GREENWOOD TWP- Residents in Greenwood Township will most likely get a little longer to decide on setting their 2022 levy. The Greenwood Town Board, at their Tuesday meeting, discussed postponing the March 9 annual meeting until June 8 to allow for an in-person gathering, which could be held in the fire hall (with open doors) or at the pavilion.
Voting for the township election will still be held on March 9. Safely hosting an in-person annual meeting that day, which regularly attracts well over 50 people, or attempting to hold the meeting virtually and assuring the chance for residents to vote anonymously on the levy and other items, would be complicated, said Chairman Mike Ralston.
“This is the people’s meeting, not a board meeting,” he said.
Ralston asked that residents with ideas on other ways of hosting the meeting in March email them to the township interim clerk and said the item will be on the regular agenda in February. Ralston said options once the weather is warmer would be to hold the meeting in the fire hall, with the doors open, or hold it in the pavilion area.
While townships are required to hold their annual meeting on the second Tuesday in March, they have always had the option of opening the meeting and then adjourning it to a later date, in effect postponing the meeting. Ralston said the board could opt to open the annual meeting on March 9, appoint a moderator, set a date for the adjourned meeting, and announce election results. The township has adjourned their annual meeting on at least a couple of occasions in the past, holding it during the summer.
Since last spring the board has been holding its meetings via teleconference, where board members and the public phone in.
Interim treasurer Belinda Fazio presented a draft 2022 budget for the board to review. The budget draft reduces spending from 2020 levels to account for $27,500 in grant funding received for COVID-related expenses; reduces the clerk and treasurer salary by 40 percent with additional hourly pay for extra work requests; includes an increase in insurance and legal costs “due to continued lawsuits filed by Jeff Maus” and adds funding to allow for two or three sets of fire department turn-out gear to be replaced annually. The budget assumes a levy of $150,000. The budget projects revenue of $282,500 (including the levy) and expenses of $331,800, leaving the township with a projected fund balance of $480,143, which is 1.29 percent of expenditures.
The town board did not present a budget at the annual meeting last year, and residents on a tie 32-32 vote refused to approve the board’s request for a $250,000 levy, instead approving by a one-vote margin a levy of $150,000.

Other business
In other business, the town board:
• Welcomed back supervisor Paul Skubic, who had been out the past two months after he was hospitalized with COVID-19. “I am happy to be back home and able to attend meetings,” Skubic said.
• Heard there had been a verbal altercation between Interim Clerk Debby Spicer and residents who were filing for office on Jan. 12. According to John Bassing, Spicer, when called on the phone on Tuesday afternoon, had been reluctant to give out information on who had already filed, but eventually did release the public information. When potential candidates arrived at the town hall to file their papers, voices were raised, and Spicer called Supervisor Carmen DeLuca, who then came to the hall. DeLuca said the residents were attempting to intimidate Spicer. The board said they will review the surveillance footage of the incident, and they apologized to Spicer for the situation she was put in.
• Appointed election judges, the absentee ballot board, and passed a resolution to allow the hiring of a spouse of a board member as an election judge.
• Heard that state grant funding may be available for township road improvements. Ralston was given the go-ahead to contact local engineering firms for estimates. The grant covers project costs but requires the township to pay for engineering costs. The township is looking into the possibility of doing an overlay on Birch Point Road Extension.
• Heard that the fire department was awarded a grant to purchase a washer/dryer/extractor for fire turnout gear. The grant will cover $16,521 of the total cost of $18,357, which includes installation, electrical, and plumbing costs.
• Approved $100 donations to the Heiam Foundation, Cook Library, and Northwoods Care Partners. The board tabled the request from the St. Louis County Fair, opting to wait to see if the fair will be held this year.
• Told residents that they are encouraged to call St. Louis County Environmental Services to check on canister site hours and days of operation. The canister site was closed unexpectedly one day due to employee illness.
• Heard from Interim Clerk Spicer that the township is not being charged a disconnect fee from Frontier because the company could not locate a signed contract from the township. The township had been told they needed to pay over $1,600 to disconnect their DSL service, which they were no longer using due to the installation of broadband.