Thomson Township residents hold lively annual meeting

The annual meeting for residents of Thomson Township ended Tuesday with a standing ovation for clerk-treasurer Rhonda Peleski, who is retiring at the end of the month.

Jason Paulson, a former township supervisor and current resident, made the motion to thank Peleski for her nearly 31 years of work for the township.

"On behalf of Thomson Township citizens, I'd like to thank Rhonda Peleski for your decades of service to this community," Paulson said, requesting the motion be entered into the minutes as a formal motion. Peleski took over the job of township clerk/treasurer from Raymond Maki, who served 26 years, she said. Peleski has been training her replacement, Deb Kamunen, for several months. The township is holding a retirement party for Peleski 1-3 p.m. March 28 at the town hall at 25 E. Harney Road.

The Peleski vote was the only citizen-led motion to pass unanimously Tuesday. All of the agenda items requiring a vote - including the 2023 financial statement and the tax levy for 2025 - passed as well, although not unanimously. Several other motions proffered by citizens failed after discussion.

Including township supervisors, who occupied their usual seats in the front of the meeting room, more than two dozen residents attended Tuesday's meeting, the only time each year that residents are in charge.

How much in charge was unclear.

"It's the board's job to come up with a budget and present it to the electors," attorney Bill Helwig said. "The electors don't have the authority to make line item changes in the budget. They can either accept or reject the budget as it's been presented. And they can make recommendations to the board with regard to any changes that they are requesting."

John Bergman weighed in with an opinion from the Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT).

"My understanding from the MAT and from the state is that the annual meeting is the only time that the citizens have control over the situation," Bergman said. "This is our only opportunity on an annual basis."

During extensive discussions about the 2023 annual statement, residents questioned legal counsel fees, which came in at $80,892, or three times the budgeted $26,200.

Thomson Township contracts with Fryberger Law Firm, and is normally served by attorney David Pritchett, although Helwig was present Tuesday. The most recent contract was for $225 an hour.

"Do we ever bid that?" Paulson asked. "You budget and bid everything, why not bid legal? ... You know, $225 could be great, it could also be terrible."

Eric Rish said he opposed soliciting bids for legal services because of the loss of historic information if they hired a new law firm.

Ron Larson disagreed.

"Legal council is concerned about what's currently going on and what's going on for the next year," he said. "I'd like to know: is there a way we can move to have the board bid legal?"

Not for this year, because the contract has already been approved, but the board could look at it for 2025, supervisor Terry Hill said.

The history should all be listed someplace, Ole Larson pointed out.

"Any good attorney firm or a good engineering firm will leave a paper trail behind," John Skaldo said. "With that paper trail the next person is supposed to be able to continue from that particular point on."

Board chair Ruth Janke said the board would take the residents' advice "under consideration."

A motion by John Bergman that would have required township supervisors and staff to lobby state officials to change how township supervisors are elected also failed. Bergman made the point that since township elected officials serve the entire community "at large," they should also be elected "at large" with the top vote getters taking office. Alternatively, he said, they could be elected by geographic seats. Currently, the state dictates that townships elect officers "by seat" without any geographic connection, which means they all serve the entire township.

Former supervisor Paulson moved that the board increase its pay to $833 a month, to make the annual pay $10,000 a year.

"I'm speaking in two parts: personally, from my experience and how much time I had put into position and what I went through," he said. "And secondly, we have a heck of a time getting folks to run for office in this community. That is evidenced by the fine folks that are sitting at the table, but [who] also have been there for decades."

If the community pays its elected officials more equitably, that might encourage more people to run, he added.

Ole Larson pointed out that the board voted itself a raise last year - increasing the monthly pay from $400 to $500 a month, with $50 more for the board chair - and said he would have expected more discussion if they thought it should be more.

"I would just like to clarify that the electors cannot make line-by-line decisions in the budget for the board, but they can make a motion for the board to consider a change," attorney Helwig said.

Paulson motioned that the board consider a raise in the future, but the motion failed.

The minutes from the 2023 annual meeting showed some of the same topics that were raised during Tuesday's meeting, including why the township maintains a fund balance of roughly $1.8 million but wants to raise taxes. A number of residents also wondered if the township could get by with a smaller cushion.

Peleski estimated that the township needed about $1.4 million to cover six months of operating expenses in 2023.

Ole Larson moved for a 1-percent increase to the 2025 tax levy instead of 3 percent. That motion failed. Residents then approved a motion by Sara Liimatainen to approve the-3 percent increase, with a handful voting "nay."

In other matters Tuesday, various township departments provided annual reports, including the following highlights:

-Run volume for the Esko Fire Department continued to increase at 388 runs, up from 362 runs the previous year. A new tanker was ordered and should arrive in May. The department currently has 29 members, leaving six open spots on the roster. Fire chief Kyle Gustafson said they aren't hurting, but it would be nice to have at least a couple more firefighters.

-The Carlton County Sheriff's Office, which provides a dedicated officer (Deputy Rennquist) to cover Thompson Township, also saw an increase in calls, from 1,598 in 2022 to 1,693 in 2023. They've seen a 34-percent increase in calls from 2021 to 2023, with three-fourths of those falling into a broad "quality of life" category. Chief deputy Dan Danielson explained that would include anything from barking dogs to robberies, but not traffic or family calls, including domestic violence. Paulson said he thinks the Sheriff's Office does a great job covering Thomson Township and predicted Moose Lake would too.

The annual meeting ended after being recessed until 6 p.m. Aug. 20, when residents would determine if the tax levy needs to change before going into effect. Next year's annual meeting was set for March 11.