December 28, Orrock Township held its final town hall meeting for the year and said goodbye to two supervisors. Supervisor Bob Hassett did not win his bid for re-election, losing his seat to Anne Felber, who will be sworn in at the January meeting. Gregg Felber will be vacating his seat after being elected to the position of county commissioner. 

Sheriff’s Report

Sgt. Austin Turner reported that there has been an increased number of deer/auto accidents lately, having doubled since last month. 

One home burglary resulted in several small items being stolen. 

A vehicle accident on 233rd Ave. resulted in a vehicle rollover. 

Hassett wished to report an incident that had occurred earlier in the day near the county government building, where an individual brandished a weapon at a group of people who were protesting. (The demonstrators gather weekly to protest the county jail holding ICE inmates.) Turner asked Hassett to fill him in on the details later over the phone. 

A civilian in the audience also asked a question of Turner. She said that an individual with an arrest warrant had sent a letter to her church, addressed to the sheriff. Turner said he didn’t have any information on the case at that time. 

Roads

The board approved 2023 road projects. Construction will take place on 174th. 232nd, 235th, 238th, 162nd, and 163rd. The total estimated cost came in just under $430,000. 

Chairman and road authority Bryan Adams once again was looking into the possibility of purchasing an ice breaker, a device which would break up ice on the roadways. Adams had heard that the Minnesota Department of Transportation had purchased some of the machines, and had called to ask about their usefulness and function, but had not yet received a call back from anyone he had contacted. Town handyman and plow service provider Darryl Waletzko suggested that another way to combat ice buildup would be to pre-treat roads with a brine solution. 

The topic of the 183rd St. cul-de-sac once again came up. At the November meeting, a suggestion was made to make the cul-de-sac a through road. Currently, there is a pathway there for emergency vehicles. Most of the board was in favor of doing so, but some held reservations on whether it was the right time to spend money on the project, or if it was of low enough priority it could be put off for another time. After some discussion, the board decided to ask road engineer Kevin Krueger to draw up an estimate for the project and go from there. 

Treasurer’s Business

Last month, Town Treasurer Janine Arnold was directed to move township funds into a higher yield account. Arnold did not do this, as the account from which she’d been directed to take money changed interest rate and became much more competitive. With the new rate, Arnold determined it was best to leave the money where it was. The board made a motion to retroactively approve her actions (or, rather, inactions). After taking another look at the various accounts held by the township, the board directed Arnold to move $600,000 from the township checking account into a high-yield money market account in order to capitalize on higher interest rates. The board also planned to write up a new policy to direct the treasurer to move money on her own following specific guidelines so she could make changes in real time without the express direction of the board. 

In Other Business, the Board:

• Called for the board of appeal and equalization (the meeting where residents can present their concerns over their taxes) for April 12, 4 p.m.

• Noted they are continuing to pursue a solution to the “dispersed camping” situation in the Sand Dunes State Forest discussed at the previous meeting, continuing to have conversations with the DNR and other authorities;

• Noted that the Big Lake Joint Community Meeting would be January 19;

• Decided to purchase a keypad lock for the storage shed at town hall after evidence was found that someone had messed with the equipment inside.