During their April meeting, the Orrock Town Board once again discussed their data and technology issues.

Clerk Shelley Erickson and Supervisor Paul Ellinger met with another data security company, Net V Pro, as the board had decided to do last month. 

The board discussed the pros and cons of working with Net V Pro and Data Success, the company they interviewed before last month’s meeting. With Net V Pro, the board liked that their representative for the company lived only 15 minutes away and could show up quickly when needed. They also have used Net V Pro in the past. And Net V Pro offered to do their initial assessment for free. 

With Data Success, the board liked that they had a positive working relationship with another nearby township. They also had submitted a plan to address Orrock’s immediate needs, whereas Net V Pro had given a pricing scale on a long-term contract with general items such as password resets. But the board didn’t know for sure if Data Success would be able to do the initial consultation for free like Net V Pro could. 

In the end, it was decided that the township would engage both companies for an initial consultation at a maximum cost of $500. 

Trails Inquiry

Sherburne County Commissioner Gregg Felber approached the board to ask their opinion on the county’s planned trails in the area. He noted that there was a situation with Becker Township recently regarding an unwanted trail. The trail was on the border of the city and the township, and the city wanted to have it so they asked the county for approval. The county, under the impression that both the city and the township wanted the trail, approved the request, but the township residents of the area actually did not want the trail. 

Commissioner Felber stated that he was not a fan of the planned trails. He believed that they would destroy natural habitat and ruin the ditches for the use of ATVs, snowmobiles, and horseback riding. He also didn’t like the cost. 

Supervisor Bryan Adams stated he was indifferent to the trails, but stated he was miffed that Commissioner Felber came to ask the board their opinion but then proceeded to spend a lot of time telling his opinion. Supervisor Ellinger noted that the planned trail along Co. Rd. 75 was not feasible. Supervisor Peter Owen said he was an avid snowmobiler and would like the ditches to stay clear. Supervisor Dalton Keiderling said he would rather see the money go towards improving the ditches in the area, and expressed concerns on where hunters would park if certain ditches were turned into trails. 

Supervisor Compensation

The topic of supervisor compensation was once again on the agenda. The township got hold of an updated chart listing the pay for township supervisors and staff across the county. 

The board discussed how they wanted to approach outside work done by the supervisors. Supervisor and Board Chair Anne Felber noted that she attended lots of meetings outside of the regular Orrock Town Board meetings in her capacity as a supervisor, and also did extra work as the board chair. She also noted that supervisor Owen did extra work in his capacity as the road authority. The board discussed what would be a fair compensation for the extra work. 

Supervisor Adams asked whether it was fair to pay an hourly rate for work outside of the regular meetings, as it would be very difficult to budget for that work. If the board got a new supervisor who did a lot of outside work, it would put the township over budget. It was also really difficult to draw a firm line between what counted as payable work and what didn’t. Adams said he liked the current method of paying only for meetings, because it was predictable how much it would cost each year. 

Supervisor Keiderling agreed with Adams, saying that if some months were busy and some were slow, the meeting rate should work kind of like salary. During the busy months it may not feel sufficient to cover all the work, but during the slow months it may feel like too much. 

The supervisors ultimately decided they would raise the rate for the board chair and the road authority to $175 per regular meeting instead of $150, where it was before. The motion passed four to one, with Adams dissenting. 

Roads

Road Engineer Kevin Krueger reported that the road committee had a meeting on W. Eagle Lake Rd. They discussed plans to put the road back together as similarly as possible to how it looks now. There are some retaining walls and other things that will need to be moved, and Krueger said the township will look into paying for those types of items because they are necessary to the house. 

In other road-related news, the DNR is planning to redo the boat launch and parking lot at Eagle Lake. There will be much less available parking when the project is complete, and the board supervisors expressed some concern over the not unlikely possibility of boaters parking on the road, which is not allowed in the area. The Sheriff’s office will be vigilant of the area for a while after the end of the project. The project should be completed in time for fishing opener.