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Lent Township residents learned at last week’s annual meeting Supervisor Monica Abress would be leaving the Board before the next annual meeting due to a job transfer. Abress has served on the Board for 17 years.

Abress said, “It’s been an honor to serve this community. I’ve appreciated the support of the community and hope that those interested in serving will attend the regular meetings and get up to speed on the business of the township.”

Gene Olson was elected for another term as Supervisor.

Residents agreed to change the start of the regular monthly meeting to 7:30 p.m. because, as Board members explained, “We have streamlined the bill paying process and often have to sit around and wait for 20 or more minutes before the business meeting time.”

The levy for 2007 was set at $699,000––an $11,000 decrease.

(SEE CHART)

Gopher bounties: The township currently offers $2 per gopher, providing the person brings in two front feet and the tail. About 900 gophers were harvested in 2005, at a cost of $1,792. “The folks who harvest gophers are mostly seniors and residents,” it was reported.

One resident said, “ My boys are skilled at this. They get the money. They find it is fun and profitable.” One resident asked, “Can’t we get a bounty for moles?” The Board said, “sorry. State law only allows the payment of bounties for gophers.”

One resident asked that gopher bounty be dropped from the budget. “This program was passed as a way to eradicate a species––the gopher. However, the gopher is not going away. They breed fast. Let’s not pay for this anymore.” By a show of hands, only six residents agreed and his drive to end the gopher bounty was defeated.

“We are getting a few more votes every year,” he noted.

Parks Committee: The Board called for the formation of a Parks Committee because there is $34,000 in the county budget waiting for dispersal to Lent Township. The funds cannot be dispersed until there is a Parks Committee. “We need people in the community to evaluate uses for our parks, handle scheduling, etc.,” Board Chair Abress said.

Three organizations addressed the town residents, asking for their support under the “service contract” provision of Minnesota law that allows townships to support an organization that can sign a contract for service with the community. The Board has $7,000 budgeted for 2007 service contracts, spending $4,100 of that amount in the previous year.

New allocations will be on the agenda for the regular supervisor meeting agenda for action.

Organizations seeking funding were:

•Family Pathways asked for support, explaining the demand at the food shelf is growing. The organization was founded 27 years ago. It spent $400,000 to help families six years ago. Today, approximately $3,000,000 is in the budget. A Pathway representative described the administrative costs as 7.8 percent.

The folks served by the Food Shelter are mostly children from families who do not earn enough to handle their living costs and seniors living on fixed incomes who have to choose between medicine and food.

One resident said, “I read somewhere that some food shelves were spending money on “specialty items for immigrants and I’m concerned that those expensive specialty items could be taking food away from others.” Family Pathways does not spend funds on specialty foods, it was reported.

•The Refuge provides programs and security for women and children from violent households, giving protection and care to battered families and women who might otherwise be murdered by their spouses. Its representative said the problem is growing and any funds the township could provide would be put to good use.

•North Branch Hockey Association explained to residents about plans progressing for the new indoor arena in North Branch––a $1,500,000 project. Now the group has $180,000. “Demand for time on ice for our kids is very strong. There is almost no free time at any rink. The kids leave North Branch at 5 a.m. to practice elsewhere,” said one resident.

•On annexation: residents brought up the on-going battle between Lent and Stacy. “To date we have not gotten an agreement and there are no new meetings scheduled with Stacy to discuss any kind of orderly annexation. We suggested hiring a professional mediator to negotiate our differences,” supervisors reported.

Residents asked if Stacy could take any of the 21 acres given the township and currently used for the fire house and recreation.

“No. The government of Lent Township owns the land. Stacy cannot launch a hostile annexation for land owned by another governmental entity. We won’t be asking to be annexed into Stacy so the land will remain Lent Township,” Board members said.

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