GREENWOOD TWP — At the suggestion of both the township attorney Steve Couri and the Minnesota Association of Townships attorney Steve Fenske, the Greenwood Town Board has asked the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department and the Minnesota State Auditor to conduct an investigation into the township’s transfer of a little over $31,000 to the Isle of Pines Homeowner’s Association (HOA) in 2023.
The town board at that time, acting on unverified information presented by Isle of Pines resident Lee Peterson, gave the money in the township’s Isle of Pines bridge fund to the HOA. The HOA has since spent about $20,000 of that money for road improvements and maintenance. Peterson claimed at the time that the bridge belonged to St. Louis County and said he had spoken to a county official who verified this information. The transfer was supposed to be contingent on the township attorney reviewing the issue and approving of the transfer.
Island residents had been taxed to help pay the cost of the new bridge and the roadwork needed at each end of the bridge. The tax levy was a little higher than the estimated cost of the bridge work to cover any unforeseen overruns. The leftover money was put into the Isle of Pines bridge fund.
“This was based on the premise that this money was left over from the HOA,” said town chair Paul Thompson, “and it assumed the township had no financial responsibility.”
“But our research shows the township does own the bridge,” said Thompson. “We have the paperwork from St. Louis County. The Minnesota Department of Transportation bridge inventory also agrees. St. Louis County agrees. The St. Louis County Attorney agrees.”
The only information disputing the ownership is the action of the board in 2023, Thompson said. He added that he had talked to the county engineer Rachel Gregg, the official that Peterson communicated with regarding ownership of the bridge. This official also has documentation, including emails from that time period, which confirmed that the township owns the bridge, Thompson said.
In addition, the Isle of Pines HOA has told the township that they never authorized Peterson to talk to the town board and request the money.
Also of concern, said Thompson, was the fact that they are unable to find any documentation or billing records that the township attorney was contacted back in 2023 about this issue, and there was no documentation that verified the amount of money transferred to the HOA.
“We need to understand what happened,” said Thompson. “An independent investigation from the county will do that. It is in the hands of the county and state now. If mistakes were made, we will correct them.”
Two current board members, including Thompson, are residents of Isle of Pines, and will be recusing themselves from this issue in the future.
Thompson noted that this investigation will not require township funding. He said the Isle of Pines HOA is also cooperating, and they will not be spending any of the remaining township funds that were transferred.
In more positive news, Thompson said it appears that St. Louis County will be paying for the minor repairs currently needed on the bridge if it is less than the projected $500.
“Since the bridge was built,” he said, “the county has done and funded the maintenance.” The county is required to do regular inspections on all bridges in the county, no matter the ownership status.
Also, Thompson said, if the bridge ever needs to be replaced, there are federal and state funds that would cover all but $10,000 of that cost.

Some history
The county attorney’s office has researched the history of the bridge, dating back to the original platting of Arrowhead Point Rd., as noted in a letter to the township, dated May 11, 2026. The road was initially established back in 1918 and old structure inventory sheets indicate the original wooden bridge was built in 1936, builder unknown, and was inventoried with the township being named as both owner and custodian of the structure. The original plans also called for construction of a bridge to Pine Island.
Isle of Pines was subdivided and platted in 1959. Construction plans for the new bridge began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Greenwood Township was granted a quit claim deed to the small island (formerly owned by the Gruben family) in the middle of the channel where a bridge abutment (support) was to be located.
Greenwood Township was granted permanent easements for the other bridge abutments.
The issue of bridge ownership was discussed back in 1997, and the St. Louis County Public Works director issued a letter to the township stating the township clearly owned the bridge.
Additional meeting coverage will appear in net week’s edition.