During last week’s meeting, the Orrock town board  came to an agreement with JP Brooks. 

After a lot of work behind the scenes since last month’s meeting, Orrock Twp. and JP Brooks have decided developer JP Brooks will use money held in escrow from a previous developer to bring the roads up to a higher standard and then Orrock will take over maintenance of those roads in order to best serve the citizens in that area. The board, along with Josh Brooks (owner of JP Brooks) thanked treasurer Gary Goldsmith for all of his hard work over the last month to make the agreement happen, noting that the process would have taken much longer and road construction would have been delayed had Goldsmith not worked so diligently. 

Sheriff’s Report

Sgt. Luke McLean gave his customary report from the Sheriff’s office. He reported a lot of traffic stops in Orrock lately, and suggested that the board put up a speed sign going westbound on 233rd Ave. He said lots of drivers coming out of the state forest assume the speed limit is 55 when they don’t see a sign, when the limit is actually 30 mph in that area. He reported that a lot of the offending drivers are not locals, but residents from the cities who come out to camp for the weekend.

The Sheriff’s office caught a young, 20-something driver whipping donuts in the township in broad daylight. The department was concerned about their ability to enforce this issue, despite plenty of evidence that it was happening and tearing up the roads, because they assumed offenders were doing so at night, when there were fewer patrols, but were happy to serve justice when they caught this young gentleman recently.

Extra patrols are watching the Shores of Eagle Lake development after some lumber was stolen from a construction site. The department encourages builders to reach out to the sheriff if they are leaving tools and materials unattended so officers can keep an eye on the situation.

AA Women in Recovery Group

Orrock citizen Jennifer Morrison approached the board to ask permission to use the town hall as a meeting place for Alcoholics Anonymous women in recovery support group. She stated that she, herself, is in recovery, and has been sober for four years.

Morrison enjoyed her support group in the cities, but found limited options when she moved to Orrock three years ago.

Any women who wish to quit drinking or using drugs of any kind are welcome to attend the support group. Morrison says she expects three to five women to join at first, but hopes to grow the group to around 15-20. 

The board members were happy to allow Morrison to use the space, believing she would provide a valuable service to the community. Morrison was asked to give the town a $300 security deposit, but will otherwise not be charged for her use of the space.

Morrison hopes to begin meetings in October, after her wedding.

Sherburne County Update

Bruce Messelt, county administrator, has been making the rounds among cities and townships regarding the last year at the county. 

He told the Orrock board about the issues that came up with election season. Many more people chose to vote absentee than ever before, and Messelt believes that the habit is here to stay. Staff was completely overwhelmed and fell far behind on counting ballots, even with the extra time the state allotted them. This is partially due to the ballot counting procedures. Each ballot must be viewed by the counter and two members of each party when it is opened. Messelt also noted issues with the way the state displayed precincts’ reporting. The state website would show “all precincts reporting,” which led voters and candidates to believe the votes were in, when it only meant that the precincts were reporting some of the ballots, not all. 

Home values are increasing around the county as homes consistently sell for 10% above asking price, on average. Messelt says this should not cause taxes to go up, however, so long as the tax levy remains the same for the next year. 

The county hopes to have more county residents work within the community. On average, Sherburne citizens commute around an hour every day. This is one less hour for residents to shop within the county every day. Messelt says the county hopes to change this and stimulate the local economy. 

The Northstar train is beginning to recover from the hit it took last year, though it is not expected to ever grow to the extent the state hoped. 

The jail is having a rough time after the last year, as COVID-19 restrictions forced the Sheriff’s office to limit the number of convicts admitted but had to keep the same number of staff (for sanitizing, etc.) American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are expected to help alleviate the situation somewhat.  

The tax levy was raised last year in order to offer county employees a more competitive wage. Employees were consistently being lost to metro counties that could pay more than Sherburne will ever be able to. Messelt said some of this is inevitable, due to the size of the county. He lamented the recent loss of a talented IT professional, who moved to the private sector and began to make more than twice what the county could reasonably pay. 

In Other Business,the Board:

• Approved a variance request for the Karspeck residence for their septic field;

• Discussed plans for ARPA funds and created a committee to looking into using the funds to expand town hall;

• Cancelled plans to fix the irrigation system as bids came back too high, and decided to leave the issue alone until plans were made for the potential town hall expansion;

• Appointed board member Gregg Felber to represent Orrock for the Mississippi River St. Cloud One Watershed One Plan committee.