GREENWOOD TWP- The poor condition of Birch Point Extension was the focus of discussion at Tuesday’s town board meeting.
While Birch Point Road is a county road, the last 1.8 miles (Twp 4136) was originally a private road. Yet, after years of snowplowing paid by the township, it inadvertently became a township responsibility, an outcome that contradicted the original intentions of township residents to avoid responsibility for any roads.
At last month’s meeting the board discussed a letter from St. Louis County, which stated they would no longer be able to plow the road for the township, due to the poor condition of the blacktop. The road is also narrow and rocky and has plentiful potholes which are large enough to be a traffic hazard.
Nancy and Charlie Eichholz, who live on the road, spoke on behalf of a group of neighbors.
“The immediate need is to have the potholes repaired,” Nancy told the board. “This should be an ongoing annual repair.”
Eichholz suggested the board set up a committee of township officials and road residents to develop a plan to repair and/or resurface the road and identify funding sources.
“We recognize this could take several years,” she said.
Under state law, townships are responsible for keeping township roads repaired and plowed, she reminded the board, reading from materials from the Minnesota Association of Townships handbook.
“Maintaining the road is a statutory duty,” Nancy said.
When it was time for the board to discuss the issue, Chairman John Bassing stepped away from the discussion, citing his conflict of interest since he has property on the road in question. Supervisor Barb Lofquist, who also has an ownership interest in property on the road, also stepped away from the discussion, but first wanted to add a few comments about the history of how the township became responsible for that section of road.
“I will shush now,” she said.
Vice-Chair Sue Drobac gave an overview of the history of the road, how it was paved with private funds from residents. The first phase was done at a cost of $300 per parcel, but the cost of blacktop had more than doubled by the time the end of the road was paved, and at that time the cost was $700 per parcel, and the thickness of blacktop was reduced.
The town board has previously looked into the cost of replacing the blacktop and the costs were prohibitively high. A previous grant request from the township for funding to pave the road was unsuccessful.
Drobac said the township is not required keep the road’s blacktop surface, and that is one option would be to remove the blacktop and revert to a gravel surface.
In previous years the township has paid St. Louis County to repair potholes, but the county no longer provides that service.
Supervisor Paul Skubic said he will get some quotes from contractors that provide cold-patch blacktop repair.
Spending township funds on the single township road has been controversial, especially for those living on other private township roads that have to self-fund for maintenance and plowing.
“I don’t know how it became a township road and others didn’t,” said Skubic. “But like it or not, we have to maintain it safely. It’s our road and we have to fix it.”
Lee Peterson, who lives on Isles of Pines, which is privately maintained, said he believes the costs for maintaining Birch Point Extension needs to be assessed to those property owners.
“If you don’t do that,” he said, “all the other private roads are going to be asking, too. It’s an issue of fairness.”
“I know people who don’t live there don’t want to pay for it,” Skubic said. “But it is our responsibility.”
Finding a private party to plow the road this winter may also be a problem, because it will require a larger plow. The township had provided St. Louis County with a hold-harmless agreement this past year, so that any damage to the road would not be considered the county’s fault. The county has said they would want to see the road widened, as well as meet other county road specifications, before providing maintenance again.
Fire Chief Jeff Maus also noted that the road is hazardous for some of the emergency equipment since it is so narrow. The township has paid to remove brush from the roadside in previous years.
The board tabled any further action on the issue and will revisit it at the July meeting.

Fire department
Maus told the board that the township’s First Responders had received training on administering medication such as aspirin, glucagon, epi-pens, and naloxone. Fire department members also attended a training in Tower on vehicle extrication and brought their trucks to a Big Truck Night event at Bois Forte.
He estimated the township had spent about $18,000 on maintenance and repairs on department equipment last year. He said the department will need to replace the standpipes on fire boat number one next year, which may cost around $5,000. He said they are looking at bringing in a repair person from the boat’s manufacturer to do an in-person inspection of the now 15-year-old craft, and also to do additional training for department members on the boat’s operation. They also will need to replace the cistern in the fire hall, which is used to fill the tanker. The current cistern has several leaks and is in poor condition. When they used it to fill the tanker last week, another piece of equipment bumped into the cistern and made a new hole, which has been patched, but other leaks are not repairable.
“That tank has serious acne and needs to be changed,” said Rick Stoehr. A new plastic 4,000-gallon tank will cost around $5,000 plus shipping.
Maus asked for board approval to place additional fire number signage in areas where fire numbers are not numbered consecutively to help emergency responders. He noted a recent ambulance call where the ambulance was not able to quickly locate a residence, even after being given GPS coordinates. Signs would be placed at certain intersections to show which fire numbers are located in each direction. The township already has some of the supplies needed. The board authorized spending up to $1,000 for these new signs.
Maus also asked residents to help out by brushing alongside their property lines, and to make sure their fire numbers are visible and readable. New fire number signs are available at the town hall.
Other business
In other business, the board:
•  Heard from Lee Peterson who wanted the township to consider letting St. Louis County manage the Isle of Pines Bridge Fund. The bridge itself was paid for by a federal grant, but island residents paid about $150,000 for the engineering, demolition of the old bridge, and the road work required, along with putting money aside for future repairs. “That money came from the island residents,” he said. “I get tired of people thinking the township paid for it.”
• Received one quote for lawn mowing services from A-Z Lawn Service. The quote was for a one-time initial mow and trim for $250, and then a firm quote would be given for future work. The board accepted the quote, pending proof of insurance.
• Heard the new GPS units were installed in both of the main fireboats and are ready for use.
• Approved a resolution to pay Supervisor Rick Stoehr for time spent mowing for the township while the township looked for a new lawn care provider, at $25/hour, noting this was lower than other options.
• Heard an update on the broadband project. The township is working with the contractor hired by Bois Forte to see if additional areas of the township can be added to the project, and what the costs for each of the five identified areas will be. Bassing noted that residents in these areas, such as Isle of Pines, the Dells, Hinsdale Island, and Stony Ridge should go to the CTC website and fill out a survey indicating their interest. Go to www.goctc.com/construction/ and scroll down to the bottom of the page to enter your information.
• Heard a request from Lee Peterson to withdraw from the Lake Vermilion Trail joint powers committee. The township has been paying $750 a year to be part of the group. Peterson said the likelihood of any new trail being built in Greenwood as part of this project is very low. He noted the cost per mile estimates for the project have skyrocketed since the initial estimates of $225,000 per mile. Bassing, who was recently appointed to that board, said he wants to attend some meetings first to see where the project is headed before making any decision.
“I don’t believe waiting will help,” said Peterson.
• Voted against a motion by Barb Lofquist to install surveillance cameras outside the town hall. Lofquist said that the boat-decontamination equipment used to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, which had been parked by the town hall had recently been vandalized overnight. The township already has two cameras that could be used and Maus said he could run the needed cables. Maus said the fire department would also appreciate having the cameras there.
• Will donate $100 to the Tower-Soudan Fourth of July committee.