At their March meeting, the Orrock Town Board discussed online meeting videos.
During the annual meeting, the assembly of voters discussed improving the online meeting videos the township posts. They wanted to make recent videos available after the meeting, not just during the live meeting, and improve the quality.
The board discussed other issues with the videos, including how there was no camera that would show someone speaking from the audience, such as during open forum, though Supervisor Anne Felber said she wasn’t sure if purchasing new cameras would be ok with the constituency since it wasn’t discussed during the annual meeting.
The board decided to start keeping the two most recent meeting videos on their website, and uploading an archive of videos to a YouTube channel.
Felber and Town Clerk Shlley Erickson met with a representative from Data Success, a technology company out of Big Lake. The representative didn’t look into their current systems, since he would have to sign an NDA before looking at sensitive township information, but based on his interview with Felber and Erickson he stated several concerns with the current setup, including problems with Microsoft Office and supervisors accessing township information from personal devices, leaving the township vulnerable to cyber attack.
Big Lake Township Clerk (and former Orrock Township Clerk) Brenda Kimberly-Maas was present in the audience during the meeting. She volunteered the information that Big Lake Township used Sherburne County IT for their technology needs. The Orrock board agreed it would be prudent to look into the county’s IT services and cost as well as Data Success’s.
Sheriff’s Report
Sgt. Alex Dehn gave the Sheriff’s Office Report for February. There were a few notable calls, including two motor vehicle property damage incidents. In one, a motorist swerved to hit a deer and instead hit a tree. In another, there was a three vehicle accident during an icy day, where a vehicle slid past a stop sign and hit another vehicle. A third ran off the road to avoid the other two.
Dumping on the sides of the roads continues to be an issue county-wide.
An altercation at the Getaway Bar led to a high-speed pursuit. The suspect was apprehended, but not until after he backed up and rammed into a squad car.
Open Forum
Josh Belmore from Livonia Township presented himself to the board and introduced his company, Micro X, which performs ditch maintenance.
Emergency Sirens
The county will be turning over maintenance duties of emergency sirens to the townships and cities starting next year. Felber noted that this issue will appear before the Sherburne County Association of Townships (SCAT) meeting on April 16 for discussion. Supervisor Paul Ellinger noted that the township did not yet have an accurate count of how many of these sirens would fall within their jurisdiction. The township will have an option to pay $60 per month per siren to have the county perform maintenance for them.
Goldsmith Contract
The board appointed a new treasurer, Kellie McConville, and she has started in her duties. Gary Goldsmith, who previously served as the township treasurer and as a board supervisor, had been maintaining the township’s treasurer duties in the meantime. His contract with the township was set to expire on the first of the month. McConville and Goldsmith made a case to the board to keep him on until the end of the annual audit in May so he can help with the audit process and continue to train McConville and Clerk Erickson on their treasury duties. Goldsmith noted he has been working fewer hours lately as McConville settles into her new position. The board discussed contacting the previous treasurer, Janine Arnold, and clerk, Chris Weber, to help with the audit process, a prospect the board had discussed previously.
Roads Update
The board set their bi-annual road tour for May 3.
Road Engineer Kevin Krueger mentioned wanting to set up a meeting for the road committee to take a look around the neighborhood on the west side of Eagle Lake and bring a recommendation to the board on an action plan for the roads in the area. Local residents have several items impeding the right of way of the roads, such as retaining walls.
Business from the Board
Supervisor Felber noted the upcoming SCAT meeting and that the Sand Dunes Campground would reopen May 9.
Supervisor Ellinger said the board received a note from former treasurer Arnold that the statement made at the February meeting about there being an overdraft in one account in December was false. Both overdrafts occurred in 2025, after Arnold vacated the position. She requested that the board write an apology letter. Ellinger moved to direct Board Chair Felber to do so on behalf of the board, but the motion failed.
In Other Business, the Board:
• Briefly discussed compensation rates but decided to table the discussion pending more information;
• Spoke with the Reno family about an issue they had pulling a building permit for their property, as it was in the right of way of a potential future road in Orrock, with the board agreeing to look into the issue more and continue working with the family.
