About a dozen residents gathered Tuesday evening as the township convened its annual meeting. Township Supervisor Brad Wilkening was nominated and unanimously elected to serve as moderator for the evening and he wasted no time in getting right to the agenda.

Jason Weaver, the Director of Finance for CentraCare-Monticello was on hand to deliver the hospital report. He highlighted several improvements to the facility, including a newly redesigned Emergency Dept., as well as a few initiatives such as the Bounce Back Program, which aims to give people tools for resilience.

“We are also preparing for Covid-19,” said Weaver, who shared the organization’s 24-7 Nurseline (320-200-3200) which people can call if they are concerned.

City Planner Jacob Sanders was next and he reviewed the township’s efforts at planning and zone use by explaining its participation in the Central Mississippi Regional Partnership (CMRP). Formerly the Hwy. 25 Coalition, the new partnership is more broadly representative of the region’s governing bodies.

“The township now has a voice in the process,” said Sanders, who noted that Chair Brian Kolbinger is a member of the group.

One of the goals of the group is to collect data from residents; to that end, a survey is linked on the township website and residents are encouraged to visit and share their ideas about future planning recommendations.

Next, Clerk Lucinda Messman shared the Board of Audit report and Tanya Danielson shared the treasurer’s report. Neither report generated questions from the audience and no one stepped forward during the open forum item on the agenda.

Wilkening then shared some data on building permits from the past couple of years and made note of the large increase in valuation for commercial and industrial structures.

Supervisor Gary Gilbert delivered a report on the township’s efforts in road maintenance, noting that much progress had been made in the past year. 

“We updated all of the signs last year and also accomplished a lot with tree trimming and fixing roads,” said Gilbert, who noted that he recently had driven several of the roads and they were in great shape even after the winter season.

In other action, the residents cast a unanimous vote to name the Citizen-Tribune as the official newspaper for the township and agreed to keep meeting postings the same as current practice.

The last item was to vote on the individual budget items as recommended by the board. Chair Kolbinger discussed some general budgetary items and noted the total increase in the recommended levy of $30,000. He provided some comparisons on taxation for a $286,000 home in the township which showed an example of $3,220 in total taxes of which $473 would be for the township, while the rest would be county and school assessments.

“If other valuations and tax rates stayed the same, our recommendation for the levy would result in about a 10 dollar increase for the year,” said Kolbinger.

With very few questions, all line items passed unanimously with the residents approving the following figures for the 2021 levy: General fund, $175,000; Road and bridge fund, $950,000; Town hall fund, $15,000; Fire fund, $100,000.

Election

After the annual meeting was adjourned, the Board of Canvass was called to order to look at the election results. Luke Babler retained his seat with 41 votes, while Robin Boros, the other candidate on the ballot, will join the board after receiving 22 votes.

Val Wruck received 19 write-ins, while Kevin Olson received one write-in vote.

Looking Ahead

Look to the Citizen-Tribune’s coverage of other township annual meetings in next week’s edition.