BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN...

The Town Board held its April meeting last Monday, the 13th.  The content of the meeting included many topics.  I'll give those of general interest that stood out to me.

The Township will prepay for LP and lock in a price as it has in the past.  The most recent price quoted was $1.09 a gallon.  I've been paying $1.69, so that sounded pretty good to me! The final price will be locked in when the contract is submitted.

Eureka is still looking for an accounting firm to audit the books after sending out a few Requests for Proposals that were not accepted.  The Minnesota Association of Townships and other townships in our area will be tapped for suggestions. Since the Clerk/Treasurer position has been split in two, the Township is no longer required under statute to conduct an audit.  However, the Board's expressed intentions have been to hold one every other year. 2014 will be the year to be examined.

A Watershed Management Ordinance Fee Schedule has still be addressed.  The Planning Commission will take it up at its next meeting.

Requests for quotes on road gravel, dust control, street sweeping, road maintenance, Town Hall grounds maintenance, and Town Hall building maintenance are being published.

The Eureka Newsletter is mainly available online now, but must be requested by you if you want to receive it via your email. One can still receive a paper copy, but that must be requested also. Efforts have been made to update people on these changes.  A postcard will be sent soon to be sure that all have received the message. Many thanks to Jody Arman-Jones for her wonderful work over many hours to keep us all informed!

The County will again be taking overhead photos of properties has it has done over time. Supervisor Jennings reported that the upcoming ones will be at a 6-inch resolution.

Jennings also mentioned that township supervisors were told at their county-wide meeting that ordinance work for solar energy farms is an area for townships to consider.  Although some might argue that they do not see such power sources as financially viable at present, it is always better to be prepared ahead of time than to try to "fix things" afterward.


The Comprehensive Plan update, which is due in 2018, must be dealt with soon as it takes several months or more to accomplish. All communities in the metro area must update their Plans every ten years and submit them to the Metropolitan Council. The current Plan is available on the Township website.

The Township, as the approving body on Ag Preserve requests, is responsible for ensuring  that land to be approved under the program does not exceed "tolerable erosion." Since there is a tax break for
such enrollment, the property owners are obligated to control erosion to acceptable levels. This topic has been discussed at the North Cannon River Watershed Management Organization meetings and applies to the whole Township.

The Board was tasked with filling three seats on the Planning Commission: two where the three years were up and one vacated by Jennings when she was elected to the Board. There were four applicants who had submitted letters and who were interviewed by the Board. The newly appointed Commissioners are Frtiz Frana, Donovan Palmquist, and Nancy Sauber. Their terms start May 1. Frana's term is for the two years remaining of Supervisor Jennings' former seat, and Palmquist and Sauber will serve for three years each.