Proposed driveway ordinance causes confusion in Thomson Township

Reorganization was the first item of business at the Thomson Township meeting on Thursday, Jan. 4.

Ruth Janke will again serve as chair of the Thomson Township Board of Supervisors, with Bill Gerard as vice chair, both by unanimous vote. Board members voted to continue with their current committee assignments as well.

The board also approved a list of office appointments including Leah Pykkonen as deputy clerk treasurer, Jon Bouvine as public works supervisor/assistant weed inspector, Dan Stangle as zoning official, Kyle Gustafson as fire chief, and Rudy, Gassert, Yetka, Pritchett and Helwig as legal counsel. The Pine Knot News was again appointed official newspaper for the township. Arrowhead Insurance was appointed insurance agent. The board approved three banks as depositories: the National Bank of Commerce, Wells Fargo and North Shore Bank of Commerce.

The board is waiting to appoint the township clerk/treasurer until either the second meeting in March, when longtime clerk/treasurer Rhonda Peleski is due to resign.

At the Dec. 21 meeting, township supervisors voted to raise the current town board member wages for the first time since 2017. The increase was to $500 a month, with the chair receiving $550 a month. Gerard was the only "no" vote on the wage increase, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Driveway standards

John Perich, a township resident with property on Meadowbrook Lane, addressed the board virtually during Thursday's meeting, regarding plans for land he and his wife purchased and want to build a home on. It's a dream come true for the couple, who had been waiting to move to northern Minnesota where Perich grew up.

However, confusion over the township's proposed shared driveway and private road ordinances had Perich worried. Building a driveway to fit the regulations would break the bank on their building project, he said.

"We were pretty surprised by what was being discussed because it was a bit different from what we were told upfront, prior to purchasing the land," Perich said, referring to the two ordinances that were discussed a year ago, but never passed after close to 40 residents showed up to object to the proposed new requirements.

The point of contention for Perich was what seemed like a requirement by zoning official Dan Stangle that they fulfill the terms of the draft ordinance - including widening Meadowbrook Lane to two lanes and possibly moving power lines - before it was ever passed.

"Additionally, I'm not sure why the part of the driveway that I actually need to install is part of the discussions because ... it's just an addition on to the end to provide access for [our property]," he said, requesting clarification from township officials.

Stangle was absent, but township attorney Dave Pritchett said he and Stangle had concerns regarding the easement to Perich's property, but noted that his request to build was timely and the proposed rules wouldn't apply if he got his permit before the new ordinance was passed.

"I don't see any reason why you cannot apply ... and be issued a building permit and jump into construction out there," Pritchett said.

"If this were a little bit later in spring, we'd be saying that we actually have [the new ordinance], but the road policy is not in place today, so apply for the permit and work on that if you can," he continued.

In response to follow-up questions from Perich, Pritchett confirmed that Perich can't be retroactively required to be compliant with the road policy once it passes.

"In the future, if you do decide to subdivide further and the road policy is in place, then any subdivision at that point would be subject to whatever rules are in place at that time," Pritchett said.

The township attorney also suggested that Perich become part of the shared maintenance agreement already in place for Meadowbrook Lane south of Perich's property.

Drafts of the proposed private road ordinance and private driveway ordinance are currently posted on the township website at thomson.govoffice.com.