said that the Tower Area Ambulance Commission is planning “the same sort of study and we don’t want redundancy.”
Greenwood resident Lee Peterson said he understood what Tower is doing but said they are not hiring a professional EMS consultant to look at the region.
“You won’t find that from Tower,” Peterson said. “I am going to be a bit impatient on that there.”
The Tower Ambulance Commission, which is comprised of representatives from the city and surrounding townships, voted at their April meeting to form a working group to explore the creation of a regional ambulance service that could provide faster response times and ALS level service. The working group is still being created and has yet to make a decision on whether they will hire a consultant.
Supervisor Rick Stoehr read a written report he had prepared regarding the Tower Ambulance Commission meeting he attended on April 4. He started off by stating that “in his role as Greenwood’s representative on this board, his actions or comments are in no way a criticism of the dedicated and exceptional folks that provide essential emergency care receive from the Tower Area Ambulance Service. They do a stellar job.”
He reiterated the township’s frustration with the lack of follow-through on completing a draft business plan in 2021 as requested, with changes made to the draft 2022 subsidy agreement, and with the fact that the city of Tower had yet to make its transfer miles payment into the subsidy account or to repay the ambulance service funds that had been transferred to other city accounts.
“The vague answers to my questions left me unsettled,” he said.
Other business
In other business the board:
• Tabled approval of minutes, treasurer’s report, claims, and payroll because the clerk was absent and there was no treasurer. The board will also make sure the board of audit numbers had been corrected at next month’s meeting.
• Set a special meeting for Wednesday, April 20 at 5 p.m. The board noted that payroll will be late this month.
• Heard that Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar are both adding funding for Greenwood’s broadband project to their earmark requests. Ralston told the board that Whitney Ridlon, from the IRRR, was updating the township’s federal application. John Bassing reported that the township’s broadband committee had met with CTC, the company interested in installing broadband, and found the township would be eligible for state Border to Border broadband funding. CTC recommended the township split the project into two phases to better take advantage of funding opportunities. He said CTC would be getting the township an updated proposal shortly. CTC will commit at least one million of their own dollars to the project.
• Heard from Mary Worringer, who is setting up a volunteer system to provide food to firefighters at fire scenes, that she has one interested volunteer. In addition, Sue Drobac also volunteered to help.
• Made revisions to the fire department’s SOGs to come into compliance with changes to township policies passed at the reorganizational meeting, and also to require the standard Firefighter I and II training be completed within two years for new members. The department had earlier voted to make this training optional.
“I’ve spoken to other local fire department chiefs who told me that decision gives them heartburn,” Stoehr told the board.
Ralston and Skubic both asked why the changes were not going to fire department members first, for approval. “The department should give us their recommendation,” said Skubic.
These changes, along with a few others, were all made on 3-2 votes.
• Denied a request, on a 2-2 vote with Stoehr abstaining, to raise the annual fire department pension amount from $3,000 to $3,500 a year. Skubic and Ralston voted in favor, and Lofquist and Drobac against.
• Heard from Lofquist, who said they are waiting for final results from the water testing on the outdoor spigot, to determine if the arsenic removal system is working properly. Ralston said there might be grant dollars available to upgrade the water system to serve the entire building. Lofquist said she will get a quote on the cost.
 Appointed a committee of Drobac, Ralston, and John Bassing to review the township’s budget to get a closer idea of revenue and expenses.