Esko keeps plugging along on future plans

With five chapters written (but not in stone), the process of creating the new “2040 Comprehensive Plan” for Thomson Township is nearing completion but there’s still time to give feedback on the future vision for the township.

Comp plan steering committee and planning commission members along with Township supervisors met with MSA planning consultants Dec. 10 to discuss the latest draft of the plan, which outlines the community’s goals and objectives for future land use in the nearly 40 square miles of land that make up the mostly rural township.

Lively at times, the discussion ranged from whether or not the mission statement for Thomson Township adequately expressed the desired level of economic development, to whether the name of the township should be changed to Esko.

Committee/commission members questioned whether the draft community vision in Chapter 3 was contradictory.

As written, it states: “Thomson Township is a friendly, safe community with exceptional schools, committed to economic growth and prosperity that ensures the preservation of the rural character for current and future

generations.”

Jim Gottschald pointed out that the “economic growth and prosperity” was tempered by the “rural character” part of the vision statement.

Township board supervisor Terry Hill explained the township aims for “measured growth”

Township attorney Dave Pritchett pointed to the township’s highly successful business park, which has helped reduce the tax burden on residents by attracting new businesses to the area.

In the end, they concluded that the two parts of the statement balanced one another, that the township is not aiming for uncontrolled growth or a 10,000 head hog farm.

When MSA consultant Kate Eiynck pushed for more feedback, commission members pushed back, with several noting that they had only received their copy of the draft plan that night, and weren’t prepared to give feedback without reading it carefully first.

When Eiynck said the document had been available on the website and members were supposed to stay up to date online, several members responded that they lacked adequate internet to download the rapidly growing document.

In the end, it was decided that the commission/committee members would take a couple weeks to read and respond to the draft with suggestions. Eiynck said MSA wants as much feedback as possible so they can finetune the document before a public hearing at the January Planning Commission meeting. As a result of the changes, the Town Board meeting regarding the comp plan was moved to February.

Oh, and the answer to the last question about changing the township name? It won’t be part of the Comprehensive Plan process … but citizens can get the ball rolling at any time by submitting a petition signed by 55 percent of voters to the Carlton County Board.

Want to know more?

Anyone with internet access can read the draft plan online more by going to thomsonesko2040.wordpress.com and selecting the “documents” option on the top bar. Once there, they can select different chapters of the draft plan. Note that it is a draft plan and still subject to change.

Share your thoughts

There are several ways that citizens can offer their opinions on the draft comp plan, said Eiynck.

People can attend the public hearing at the Thomson Township Planning Commission meeting sometime in January (exact date to be determined). They can also give feedback via comment cards in green suggestions boxes around town, by contacting planning commission members or emailing MSA at [email protected].